Social security is the without a doubt the state’s biggest lie. While the state has a history of lies, big whoppers that have cost tens, if not hundreds, of millions of lives, it’s the lie of government-guaranteed social security that makes all the other lies possible.
Before the advent of the Prussian socialist state in the 1800’s, children cared for their elderly parents. And, when that failed, the church stepped in to provide for the community's old and infirm. That was the compact – between parents and children, backed by the church – and it worked well.
Along came the state saying that it would care the elderly. Children would be emancipated from their parents, and parents would no longer have to rely on their children. The original compact was broken and forgotten in lieu of the efficient state solution. The dawn of the utopian guardian state began.
Prussia was looking to break the bond between parent and child in order to foster a new bond; a bond between citizen and state. In this upside-down world, the state would become the ever-living parent in care of the never-maturing citizen.
As the parent, the state would guide the lives, the thoughts, the religion, and the morals, of its citizens. That’s the Faustian bargain; the citizens blindly worship the all-providing state for the price of freedom and souls.
Now, here comes the bait-and-switch. Remember, under the socialist system of the Prussian state of the 1800's and the current, near socialist, US system, parents no longer have to rely on their own children for care and security.
OK, that's the bait, now the switch. You see, someone has to work to continue funding the Ponzi scheme that is Social Security, and that someone is the next generation – the children and grandchildren of those retired.
The state cannot create Utopia. Despite the nonsense coming out of the mouths of babes – those left in a perpetual juvenile condition due to the interventions of a state-run education system – the state cannot remove scarcity and uneasiness. It simply cannot.
So, the state steals money from the workforce in order to secure those in retirement. Through the state's directions, the care of the elderly is provided by their offspring. But, isn't this similar to what the family and the church did before this whole mess started? Of course it is. OK, but what was gained from the state intervention in this important aspect of the family? Nothing, absolutely nothing. What was lost? Freedom and the family itself, along with the souls of all citizens.
Parents no longer look to children as later-in-life caretakers; the state has filled that role. Children are now seen as a burden; an expense to some, ravenous resource-consuming beasts to others. It's the state that will provide; it's the state that will solve the ills of the world.
Yet, since the state cannot remove the yoke of scarcity, it must rely on its citizens. Parents still need their children's care because the state needs their children's labor. Social Security solved nothing, nothing. It did, though, cause many ills. The family is now undervalued, with the war on poverty ending up being a war on the family; a war which the state has all but won.
The lie of security makes all other lies possible. If the state is the caregiver, provider, educator, and pastor, it can do anything. And, more importantly, the state must be protected at all costs. The state as the pension fund and old-age nursemaid must remain; it must not be allowed to perish as nothing else can replace it. The family has been weakened by two centuries of interventions and taxes, while the church has been emasculated by laws and court decisions, and both have been removed frmo their roles in society.
Many say with a straight face that they do not want to burden their children with the worries and strains of providing old-age care. These people believed that the state will watch over them free of charge. Why? Well, they have bought into the idea the Social Security is an insurance policy purchased by years of labor and taxation, secured by the backing of the state. That this lie persists despite the facts shows that public education has produced its true product; a citizenry in awe of, and obedient to, the state.
Sure you will hear some folks say that they do not expect Social Security to see them through retirement, yet these same folks act as if the checks will come regardless. "The government cannot default as there would be an uproar; a revolution." True, and your elected officials know it. That's exactly why a number of European states are now paying couples to have children. These states have all but admitted that they cannot care for the elderly alone; the states need help from the children and grandchildren. But, even here, the elderly will still be cared for by the family of the state, not the traditional family.
If the state is your family, your source of security, then it must be supported at all costs. Our citizenry has enabled the state to lie at will since the state has become the last hope. But surely it does not have to end here.
Our nation must face the lie of social security and understand that children take care of parents under any system. Only then can the socialized citizens begin to mature and take on the role of the adult, with adult responsibilities and concerns; recognizing that the family is central and the state superfluous.
While the state will always lie, its lies will have little effect as its role will be greatly diminished. With no more families to destroy and no more empires to build, there are no more big lies to tell.
February 20, 2007
