Your mommy and daddy may have cautioned you to not spend more than you make. Or maybe you heard something about it in school.
If you have ever owned a business, you know the rule. You may be able to break it for a few years depending on your bankroll, but positive cash flow is King/Queen. And you don’t have to own the business to get it. As an employee or contractor, your livelihood depends on the business owner following the rule.
You may have noticed that the United States of America does not follow the rule. You may not see it as a business, but it is. Its power, longevity, and legitimacy depend on positive cash flow – earning more than it spends. Otherwise, it becomes an insolvent, vulnerable, lame member of the global herd. An easy target for the lions.
Benjamin Franklin said, “When a democracy figures out that it can vote itself into entitlements, it is over.” We as Americans are so far removed from the granular simplicity of our economy that we don’t grasp the consequences we have voted ourselves into. And you may immediately assume that “entitlements” means welfare and such. Entitlements in our case mean voting for our own self-interests: voting for lower taxes, for causes that make us feel good, for subsidies to the industries we profit from.
We want lower gas prices, lower interest rates, better roads and bridges, safer air/train travel, and bullet/bomb-proof national security. We want to sell our goods globally but don’t want the same openness here. We buy cheap imports, driving production overseas to countries with the lowest wages, while demanding the highest wages for ourselves. Then we blame the government for lost jobs.
Yet we vote for lower taxes – our primary source of national income. We rage at China while purchasing Chinese goods by the oceanload. We demand national security but embrace TikTok, a proven psychological warfare tool of the Chinese government. We are spoiled brat 5-year-olds pulling on mommy’s skirt in the candy aisle. We don’t just vote for entitlements; we embody them. It’s in our DNA.
And this has nothing to do with political parties. Both parties spend like addicts. They just choose different drugs.
A History Lesson
We first went into debt as a country in 1790 to pay for Revolutionary War expenses. Our national debt has grown every decade since. As of 2024, we owe $37 trillion.
If you think the above is political just google who was President during any of these years. It is not political.
The interest on our debt is approximately $1.13 trillion a year. If every American adult paid just their share of that interest, it would cost about $4,400 annually. If they personally paid their fair share of the $37 trillion, they would each owe approximately $112,000. You actually owe this amount and it is growing every year…because you are not even paying the interest.
We mismanaged key events:
If you get your facts from the news, you might think this debt is mostly due to fraud, waste, welfare, foreign aid, or the other political party. Here are the facts:
At that value, earning 8% annually, I would be receiving about $17,108/month – and the principal would continue to grow. So in fact the government owes me almost $2 million in squandered investment returns. Social Security is now funded not by returns, but by taxes from younger workers. That’s the literal definition of a Ponzi scheme.
The U.S. is the only high-income country without universal health care. Even after the Affordable Care Act, 8% of Americans remain uninsured. Our healthcare system ranks us alongside countries like Iran, Nigeria, and Yemen in coverage.
If we must spend that kind of money, it should be on cybersecurity, drones, and space defense, not tanks and ships. A single cyberattack on our electrical grid, the internet, or satellite GPS could bring us to Armageddon.
Can We Cut the Big Four?
The Bottom Line
We are like frogs in the beaker of water. The heat has been turned up seemingly so slowly that we are stewing to death.
What Can You Do?
– Vote for ethical, transparent, servant leaders, not career politicians or emotional 3 year olds.
– Support a balanced budget, even if it means tax increases.
– Demand term limits, rule of law, and constitutional adherence.
– Run for office.
Or, prepare your personal fortress. Financial independence. Food security. Notice how the wealthy weather every storm. Those dependent on the system get crushed.
The mushroom cloud that ends us may not be nuclear – but rather the darkness and bullshit we keep hiding in.
P.S. My blogs are, for me, a conversation. I rant for a bit and then … if so inspired, you respond. Your comments close the loop of conversation. They let me know I was heard. They let me know I contributed something … or not. I encourage you to close the loop … or open a new one and say something.
Thanks Richard, More people in business is a good start.
Thank You for this well written commentary on our current state of fiscal health ( or lack thereof). I found it refreshing to hear your stance that our current situation is not to be blamed on one political party, as various leaders & generations have contributed as well as subtracted from the ‘health’ of our nation. You add much clarity to the ‘wake up call’ each of us need to hear, as we recognize the toxicity & destructive patterns of rampant consumerism, self indulgent entitlement, lack of wisdom/ knowledge/ follow through needed to ‘stop the bleeding’ of debt & denial. I say YES for each of us to take responsibility in managing our finances, focus on the personal fortress you mention through education, having a plan, self discipline. Grateful for your teaching & sharing, over many years!
Well said kind sir!!
Some say that ignorance is bliss (no inference intended), in reality it can be your (our) demise.
I hope you for office! As you mentioned, we need to vote in NON-POLITICIANS.