"What I want to know is why the 6.2% taken out of my check for social security does not go towards my retirement, but someone elses? "

Because the system is designed under the assumption that you did not earn that money on your own, you earned the opportunity to make it because of the collective system in place in America. An example would be a farmer in Eastern Washington who claims he is a self made man and never got anything from the government so why should he pay into it. We you start asking him if he paid for the full length of road from his farm to where his grain was processed? Did he pay for the electrical grid to keep his lights on , Did he pay for all of the programs that allow low income workers to maintain a life style so they could work for him all on his own? If he truly was self made and paid as he went with out a govt. food would be worth more than gold. People do not want to admit or recognize that we live under a socialist system and have for a long time. That battle was fought and lost many years ago.