The Lie You Were Sold - Part 3
Beyond The Workforce
Issue 14
By David Thomas Graves
Rebuilding the System They Were Never Brave Enough to Fix
At this point, we’ve stopped pretending.
We’ve exposed the lie. We’ve laid out the scam. And now it’s time to build something better.
This article is not about saving Social Security. It’s about replacing it, completely. With a real system. One that creates value. Builds wealth. And gives American workers what they’ve been denied for almost a century: ownership of their own future.
But it won’t be easy. This will take political suicide. It will shake markets. It will disrupt the very foundation of how Washington prints, spends, and manipulates the economy.
We’re going to break down the architecture of a modern retirement investment system, from its funding model and return thresholds, to its independence from government debt and inflation.
Because retirement should be earned, owned, and protected, not promised, taxed, and stolen.
And if we want a system that actually works, then we’ll have to be bold enough to burn down the one that doesn’t.
Let’s stop pretending.
Social Security isn’t “running out.” It already failed.
It failed the math.
It failed the economy.
It failed the next generation.
And most of all, it failed the American worker.
We have to stop talking about “reform” and start talking about replacement.
This is not a patch job. This is not a cost-of-living tweak. This is a total reconstruction - a hard reset of what it means to retire in America.
Because let’s face it: the system we have today isn’t just broken. It’s corrupt. It’s being used to inflate the money supply, prop up government debt, fund programs it was never intended to touch, and force younger Americans into a rigged game where the payout gets smaller, the taxes get larger, and the finish line keeps moving.
And the only reason it survives?
Because nobody in Washington has the guts to kill it.
The Fix Will Require Political Suicide
Make no mistake: this solution won’t come from a poll-tested platform or a reheated policy memo. It’s going to require something we haven’t seen in decades - a leader willing to end their career doing the right thing.
The kind of leader who walks into a room full of consultants and says:
“I’d rather lose in truth than win in silence.”
This reform will be attacked from all sides:
The Left will say you’re gutting the safety net.
The Right will call it big government overreach.
The Center will panic over “transition costs.”
Wall Street will scream about lost bond purchases.
The Fed will panic about lost liquidity.
The Treasury will beg for the old system back.
Why?
Because replacing Social Security doesn’t just shift how we retire. It re-wires how the U.S. manipulates money. Right now, Social Security serves two masters: the retiree, and the federal government’s liquidity needs.
And guess which one it serves better? Take that away, and you don’t just free the worker, you force Washington to live within its means again. Interest rates will rise. M2 expansion will slow. Government borrowing will get more expensive. The velocity of money will drop.
And politicians will lose their favorite tool: quiet, backdoor taxation through inflation.
But guess what?
That’s what a functioning democracy should look like.
The Real Solution: A New Retirement Investment Infrastructure
We don’t need a “better Social Security.” We need a replacement retirement system built for 21st-century economics.
Here’s what that system must include:
1. A Minimum Floor Return of 10% to Hedge Debasement
The new system must directly account for inflationary pressures.
It needs to outperform the dollar’s annual loss in value. In today’s environment, that means a guaranteed floor return of at least 10%.
Why?
Because if you’re going to force workers to participate, it better deliver more than what the current system steals through inflation.
This means investing in real value-producing assets - not government IOUs.
2. Government-Mandated, but Privately Invested
Let’s be honest: Americans don’t save. Not because they’re lazy, because the system punishes saving and rewards spending.
So the new retirement investment model must be compulsory, but designed with:
Automatic contributions (just like current payroll taxes).
Ownership by the worker, not the state.
Private investment into value-generating assets (not government bonds).
Payout protection and principal guarantees, similar to pension systems.
Every worker will have a personal investment fund. But the government’s role will be limited to oversight - not consumption.
3. No Government Debt Recycling
Here’s the dealbreaker:
The new system cannot be used to buy U.S. debt. Period.
If this system simply becomes a dressed-up version of Social Security—buying Treasury bonds and indirectly supporting M2 money creation—we’ve fixed nothing.
The fund must be legally banned from purchasing federal debt. It can only invest in:
Publicly traded, dividend-paying companies.
Indexed ETFs tied to American productivity.
Small-business and domestic infrastructure bonds.
Green energy transitions, housing developments, or technology funds that create jobs and value on U.S. soil.
This retirement system must add to real economic velocity, not artificial money supply numbers.
4. A True Fiduciary Structure
The system must be structured like a national pension fund, not a welfare program.
It must be:
Independently managed by a non-governmental fiduciary board.
Audited annually by third parties.
Protected by law from political interference.
Insured by the federal government (like FDIC for banks).
If the government wants to use the money, it must borrow at market rates, with real repayment schedules, and mandatory returns paid back to the retiree.
No more IOUs. No more fake “trust funds.” No more raiding the accounts of workers to fund political promises.
5. Separate Retirement from Welfare
Here’s another hard truth: we have to stop pretending Social Security is a catch-all system.
Right now, it’s expected to cover retirement, disability, and survivor benefits—three fundamentally different functions.
And that’s part of the problem.
The new system must focus exclusively on retirement. This is not about safety nets. This is about earned investment and delayed reward.
Disability should be treated as a separate system, rooted in compassion, medicine, and national insurance, not an afterthought tacked onto retirement funding.
When everything is lumped together, everything gets diluted. When everything is paid from the same pot, everything gets politicized.
And that’s how you end up with a system where:
The disabled don’t get enough.
Retirees get robbed by inflation.
And the government pretends it’s doing both a favor.
Let’s split the responsibilities, fund them separately, and do each one the right way.
Call It What It Is: A Retirement Investment Strategy
We need to change the language. Social Security is not a “benefit.” You earned it. You funded it. You were forced into it.
The new system should be called what it truly is:
A Retirement Investment Strategy.
It’s a long-term, asset-backed savings mechanism. It’s built to reward work with ownership. And it’s rooted in a simple idea: If you give this country your labor, you should retire with something real.
The Transition Plan: Pay More Now to Save Everything Later
Let’s be honest. This change will be expensive.
We’re going to need to fund both systems for a time. We’ll need to support current retirees and disabled Americans while phasing younger workers into the new system. That means we will spend more in the short-term. But that spending is not waste, it’s rescue.
It’s how we buy our way out of this trap without abandoning those who’ve already paid into it. This isn’t charity. It’s accounting. It’s maturity. It’s leadership. And if we do it now, we save trillions in the long run. We give the next generation ownership instead of IOUs.
We end the cycle of chasing inflation with broken math.
And we start the process of giving America back her economic backbone: the worker.
Yes - This Will Hurt Washington - And That’s the Point.
Ending the current system removes a trillion-dollar liquidity engine from Washington’s control.
Let’s be clear about the fallout:
The money supply (M2) will slow down.
Interest rates will rise to reflect actual borrowing needs.
Government bond demand will fall.
The Treasury will scream.
The Fed will fight.
Congress will panic.
But here’s the question:
Since when was your retirement supposed to exist to help the government print money?
That’s what this system became. A disguised tax on future wealth. A liquidity sponge for reckless spending. A silent enabler of inflation. And when you really understand that, one thing becomes obvious: None of this money should be taxed again. That’s right: All retirement distributions under the new system must be 100% tax-free. You can’t call it “yours” if the IRS still gets a cut.
The System We Build Must Be Bigger Than Politics
This isn’t a left or right issue. It’s a generational reckoning. It’s a rescue operation for the American worker.
We need a system that:
Pays returns that keep up with reality.
Gives workers legal ownership of their contributions.
Builds national wealth through domestic investment.
Operates free from political abuse.
And honors the value of work by guaranteeing dignity at the finish line.
And we need the kind of leadership that will walk into traffic to make it happen.
Not manage decline. Not delay collapse. But rip out the rot - and rebuild something that lasts.
The Final Word: Ownership or Obedience Pick One
The Social Security system was never built to save you. It was built to save the government. It was born from crisis. Shaped by manipulation. Expanded for votes.
And sustained by fear.
And the cost of keeping it alive today is staggering:
Lost ownership.
Lost investment.
Lost purchasing power.
And lost belief that the system can ever be trusted again.
But we can change that. Not with slogans. Not with tweaks. With a full, unapologetic replacement—built for a generation that demands more than scraps.
Because if we don’t fight for it, who will?
And if we’re not ready to replace this system…
Then we should stop pretending we care about the future at all.
Social Security is not a retirement system, it’s a decades-old government mechanism built on demographic illusions and economic manipulation. It was never designed to help Americans retire with dignity. It was designed to stabilize federal cash flow during a crisis and has been falsely marketed as a safety net ever since. It’s a lie that generations have paid into, with no ownership, no investment, and no control over what comes back.
Today, that lie functions like a legal Ponzi scheme. Current workers fund retirees. Excess contributions buy government debt. That debt props up federal spending. The Federal Reserve monetizes that debt. And the result? Inflation, dollar debasement, and a future that costs more while delivering less. Your labor is taxed, your returns are imaginary, and your so-called benefits are shrinking in value every year.
It’s time to stop defending this system and start building a new one. One that’s real. One that creates wealth. One that’s owned by the people, not the state. The replacement system must invest in real assets, deliver real returns, and protect the dignity of every worker who contributes. Because the most dangerous lie isn’t that Social Security is failing - it’s pretending it was ever designed to succeed.
© David Thomas Graves 2025
Rebuilding the System They Were Never Brave Enough to Fix
They told you it was for your future. They promised it was safe. They swore it could be saved. But the truth has finally caught up with the lie. This article isn’t about fixing a broken system - it’s about tearing down the foundation they were too afraid to touch and building something real in its place. A system built not on fear, taxes, and manipulation - but on ownership, value, and the courage to start over. If you’re ready to confront the truth they’ve spent generations hiding, you’re ready for what comes next.