Most folks in middle age can remember receiving, as a child, an allowance from their parents. If you grew up in the 1960s or ‘70s as I did, you probably got a quarter a week, perhaps fifty cents. By the
late ‘70s, due to inflation (or earlier if your parents had a lot of money), you probably got a dollar. Typically, kids had to do at least a minimal amount of chores, such as making their beds or taking out
the trash, in order to earn their stipend.
Imagine if you will for a moment, that your dad came to you one day and said, “You’re not going to be receiving your allowance any longer. Daddy wants to buy a new car.”
“But don’t worry,” he said, “You’ll get to drive the Mustang when you’re old enough to get your license.”
For you, this would probably go over like the proverbial t**d in the punchbowl.
Take it a step farther and imagine if Dad had wrecked the Mustang and had no insurance on it. Upon your father’s demise, you would be left with no savings (because he confiscated your allowance), no car
(because Dad totaled it), and you’d be left owing the unpaid balance (plus interest) on the wrecked Mustang.
Well, this is, in essence, what the politicians in Washington are attempting to do to you, your children and grandchildren, and THEIR children and grandchildren.
Why are young people – by and large – not seeing what is being done to them? If I was under age thirty, I’d be livid. Well, I’m old enough to have children of thirty and I AM livid. But if my elders were out
there spending, not just all of the money that the nation has, but umpteen billions upon billions of dollars that it does NOT have, I would be marching on Washington DC demanding that they cease and
desist immediately.
The younger generation needs to realize that all of this debt (all fourteen-plus trillion dollars) will need to be repaid at some point in time and by someone. It isn’t just going to magically disappear.
And the younger people are the ones that are going to be repaying it – one way or another. This is going to result in a decidedly lower standard of living than their parents and grandparents enjoyed. And it
is going to enslave them to creditor nations – specifically, China. And the more that the government continues to spend money that it does not have, the less value Americans’ dollars will have. This is already
taking place in the form of higher prices for just about everything:
For instance, you now pay a dollar for a bag of potato chips that I used to buy for fifteen cents. Three dollars for a Big Mac that once cost me 70 cents. A minimum of thirty thousand dollars for a new car;
my first new car cost $6000. I won’t even mention the price of a gallon of gasoline. And we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg.
What we are leaving for future generations is a legacy – a legacy of debt.
If you wanted to leave something meaningful for your children, wouldn’t it be a nice fat bank account, a profitable stock portfolio, or a safe deposit box full of twenty dollar gold pieces? You certainly
would not want to leave them with piles of bills and an insurmountable burden of debt. No parent would want that for his or her child.
The national debt – at over fourteen trillion dollars – works out to over FORTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS for EVERY man, woman, and child in America today. Factor out the very young, the very old, and the infirm and disabled and you could probably safely add at least a third to that amount. Now factor out the terminally lazy – the freeloaders of society and your share as a productive member of society goes even higher.
A young person should be scared to death and, as I said before, irate to the point of madness. This $45,000 debt burden comes before such “luxuries” as a new car, a home, student loans or, heaven forbid, a
family. Imagine graduating high school and, along with your diploma, you are handed a bill for $45,000 – plus interest. If you’ve ever owed anything on your credit cards, you know how scary it is. Well, welcome to 21st century America. You’re living the American dream.
And the older generation is leaving you their legacy – a legacy of debt.
Which begs the question: How much longer are you going to tolerate it?
James Sharp——
Bio and Archives
James Sharp is a middle-aged, middle-class, middle-management salesman who believes in secure borders and fighting our enemies with a strong military. He also believes in limited government, free markets, and unlimited opportunity and personal liberties for all citizens of the U.S.
