No, public pensions don’t function like a ponzi scheme. There are actual pension funds that are actively invested and these profits do indeed help cover current and future pension payments. Yes, the government uses current pension payments to pay out receivers. But that’s because it would be stupid to take out part of the pension fund, pay the people, and then put in the exact same amount from new payments. Instead you keep a balance sheet of how much was paid in and how much was paid out and the difference is added or deducted from the pension fund.

Yes, there are a few mismanged public pension funds. But they aren’t nearly as common as people believe. And even in mismanaged pension funds the situation is still different from a ponzi scheme. Mismanaged pension funds use part of the deparment budget to cover the difference. This comes at the cost of cutting programs or downsizing in other ways. The more mismanaged the fund, the higher the percentage of the budget goes towards it. But that’s another reason why they aren’t lik a ponzi scheme, because there are different methods of funding them than just the payments of “new members joining”.

Most mismanaged pension funds are from the private sector, not from the government. And there most aren’t a ponzi scheme either and instead some other form of fraud or just plain old theft.

I still agree with an UBI being a better alternative.