A Call for the Urgent Abolition of Social Security

G. Stolyarov II

A Journal for Western Man-- Issue XXXII-- March 1, 2005

The Nobel laureate economist Friedrich Hayek once wrote, “A society that does not recognize that each individual has values of his own which he is entitled to follow can have no respect for the dignity of the individual and cannot really know freedom.” In our society, however, a behemoth of a system, mistakenly called “Social Security,” is based entirely on the premise that individuals do not know where their values lie or how to pursue them. This system must be abolished altogether, as its promise of security is a fraud and its moral base is corrupt, subjugating individual responsibility to state planning and sacrificing the frugal to the irresponsible.

            First, Social Security’s promise of safekeeping for an individual’s funds is a vast fiction. Writes Representative Ron Paul of Texas, “Social Security is simply a tax. Like all taxes, the money collected is spent immediately as general revenues to fund the federal government. The Social Security trust fund does not exist, and Social Security ‘surpluses’ are nothing more than an accounting ledger showing that contributions exceeded benefits paid for a given calendar year-- not that the excess was put aside.” Economics professor Christopher Westley of Jacksonville State University makes a compelling case that the Social Security system is a vast redistribution scheme from present taxpayers directly to present beneficiaries, while the surpluses are spent to fund favored political programs and entrench a political class parasitizing off of handouts taken from productive taxpayers. Pepperdine University economics professor George Reisman remarks, “If a private insurance or annuity company had done such a thing and used its excess of premium income over current payments, to finance the consumption of its owners and employees, for whatever purpose, including the funding of charities and public works, the company officials would now be spending long terms in prison.” But what is considered criminal fraud in the private sector is lauded as a moral necessity when government does it. Why?

Indeed, on the moral front, Social Security is a colossal evil and an insult to the dignity of all frugal, prudent, and responsible individuals. Writes Reisman, “The root of the system is the philosophy of collectivism, in that it forces everyone into a giant stewpot… in which individuals are compelled to support the parents and grandparents of total strangers, whether they want to or not, in exchange for themselves later on being compulsorily supported by the children and grandchildren of total strangers.” What did these strangers do for the contributing individuals to deserve this money? They squandered their own during their younger years, and failed to save adequately so as not to rely on government programs. If the government punishes individuals who earn and save due to their productivity by redistributing their wealth to those who do not due to their lack of productivity, then the government provides a direct incentive for spendthrift, irresponsible behaviors, which will be rewarded by a “free ride” during one’s retirement years. Alex Epstein of the Ayn Rand Institute crisply summarizes the essence of such a moral inversion: “The rational and responsible are shackled and throttled for the sake of the irrational and irresponsible.” This heinous system has plagued our society and eroded its moral values for the past seventy-two years. Do we truly want it to continue?

If we truly wish to spread knowledge of freedom throughout our society, then, as the words of Friedrich Hayek suggest, our government must entrust individuals with the dignity and responsibility of managing their own finances, their own values, and their own futures. Let us end the perverse Social Security system that guarantees nobody's security and spills forth such social poisons as collectivism and the sacrifice of the productive to the indolent and imprudent.

Sources Used:

Representative Ron Paul, M.D., of Texas. The Autonomist. “Want to Reform Social Security? Stop Spending.” January 26, 2005. http://usabig.com/autonomist/articles4/spend.html.

Christopher Westley, Professor of Economics, Jacksonville State University. Ludwig von Mises Institute. “Robbing Peter to Pay Peter.” January 26, 2005. http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1732.

Dr. George Reisman, Professor of Economics, Pepperdine University. The Rational Argumentator. “Social Security Reform: A Free-Market Alternative.” February 25, 2005. http://www.oocities.org/rational_argumentator/socialsecurityreform.html.

Alex Epstein, writer for the Ayn Rand Institute. The Rational Argumentator. “End Social Security.” January 27, 2005 http://www.oocities.org/rational_argumentator/endsocialsecurity.html.

G. Stolyarov II is a science fiction novelist, independent filosofical essayist, poet, amateur mathematician and composer, contributor to organizations such as Le Quebecois Libre, Enter Stage Right, the Autonomist, and Objective Medicine. Mr. Stolyarov is the Editor-in-Chief of The Rational Argumentator. He can be contacted at gennadystolyarovii@yahoo.com.

Order Mr. Stolyarov's newest science fiction novel, Eden against the Colossus, in eBook form, here. You only pay $10.00, with no shipping and handling fees.

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