I didn’t have a choice about paying into SS & Medicare. However I did pay into the system since 1955 (on SS) and if I had that money now plus accrued interest I wouldn’t care about the SS. If you’re trying to make me feel guilty for benefitting from a government program I had no hand in creating, it’s not going to work.
Nor am I going to feel sorry for people who have a champagne taste and a beer budget and who are now in over their heads.
However you are right that all of us take the good with the bad and we’ll all suffer together if the economy takes a big enough hit.
It’s a good thing I’m an expert at belt-tightening - something a lot of younger people don’t even have a passing acquaintance with.
We are in complete agreement and no, I do not want you to feel sorry you are getting benefits out of a system you paid into, you also appeared to have understood my analogy. Take care and good speaking.