When I was 19 years old, a representative from a mutual retirement plan approached me and asked to me contribute to his fund. I advised him that I planned on investing in my retirement, but I wanted to do some comparison-shopping. He informed me that he represented a unique fund and that participation was mandatory. In fact, if I did not participate, he assured me I would be prosecuted, fined and possibly sent to jail. Since that time, he has made arrangements for my contributions to this mutual retirement fund to be removed from my paycheck by every employer I have ever worked for.
In recent years, I have observed the "managers" of this fund, on television, meeting in Washington, D.C. About half the fund managers are convinced that the program will be devoid of money and essentially bankrupt long before I am scheduled to retire in 2032. However, despite the almost certainty that I will not receive any benefits whatsoever, they still insist that I send my contributions on a monthly basis, unless I want to be prosecuted, fined or possibly jailed.
So what heinous organized scam of epic proportions did I get myself involved in, you ask? Enron? WorldCom? No. The name of the fund I am still paying into, with a virtual guarantee of bankruptcy before maturity, is called Social Security. It is kind of like Enron and WorldCom, except the board of directors is at least honest enough to tell me up front that I will never see a return on my investment.
Imagine what would happen if this scheme were perpetrated by the private sector. Outrage? Congressional hearings? Media frenzy? Jail for the perpetrators?
Isn't the only difference between Enron, WorldCom and Social Security the fact that in order to lose all your money in two of these scams, you actually had a choice about whether to risk it or not?
But let's take heart in the knowledge that the board of directors of my defunct fund is now going to divert its significant fiscal acumen to righting the wrongs of corporations foisting fraudulent economic activities upon the general public.
I guess the lunatics have decided that they are indeed qualified to enter into the business of asylum management.
