I have to ask since I am an MMTer and you seem to take issue with most of my posts relating to the monetary system.
The working class got Shanghaied into higher taxes by thinking that they were providing for their own retirement. Meanwhile the deflationary effect of the higher payroll taxes was counteracted by lower taxes for the wealthy. All of this was sold as a "good deal" because nobody really understood how the fiscal and monetary system worked. That is the legacy of the 1983 "Social Security deal".
Please don't take any of this to think that I'm one of these "the social security trust fund is an illusion" people. I do believe that it exists, it should be payed out to retirees on schedule as it was intended. However, I also believe that we shouldn't worry about it running a deficit and should rewrite the Social Security Act to allow it to run a deficit. The point of all this is to get the left to understand how our lack of understanding the money system can allow us to be duped by conservative "deals" and institute counter-productive policy. We cannot allow ourselves to be dragged into the conservative fantasy that the federal budget has revenue constraints. I have no hope of convincing conservatives of this because they are emotionally and ideologically invested in fictional budget constraints so that they can institute their plan to destroy popular social programs. Such as when they wanted to "privatize" social security. They tried to sell it as "people will be able to better save their own money". Demonstrating that they both want to destroy social security, and the fantasy that everyone saving more money will solve the problem.
So what is the solution to the retirement problem? Their are several REAL solutions to consider. All you have to do is to temporarily take money out of your thinking. I am not necessarily advocating all of these, just listing them as possible solutions. I am listing them in the order of what I believe would be the most effective solutions.
First of all, while we have the workforce now, we need to build things whose value will last. For examples of this, think of things like the Hoover Damn, interstate highways, and other projects that have a lasting benefit for society.