Elon Musk thinks Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. That's bad.

It's not, but that won't stop the wannabe trillionaire's from making it the dog committee's next target if he wants it to be.

Before I get into this week’s post, here are way’s to help flooding victims in Appalachia

• EKY Mutual Aid is probably the best grassroots rapid response resource in Eastern Kentucky, and they can always use an extra few bucks.

• This spreadsheet provided by Appalachians for Appalachian is an evolving list of ways you can help

Richy Rich may target Social Security next

It goes without saying at this point: I am unequivocally anti-billionaire. I’m also going to pre-emptively state that I am anti-trillionaire. Both cannot exist without someone being trampled upon and exploited, sometimes gleefully!

If “telling the American people to go fuck themselves” was an Olympic sport, Elon Musk might be a top contender for the most gold medals in history.¹

The richest man in the world, who likely is on a quest to become the first trillionaire, went on Joe Rogan’s podcast recently and opined on Social Security, as one does when you’re worth $350 billion.²

“I mean Social Security is the biggest ponzi scheme of all time”

Source: More Perfect Union

Social Security isn’t a Ponzi scheme.

Buckle up, friends. Today we’re learning about Ponzi schemes and why Social Security isn’t one.³ ⁴Let’s debunk this bullshit from the get-go. Here is what a Ponzi scheme actually is:

A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that pays existing investors with funds collected from new investors. Ponzi scheme organizers often promise to invest your money and generate high returns with little or no risk. But in many Ponzi schemes, the fraudsters do not invest the money. Instead, they use it to pay those who invested earlier and may keep some for themselves.

Source: Investor.gov

American workers aren’t “investors” into social security, we are “contributors”

1. Investors are people who allocate financial capital with the expectation of future profits (return on investment)

2. Investors typically have some ownership or control (i.e., when they own stocks, bonds, assets, etc.). Workers funding Social Security do not.

3. Social Security benefits are calculated based on a formula which considers lifetime earnings and age of retirement, not market-based growth

4. Americans aren’t paying into it expecting that it will generate high revenue returns for us.

We’re paying into it because:

1. It operates as a revolving pay-as-you-go system that pools the financial resources from today’s workers to be used by current Social Security recipients AND

2. With the promise⁵ that we will be able to draw from it when we reach the age we are able to do so.

Wow, that was super easy to debunk. That must mean that either Elon Musk isn’t the genius everyone thinks he is, or I’m a super genius. I’ll let y’all guess which one of those is the correct answer.⁶

Using the JRE Platform to broadcast this stupidity is dangerous

For those who may not be aware, The Joe Rogan Experience is a podcast with a massive platform — garnering 11,000,000+ listeners per episode on average by some metrics — making what Musk said all the more dangerous.

Lots of people listening to JRE may not know much about how Social Security works. But all of them see it deducted out of every paycheck.

If they trust Elon Musk, which unfortunately many Rogan listeners do, then they might be inclined to believe his lies that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme.

Allowing Musk and the dog committee⁷ to take a buzz saw to this program would absolutely destroy one of the most important lifelines we have in this country. Social Security is a promise we cannot afford to break.

Appalachia, as always, will suffer the stank of this Musk

Appalachia has some of the poorest people in the country, and an increasingly aging population. Around 18.4% of the Appalachian population is 65 and older, two percent higher than the national average.

My dad, the type of person who would suffer the most if Social Security or Medicare were cut.

My parents survive, in large part, on Social Security and Medicare.

This isn’t unique to them. Millions of Americans are just like them. These billionaire robber-baron clowns cannot be trusted with one of the most sacred and trusted programs in our country’s history. And one of them is getting way too close to it.

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(I created a Spotify playlist for this Substack where I’ll add weekly listen music each week. Follow it if you use Spotify⁸)

This week, I’m listening to Palmyra — a great new band recently signed to John Prine’s Oh Boy Record Label, who is releasing their debut album this month.

We just had Palmyra on the podcast this past week, so give the episode a listen because they are a lot of fun to talk to! They were some of the easiest people to talk to and get to know — which is quite a feat in a Zoom-based environment.

The lyrics to their songs address some of the more complex and difficult subjects of life, including mental health, gender dysphoria, and capitalism — which many readers of this substack can relate to.

Stream their latest single, Shape I’m In, which will be on their debut album due out at the end of this month.⁹

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A quick note about No Elegy Needed

I wanted to drop a quick note here to say thank you.

Thank you to everyone who has been subscribing to this substack

Thank you to everyone who has been reading my sometimes serious, sometimes snarky bullshit on here

and a huge thank you to those of you willing to part with a few bucks a month to fund my work — eternally grateful.

I started writing my opinions down way back in 2010, at the height of the blog era, to an audience of like seven people. I’m really proud of how far things have come in the 15 years (Jesus H. Christ that makes me want to puke) since then.

I plan on punching out things in here at least once a week, but hope to do so more frequently in the future. If you have it in your budget to become a paid subscriber, it is never expected, but always appreciated.

Until next time: watch for deer, y’all.

1. THANK GOD COMEDY IS LEGAL AGAIN, AMIRITE?

2. Hopefully he lost a few billion in net worth by the time you’re reading this

3. It should go without saying, but I feel obligated to: for legal reasons, none of this is financial advice. Nor is it legal advice. Honestly, it’s not even advice. It’s just my opinions.

4. Nor does this ever, nor will it ever, represent the views of my employer. Phewww, got all that out of the way.

5. Important operative term here. Investments aren’t promises. Ever watch the Wolf of Wall Street? Helluva movie. But there’s a reason that guy went to prison.

6. I failed the written part of my learner’s permit test the first time I took it, because I thought one of the questions was a trick question the way it was worded. I wrote that it was technically legal to hit a person at a crosswalk. If that helps you with your answer…

7. I’m committing to never calling it by its Christian name again

8. Obligatory “Fuck Spotify, pay your artists more” message. Just to be clear. But alas, it is one of the best ways to discover and listen to artists….

9. We’re so back with the footnotes this week