I suspect that almost everyone would like to have that option. I would. And if i had it at an age where i might exercise it, i would hope, knowing what i know now, that i wouldn't. But, given the negative popular press on S.S., i probably would. There are some, and possibly you are one, who could invest their social security taxes wisely enough to produce a better result, even after adjusting for risk. The problem is that no one knows at the point the decision would have to be made whether in the end they would be better off investing the money on their own or sticking with S.S. But for the reasons i mentioned in my previous post, i.e., the actuarial aspects, anyone who thinks they can match the risk adjusted return of social security with private investment and with an equivalent effort is taking a huge risk. In the end, if we are going to have a social security system at all, then there has to be wide-spread participation. The system won't work at all if we allow any significant fraction of the population to opt out. But wouldn't it be nice if we could have our cake and eat it too? And at least in one sense those of us who have disposable income can, because we can afford the base protection that S.S. gives us and pile on top of that as much private investment returns as our means and abilities will allow.
You logic here is completely invalid because you are looking at the ss return as an equal investment option. The main problem with social security is that the politicians have misappropriated the funds. That is an undeniable fact.