“Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.” – Herbert Hoover
Two weekends ago, I went down to the United States Naval Academy for a college visit. This was right before the shutdown, and the campus was buzzing about what would happen in the coming days. Midshipmen are active duty Navy, so they, of course, wouldn’t be getting paid. Even more troubling, though, was that since a large percentage of the staff are civilians, much of campus would cease to function. Roughly half of the professors are civilians, and all of them would be furloughed, playing havoc with classes, but even more disturbing to the Mids, King Hall (the dining facility), is manned entirely by civilians, and therefore would virtually cease to function. Later that night a group of midshipmen, myself and a few other high schoolers included, were watching the James Bond movie Casino Royale. There is a scene where a CIA agent turns to a broke Bond and offers him many millions of dollars, quipping that “This is the U.S.A., do we look like we need it?” The irony was not lost on the group of Mids, who, being faced with starvation in the next few days, broke out into raucous laughter.
Casino Royale was made in 2006, a mere seven years ago. Back then we were seen as a wealthy, stable superpower. The national debt was a scant 8.5 trillion, and our credit rating was still perfect. Now we owe 16.9 trillion. Trillion! With a T! When our fearless leader took office in 2009, we owed approximately ten trillion. In a little over four years he has accumulated another 6.9 trillion in debt. That equates, roughly, to 1.83 billion per day. 76 million per hour. 1.3 million per minute. Those numbers might mean nothing to you, but pay attention to this one: every man, woman, and child in this country owes around $52,000 of that debt. If the debt is paid off only by tax payers, each would owe $148,000. Those are staggering numbers. As you read this, the government is spending your money, money you haven’t even made yet. It is often said that the current generation in government has royally screwed their children, and boy, is that true. You and I, kids who have not even had a real job yet, are already on the hook for thousands upon thousands of dollars.
William F. Buckley Jr. asked in 1973, “Do the Democrats believe that there is as much public money available as there are worthy causes in the world on which it might be spent?” Any sane person would respond with an emphatic no. And yet the government, mostly, although not exclusively, the Democrats, believes that every ill in the world must be fixed with taxpayer money. From poverty in Afghanistan to food stamps in Harlem, our president has tossed money at every problem he can think of. And many of these are not unworthy problems. Many are quite noble, many are quite good. But we simply don’t have the money to pay for them. When a country is 17 trillion in debt, its government should realize that there is a problem. Its government, in representing the best interests of its people, should attempt to fix the problem. And trying to fix the problem of excessive debt with yet spending more doesn’t work.
The Keynesians will, of course, say that government spending will give the economy a short-term boost. This may or may not be true, economists far smarter than I are debating it as we speak, but it is a fact that this short-term growth, if any, would lead to negative long-term results. Inflation is the big one, but the long-run health of the economy cannot possibly be helped by the Keynesian system, only hurt. And yet the politicians, again primarily the liberal ones, seem to have no conception of the long run. They see the possibility for short-term success, and jump, with no regard for the absolute disaster they are building for their children.
One day, the Chinese will come calling for their money. And we will have to pay up. And it will be us, the demographic that has no say in the matter as it is unfolding, that will have to pay. The country is edging towards a dangerous cliff. We are spending money as if there is no tomorrow, disregarding the fact that the citizens of the country will have to pay it back some day. I guess I better start saving.
