Introduction
I owe David Friedberg a shout out. The guy’s a tech wizard—ex-Google hotshot, sold The Climate Corporation for a cool $930 million—and his riff on the All-In Podcast lit a fire under me. He tossed out a wild idea: shove half the Social Security Trust Fund into the S&P 500. I’m running with it, not because it’s his baby, but because it’s a sledgehammer to the rusting shackles of a system bleeding out by 2032. This isn’t just about saving a fund—it’s about smashing the myth of government handouts, handing workers their rightful slice of America’s corporate jackpot, and fitting Trump’s MAGA war cry like a glove. Buckle up.
The Current Mess of Social Security
The Social Security Trust Fund—$2.7 trillion on paper—is a wheezing dinosaur, chained to U.S. Treasury securities that limp along at 4.8% a year since the ’30s. It’s a slow-motion car wreck—outflows dwarf inflows, and by 2032, it’s toast. Meanwhile, the S&P 500, a roaring testament to American hustle, clocks 11% annually. The gap’s a gut punch: a fund meant to cradle workers is choking on its own cowardice, and I’m not buying the excuses.
The Plan: Equity Over Entitlements
Here’s the play: siphon at least 50% of that $2.7 trillion into the S&P 500—Wall Street’s glitzy prize. Rewind to ’71, post-gold standard, and picture half the fund riding the market’s waves. Today, it’d be $15 trillion—five times its current heft, a third of the S&P 500’s muscle, owned by every grease-stained, clock-punching American. The wins are brutal:
- Cash That Lasts: Slam $500 billion into equities now, let it rip at 10.5% a year, and the fund’s a juggernaut—no bankruptcy, no groveling for tax scraps.
- Workers Get Their Due: Every payroll nick becomes a golden ticket—shares in Tesla, Walmart, Pfizer—not crumbs from some bureaucrat’s table.
Equity Over Elitism and the Raw Joy of Ownership
Since ’08, the fix was in—cheap cash and Fed voodoo juiced stocks for the suit-and-tie crowd with 401(k)s, while the lunchbox brigade got stiffed with Treasury scraps. Flip that script: every worker scores a piece of the pie. Imagine a steelworker in Pittsburgh or a cashier in Boise ripping open their Social Security statement—“You own 0.0001 shares of Apple, 0.0002 of Amazon.” It’s not a drab number—it’s a middle finger to the elite, a raw, fist-in-the-air thrill of staking a claim in America’s engine room.
A Cynical Take on “Entitlements”
Here’s where it gets ugly. Social Security and Medicare—funded by workers and their bosses through payroll sweat—aren’t “entitlements” like Medicaid, doled out from Uncle Sam’s piggy bank. They’re ours, damn it, administered for us, not gifted by some benevolent overlord. But Washington’s spun it—lumping them with welfare to paint us as moochers, not earners. It’s a con, a semantic sleight-of-hand to keep us bowing to the feds instead of standing tall as the funders. Equity ownership blows that lie wide open—your labor, your stake, no handouts.
A Sovereign Wealth Fund, Not a Politician’s Prop
This $15 trillion beast would be the planet’s fattest sovereign wealth fund—not some king’s stash, but a worker-built titan. Norway’s got its $1.4 trillion oil kitty; we’d have a people’s empire, born from calluses and clock-ins. It’s already there, mislabeled as a trust fund, rotting in Treasuries. Why? Not just old debt habits—politicians hoarded it to hog the glory. Investing in the S&P 500 would’ve spotlighted America’s free-market dynamo, not D.C.’s puppet masters. They’d rather us grovel, cradle-to-grave, than cheer the capitalism that actually pays the bills.
Work’s Worth, Not Washington’s Whims
This is about guts, not government. Every Social Security cut from your check turns into a war chest—shares in Ford, Netflix, Boeing. Friedberg’s teary-eyed toilet-scrubbing tale hits home: work should mean something. “Log in and see what you own,” he mused. For the welder, the nurse, the driver—it’s not just a wage; it’s a legacy, a loud-and-proud “I built this.” No more begging D.C. for scraps—your labor’s the fuel, and the market’s the furnace.
The Real Reason It Never Happened
History’s a clue, but cynicism’s the key. Sure, the ’30s needed Treasury buyers, but today, the fund’s 8% of the pile—peanuts next to the Fed and foreigners. The real scam? Politicians didn’t want the S&P 500 stealing their thunder. A booming fund tied to free markets would’ve screamed American ingenuity—Ford’s assembly lines, Jobs’ garage—not congressional grandstanding. They kept it in Treasuries to keep us dependent, addicted to their “generosity,” not liberated by our own system’s horsepower.
Feasibility Despite the Fearmongers
It’s not rocket science. Canada’s pension fund bets 20% on stocks; U.S. feds cash in via S&P 500 options in their Thrift plan. Half-in works—period. The ’08 crash—down 37%—makes suits sweat, but the fund’s a marathon runner, not a sprinter. That 11% average shrugs off dips; toss in bonds for a 50/50 split, and it’s steady as steel. Politicos will wail “gambling!”—let ’em. Show workers their shares, and it’s not a dice roll—it’s theirs.
Trump’s MAGA Match
This is MAGA catnip—Trump’s “Make America Great Again” distilled into dollars and defiance. He’d crow: “We’re making Social Security yuge—the biggest fund ever, folks, bigger than China’s, owned by you, the forgotten worker. Tremendous.” It’s populist dynamite—socking the coastal snobs, arming flyover country with Wall Street clout. It’s jobs roaring back, pride surging, America flexing—a red-hat rally in financial form, all while dunking on global wannabes.
The Bigger, Grittier Picture
This is America unchained. Equity statements—gritty proof of ownership—would weld workers to the nation’s winning streak, spitting in the eye of despair. A $15 trillion fund’s a global haymaker, built by the people, not parasites. Work becomes a warrior’s badge—every shift a brick in the empire, not a plea for D.C.’s pity.
Conclusion Friedberg’s spark lit this fuse, but I’m fanning the flames. Shoving half the Social Security Trust Fund into the S&P 500 isn’t a tweak—it’s a reckoning. A $15 trillion worker-owned titan, equity stubs that scream “mine,” and a gut-shot to the entitlement lie—it’s raw, real, and MAGA to the core. Washington’s kept us on a leash, hogging credit for our cash. Time to cut the cord, unleash the market, and let workers rule. This is ours—let’s take it.