> who have worked in jobs participating in Social Security. Ah yes. I (sort of) touched upon that when I said "the amount you get out has some relation to how

> who have worked in jobs participating in Social Security. Ah yes. I (sort of) touched upon that when I said "the amount you get out has some relation to how much you put in". But yes, if you never contribute to Social Security, you don't get anything at all even after reaching retirement age. The point is all of those programs involve people getting money out of a system that they have contributed to themselves through their taxes. None of them are "pure" charity, where beneficiaries get something for free.