The Magnitude Of The Debt

(In my opinion one of the primary problems we have in combating the descent into socialism we are experiencing is simply that the magnitude of the proposed national debt, and the taxation which WILL be imposed on all Americans to pay for it, has reached a number that is beyond the capacity of the human mind to grasp. If we allow this debt to remain in place, or worse yet to be expanded, the effect under a liberal/democrat, or for that matter almost any administration will be to use it as an excuse for punitive and confiscatory levels of taxation (witness Cap and Trade legislation), as well as oppressive and stifling regulation on both business and personal activity.
The impact of this will destroy the incentives which lubricate and power the greatest social/economic engine of Freedom the world has ever known....America's....ours, with Liberty, Freedom and Justice being the most significant casualties of all .)

12 Trillion dollars
12,000,000,000,000
10 raised to the 12th power!!!
This number is roughly the amount of spending proposed and enacted by the current President and Congress to take place over the next ten years or so. The problem is that the human mind cannot grasp the magnitude of this number.

In today's world of computer technology and high finance we regularly hear casual reference to large numbers...Meg (million), Gig (billion), etc., and in modern federal budget lexicon "Trillion" has become far to common. We rarely give any thought to just what these words represent, or more to the point the relationship they bear to each other. In an effort to try to grasp the size of some of these numbers and see how the human mind tends to relate to them try the following exercise...
We'll start with the number 1 Million, as it is somewhat within our realm of comprehension. If you were to start right now counting seconds, it would take you 12 days (actually 11.6 days). Now then, a number which starts to become more difficult get a grip on is Billion. Without doing any math, how long would you guess it would take to count 1 Billion seconds? What did you perceive the answer to be? The typical answer given by most people is anything from 1 to 6 months, a few answer as long as a year or two. The actual answer is 31.7 YEARS.
That's the difference between 1 Million and 1 Billion....12 days and 32 years.

Now, consider this, the relationship between these numbers is a multiplier of 1,000... 12 days multiplied by 1,000 is 32 years, 1 Billion multiplied by 1,000 is 1 Trillion, so the duration of 1 trillion seconds should be readily apparent....32,000 YEARS....That's the difference between 1 million and 1 trillion...12 days and 32,000 YEARS .

Now imagine handing out $1.00/second, it would take 12 days non-stop to hand out 1 Million dollars, 32 years non-stop to hand out a Billion dollars, and 32 THOUSAND YEARS NON-STOP to hand out 1 Trillion dollars.

Folks, we are currently on the hook for 12 TRILLION DOLLARS, in terms of money that's 384,000 YEARS at $1.00/second, almost half a Million years....at a Billion dollars/second it's 400 YEARS , Think about that. That's a Billion dollars /second for a period of time almost twice as long as America has existed as a nation. Also bear in mind the hard fact that NO government spending estimate has ever been accurate, that their estimates are ALWAYS wrong on the low side, that the actual cost is usually twice the amount they tell us it will be or greater.

Our "share" of this debt as American citizens is approximately $43,000.00 each, or $111,000.00 per household, based on the best data I can find from the 2000 census. This of course assumes that NO further deficit spending takes place for the next decade, which of course will not be the case.

Future writings will discuss in more depth the implications and ramifications to our economy, as well as the possible and probable impact on our lives and society of allowing this kind of irresponsible spending and the attendant TAXATION by the government to take place.

In the meantime, please educate yourself as to who in government is supporting this. Find out who in Congress is voting in favor of all this spending and who is choosing not to vote at all, and don't just commit to vote against them if they represent you, rather, actively campaign to remove them and let them know you are doing so and why.Even if they don't directly represent you you can still have an impact, whether they represent you or not you can still flood their phone lines with phone calls. Shut down their servers with e-mails. Swamp their offices with letters, if possible send the letters by registered mail requiring that they be signed for. If you have friends or relatives which do live in area's they represent try to get them involved in these activities.

Learn who in Congress is standing against this kind of legislation and voting against it. Do more than just support and vote for them if they represent you. Actively campaign for them and let them know you are doing so and why. If they represent area's you do not live in try to influence any friends and relatives in their constituencies to be more active in keeping them in place. If you can afford to, donate to their campaign funds whether or not you live in the areas/states they represent.

Recent elections have given us the concept of "Red" and "Blue" states,counties, etc. Originally meant to distinguish between Republican and Democrat leaning areas, the terms have now begun to differentiate opposing ideologies, ie. conservative and liberal. Let's use that concept. If you know how to, or can find out how to, make the fonts "Red" in your e-mails to the representatives who favor the spending/stimulus bills to show at a glance that you oppose them. When writing "snail-mail" letters use red envelopes or ink. The same color coding of communication will also show those who are standing against the bills that you support them in this.

We are currently engaged in what is probably a never ending fight to the finish with far more at stake than just the state of the economy.
At stake here is our Liberty, both personal and societal.
At stake is the survival of our Republic as we have known it.
At stake is the very integrity of our Sovereignty as a Nation, which is no more than a bargaining chip in the game currently being played by our current crop of politicians, both here on the home field and in the world arena.

The mid-term elections in 2010 are going to be our first real chance to strike a blow in this fight, and our right's to vote and to free political speech are our primary weapons. If we can unseat every representative in Washington, House and Senate, who is playing a part in this debacle it will both stagger our opposition and perhaps give us room to catch our breath in preparation for the following round.

The United States of America is unique and exceptional in all of human history by virtually every measure ever used to rate Human societies.

The United States of America is so much more than just a (or the only) current Super-Power on the Earth. It is, as Ronald Reagan said, "The Shining City on the Hill", to which all people on this planet who desire Freedom, Independence, and opportunity look for inspiration.
While not perfect, it has been the closest thing that has ever existed to that which Humans throughout history have aspired. It is a land of unequaled Freedom and opportunity, where any individual, regardless of their status of birth or origin, can attempt, accomplish, and achieve virtually anything their heart, soul, and mind is able to conceive.
                                                           Let's Keep it So!

"Dr. Franklin, what have you given us?"
"Madam, we have given you a Republic, if you can keep it!"
-- Benjamin Franklin -- (1787)


Patrick Wade
9 July, 2009

[NOTE]:
As I'm finishing up writing this it is being pointed out on 'C-SPAN' by one of our representatives that this deficit is expected to expand to 23 TRILLION DOLLARS over the next decade, and mention is being made of obligations reaching 58 to 64 TRILLION.....do the math.]

The Magnitude Of The Debt

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