Ask What Your Debt-Ridden Country Can Do For You

Americans may be too self-absorbed to good citizens of a Republic

A few weeks ago, I posted on X how Americans are increasingly selfish agents that are guided by the political philosophy of “Fuck You, I Got Mine.”

I wrote an article for The American Conservative on how this mindset prevents us from doing anything about the debt:

America’s debt topped 100 percent of our national GDP last month, marking a grim milestone for the nation. “We’re headed toward uncharted territory,” Marc Goldwein, senior vice president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, told the Wall Street Journal. “There’s no magic of 100 percent vs. 99 percent, but it’s a scary place to be.”

The disturbing news wasn’t greeted with much concern. Upon reflection, that’s not very surprising. The debt has been increasing exponentially for years without the average America feeling the effects. People simply don’t care about it much anymore. With the exception of some libertarians in Congress and at think tanks, it’s been a long time since even conservatives obsessed over the debt clock.

But it remains an obvious problem. Rising debt can lead to an inflation spike and cause other economic ailments. But don’t expect Americans to do anything about it any time soon. To deal with the debt would require sacrifice among ordinary citizens. There’s very little chance of that happening in our sacrifice-averse nation. In order to secure votes, politicians will likely do more to increase the debt than reduce it. They know they’d lose their seats if they ever pushed the cuts necessary to get America’s fiscal house in order.

Read the rest here.