In 1919, Charles Ponzi, a con artist whose only noteworthy skill was public relations, invented a very creative scheme.

Ponzi would ask people to invest with him for a very high rate of return. He then sought out new investors whose contributions were used to pay his obligations to the old investors. No new wealth was created.

Once people discovered Ponzi was not the investor he claimed to be, he could no longer attract enough new investors to pay his obligations to his old investors.

The scheme collapsed and Ponzi was imprisoned for fraud.

In 1935, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a socialist whose only noteworthy skill was public relations, invented a very creative scheme.

Roosevelt would require by law all workers to invest with him for a very high rate of return. As young citizens entered the workforce, their contributions were used to pay his obligations to the old workers.

My mistake. Comrade Frankie didn’t invent anything, he plagiarized a con artist.

Social Security was a scam from Day one. If the “baby boom” generation had continued the steadily declining birthrate that existed since 1820, Comrade Frankie’s Ponzi Scheme would have collapsed decades ago.

Because Social Security is fraudulent and unconstitutional, it must be eliminated. However, because the baby boomers have been brainwashed since birth to rely upon the government, it would be immoral to take Social Security away from them at the last minute.

The challenge is to ride out the baby boomer crash while simultaneously liberating future generations from socialist fraud. Because the politicians aren’t doing anything, I have devised the following plan.

1. Reinstate the gold standard. In 1971, our terminally incompetent government eliminated the gold standard, thus reducing the U.S. dollar to fiat currency. The problem with fiat currency is that it’s designed to lose value faster than you can save it. Reinstating the gold standard will help conserve the already meager purchasing power of Social Security benefits.

2. Massive government downsizing. The Department of Education, Department of Transportation, DEA, ATF, FCC and many, many other useless and unconstitutional agencies must be repealed, including everything in that Matthew Lesko book and foreign aid. As each agency is repealed, money can be transferred to Social Security to better ensure adequate funds.

3. Repeal payroll taxes. Anyone who was born on or after Jan. 1, 1970 will no longer pay the tax and will not receive any benefits. Those young enough to prepare for their own retirement will need the extra money to do so.

4. Add financial education to our schools. (Unlike the first three steps, this one must be done state-by-state.) Every child should be ready to begin long-term investing by the time he or she gets his or her first job. Every child should graduate from high school with two financial plans (one for security, one for comfort). We cannot allow our children to get conned as our parents have been.

Don Norvell is a physics graduate assistant and a columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].