“By definition SS and Medicare are entitlements.”
I am aware of that but I reject that name as it has come to mean something “free” and it is not. In the beginning, it meant a person was entitled to something due to something that happened to give them ownership of something - they were entitled to it - a title is ownership of something. I owned my social security account that I paid into so I was entitled to it - it was not a gift.
Maybe you will be so wealthy, you won’t need yours when you are retirement age and you can give that money, your money you paid in, back to the government.
When I reach retirement age, which for other reasons is never, there will be no more money left. It will be long gone. I plan on working as long as physically possible. I had a neighbor growing up who lived his whole life toward his retirement. Denied himself for years to build that retirement nest egg. The day came he planned for, he got the party and the gold watch, but he dropped dead by the end of the week. All that sacrifice for nothing. Because of that I swore I would never retire.