On Social Security and Medicare

Take a look at rule 2.  The promise of social security and medicare (rule 4) is that when you reach retirement age between 62 and 67 you can stop working and rely of the workforce you left behind.  You move from a producer to a consumer in the American economy.  This is wonderful for you and terrible for the rest of the economy.  It is a violation of rule 2 that has to be made up for by the rest of the producers and a negative under rule 4. 

Do you understand that whether it was promised to you or not, whether you paid for your parents to participate or not, whether it is fair or not, social security and medicare are pyramid schemes.  It may not have started that way, but it is that way now.  And what is, is.  The people who run these programs (congress) have drawn and are drawing the money out and leaving IOUs.  If anybody but congress did this it would be illegal.  There will be a point at which this burden can no longer be born.  The government will handle it by inflating its way out or we can be more mature about this and change the rules.  Either way, the economic reality of rules 2 and 4 will eventually take over. 

What happens if they cure diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  Then the average life expectance will jump from 78 years maybe up to 90.  Then what?  Will the young start to euthenize the old or will the old start to show some maturity and continue working past the so called retirement age?

When social security first started, the average life expectancy was 60 and the retirement age was 65.  If this aspect were applied today then you could start drawing on social security and medicare when you are 83.  A rule that ties the age of social security to the life expectancy may even be a sustainable burden on this economy.  If it is not then the age should be even higher or social security and medicare should not exist.
It is not fair that we put so much money into social security so that our parents could retire at the age of 65 and now we can't do the same.  Isn't it our money?  Yes it is.  But with our votes, we allowed a pyramid scheme to continue.  At some point it has to end.  There is no point to continuing it just so that we who are close to retirement can get ours while those who are further away continue to pay.

Either raise the age of social security and medicare or end the programs entirely.

 The Economic Rules

1. A dollar spent is a dollar taxed
2. To consume you must produce
3. The law of supply and demand still applies even if you are the government
4. Education, infrastructure, production, efficiency, trust raise the economy. Burdens such as commitments, promises, debt, crime, security issues and overhead lower the economy
5. Savings takes money from the now and moves it into the future. Borrowing takes money from the future and moves it into the now.