Dr. Zappala posted something the other day about how possibly the best way to reduce the national deficit would be to actually just do nothing, and allow taxes to rise again and spending to be cut as has already been planned. This got me interested in looking up more about the deficit, and the debt in general. I hadn't really known much about how it all worked before, pretty much because the federal budget is decided on through politics, and I dislike and generally stay away from politics.
Anyways, after looking at the national debt, and our country's revenue and spending, and the deficit (the website www.usdebtclock.org was very helpful with this; you should check it out. It really makes you see just how much money our government is pushing around), I have to admit that I was a little unsettled. I've always known that our country's had an enormous debt, but it's sobering to realize just how incredibly much we owe. Using figures from the US "debt clock" website I mentioned earlier, our current national debt is about six and a half times bigger than our annual revenue. In other words, we owe 6.5 times what we make in a given year. Also, our spending (about 3.6 trillion) is far greater than our revenue (about 2.3 trillion), leaving us with a deficit of about 1.3 trillion. In other words, not only do we have a truly monstrous debt to pay off, but we're spending more money than we make, meaning that we have to borrow more money to make up the difference, adding more to that debt.
This makes me think of a person that takes out a big loan, and then realizes that they can't pay it off, so they go and get a credit card to make the payment. Then they realize that they aren't making enough money to cover all of their costs, so they have to keep using their credit card, and when that card gets maxed out, they have to go and get another card from somewhere else. They go on, never quite making enough money to cover all of their different costs, some of which are avoidable, though some aren't, and all the while adding to how much they owe.
I personally hate being in debt. It's such a terrible pressure and feeling, knowing that you owe somebody money, and that if you can't pay it off fast enough, they can come and take your stuff, or throw you in jail, etc. It also feels like that whoever you owe money to has power over you until you pay them back, and so you lose some or alot of your freedom and independence.
Being in debt is a dangerous and difficult thing, especially with a debt as huge as the one that our country has. Now, I know that many people would argue that there wasn't really a choice, that we had pressing needs that had to be paid for, and borrowing money was the only option. I suppose that there's some truth to that, but how much? Is it really necessary to spend as much money as we do? Are all the things that we're spending money on important? Or are there actually a lot things we could cut back on, but we just don't want to? Are there things that we've just grown used to having, but don't actually need? Something to keep in mind is that even though we hear alot of scary words tossed around in this country about problems with the economy and whatnot, the standard of living for the average American is far, far above the standard of living in many many countries around the world. Despite our economic fears, the average citizen in America lives a far comfier and wealthier life than the average citizen in most other countries, and yet most people around the world can get by just fine. My point in this is that if as a country we could be content to have a little less, spend a little less, and prioritize what we spend on, we could have more than enough spare change to cover our costs. The money's there, but are we willing as a nation to make the sacrifice and be thrifty?
I don't know. Hopefully we figure it out. Any way we look at it, getting rid of the debt is a daunting prospect. It's possible, for sure, but it won't be easy. It's tempting to be like the guy with the credit card debt, continually getting new credit cards to pay off the old ones, hoping that somehow the debt will never catch up to him. In the end though, it always does. I hope that our government figures out a solution before that happens with the national debt.
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