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From: dgh@sun.uucp (David Hough)
Newsgroups: net.taxes
Subject: Re: SS deduction
Message-ID: <2136@sun.uucp>
Date: Wed, 24-Apr-85 22:17:43 EDT
Article-I.D.: sun.2136
Posted: Wed Apr 24 22:17:43 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 28-Apr-85 04:08:00 EDT
References: <5762@duke.UUCP> <121@pyuxh.UUCP> <632@ssc-vax.UUCP> <434@hou5h.UUCP>
Reply-To: dgh@sun.UUCP (David Hough)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Lines: 32

In article <434@hou5h.UUCP> mgh@hou5h.UUCP (Marcus Hand) writes:
>
>Furthermore, these people have contributed to the SS pot through their
>working lives and have a RIGHT to expect the promissed payout.  The fact
>that it has been mismananged and may not be most efficiently organized
>now, is neither here nor there.
>

RIGHT?  That's like saying that you have a right to something valuable
in return for your taxes - a nice idea but contrary to most of recorded history.  
One of the problems
with social security is that during the depression politicians didn't want to 
call it a tax so they pretended that it was "your" money being "invested" in
order to be "returned" to support you when you retire.  Unfortunately, the
immediate social problem was to provide for existing indigent elderly who hadn't
contributed a dime to the system.

So in fact the benefits enjoyed by the current retired have always been
paid for by the current working.  This was fine until 
the population of current retired started growing faster than the population of
current working.  At that point it became apparent why the government outlaws
pyramid schemes:  it likes to retain its lucrative monopoly.  But like all 
pyramid schemes, a finite universe implies that the people who got in first
did a lot better than the people who got in last.

Fortunately the government has the power to change the rules and to require
everyone to play.  I don't object to the taxes as much as to politicians
who can't call a tax a tax or a tax increase a tax increase.  However people
do generally get the government they deserve...

David Hough