Uncle Milton

No doubt many Americans who lean toward liberalism feel that privatizing Social Security is just something Bush favors because he hates old people or because it would be a tasty bone tossed to his buddies on Wall Street. They also seem to be in complete denial that privatization has also been proposed in recent years by popular Democrats as well.

But privatization is not a new idea at all. The concept was first put forward by economist and Nobel Prize Winner, Milton Friedman in his 1962 book, "Capitalism and Freedom". Friedman recently told the San Francisco Chronicle that Social Security is really a Ponzi game.

"I've always been opposed to Social Security. I think it's a very unethical program. "

Asked why, if Social Security is so terrible, it is the most popular government program in American history, Friedman replied, "Well, because why does a Ponzi game work? It's easy to understand why it's popular. So far, on the average, retirees have gotten more out of the system than they put into it. "

At 92 Friedman still has a sense of humor. When the Chronicle asked him why he lives in San Francisco, liberalisms den, he quipped, "Not much competition here."