<i>Sigh</i> Just because something is nothing more than a scheme of money redistribution doesn't make it a Ponzi scheme. Loans and insurance, for example, are legitimate and legal schemes of money redistribution. A Ponzi scheme is an act of fraud where a money redistribution scheme masquerades as an investment scheme. A Ponzi scheme involves confidence tricks and mis-representation.<p>"Social Security" - technically FICA, the Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax - is an insurance scheme, principally of OASDI (Old Age Survivorship and Disability Insurance) and Medicare (a health care subsidy for old people). Call it mismanaged or misguided or even "un-American" if you like, but it isn't fraud, and it isn't a Ponzi scheme.