Many people pay insurance but never get ‘equitable’ benefits from it. Others pay insurance and get much more benefit from it than they put in. That’s why it is called insurance. You never know if or when you may need it.
But… if/when people get old, it’s a pretty sure bet that most people will need a surplus income to survive as they will likely be less able to work or bring in as much income as they get older.
Some people seem to think that you should get back what you put in. Insurance doesn’t work that way. In fact, SS insurance actually works better than most other insurance plans, because many people WILL get back at least some of what they put in, and some will get back more than what they put in, depending on fate… which none of us can know.
Some may say… well, if they are old and no longer a productive citizen, why not just let them die? I’d like to think that we, as a civilized society, are better than that.