Nine Days with Kuehnelt-Leddihn
Cash for Souls
“Facing the choice of cash or liberty human beings will always choose the former because it spells safety.”
How else can you explain the popularity of Social Security and Medicare? I give up the liberty to dispose of my income (.765 7.65 cents of every dollar) money however I want, and in exchange I’m assured a modest stream of income and free medical care after I retire. If people were allowed to keep their money and they invested it conservatively, the average person would get nearly $5,000 per month at retirement, which is more than double the maximum monthly Social Security benefit. But of course, people don’t trust themselves, so they give up liberty now for security later . . . and force the rest of us to participate through demigod politics.
2 Responses to “Nine Days with Kuehnelt-Leddihn”
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July 29th, 2010 at 11:27 am
What’s that Ben Franklin quote……… “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
July 29th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Actually that’s 7.65 cents on each dollar ($0.0765, but not 0.765 of anything… except dimes) and A) that same amount again from your employer; or B) twice that amount for the self-employed.
Truly, though, most people will not save for themselves, and therefore require a more paternalistic government to help them do so. (Of course, one way would to take the Fed’s hands off interest rates and let them float to natural levels, but I digress…) Ideally, there would be some way to opt out of social security if you could demonstrate in some measurable way sufficient future time orientation.