I disagree. You can say Social Security is an elephant, if you define elephant as a system that looks like social security. The author is redefining ponzi schemes in a way that does not resemble ponzi schemes at all.
SS is not a scheme, scam, fraud, or socialism. It is an American institution that works, and has never failed to meet payoll, and is as strong as anything. There is no person profiting dishonestly from SS as there is in Ponzi schemes; there is no sudden collapse. There are no accounts being saved up; there are no creditors. It is silly to call it a ponzi scheme, and makes the person making the claim look like an idiot.
The author, sadly, does not understand how SS works. It would even work if there were only 2 workers to every retiree (which is the case if we had no population growth and we had 2 years working to 1 year retirement, like age 25 - 65 working, and 65 to 85 retired). Do the math. 2 workers give up 6.2% and their employers match; the retiree gets 24.8% of a full time salary. That’s it. No collapse, no ponzi scheme, no socialism.
Meanwhile, you whiners still get 93.8% of your salary to have as many private savings accounts as you want. Don’t ask the gvernment to get involved! Do your own saving without whining.
and when you retire, enjoy your SS check as a modest supplement to your real retirement savings. And quit whining - SS is never going away, never going to collapse. All that will happen is that the checks will be a little less than promised. Tough - you didn’t want the checks anyway.
I think you might be the one that has been in the cave not him. Right now SS is a welfare scheme, the current benefits are being paid by the treasury bills directly adding US debt to this nation. It has never missed a payment ? (Except when it steals the money in income taxes.) That is because seniors are able to terrify those elected into borrowing the money on the unborn’s credit card and giving it to them.
It is welfare plain and simple, those with political muscle demanding the government STEAL it from the the weaker politically. That doesn't mean it will last.