The $4.7 Trillion Pyramid (Harpers.org)

The $4.7 Trillion Pyramid (Harpers.org)

Social Security, formerly the third rai of American politics, has now been trod upon, in rather dramatic fashion, by George W. Bush. Given that the maneuver is both stupid and unnecessary, one must ask why. After all, the program%u2019s alleged deficiencies, if there are any, will not manifest themselves until at least 2018. This is not quite the same as worrying about the sun's eventual collapse into a black hole, but for most politicians a problem that lies thirteen years in the future is nearly the same thing. Clearly all is not what it seems.

Finally, some straight talk about the proposed changes to Social Security. The proposed changes are exposed as a Ponzi scheme.

Many modern issues are so complex (think terrorism, social security, universal healthcare), that we usually just defer to our elected and appointed officials and hope that they do the right thing. The problem is, that they don't have our interests in mind. This is a deep problem, and I can't think of a good solution yet.