The debt of the U.S. Government—some $16 trillion
in 2012—can be difficult even to grasp conceptually. One does not run into a
trillion of anything in daily life, much less sixteen times a trillion. Without
any tangible examples that can give us some inkling of the magnitude of the
number, “sixteen trillion” can easily become a number one rattles off as if a
“oh, by the way,” as in, “Oh, by the way, that sort of number will never be
paid off.” One can point to the debt as a symptom of a systemic imbalance, as
in that of consolidation over the constitutional federalism. That is to say,
the magnitude of the debt can point to the lack of limitations facing Congress
in its appropriating capacity. It could be argued that the ballot box is such a
limitation, but what if the electorate themselves have a similar imbalance in
terms of spending what they don’t have. With student loan debt at $1 trillion
as of 2012 and a third of the amount in default, the federal debt can easily be
seen as a manifestation of a more basic or fundamental imbalance of the psyche
that transcends yet subtly fuels policy.
In reading of the Obama administration’s
preparation of a pact to cut $1 billion from what Egypt owes the U.S.
Government for agricultural purchases, I was stunned to read that “money that
would otherwise pay down the American debt” would instead be spent on “training
and infrastructure projects in Egypt intended to attract private investment and
create jobs.” To be sure, rising unemployment in Egypt could undermine the democratically-elected
Morsi government, so a strategic argument could be made on behalf of the
American aid. However, the almost cavalier attitude toward paying down the
federal debt is rather strange, and misplaced, given the gravity of the
problem. Put another way, to put a strategic objective primarily oriented to
the unemployment of a state that is not in the U.S. above paying down U.S. debt
can be viewed as a questionable priority. It seems to indicate a desire to fix
another’s problems at the expense of making a dent in one’s own. The scenario
of the homeowner who lets his own grass grow out of control yet lends his mower
to his neighbor whose lawn is has become “unbecoming” captures this sort of
mentality.
In short, the debt of $16 trillion can be read as
a mirror of sorts of a certain mentality—one that falls far short of that which
a virtuous and responsible citizenry would have. It is no accident that
Jefferson and Adams agreed in their later correspondence that such a citizenry
is necessary for a republic to remain viable.
Steven Myers, “U.S. Is Near Pact to Cut $1 Billion from Egypt Debt,” The New York Times, September 4, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/world/middleeast/us-prepares-economic-aid-to-bolster-democracy-in-egypt.html?pagewanted=all