By 2042, the amount of money in the Social Security bankroll will no longer be able to sustain the number of retirees who need it, leaving millions of citizens without money. The number of retirees, most of whom will be Baby Boomers, will outnumber those in the workforce, causing the funds to dry up.

Especially since economic productivity just isn't what it used to be, causing even less money and jobs to be available.

To put it simply, there is not going to be money left for us or for those who have not already retired yet. And the remedy for the crisis happens to be President Bush's proposed social security privatization plan. President Bush would have us think the situation is dire enough to be remedied by a program that would encourage less government assistance to the pubic. His proposal, which will attempt to conquer the crisis that many of us, and many of our parents will have to face, is for citizens under 55 to begin investing in the private sector.

Those of us who are not business savvy and expectant that we, too, will eventually reap the benefits from the annual stipend removed from our paycheck, will be forced to funnel our funds into Wall Street, that mysterious entity in New York that determines the financial well-being of our country. Which leads us into another question: What happens if the country is faced with an even worse recession than what we are faced with currently?

When President Clinton originally suggested this plan to stave off disaster in the 1990s, we were in the midst of a financial boom, when economic productivity seemed unstoppable. But that's just it -- our economy is not what it was 10 years ago, and it causes concern regarding the faith one is expected to put in the stock market, as well as money, for an extended period of time. And with Bush's plan, if the stock market goes bust, that's it. We can kiss our hard-earned cash, as well as that of our parents and other relatives who don't meet the cut off to receive social security just yet, good bye.

Not everyone will be knowledgeable enough to invest wisely in the stock market either. Not everyone has time to take the time to pick and choose the stocks they think will make them rich in their old age. Not everyone majors in business. Not everyone has the interest.

Which is the unfortunate aspect of Bush's proposal. If it does go through, we all need to take a step back and carefully consider the implications of this pan. Who stands to benefit, and who will most likely get short end of the stick. Those who major in business and economics will reap more benefits than any Joe Schmo who simply has neither the time nor the inclination to invest a system that could fail at any minute.