Social Security: Food for Thought

I have seen since the 1990's that the Social Security program was unworkable and only a tax for my generation, that we would receive little if any benefit from it. I expect it was somewhat intuitive as it seemed like an attempt to produce perpetual motion, a violation of the law of conservation of matter and energy.

I mention all of this because of a quote I saw recently:

"Social Security is an unfunded pay-as-you-go system, fundamentally flawed and analogous in design to illegal pyramid schemes. Government accounting creates the illusion of a trust fund, but in fact, excess receipts are spent immediately. The government’s own actuaries predict the system will be bankrupt by 2030, but Social Security could face financial crisis as early as 2014. Moreover, Social Security’s relatively poor rate of return makes the program an increasingly worse investment for today’s young worker. ... The system design itself is fundamentally flawed and cannot be repaired. It must instead be replaced by one derived from free markets and operated by free citizenry making individual economic decisions in their own self-interest. ... Reform is long overdue. If we fail to act soon, our children will either inherit a bankrupt system or be forced to pay an impossibly high level of taxes. Only private pensions with individual property rights to accumulate fund balances can create a secure pension system. Chile, which privatized its system in 1981, provides evidence of such a system’s effectiveness."
-- Karl Borden
Professor of financial economics at University of Nebraska
Source: The CATO Project on Social Security, DISMANTLING THE PYRAMID: THE WHY AND HOW OF PRIVATIZING SOCIAL SECURITY, August 14, 1995.
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Karl.Borden.Quote.D8F7

Chapter 27 of Proverbs comes to mind, more specifically verses 23-27:

Pro 27:23-27 ESV
(23)  Know well the condition of your flocks,
and give attention to your herds,
(24)  for riches do not last forever;
and does a crown endure to all generations?
(25)  When the grass is gone and the new growth appears
and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,
(26)  the lambs will provide your clothing,
and the goats the price of a field.
(27)  There will be enough goats' milk for your food,
for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls.

We need to recognize that it is God who provides for us and WE are the stewards of that which He provides. We are responsible for the management of HIS resources.

Be blessed, Be a blessing.

BE