PSC Week 8 Discussion Forum
Overview: The Week 8 forum covers Chapter 13 of We the People and is designed to enable students to better understand the threat posed by the U.S. national debt. You are to answer the question below and provide a 300-word post for each question.
Post Discussion: Week 8
As compared to the past, there has never been a time in known history where many people have benefitted from the public policy of the government. In the U.S., a large middle class are recipients of these initiatives and live a life unimagined by their ancestors.
Even those living below the poverty line benefit from social policies that provide housing, medical, and food benefits. But this lifestyle has come with a cost. To combat continued external threats such as global terrorism and rogue state actors, and now the threat of COVID 19, the U.S. government has borrowed monies to finance its programs and initiatives. This has led to yearly deficit spending and growing national debt.
Because of the economic impact of COVID, the U.S. is again having to stimulate the economy. For some, however, deficit spending is simply “mortgaging the farm” to a point where future generations will not be able to continue to reap the benefits of a modern democratic middle-class lifestyle.
While COVID is clearly a current threat to the U.S., hopefully, it will be managed by a robust vaccine program and life will return to what was considered normal prior to the pandemic, however, the national debt has the potential to cause a societal collapse when the government can no longer finance its programs and make payments on the national debt.
Thus, the national debt is the most serious threat to the American way of life.
• To better understand this issue, you are to review the following websites and articles and then answer the following question in a 300-word post.
o https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/national-debt-dilemma
o https://www.usdebtclock.org/
o https://www.gao.gov/americas_fiscal_future?t=federal_debt
Question:
• How serious is the national debt to the American way of life and what measures do you propose to manage and eventually reduce this debt?
