AARP & Social Security Part 2

To continue, the AARP is just another "bomb thrower" in public debate in this country. Unfortunately, in politics, everybody has something to gain or lose. Because of this, there is often not very reasoned debate. And this is what transpired in the meeting I attended.

The bottom line in this debate is that the Bush administration (and many other like-minded individuals) are preapring the system to be terminated. This hasn't been stated, but the policies will lead to the end of the social security system. This is great in my opinion. Social Security is a ponzi scheme of taxation. It makes assumptions that each generation will have roughly the same life expectancy, greater affluence, and roughly the same size as the prior generation. These assumptions probably would have held for centuries if Congress had not been spending the surplus of SS revenues over expenditures. Although I am not sure, I believe this probably began with President Johnson's, "Great Society" programs.

The bottom line is this:

The AARP acknowledges there is a funding problem. Their solutions are to raise taxes (up to $6,000 per person, depending upon income), push out the retirement age, and ask the younger generation to save more (even though we will be getting reduced benefits and higher taxes). What an insult. I am looking forward to Gen X'ers like myself totally abandoning the AARP as we age. If they do in fact push for these proposals to "save the social security system," their organization will certainly have a limited lifespan.