How easy is it to spread misinformation…

[ch33zw1z]

Very interesting

 

[HomerJS]

The internet was a mistake.

More like social media was the mistake.

 

[HomerJS]

Misinformation is easily spread by evil people the gullible consider credible. Aka black people stealing pets in Springfield to eat them.

If Barack Obama said white people are kidnapping black people on the streets and lobotomizing them it would not be believable because the source is considered an upstanding person, and the rumor is the plot from the movie Get Out.

 

[fskimospy]

1. The statement about having a $2.5 trillion surplus shows a fundamental error by whoever created this post in understating how guaranteed benefit programs work. Guaranteed benefit programs work by saving money today to pay for benefits guaranteed to recipients in the future. The $2.5 trillion "surplus" has already been committed to future beneficiaries. The fund will run insolvent by 2035, at which point benefits will be cut for all social security recipients unless Congress acts to authorize additional funding. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12844. Saying that the fund has a surplus is basically the equivalent of me telling you I have a massive surplus in my bank account right after I get my paycheck. Technically true, but I need to pay my mortgage, health insurance, property taxes, food, groceries, fuel, etc. next week.
   
   
2. The statement that Congress has "borrowed" money from social security to pay for other things is opaque at best and misleading at worst. The social security trust fund, by law, is only allowed to invest in U.S. Treasury securities, which are considered some of the safest investments on the planet. The intent of restricting investments to treasury securities was to ensure the safety of the funds, not to bankroll congressional spending.

The Social Security Trust Fund does not exist, has never existed, and could never exist, at least as currently structured.

I mean think about it - as you mentioned the Social Security Trust Fund is entirely invested in treasuries. What is a treasury bond? A promise by the US government to pay $X. So basically the SS trust fund is a promise by the government to pay itself money. If you write yourself an IOU did you get any richer? Of course not.

Social Security exists now the same way it always has, that incoming funds pay for current recipients.

 

[ch33zw1z]

How Elon Musk and X Became the Biggest Purveyors of Online Misinformation

A timeline of how Elon Musk has turned X into a misinformation weapon that spews falsehoods about migrants, gender, health and elections.

www.rollingstone.com

Shocking

 

[ch33zw1z]

The Social Security Trust Fund does not exist, has never existed, and could never exist, at least as currently structured.

I mean think about it - as you mentioned the Social Security Trust Fund is entirely invested in treasuries. What is a treasury bond? A promise by the US government to pay $X. So basically the SS trust fund is a promise by the government to pay itself money. If you write yourself an IOU did you get any richer? Of course not.

Social Security exists now the same way it always has, that incoming funds pay for current recipients.

Appreciate the explanation. Pete, why’d you delete your post? It provided context for real. It’s a good conversation to have and why this thread exists. So much BS is coming at us all day it’s good to discuss what is and isn’t for real.