Our National debt and the Chinese military.

There's a biblical proverb that says; "The borrower is the servant to the lender." True words, no doubt. It can be argued that certain types of debt are better than others. A mortgage for instance, can be a good debt as the value of the home (usually) increases as the debt decreases. Credit card purchases? Uh, forget it. Chances are whatever you bought on them has depreciated drastically. If those are personal debts, what about National debts.

Currently, our national debt stands just over $16 trillion. Four short years ago, it was $9 trillion. See how fast it can grow? Annually, our budget deficit is $1.1 trillion. Meaning we borrow 40 cents of every dollar we spend. And interest? We spend about $500 billion in interest payments alone. If you think your personal debt is important, and it is, debt by countries has even more devastating and farther reaching effects. Consider this. Half of our national debt is held by foreigners. The majority of that is held by the Chinese. If the People’s Republic carries on buying American debt at the rate it has in recent times, then within a few years U.S. interest payment on that debt will be covering the entire cost of the Chinese armed forces.  In 2010, the Pentagon issued an alarming report to Congress on Beijing’s massive military buildup, upgrading bombers, and an aircraft carrier research and development program intended to challenge U.S. dominance in the Pacific.  What the report didn’t mention is who’s paying for it. America. If that doesn't alarm you, go back and read that last paragraph again. Go ahead. I'll wait here.

Every time some politician in Washington promises to extend unemployment benefits, we borrow money from Beijing so they can build a new jet aircraft. Every time Washington spends stimulus money that we don't have, the Chinese use that money to build another naval ship. Get the picture? I hate to say this, but only America would be stupid enough to fund its largest military and economic adversary. Even the Romans didn't buy the spears and fund the Barbarians and Vandals.  But Americans want their stuff (entitlements) and apparently don't care from whom we get the money to fund it with. While our current administration wants deeper U.S. military cuts -  it funds Bejing's through debt. Brilliant.

For most people, the idea of a $16 trillion debt is something they just don't care to wrap their head around. Its a big number. And the average person just can't relate to that size figure. After all, if you're doing fine economically why do you care about all that outstanding debt to the Chinese Army? And make no mistake - that's mostly where our interest payments along with the principle are going. Eventually we're going to run out of money to pay the interest on our debt because Washington and the average American, show no interest in changing their ways. But don't worry. Because by the time that happens, the U.S. military will be a shell of its former self and overshadowed by the new and more lethal Chinese military that we funded.
America could never fall at the hands of an invading Army. Instead we will fund it. And in doing so, seal our fate as a "former Superpower".

Rome had the circuses to distract the people's minds from impeding doom. Today in America, we have our iPads, smartphones and satelite TV. But no matter how we try to distract ourselves from our impending doom, the result will be the same. Most Republics are destroyed in this matter - from within. I am often reminded of the words of the great 19th Century French admirer of America, Alex Tocqueville. “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”  If any of those words ring familiar - good, you're paying attention.