> They currently take 15% of my income to pay for my "retirement" when if I had been able to save that I'd end up far more secure in my retirement than I will with social security.
You would, but many others wouldn't. The point of collective plans like this is that it spreads the wealth around to people who otherwise wouldn't have any. Whether you think this is fair is another discussion entirely, but that's what it's meant to do and it does it reasonably well.
> Mix that with the constant wars
This is a problem, yes. The state has little incentive not to be wasteful and the US state has been particularly wasteful in this regard.
> There are a lot of other odd statements in here too such as describing the state as a risk taker as if the state is ever punished for its' failures.
Which is the point, I think. The state can afford to take risks precisely because it won't ever be punished for failures. This leads to waste, but it also allows for investments to be made in endeavors that would be far too risky for a party subject to market forces to take on.
No argument there :-)
> They currently take 15% of my income to pay for my "retirement" when if I had been able to save that I'd end up far more secure in my retirement than I will with social security.
You would, but many others wouldn't. The point of collective plans like this is that it spreads the wealth around to people who otherwise wouldn't have any. Whether you think this is fair is another discussion entirely, but that's what it's meant to do and it does it reasonably well.
> Mix that with the constant wars
This is a problem, yes. The state has little incentive not to be wasteful and the US state has been particularly wasteful in this regard.
> There are a lot of other odd statements in here too such as describing the state as a risk taker as if the state is ever punished for its' failures.
Which is the point, I think. The state can afford to take risks precisely because it won't ever be punished for failures. This leads to waste, but it also allows for investments to be made in endeavors that would be far too risky for a party subject to market forces to take on.