Restoring Confidence in Our Nation’s Future
We can either choose to continue down the path we are now on and suffer the consequences of our debilitating dependence on borrowing, or we can find the moral courage we need to chart a new course and to commit ourselves to ridding our nation of its dispiriting addiction to debt.
By Ken Gerstenmaier at Center for a Just Society
Faced with the greatest economic setback since the Great Depression, our nation has struggled to regain its economic vitality. To make matters worse, our current economic crisis has come at a time when our nation’s fundamental solvency is increasingly at risk. Given the enormity of the fiscal and economic challenges we face, many Americans are wondering whether our nation will be able to preserve its historic greatness.
Despite the precarious nature of the times in which we live, America has not yet descended into a full blown crisis of confidence. Both our economy and our financial system have stabilized to the point that there is a general sense in the country that at least for now we have averted a total disaster.
Still, there is a great deal of uneasiness about the future of America. Unemployment remains high and America’s fiscal soundness is a source of growing concern. Our nation is addicted to debt and we are increasingly dependent upon the willingness of other nations to finance our fiscal excess.
This is the state of our country today and it is a circumstance that many Americans find troubling. America is no longer the master of its own destiny, and those in government seem unwilling to work together to forthrightly address America’s growing fiscal jeopardy.
So what does this say about the promise of America and what will it take to convince the American people that there is any truly compelling reason to have confidence in our future? How likely is it, after all, that our fragile economic circumstance and extreme fiscal imbalance will simply right themselves?
Keeping our country fiscally whole is one of the principal responsibilities of our national government. Fiscal soundness is a national priority that simply cannot be left to chance. Absent a genuine commitment to preserving the fiscal integrity of our country, our future as a nation cannot be expected to be one of continued prosperity.
Due to the fiscal excesses and continuing negligence of those in office to attend to this critically important national priority, we are increasingly being weighed down with a burden of debt that gives us little reason to expect anything other than a diminished future at best. Unless and until those in Washington find a way to put this country on a sound fiscal footing, we in America will lack the fiscal foundation that we need to truly have genuine confidence in our future. As long as we continue to be a nation that is dependent upon borrowing simply as a means to pay our bills, we will increasingly suffer a demoralizing decline in our national morale and esteem.
The crucial first step therefore in restoring confidence in our nation’s future is for mature Americans to come to grips with this reality. We can either choose to continue down the path we are now on and suffer the consequences of our debilitating dependence on borrowing, or we can find the moral courage we need to chart a new course and to commit ourselves to ridding our nation of its dispiriting addiction to debt.
We are a nation that is still very much in denial about the seriousness of our nation’s fiscal jeopardy. Despite the fact there is increasing concern about the rapid growth in our nation’s deficits and debt, there does not appear to be a genuine sense of urgency about the challenge we face. Even now we are borrowing our way into an ever deeper hole in the vain hope that we can somehow fix our economy by taking on trillions of dollars of additional debt.
Until we face up to our need to address our fiscal excess in earnest, our nation will continue to founder. Until those we elect put an end to the fiscal malfeasance that for far too long has been the norm in Washington, the fiscal jeopardy we face will only become greater. Absent a renewed sense of public obligation and fiduciary responsibility on the part of those in office to ensure the fiscal well being of our country, our nation can only be viewed as a society that is at extreme risk of even greater economic calamity to come.
America is at a turning point in its history and we have a momentous decision to make in terms of how we choose to respond to the critical challenge that confronts us. If we truly want to ensure the future of our nation for ourselves and our posterity, then we must end any and all complacency about our nation’s deteriorating fiscal health, and come to terms with the reality of the difficult choices that we will have to make in order to reverse our nation’s increasing risk of bankruptcy. Only then can we begin to have a renewed sense of confidence in the future of our nation.
Ken Gerstenmaier is a self-employed senior citizen who, together with his wife, tutors in their home.
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