Many years have passed since that day as a young boy when I put my John Hancock on my new Social Security card. With looping, elementary cursive letters I followed the instructions of the adult presenting the card, and confirmed my identity as a legitimate American citizen. Of course, at the time I had no idea what the card and number actually were.
The card, and the reason I eventually was given as to why it is necessary to have such a number, seemed fairly innocuous: the government puts social security tax money in savings and investments, and in turn provides me with steady income after I retire. As I got older, I began to notice that my Social Security number was required in all sorts of transactions, from opening a bank account to getting a cell phone account to getting a job. So, like anyone who questions authority and never made a lot of money, I wanted to know exactly where that money goes, and why a supposed retirement account number is used by outside agencies for totally unrelated matters.
This subject leads down more than a rabbit hole. It's more like a mirkat or prarie dog hole, with branches and sub-branches and dead ends that are enough to make you stop trying to find your way around and just curl into a ball and weep uncontrollably. The following is a basic summary of observations of the law regarding Social Security, its sources of funding and investment, and its actual use and enforcement by government and various commercial institutions.
Government, out of kindness and concern for our well-being, decided that it would use its impeccable knowledge and record of fiscal wisdom and responsibility to enact Social Security as a retirement program, considered a contract between an individual and the government to volunteer a withholding tax from the individual's wages in return for future retirement benefits. This voluntary contract for working-age adults is pushed on parents of newborns and pre-public school children (who are obviously too young to work or understand and agree to a contract) as a requirement. After being assigned a number, participation in Social Security cannot be terminated without filling out a form declaring that paying into the program is against your religion, complete with church member witness signatures. Employers are not required by law to obtain your Social Security number, but try to get a job without giving it to them and see what happens. There is no law requiring parents to apply for a Social Security number for their child, nor any law requiring an employed person to have one. No business in general is authorized by law to request your Social Security number, although the PATRIOT Act requires financial institutions to provide the Social Security or tax ID number of its customers to the government, in order to check the names against terrorist and fraud/counterfeiters lists. At the same time, businesses frequently do ask for it, and often refuse service if you refuse to provide it. The Social Security Administration says that your number is not to be used as an ID number, and rightly so, since free America has historically been fiercely opposed to the notion of a mandatory identification number, rendering such a number unlawful. Meanwhile, the Social Security card has been stealthily elevated above its legal purpose to become regarded as a secondary driver's license in cases of identification and verification.
A Ponzi or pyramid scheme is described as a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors rather than from any actual profit earned. These schemes are illegal, and persons involved are subject to criminal prosecution. Through investigation and even government admission, the Social Security trust fund has been proven insolvent for years. Goverment "borrowed" the money a long time ago. There is no money other than that taken in by the "voluntary" tax - so, in essence, all retiree benefits are paid out using only the payments from those who aren't retired yet.
Obviously the facts raise several questions. Why do I get a number at birth if it's for working adults? How can a Social Security number be both voluntary and mandatory? Why is the revenue not in trust or investments? Why did I never get to vote on this tax? Why is my employer unaware of the law? What right does government have to presume to know how to plan for my retirement better than I can? Where did the money go? Will I have access to the money I paid into the system? Without a complete shift in public awareness, the truth will continue to be twisted, manipulated and hidden by those who have the most to gain from doing so. In the meantime, suffice it to say 2+2=4. The whole thing stinks.
Related: Medicare is a Ponzi scheme
2 comments:
My favorite is when someone (at the bank, school, etc.) says, "I need your SSN." You ask why or if it is necessary to which they reply, "I don't know. Its just on the form." The University I attended finally created a "Student ID #" and stopped using SSNs for identification purposes a year before I graduated. Anyone can create a number designated for a person. They could have done that a lot sooner.
There's a lot of doublespeak involved.
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