A most alarming and shameful legacy
To the Sun: Few among us are capable of grasping the size, risk and ultimate consequences of our existing and seemingly out-of-control U.S. national debt. Especially given that past and present generations of us and our elected and unelected representatives in government have amassed a national debt now exceeding some $36 trillion ($107,000 per citizen; $271,790 per taxpayer), with a yearly interest expense now exceeding a trillion dollars. This is an incomprehensible debt obligation that if expressed in $1 bills and laid end to end could circle the earth about 140,332 times. This is an alarming and shameful legacy that continues to be kicked down the road to the ultimate backs of our country’s youth and those not yet born.
This is a potentially a liberty-threatening legacy no doubt resulting from years of ignorance, apathy, complacency, denial, greed and irrational fear of so-called adults in the room, past and present. Countless citizens continue to vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury, and many political candidates continue to benefit from promising more and more of the same. All this is in irresponsible disregard of the inescapable reality that there is no such thing as free stuff; ultimately someone, somewhere, at some point in time must pay the bills or endure the consequences.
And, as in years past, the future will no doubt hold many old and new demands and promises for tackling our national debt through reduced and/or otherwise more responsible government spending (use of tax dollars/debt), etc. This undoubtedly entails well-intentioned and ill-intentioned matters that will likely find considerable support, that is, until it is revealed just specifically who may be called upon to do the sacrificing.
The following cautionary words often attributed to our third U.S. President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), seem so prophetic: “I place economy among the first and most important virtues and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared…We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our choice between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude...”
This subject is worthy of our special consideration as the year end of Year 2024 draws near, and New Year’s Resolutions begin to be seriously pondered. — WILLIAM JAMES MOORE, Parsons
