Mises on Social Security
One response I often get in friendly banter regarding my position on getting rid of the social security system is that the average person can't be trusted to save on his or her own. In part I agree, because I believe U.S. policy, legislation, etc. has created the very conditions that make it so... a nanny state where the individuals are raised to be perpetual children. So think about that... Ludwig Von Mises, in Human Action, painted the picture of what this leads to:
"Whether such a system of social security is a good or bad policy is essentially a political problem. One may try to justify it by declaring that the wage earners lack the insight and the moral strength to provide spontaneously for their own future. But then it is not easy to silence the voices of those who ask whether it is not paradoxical to entrust the nation's welfare to the decisions of voters whom the law itself considers incapable of managing their own affairs; whether it is not absurd to make those people supreme in the conduct of government who are manifestly in need of a guardian to prevent them from spending their own income foolishly. Is it reasonable to assign to wards the right to elect their guardians? It is no accident that Germany, the country that inaugurated the social security system, was the cradle of both varieties of modern disparagement of democracy, the Marxian as well as the non-Marxian."
In other words, this position leads inevitably to totalitarian rule in one form (socialism) or another (fascism). If you hold the position that people in general are too stupid or lack the will to provide for their own future in absence of government coercion, you might want to think about your response to this rather compelling, historically substantiated, and well reasoned argument...
On the other hand you could take the position that most people can manage their own lives just fine and allow everyone to live and let live regarding their preferences for savings v. spending, and live with the consequences of their decisions. There will be some grasshoppers among the ants. In cases where they were simply irresponsible or foolish, they make great examples for the rest of society as to what happens when you don't save for your retirement.
You can then craft policy for the small minority who are simply unable to care for themselves, provide for a future, etc. The destitute will always be among us -- they require our care. But we shouldn't impose policies that apply to this small group of unfortunates on the majority who are perfectly capable of living their own lives. If we expect people to live like responsible adults, and our laws and social programs reflect that, then that's what we'll get: responsible adults.
