So who's willing to bet that even after the Social Security system becomes bankrupt, citizens will still be issued Social Security numbers? And that one's ability to operate in the US society without the  number will still be next to impossible even after the number's purported original reason for existence will have been long gone?

Roger!

I figure that when I am able to receive SS the gubernment will not have the funds to send me a check but will still tax me for SS.

And why shouldn't they? Don't you realize that to them, it's not your money.

sooooo, at the risk of hijacking my own thread and going on to a totally different subject,  is it possible to achieve eternal salvation after accepting, albeit unknowingly,  the number of the Beast?

Purported?  Do you imply some control scheme drove its creation?  That's a load of manure, everyone knows the tracking chips implanted in our necks will take care of that in the future.

Ahhhh, yes--but they will be [b]Social Security[/b] trackin chips!  Paper cards, like paper money, will be sooo passe by then.
You know what?  this would also explain why the gubbimint wants to extend SS to Mexico--mo' people=mo' control.  It's all starting to make some sense.....

Social Security Numbers cannot be the 'mark of the Beast' described in Revelation.

The 'mark of the Beast' will be a mark that you must knowingly accept from the Beast and his government.

Presently, Social Security Numbers are assigned to infants and children much too young to understand the significance. If the parents desire to claim their children as dependants on their income tax returns, they must apply for and indicate the SSN for all of the dependants that they're claiming.

If the child didn't have a choice, how could it possibly be the mark of the Beast?

Eric The(Inerrant)Hun[>]:)]

You know somethin', Eric?  Sometimes you're just no dam'd fun![:D]