Liberal Forum

LowIQTrash » Yesterday, 3:55 pm » wrote: ↑

Yesterday, 3:55 pm

I've always had a bit more nuanced take on Social Security than the majority.

Yes, they are going to have to make cuts (at some indefinite point in the future) since the tax base - # of working adults who actually earn a "living wage" and can pay the SS payroll taxes - is collapsing.

[This is the conservative / "Fatbaugh" as you so kindly referred    premise]

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No, I don't believe it is a good idea to "get rid of SS." As I told Skans at least once, the majority of SS recipients get MORE from the system than they receive.

Therefore, they have no incentive to vote for any politician who wants to "get rid of SS."

The conjob counter-argument is that if they didn't "have to pay those taxes and just stashed it away and invested it" they would have much more money, i.e. if they just invested into the stock market.

This is true except I am of the opinion the vast majority of people are idiots and are incapable of investing their money properly.

Additionally, almost all "investments" today operate like Ponzi schemes. You have to get in early - at the bottom when prices are low - and then hold for a certain period of time before cashing out. It's a zero sum game because all bubbles eventually implode and collapse (and the less intelligent / less fortunate souls end up holding the bags).

Most of them will probably not even save or invest it at all - they will just end up spending it on some stupid **** like another $50K truck financed over 60 months at 6% APY.   

...and while it is true the US stock market "goes up over the long run," the next series of stock market crashes (Yes, I am predicting SEVERAL stock market crashes) and the 2nd Great Depression in the 2030s will see an 80-85% decline from top to bottom in stock prices.

By the time that happens, even the biggest conservative idiots who aren't already worth over $7M will be begging for Social Security (funded by Treasury bills or notes) back - if it were EVER to be removed in the first place - to save them from utter destitution. 

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This is a view I've refined over the years, it's not compressed into a soundbite so most conjobs would lose their heads if I had to explain it to them like this. 

But you understand.   
 
@Cannonpointer