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Look it’s already socialism. It’s got Social right there in the title, and is a direct transplant by FDR of principles from the German Social Democrats going back to the time of Bismarck.

Social Security IS socialist already. The problem is that it’s structured in a way that is completely unsustainable to government finances. The government, in the American system, is the same as the citizens. There is not a separate entity called THE GOVERNMENT. There is only us. We have created this mess over a few generations and we have to fix it now.

When we have a program that a vast majority of people think is basically here to stay and beneficial, socialist or not, but that program is actuarially unsound it needs to be changed in a way that either the revenues into the system are increased (bad) or the funds paid out are decreased (bad). So between these two, the tweaks, and be clear about that we are talking about microscopic tweaks, not “skyrocketing” benefits for the poor and slashing benefits for those who paid in more, the tweaks ought to address the fact that life expectancy has increased enormously since the program was created, and to further acknowledge that there are so many policies designed to boost the asset values of the wealthy, that they have done very well through asset price inflation.

So raise the retirement age slightly and gradually, and reduce the growth rate of benefits to a chained-CPI for everyone except the lowest income segment.

I agree with you that SS is socialist in the sense that many people get back much more than they've ever put in. However, many people would have gotten much more back if they'd have invested that money in the market. In that sense, it's an insurance program. It's certainly been sold to the American people as an insurance program, not one of wealth distribution.

I also think it's a stretch to say the vast majority of people think it's here to stay. Most 40 to 50 year olds that I know would rather have all their contributions back and have the ability to invest that money themselves. Bottom line is, people do see it going away and want their money back.

We have created this mess over a few generations and we have to fix it now.

Didn’t President Reagan already fix Social Security? I have heard that forever. Why are we questing him? He made it so that widows do not get Social Security anymore. Kids stop getting Social Security when they turn 18 instead of 22. He raised the age to 67. If it was not going to work, why didn’t he do more. Now we have to revisit the mess?