The U.S. Social Security program taxes most heavily on persons with low incomes, does not provide a fair return, and causes a massive transfer from the less well off to the better off. According to Milton and Rose Friedman, “the poor tend to pay [Social Security] taxes for more years and receive benefits for fewer years than the rich—all in the name of helping the poor!” (Free to Choose (1979 p. 97)). If the same program were implemented by a business in the private sector, it would be considered a criminal offense.
