A reader writes in favor of privatizing Social Security, citing the Enron debacle as his reason (“Enron proves it’s wise to privatize Social Security,” Voice of the people, Feb. 25). He says that Enron proved the folly of putting all of one’s eggs in one basket.
For sure, all eggs in one basket is a bad idea, but his reasoning beyond that point is specious. If all Social Security participants were allowed to make their own investment decisions, I can see a vast number of go-for-broke people who would end up, well, broke. Making one bad decision after another leads to that.
Then we would have that same vast number pleading or demanding: “Somebody bail me out. I lost all my Social Security funds, which were supposed to be my nest egg.”
Furthermore, it’s easy to predict that a horde of con men would come out of the woodwork, luring the uninitiated with get-rich-quick schemes.
I’ve been a stock market investor for more than 40 years, and have been fortunate enough to have a few more winners than losers. Overall, I learned something about the company before I made an investment in its stock, and I never had visions of making a killing. But I’ve seen too many examples of foolish speculation lead to very poor results or even disaster.
I don’t see any way that our lawmakers could permit privatization and, at the same time, protect people from themselves.
