http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/112189/who-owns-the-us?mod=bb-debtmanagement
The article is informing the public of our national debt, and what could happen if these countries decided to collect. They put it into perspective by stating which states and national monuments we would lose based on state gross domestic product data. While the argument is not clear cut, the article is arguing the fact that our country is in a mountain of debt, and something should be done before it gets even more out of hand then it already is. The commonplace belief in this argument is the understood situation our country is in. We are in trillions of dollars worth of debt, and the fear of this number growing is a commonplace belief as well. The author is a writer for mainstreet.com, is creditable, and academic. He establishes ethos in the first paragraph by saying that even with Obama balancing the budget better then anything we've seen since 2001, the numbers will still grow every year. He aims towards a wide audience; anyone who lives in the United States is his intended audience.
I believe this article is successful in persuading the audience. Thinking of our debts in terms of losing states, made me realize how screwed we really are. We dug are own grave, and the time will come when we must live down in it and suffer the consequences.
This has always been my number two global fear, number one being a jihadist with a backpack nuke in London, New York, Paris, Washington D.C., anywhere really. If everyone called in their markers on the US, we'd have to call in all of our markers on other countries, crushing those countries and still unable to pay our debts, precipitating a potential global economy collapse. Yeah, I've lost sleep over this.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is a hopeless situation. I have a hard time grasping numbers that big so I had a little fun with my calculator. Ten trillion seconds ago human civilization did not exist. It's even more hopeless when you consider the fact that the national debt itself brings down the value of the dollar and paradoxically increases the national debt further.
ReplyDeleteThe government really needs to do something about this debt, I mean come on my grand children are going to be in debt. If other countries start collecting we are screwed. I think we should worry about paying our debt before universal health care or bailing out independent companies.
ReplyDeleteThe economy is in a downward spiral and I hope that there is something done to fix, because if not the title of this post will be correct.
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