“On Joe Rogan’s podcast, Elon Musk perpetuated the lie that Social Security is a ‘Ponzi scheme.’ Setting aside for a moment whether Musk even understands or cares what a Ponzi scheme is, this is an old, right-wing trope that President Trump also used back in 2000. Comparing Social Security to the criminal enterprise run by Charles Ponzi in the early 20th century is ludicrous. Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme by any definition of the term. It is social insurance. In a Ponzi scheme, people are conned into investing money that is never repaid. Social Security is an intergenerational compact where workers pay into the system and collect benefits upon retirement, disability, or the death or disability of a family breadwinner. Social Security has never missed a payment in the nearly 90 years since it was established.
By spreading disinformation about Social Security, Musk is revealing his true agenda in interfering with the workings of the Social Security Administration (SSA). He and his DOGE squad are engaged in a campaign to discredit and dismantle the Social Security program by subverting the agency that administers benefits to 70 million Americans. This is what the seizure of Americans’ personal data, the firings and attempts to bully employees into early retirement, the closing of field offices, and the elimination of entire divisions of SSA is all about. Musk’s actions and statements make laughable President Trump’s promise ‘not to touch’ Social Security. Not only are Trump and Musk ‘touching’ the program; if left unchecked, they will break it.” – Max Richtman, President and CEO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
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