What is the biggest challenge facing our nation?
You might not guess that it is the national debt… oh yeah… really…
This is a 30 minute version of the movie (I.O.U.S.A) was made to highlight a very serious problem looming ahead… how big is this problem? About $53 trillion dollars… or put more personally about $175,000 per person… big dollars… heavy debt…
This debt will be needed to pay for obligations made under Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid… we have promised much to many people… and we have less resources to pay for these promises unless we raise taxes… and raise them alot…
Also significant amounts of our debt is held by foreign governments and individuals… this potentially exposes us to domination by hostile governments… when your lender is your friend it is one thing… but when your lender wants to exert political, economic or military pressure on you controlling your currency through the debt you owe is a very powerful thing… it is an economic weapon…
I think the short version of the movie is very good… where it does fall short is in offering solutions for the oncoming tsunami… and I think it could be a little more positive in encouraging change… (it’s got that quant feel…).
Can we change?
Of course… we are such a rich, materialistic nation… feel what has happened this last quarter… people have reduced their consumption… (its painful but necessary)… and the message in the main stream media is that this is bad… consuming less is bad… no it is good… it is necessary to resize ourselves…
% % %
President Bush and Vice President Cheney have written their stories for the history books…
Sad, sad legacy they have left… best to depart quietly from the stage men… everyone can be redeemed… but may I suggest that redemption for you will carry a significant price… possibly an unattainable price… you represent the old order… and by that I mean secrecy, militarism, division, and low levels of competence… farewell…
“Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more…”
Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, Scene V
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