If the government had put that into a private account, I’d have millions of dollars in there.
I assumed you started working in 1977 for $120k/year (that's $630k in today's value btw) and retired today, contributing 6.2% monthly from the start and put it in a 6% monthly compounding savings account, you'd be just shy of millions ($1.9m).
I did not account for raises because if you've made over $7m in your lifetime, you don't need the cash payout from social security anyway. It's a safety net for people who can't afford to save for retirement - and they've been paying into it their whole lives, too.
I'm not a fan of how social security has been handled (or that I'm not going to benefit as much as boomers have) but social security for everyone benefits the country.