QuestionerI'm asking for your opinion on Social Security. Shall we call it the government-sponsored Ponzi scheme for retirees?
WarrenYeah, the Social Security was introduced in the, what, 36 or 37? My grandfather used to have Charlie bring two pennies to work at the Buffett and Son grocery store on Saturday in order to pay his share of Social Security. He didn't want Charlie any false ideas that there was a free lunch in this world. He gave him a half-hour lecture on the evils of socialism. So we've had a lot of exposure to Social Security and the various arguments on it. I basically believe that anything that would take Social Security payments below their present guaranteed level is a mistake. I think that in this country, extraordinarily rich country, that the people in their productive years can take care of those. outside in both areas, even though the ratio of productive and unproductive has changed and is changing. Charlie and I came into this world wired in a way that enables us to get very, very, very rich, rich far beyond any possible needs we could have. And not everybody's wired the same way. Now, if you come into this world wired with an IQ of 85 or something of the sort or disabled or whatever it may be, you know, you are not going to do as well in a market economy remotely as well as we do. But you still provide much of what makes Charlie and I very rich. And when it comes to fighting in Iraq or something of the sort, that becomes an equal opportunity type thing. But when it comes to making a lot of money, it's not equal opportunity in this country. I see people living with fear about health care or living with fear about running out of money in their old age. I think a society should try to minimize the fear that their inhabitants experience.