Debt

“Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt.” – Ben Franklin

As we grow up our parents warn us of the perils of getting into too much debt. Students are warned about all those offers that credit cards will send in the mail once we are old enough. Young adults are advised to live within our means. Some people end up doing this quite effectively and others live life constantly struggling and living from month to month fearing debt collectors and phone calls from unknown numbers. It is a very uncomfortable place to live as the future is always uncertain.

How is it any different at a national level? It seems that our government is living way past its means. Rather than being uncomfortable and worrying about the future, the people who lead our country instead worry about how they are going to appease their voters and keep their jobs. At the time of this writing, the United States of America is over $13 trillion. The debt per citizen is $42,120 and if you are a tax paying voter you owe $118,205. Those that make the decisions to keep increasing the debt most likely believe that the choices they make are for the good of the country. However, when countries like China are chiding our Secretary of the Treasury on our fiscal policy, it seems indicative of a problem.  

Thomas Jefferson was acutely aware of the dangers of debt. This is the problem. He once said, “I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.” 

As we move forward in the history of our great nation, we need to look at the past and learn from it. We need to heed the warnings of some of the greatest thinkers and leaders in our nation’s history. We need to collectively agree that unless we can’t pay for it, we can’t do it. The national debt is a serious threat to the future health and prosperity. We need leaders who can recognize these facts and are principled enough to vote in a manner that reflects them. Let’s start working towards financial freedom in the United States of America.

I leave you with one last thought by Thomas Jefferson, "The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."