Well it was a different world before the Great Depression. People would starve but last I heard people still are? I don't think any old people will be "starving in the streets" without SS. That sounds an awfull lot like a political scare tactic.
All social programs sound like a great idea until you think about the real world of the gov running them. The gov's job is the screw up everything it can so that it won't work. I have zero faith in the government to do anything right, judging by the amount fo tax dollars that are pissed away they are proving me right.
Defense is the only thing the gov can get right part of the time, they seem to have a half way decent track record with that.