Americans show no urgency about our national debt which if you combine the on-book and off-books debt, it is more than half a million dollars for every man, woman and child in America. This means that every American must stop taking from the government chest and they must repay all of that money or that debt will be passed on to the next several generations.
Being that far in debt should make every American kick the wall. But most citizens want even more debt so they can continue doing what they have being doing for years, ignoring the debt entirely. Their plan is to take the bounty from government now and leave the pain of repayment to their children.
Speaking of their children, the young people also show no urgency about this debt being laid on them. I would have to assume the lack of urgency on the debt is either out of ignorance or they, themselves, plan to leave the debt to their children.
These citizens think if we do not look at the national debt, it does not exist. And politicians smilingly say, “You are right, vote for me and I’ll give you more stuff from the public funds than my opponent.”
I was talking to a college president recently. He mentioned that college students today routinely take a four year degree and turn it into six years or more of lollygagging around the campus while acquiring thousands of dollars of student loans. His concern was their lack of urgency about getting done with college and getting out into the workforce to start repaying the loans.
I like the word urgency. It is only used in some aspects such as sports but not much in legislatures and Congress. For our legislators and leaders there is always tomorrow. Further, no matter the crisis we must wait until after the next election to fix any problems. But then there is an election after that election so no movement.
Again, painting with a broad brush, many college students are in no hurry to get out of college. However, the other day I did talk to a sophomore college student in Mechanical Engineering. He had worked the summer before driving a forklift for a chile operation.
That student seemed focused on getting in and getting done and getting on with his life. It was nice to see someone who is hearing the clock ticking. America is like someone standing on the Titanic and commenting that the water is only coming into the ship one gallon at a time. Correct, but oh so incorrect.
Even though Americans live much better lives than their grandparents in general, there are no guarantees that we American can continue to live so well much longer. Who am I to spoil the American dream of all taking and no giving that is foisted on our young people today?
Well, first of all, I am telling the truth. And I do agree that always taking and never giving sounds ever so nice for them. But it is nothing but a lie.
Further, it is a lie they will discover at some point. Other countries, one by one, are discovering the lie. In Greece the citizens are rioting because their leaders lied to them for a long period of time and promised so much. The Greeks were lulled into expecting to always be takers and not givers.
But the world does not work that way for very long. Then it will happen. At that point we may see urgency to continue taking and not giving. Sorry, time’s up.
Dr. Michael Swickard hosts the syndicated radio talk show News New Mexico six to nine a.m. Monday - Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. Email: michael@swickard.com
