| A few points to unpack here. 1. "private undemocratic unaccountable authoritarian institutions" are a lot of buzzwords, which don't accurately describe your local businesses. If every company was google, we could go there, but in the current reality, you're presenting a false dichotomy. The balance of power between people and their local institutions is wildly different than people and the federal government and megacorps. 2. A person can freely look for work at any time. They can upskill and seek more gainful employment, transfer into a better paying position in another company, or find employment that is more suitable to their immediate needs (part-time work for those studying as example.) You can't do that with government - unless you compete directly against the megacorps who use their power and influencer to affect elections and legislation. Example: We got rid of net neutrality despite it being enormously popular. That's massively undemocratic and demonstrates that large institutions, government or not, don't always act in the best interests of the people. 3. Social Security is its own creature and requires a more thorough discussion. What I can say is based on my own experience - my family didn't benefit from Social Security. By the time my father was eligible for benefits, he was already on his death bed. Spousal benefits are "up to" half, meaning my father worked his entire life and my mother only got to benefit from half the 'savings.' If he had just put that money away like he did all his regular earnings my mother would be much better off. I can't imagine my family was the only one in such a situation. |