IS SOCIAL SECURITY a Ponzi scheme? Maybe, maybe not. But that's not the point:

[F]ighting over an analogy gives both sides too easy an out. What Americans should really be wrestling with is not whether Social Security is or isn't a Ponzi scheme, but whether its all-important surpluses are wisely invested. Or whether, to be precise, they are invested at all.

Which is exactly the argument for privatization.