Social Security

As you might have guessed, my brother and I are on the opposite ends of the political spectrum. Eventhough he lives in Rhode Island, we often email each other back and forth about different issues. Today's issue was Social Security. He wrote:

I am in a little disagreement with you about the importance of social security. I beleive it is necessary and provides oppurtunities for people who otherwise would not have them. and I don't think i necessarily agree with the use of personal accounts. I would like to fix it before we change it. But either way that article cleared some misunderstands up for me.

This way my reply:

You said it "provides opportunities for peoplewho otherwise would not have them." You only get social security if you have worked. If you worked and made the money to give to the government, then you would have the money to put away and invest or put into a savings account or something. At one time, SS was a good thing, but it has outlived its usefulness. No one should rely on SS for their retirement. It is only for people too lazy to take care of their own retirement. Why am I responsible for that? SS is headed for bankruptcy and Bush is trying to fix it with personal accounts of only 6%. It is a small step in the right direction. The GOVERNMENT does not need to provide opportunities to people. It needs to protect the ability of people to take advantage of opportunities. I hope that you are taking care of your own retirement because SS will not be able to support you when you are ready to retire if it is available at all.

Chris, I love you, but you're wrong. Come back to a red state.