Social Security: Socialism, Corporatism vs. Libertarianism

Well, well, well. It’s “Social Security is broke, we need to fix it” season again. 100,000 dead Iraqi civilians, 10,000 wounded/1,500 dead Americans, a few tortured humans, and all we can get on the inane boob tube is staged partisan bickering on the retirement issue. Meanwhile, freedom is once again overlooked. If my readers will indulge me, I will show you how and why the Social Security debate has everything to do with Socialist and corporate control and nothing to do with liberty.

Most people know that FDR instituted Social Security in 1935. Liberals today proclaim Franklin D. Roosevelt one of the three best presidents in American History (I actually had several high school and college professors claim this). What is not known is that, at the time, even liberals thought him crazy and un-American. FDR’s New Deal was nothing short of Communism, or more specifically Corporate Communism. He orchestrated the Great Depression specifically to implement him Communistic New Deal. Author Mark E. Wiley reminds us that Winston Churchill said, “The Washington administration has waged so ruthless a war on private enterprise that the US...is actually...leading the world back into the trough of depression.” Wiley goes on to explain that FDR forcibly bought all America’s gold at $20 an ounce and resold it at $36. The Supreme Court ruled his National Recovery Administration and, separately, his Agricultural Adjustment Administration unconstitutional. He proceeded to pack the courts with “yes-men.” He campaigned on no war, but did everything possible to take us to war. He issued 3,556 Executive Orders. Roosevelt allowed the Russians to build destroyer ships in the U.S. He forced the Lend-Lease act through Congress, arming the Soviets. He entered into an agreement to go to war without Congressional approval, an impeachable offense. He ordered the military to shoot at German ships on sight, before we were at war. Furthermore, FDR lied about the USS Greer and Kearny incidents. He occupied Iceland, Greenland, and the Canary Islands illegally, and with conscripts. Roosevelt was known and reported to be a second-rate intellect, and unstable. He used the IRS to attack political enemies, and stopped investigations of friends, such as LBJ “who had committed tax fraud.” He illegally wiretapped citizens, including his own wife. FDR raised the tax rate by 700%! Senator Thomas Schall wrote, “The Russian newspapers during the last election (1932) published the photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt over the caption ‘the first communistic President of the United States’”. Roosevelt was, at heart, a Communist. He admitted this when he said, “Stalin is my brother.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then, was the man who gave us Social Security (SS).

Author Lee Robinson wrote of SS in the Sierra Times, “Originally sold to the public as a way for each worker to financially invest in his or her own retirement it quickly degenerated into a means by which the federal government provides the basic necessities of existence to tens of millions of citizens using other people’s taxes to do so.” Robinson, a Constitutionalist of the old-school variety, obviously doesn’t like Social Security. But, who does? Along with Democrats and Republicans, The Communist Party USA is very much in favor of the enforced government retirement plan. CPUSA: “Retirement security starts with Social Security.” Yes, if you endorse Social Security, you are in league with the Communists, who are merely miming the mantra of Communist Franklin Roosevelt.

The truth is, there is no security in SS. It’s called an entitlement, which is a socialist word if there ever was one. Realistically, it’s not even as good as that. An entitlement would mean that you are entitled to receive your benefits upon retiring. Neil C. Hokanson, President of Hokanson Capital Management, Inc., expounds. “Most Americans know that there is no “lock box” - Social security taxes are spent as they arrive in Washington. Fewer among us know that Social Security is not an entitlement, and Americans have no claim to any benefit. In two separate cases (Helvering vs. Davis, 1937; Flemming vs. Nestor, 1960), the Supreme Court made it clear that the federal government is not required to pay social security benefits to its citizens.” Here’s how it works. At age 16, when most kids start working, 15% of their money is taken from them and given to old people. This money doesn’t just go to the poor; every old person gets Social Security. If you are a billionaire, you get SS! This money will be taken from you your whole life. Tomorrow, though, the government could say that Social Security is no more, and refuse to pay it. They won’t, of course. Instead, they will keep raising taxes and the retirement age. It should be noted that the retirement age affects African-Americans yet again. Blacks don’t live as long as whites, generally speaking. Due to genetic, societal, and cultural factors, many black men will NEVER receive Social Security. Bottom line, Social Security is only available when and if the Social Security Administration says it is.

Hokanson goes on to introduce a new, diabolical happening inside the communistic, insolvent, fraud-ridden Social Security system. “Surprise - it’s just a tax! Most Americans also don’t know that current estimates on the Program’s viability assume the permanent entry of 400,000 illegal immigrants every year.” A July 2, 2004 USA Today article reported, “U.S. and Mexican officials signed a controversial agreement this week that could allow millions of legal and undocumented Mexican immigrants who work in the United States to collect U.S. Social Security benefits.” I guess it’s all part of Bush’s “amnesty package.”

It has been long known that by 2012 Social Security will enter into financial trouble. If this isn’t fixed, some estimates are that by 2040 our ‘entitlement’ will be no more, thus corroborating Hokanson’s assertion that it is not really an entitlement. Never fear, though. George W. Bush and the Republicans have a plan to fix it by ‘privatizing’ a very small portion of SS. In reality, this is not privatization, but government corporatization. A private account is just that: private. Private retirement would be if the government didn’t take your money. Responsible citizens would be free to undertake old time private accounts. My own family still extols the virtues of mattress stuffing, possibly the safest place for your money. Gold, too, is a very stable private savings standard. A third great way to save is with retirement insurance from reputable companies. Private means that no one knows or controls the account except you, that government is in no way involved. This is not what Bush is proposing at all. Harry Browne, 1996 and 2000 Presidential candidate, wrote in his book The Great Libertarian Offer that, “The Republicans…talk about privatizing Social Security. Does that mean the 15% they’ve been taking from you will be yours to keep and invest however you want? Not on your life. They have in mind letting you keep, maybe, 2% of the 15% they’ve been taking from you – just as serfs were allowed to keep a small portion of the food they produced for their masters.

“Of course, you’ll have to invest that 2% in ways the government approves of – which means dealing only with companies that have ingratiated themselves with the politicians. And the government still will take the other 13% of the Social Security tax and send it down that big rat hole in Washington.”

Perhaps the worst thing about the whole Social Security situation is that, despite it being a Communist program of the State taking money from some and giving it to others, there was and always has been enough money for Social Security in America. The truth is that the State, the government, the Republicans and the Democrats, have stolen the SS money! They ripped it off of us, the serfs. Allen W. Smith, PhD is the author of The Looting of Social Security. From a summary article, “The Social Security Problem and Solution”: “When I first discovered that the Social Security surplus was being used just like general fund revenue, I was shocked…He (Smith) quoted Bush as making the following statement in a Pennsylvania speech the previous day: ‘Every dime that goes in from payroll taxes is spent. It's spent on retirees, and if there’s excess, it’s spent on government programs. The only thing that Social Security has is a pile of IOUs from one part of the government to the next.’” Yes, by now most cognizant Americans are aware that our elected leaders have looted the Social Security trust fund. However, this is never a part of the SS discussion. The fund is simply insolvent, period, and it’s not their fault. Because the thieves in Washington ripped us off, we now need to raise the retirement age, and corporatize a portion of it.

But wait, there’s more. When I tried to warn certain Americans about the coming National ID, many said, “Well, we already have a Social Security Number.” Exactly! Rex Curry wrote, “As an attorney, I am asked if it is wise (or constitutional) for the U.S. government to number all youngsters and then steal their savings away for others via the so-called ‘social security program’… individualists call for an end to the impoverishing system by wearing T-shirts that scornfully announce ‘My Socialist Slave Number is’ -followed by the sickening nine-digit pattern.” Paul Craig Roberts relays, “Last week U.S. Attorney William S. Duffey, Jr. announced the arrest and indictment of Social Security Administration employees in Atlanta, Georgia, for selling Social Security numbers to illegal aliens. The U.S. Attorney’s office described the scheme as a large and lucrative business… If an illegal alien can buy a number for work purposes, a terrorist can purchase a number for his purpose.” If it’s just a simple scam to illegally gain money you want to know about, there’s even a book called Social Security Disability Benefits: How to Apply, How to Win. The Inspector General of the Social Security Administration in 2001 even admitted some dire and fatiguing facts. James G. Huse, Jr. stated that Social Security was being doled out to prisoners to the tune of 48.8 million per year. He also noted that over 28,000 fleeing felons were still receiving their checks, thereby facilitating their fugitive status. Inspector General Huse, Jr. admitted that the Social Security Administration was giving SS to representatives of beneficiaries who are unable to manage money without proper initiation paperwork, and without authority to stop such payments when fraud is discovered. Finally, the Social Security Administration notes that they are paying millions to citizens who are already deceased.

One interesting story is that of the Amish community. The Amish do pay taxes, giving Caesar his due. However, they do not pay Social Security. They have been legally exempted for the following religious reasons: Social Security means not trusting God, it breaks the separation of Church and State, and it is welfare, which the Amish do not ever take. The Amish Country News states, “Perhaps most importantly, the care of the elderly is seen as the responsibility of the family and community, not the government. Whether it be additions built onto the main house where grandparents ‘retire,’ benefit sales to pay large medical bills, or the community effort of a barn-raising, the Amish truly try to ‘take care of their own.’” Taking care of the family elders used to be an American tradition, not just an Amish one. Since 1935, the aged have increasingly been put into old age homes instead of the young doing their familial duty. Today, not only are we putting our parents and grandparents out of sight and mind, a new phenomenon is being foisted upon us. The new argument is that we should be allowed to kill, KILL, our aged. Yes, the drums of assisted suicide are being beaten, and many children are becoming real life Kevorkians.

Congressman Ron Paul sums up this whole affair in his sage-like manner. Paul: “Hopefully Americans will realize that the notion of Social Security as an insurance program is a lie, and that Congress has not put their Social Security contributions into any trust fund… The Social Security crisis is a spending crisis. The program could be saved tomorrow if Congress simply would stop spending so much money, apply even 10% of the bloated federal budget to a real trust fund, and begin saving your contributions to earn simple interest. That this simple approach seems impossible speaks volumes about the inability of Congress to cut spending no matter what the circumstances.”

Social security today is Socialism. Bush’s plan to fix the pilfered fund is to keep most of SS Socialist, and to make a very small percentage into corporate socialism. What everyone knows is that private accounts are the only way to fairly allow men and women to save for retirement. Privatization, unfortunately, is something we will probably never see. All hail the U.S.S.A!

About the Author

Erik Fortman is an author and musician from Texas. His books, Webs of Power and Webs of Power 2, are now available. He welcomes comments at erikfortman@yahoo.com