We always hear it - SOCIAL SECURITY WILL BE BROKE BY <fill-in-year> !!!

But that's basically BULLSHIT. Shortfall ? Just sneak up the
paycheck deduction by a percent or two - Mo Money !

Now the USA does face a longer-term problem - sub-replacement
population growth amongst 'native borns'. Everybody feels secure
so they don't have lots of kids anymore. Indeed it's WELL below
the replacement rate (which is around 2.1 or 2.2). The USA is
not the only country experiencing this.

SO ... this is what all the "Mexicans" are for. TAXABLE labor
which, for a gen or two, WILL stay above replacement. The
average Jose' will be financing YOUR SS/Medicare (and, alas,
lots of less-worthy hand-out programs).

Even traditionally xenophobic countries like Japan and China
are now eager for foreign labor - mostly from Africa or
India. Their native-born are not keeping up either.

The kind of "social programs" common in 1st-world countries
only work by the current gen robbing the next. But what if
the "next" is really small ? You can only raise taxes SO
much before you crush everyone and there's a revolution
or massive implosion.

There is NO SUCH THING as "free money" ... but the pols
can't admit that. "Free money", once given, is EXPECTED
BY EVERYONE FOREVER. Slightest cut-backs and the pols
are OUT, or worse. The bread and circuses MUST continue
no matter how unsustainable. It's a political TRAP.
Gotta promise to get elected, gotta DELIVER to stay
elected (or alive, depending). "Free money" NEVER ends
until all-fall-down-go-boom.

Just look at France/Macron. Slight change required
dictatorial powers - and now massive ongoing protests/
riots. It WILL destroy him, but NOT doing it WILL
destroy France as we know it.

TRAP !!!

Once you start you've gotta ride the beast to hell.

Now, technically, SS/Medicare are not "free money".
You pay in, you get pay-out later. It's more like
an insurance policy. Alas, smelling "free money",
everyone keeps demanding MORE pay-out for more
people more often. The pols HAVE to go along with
it for the abovementioned reasons. So ...