My response to the Social Security gripe.

[cordex]

Let's not romanticize or victimize any group.  I am more concerned about the people who built modern America and are being vilified for it, cheated out of what is rightfully theirs.

No one wants anyone to be cheated out of what is rightfully theirs.  The sad truth is that someone is going to be cheated.  Lots of someones, actually.  You seem to be asserting that it is better for me to pay into SS all of my working life but to never see a single gorram penny of it (and given even best-case estimates, that is exactly what is going to happen) than for another group to see reduced benefits.  Why is SS "rightfully theirs" for today's retirees but not for me?  Or for my daughter?

I'm not angry at our current crop of SS entitlees.  Nor am I vilifying them (or rather their majority of voters) for choosing to believe the fanciful lies their politicians told them.  However, I'm also not going to get misty eyed about the People Who Built Modern America not getting their fair shake because they forgot to Pay For Modern America.  They gave me a very expensive gift, to be sure, but they charged it to my credit card.

Given half a chance, I bet our current generations will try to pass the buck to our kids too, no doubt.  When my kids grow up I'm going to have a lot of explaining to do for all the crap that has happened on my watch.  Maybe then I'll try to pull the "Why, we never had it so good!" line on them too.  Who knows?

[longeyes]

I see it rather differently. We are experiencing the crumbling of our infrastructure, military might, economy, democratic institutions, and cultural and technological advantages. People in their 20s will certainly not have the same standard of living or opportunities that older generations have had. Just because they still benefit from old glory and prosperity for the time being does not make them any less of a victim of current and future circumstances being a direct consequence of self-destructive policies adopted decades before these people were even born. Yet they will bear the brunt of the consequences.

By contrast, people in their 50s and 60s grew up in post-war prosperity and had the run of their lives. Even if their retirement is now endangered, none of that can take away the good life they have already had.

Believe me, I'm not telling you that the boomers are victims either, far from it.  It was not my intention to set generation against generation, just to dispel the idea that the under-30 group, which has had it so good (so far), is more screwed than anyone else.

[RaspberrySurprise]

The dollars don't matter, either. Social security is a contract. In exchange for a bite out of every paycheck for as long as I work, the .gov promises to provide me with a steady (albeit woefully inadequate) income after age ___ (depending on whether you file early or when fully vested). How is this different from buying an investment vehicle that guarantees X percent return upon maturity?

No, according to the supreme court it isn't.
http://www.ssa.gov/history/nestor.html
Social security is just a tax with a different name that the government spends how it sees fit.

[kgbsquirrel]

SS/FICA Fun Fact: When you're in a "tax free" war zone, you still keep paying FICA.