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Social Security is certainly legitimate... if society wants to take care of the aged, its thanking people who have worked all their lives on its behalf and who have good values.

You reach the conclusion too fast as you go from "if" to "then:" the society should take care of its aged, but who said that it should be done through the government?

I would submit to you that it is done increasingly through the government precisely because the social institutions through which it was traditionally done have weakened: family and church/synagogue. They have weakened and abrogated this important duty to the aged to the point that we do not even recognize that as an option.

Aged parents should stay with and be helped by their children and grandchildren, not the government.

In an ideal world, you would be right. The point is not everything government does is bad. For neocons, unlike for liberals, the bottom line with government is whether a particular program delivers results. If it doesn't, it must be reformed or eliminated. Good intentions aren't enough to justify the continuation of something that doesn't work as it should.