YesterDark
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2017
Some no, but maybe some yes. For instance, the US Government takes a big chunk of my salary out for FICA. For the OA (old age) part, i.e., social security, the government is more of less forcibly taking my wages to fund their approved savings account. I have no say in the matter. I would prefer to take my wages and control my saving myself. Now, I could choose to not pay, but what would happen to me then? Well, I'd be put in jail. One definition of government is an entity with the power to force an individual to comply at the threat of force.
As for Social Security (and Medicare), what is really going on isn't that "I'm funding my future savings or medical care" it's more that "I'm funding someone else's savings and medical care with the hope that in the future, another generation will fund mine" (and based on the actuarial models these were built on, those assumptions they had aren't necessarily the way things are now, especially demographically)...
The government isn't forcibly taking anything. You want to live in this country, you have to pay the legal taxes. By the fact you are living here you are stating that you are ok with this general concept. If you aren't ok with the amount, vote in someone who agrees with you and change it.
This may be semantics, but using terms like forcing or confiscating is putting the wrong connotation on the conversation.