"SS is a scheme designed to rip off people like me"
How is SS designed to rip off dumbasses?
"I'm more than likely not going to live far enough into the age it allows you to start receiving benefits from..."
Sounds like a "you" problem, and ages are not selected to rip off morons, they are selected to balance cost and benefit for the population as a whole.
"Why can't we just have a mandatory individual retirement contribution system ... instead a stupid fucking Ponzi scheme, which by design, causes some people to lose? Oh wait, I forgot, it's not a Ponzi scheme if the government does it."
Because you don't understand what a Ponzi scheme is and you believe that "mandatory individual retirement contribution systems" have guaranteed returns. The problem here is how stupid you are. SS is LITERALLY a "mandatory individual retirement contribution system", it ensures the largest possible population to participate AND uses the most stable investments with payout guarantees.