How is everything not collapsing in the US?

[Lexicus]

Complaining about the size of the debt is a good way to solve no problems ever

 

[Estebonrober]

Complaining about the size of the debt is a good way to solve no problems ever

Yes the 30 trill is not my concern really, but I'm sure it rattles our dear college student @The Civs 6

 

[amadeus]

Complaining about the size of the debt is a good way to solve no problems ever

The size of the debt could be a problem left unchecked.

 

[Farm Boy]

I guess it depends on the sincerity of the takeaway, eh? How serious was the article? Assclown and all. The likes of the sentiment can include themselves to whatever degree of sincerity intended.

Happy enough with that.

 

[Lexicus]

The size of the debt could be a problem left unchecked.

The only sense in which the debt can grow "too large" is if it reflects spending at a level beyond what the economy is capable of absorbing with real capacity. It isn't the size of the debt that matters so much as the rate of growth.

 

[Bugfatty300]

The size of the debt could be a problem left unchecked.

I've heard it compared to grabbing onto a rope attached to a rising balloon. After so many feet, it doesn't matter how much space is between you and the ground, it's going be lethal fall regardless.

Edit: I suppose Corona Virus is the mischievous mouse tickling a feather at our armpits.

 

[Estebonrober]

I guess it depends on the sincerity of the takeaway, eh? How serious was the article? Assclown and all. The likes of the sentiment can include themselves to whatever degree of sincerity intended.

Happy enough with that.

meh, now its a meh.

The size of the debt could be a problem left unchecked.

I've heard it compared to grabbing onto a rope attached to a rising balloon. After so many feet, it doesn't matter how much space is between you and the ground, it's going be lethal fall regardless.

I thought all this about 22 trillion ago, clearly I was wrong which means I had to address why and that largely lead to some version of MMT exceptionalism being the reality for the US.

 

[Farm Boy]

meh, now its a meh.

I was hoping the Assclown vibe wasn't there, but yeah, whatever. The dingleberries can verb too.

 

[red_elk]

^ That bear looks familiar...

We are the only country on the planet that airs our dirty laundry and puts our own flaws and faults on a microphone for the world to see and judge.

The only country on the planet that puts its flaws and faults on a microphone instead of fixing them?

 

[Commodore]

only country on the planet that puts its flaws and faults on a microphone instead of fixing them?

Name one country that has truly fixed any of its problems. You can't because no such country exists. This is evidenced by the fact that if you look back, say, 50 years in any country's history, you'll see that people were generally complaining about the same problems back then that they complain about now.

The point being that governments have largely proven themselves to be unable to truly fix problems. The best they can do is apply temporary band-aids to make the problems seem not as bad for a decade or so.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Name one country that has truly fixed any of its problems. You can't because no such country exists. This is evidenced by the fact that if you look back, say, 50 years in any country's history, you'll see that people were generally complaining about the same problems back then that they complain about now.

The point being that governments have largely proven themselves to be unable to truly fix problems. The best they can do is apply temporary band-aids to make the problems seem not as bad for a decade or so.

For example take a look at how bad state european militaries are in, which is maybe only justifed because Russia is in a similar bad shape. US have problems, but everyone have problems and US still generally make it to top 1/3 of the countries and in many ways into the top 10.

Here US seems to be far ahead of Europe: https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/europe-trailing-the-us-on-top-science/3007579.article
And here is a similar conclusion: https://www.researchgate.net/figure...archers-per-million-inhabitants_tbl2_23629557
https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/not-so-fast-who-really-leads-the-world-in-science

 

[warpus]

The poor and lower classes get hit the hardest. Sure, there's probably lots of middle class and upper class investors losing money, but those who are actually suffering because of this are all those people out of jobs who can't pay rent and are facing eviction or whatever. That lower class of America has always been disadvantaged and "able" to take some punishment before all hell breaks loose.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

The poor and lower classes get hit the hardest. Sure, there's probably lots of middle class and upper class investors losing money, but those who are actually suffering because of this are all those people out of jobs who can't pay rent and are facing eviction or whatever. That lower class of America has always been disadvantaged and "able" to take some punishment before all hell breaks loose.

That is the case pretty much everywhere in the world.

 

[warpus]

That is the case pretty much everywhere in the world.

Sure, but America has very poor socioeconomic mobility when compared to other western countries. The social safety net is almost non-existent as well. A crisis like this will hit the poorest parts of America first and foremost. This is true for other countries as well, but in other western countries those lower echelons of society have more support and access to a safety net.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Sure, but America has very poor socioeconomic mobility when compared to other western countries. The social safety net is almost non-existent as well. A crisis like this will hit the poorest parts of America first and foremost. This is true for other countries as well, but in other western countries those lower echelons of society have more support and access to a safety net.

Compared to other "western" countries, yes that is likely correct. Compared to all countries in the world, no I suspect US have better social protection than the average country. I suspect western world is basically the odd case of decent social protection and once you go past it the average country don't offer much social protection.

US and western Europe is so consumer oriented that people seems to live paycheck to paycheck, in eastern europe there seems to be alot less trust to the government and people seems better at saving money and live more modest.

 

[warpus]

Compared to other "western" countries, yes that is likely correct. Compared to all countries in the world, no I suspect US have better social protection than the average country. .

Well yes, if you compare the U.S. to the developing world then the American social safety net and access to things like education and healthcare are not so bad.

It makes far more sense to compare the U.S. to other western nations in this case though.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Well yes, if you compare the U.S. to the developing world then the American social safety net and access to things like education and healthcare are not so bad.

It makes far more sense to compare the U.S. to other western nations in this case though.

It probably comes downs to priorities. US seems to do better in stuff like science and military because they invest alot in those areas, which could otherwise have gone to social security. There are also differences in how US government system is setup compared to other western nations which also probably influence which areas are prioritised.

 

[warpus]

It probably comes downs to priorities. US seems to do better in stuff like science and military because they invest alot in those areas, which could otherwise have gone to social security. There are also differences in how US government system is setup compared to other western nations which also probably influence which areas are prioritised.

Yeah instead of building 17 aircraft carrier support groups worth $27 trillion some money could have gone to healthcare and education, I completely agree. Instead a crazy percentage of Americans are SOL at a time when they could really have used some help. But ah well, at least they can sleep well knowing that American science is #1

 

[Commodore]

makes far more sense to compare the U.S. to other western nations in this case though

I don't think it makes sense to compare any nation to other nations because each nation is unique in its circumstances. Pointing to another nation and saying "why can't you just do what they do" seems kinda ignorant to me.

Of course comparing nations does have significant rhetorical impact, so I'll just keep doing it anyway.

 

[El_Machinae]

Well, the beauty of having an incredibly number of pseudo-liberal democracies at both the nation and provincial level is that you can look for successes and mimic them. Some regions insist on following bad policy, despite evidence of things working better elsewhere. It's because of a combination of zeitgeist, a tricked electoral base, and corrupt politicians.