Why is there a desire on the right to get rid or privatize Social Security?

[opebo]

They hate that the lower orders are allowed a small pension.

[angus]

Because we would rather keep more of our money and choose to make our own decisions regarding saving for retirement. And the current system cannot sustain itself. Even supports of it will admit that.

(How did defense spending come into the conversation?)

I brought it up.  There are really only two things that are worth 600B to us, apparently, and I wanted to lump them together for the purpose of my diatribe.  It should be noted that the the current system cannot sustain itself in both of those 600 Billion-dollar outlays. 

Also, I agree with your succinct explanation above about privatization or partial privatization. 

[opebo]

..There are really only two things that are worth 600B to us, apparently, and I wanted to lump them together for the purpose of my diatribe.  It should be noted that the the current system cannot sustain itself in both of those 600 Billion-dollar outlays.  

No, what's worth far more to us than the 1.2 trillion we spend on defense and social security is what I like to call the golden toilet bowls of the rich - the number one priority of our society is the privilege, profligacy, and ostentation of a tiny elite.  1.2 trillion is nothing compared to the share of production we waste on our rulers.

[WillK]

...
And it's worse than that:  in order to get to 2037, we have to go through 2016, when the Trust Fund will have start cashing its bonds.  The government does not have cash on hand, and so will have to resort to printing money (which would cause very noticeable inflation), raising taxes, or scaling back the program.  I remind you that 2016 is only about 5 years away.

1) The fact that the government is not awash in cash to pay back the bonds held by the SSA is not a flaw of SS but a problem with Congress and the rest of the budget system.

2) The treasury will likely resort to issuing marketable bonds to raise cash to buy back the bonds held by SSA (a solution not in your list).