Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Social (in)Security

What a joke this system is. My Dad started paying into the system in 1943, assuming that he paid in starting with his first "employment" beyond being on a farm, joining the Marine Corps in 1943. If not that year, then when he was discharged in 1946.

He died in May of 1982.

Let's say it was 1946 that he started paying in.

So, he basically paid into the system for approximately 34 years until he was incapacitated by cancer in 1980.

He died just shy of his 57th birthday, he never got to retire.

Being his son, my mother received a Social Security check for me, from his account, which in 1982 was about $480.00 per month or so. A couple years later it went up to about $511.00 and then I was off of it after approximately four years and three months.

Now they want to raise the age to 70 because "Americans are living longer."

WOW. It's not only a Ponzi/Pyramid Scheme run by government that they make you participate in by force, but now it's "bait and switch," too.

I'm supposed to work for 52 years before I get my lousy Social Security benefits because people who sit behind a desk for a living are living longer now.

What about all of the people that paid in for decades and never received ANY of it? Never had any kids or a spouse, etc.? I guess all of that money just got heisted.

I've had a fairly hard life and I am betting I don't see a dollar of that money.

Not a single cent of it.

What's the difference between Bernie Madoff and Social Security? Well, the government passed laws against individuals creating Ponzis and Pyramids while reserving the right to do it for government. The other difference is one of scale.

There is no real difference between the two.

Government passing a law saying that they can steal doesn't make it moral or even ethical, just "legal."

And at that point, what good is the word "legal" anymore?

If the rules change, again, why should I have to participate in this nonsense?

Because I have to, that's all.

2 comments:

Blackthorn D. Stick said...

Technically, I have to wait until I'm 66 and 10 months old to get my SS payout.
Fuck that noise!
I'll take the 80% reduced figure when I'm 62. That's assuming of course that they don't change that rule on me. My goal is to get as much back as I can of what I paid before they abolish it or it goes broke.
At this point I've paid in for 39 years, and I have a few more years to go before I can even colect the early reduced amount, but that's my plan nevertheless.
Between that, my pension, and what I'll have manged to save by then, hopefully things will work out.
we shall see what we shall see!

Some Guy said...

My father in law took early retirement at 62 because he was fully vested with his company's pension and he's getting to beat up to work in a lumber mill. His hearing is largely shot and he's missing part of 2 fingers and has had 2 others reattached in the past 10 years. He asked me if I thought it was a good idea to retire early and I said, "Hell, yes; I'm never going to get a cent of my SS, and who knows how much longer it will be available, so get it while you can and try to relax."

Even if he had to work until he was 70 he would have to get the hell out of that business because it's too dangerous. Good thing they don't allow overtime anymore, and the graveyard shift has been closed down, because orders and output are down to the point where they have had to liquidate a third of their employees; plus the near-monthly shut downs. Those are good things, right? Huh?