Check out this U.S. Debt Clock in real time.As I have said before, fiscal responsibility is a social justice issue about which the social justice crowd seems unconcerned.
What do you think? Does what you see here concern you?
Check out this U.S. Debt Clock in real time.
5 comments:
Without a doubt our debt is both a social justice issue, an economic issue, as well as a national security issue. The problem is rarely whether or not we should get better about fiscal responsibility, it is how we get there. The right wants to cut spending on programs that help the most vulnerable people in the country while the left wants to cut spending on military and increase revenue on the highest income brackets. The result is little to no real progress in fiscal responsibility. I'm not sure what the solution is--then again there may not be one. It is a core part of our Christian faith that all kingdoms will come to an end, save the Kingdom of God. Perhaps this our inability to control the deficit is the writing on the wall reminding us of an old and reliable truth.
Eric,
Thanks for you're insightful comments. Your analysis is always spot on and should make the right and left uncomfortable.
The American Dream takes too long to save for, debt is the only option for instant gratification. No matter if you are on the top or bottom or in the middle, using someone else's money seems to make everyone feel happy.
The 13 trillion dollars didn't come out of thin air, it is real somewhere, and like the housing market, that bubble will pop and there will be no one to bail us out, which is you are right, this is a social justice issue.
The hardest pill to swallow is the amount of personal sacrifice it will take each citizen to reverse this. And if we are honest, we don't really like being told we have to sacrifice anything by our government.
Jim,
Excellent observations! You are right, we want all kinds of goodies from the government but we expect everyone making more money than we do to pay for it. Fifty % of Americans pay nothing in federal income tax. And our politicians have no courage because instead of looking to the big picture of the future, they are simply looking to the next election.
The fact that so many developed countries in the West are in the red reflects a political and economic philosophy that is ruinous.
Our national debt is a noose our country is tightening around necks of our children and grandchildren. It is they who will pay the awful price for this generation's fiscial irresponsibility. But then children and grandchildren don't vote, so as long as the politicians keep throwing money at the voters in government giveaways, everybody is happy. So while I agree that this is a major social justice issue and while the Jim Wallis crowd remains strangely silent, nothing is going to change until the bottom falls out.
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