A Concerned Millennial
Growing Debt Concerns for Generation Y.
There is an emerging reality coming to fruition across the world today. An emerging perspective and an increased mass of young people who have began to question the very system in which we are all bound within. The system in which I am referring to is the monetary system. More specifically, the insidious debt machine that has been spiraling out of control for the past several decades.
According to an article that I had read recently published in the Huffington Post titled, “Millennial’s Won’t be in Charge on Congress Until at Least 2035", referring to research from First Person Politics, “Millennials will make up a majority of the members of the House of Representatives around the year 2035, and the Senate between 2036 and 2044.” Now, if this projection proves to be correct, this means that the current millennial generation (those of us born between the early 1980's and early 2000's) will not have the majority “control” of congress for quite some time; 22 years at the earliest to be more specific.
Given this projection, lets take another perspective on the subject matter, and look back at the past 22 years instead to see just where we stood as a country concerning the U.S national debt. I think we can all agree upon the fact that the U.S. national debt appears more and more like an infinitely expanding black hole from which there is no escape. At least, this is what history has been hinting to us for decades now. Let me explain…..
Going backwards in time, 22 years ago from present day 2013, lands us in the year 1991, which marked the end of the Persian-Gulf War, and on a lighter note was the prosperous times of the unforgettable, “wind pants”, thick mustaches, and cover half your face glasses that we all became much too familiar with. However, back to my point. In 1991, according to TreasuryDirect.gov the U.S. national debt was $353,720,253,841.41 (353.72 Billion). Now, this sounds like an absurd amount of money right? Well, that’s because it is. Although, what is even more astonishing is that the U.S. national debt according to TreasuryDirect.gov as of December 5th of this year stands at a monumental $17,228,699,889,181.63 (17.23 Trillion). Keep this $17.23 Trillion figure fresh in mind as we delve further into the past.
22 years before 1991, now brings us to the year 1969. For those of us who remember our history, this year marked the inauguration of the 37th President of the United States, as well as the United State’s ongoing involvement with the Vietnam War, and oh yeah, Woodstock. Anyways, the U.S. national debt in this year again, according to TreasuryDirect.gov stood at just $353,720,253,841.41 (353.72 Billion). It is important to note that just 44 years ago from current 2013, the U.S. national debt was not even one-half of one trillion dollars, and currently with the U.S. debt being over 17.23 trillion dollars, questions are inevitably going to be asked, and rightfully so. In just 44 years this country has accumulated over 48x the accumulated debt recorded in 1969….
These disturbing figures have me immensely concerned as to how our Millennial generation will overcome this overwhelming problem. If we were to follow the trend of just the past 22 years, we see that the U.S. national debt has increased from $3.67 Trillion in 1991 to $17.23 Trillion in 2013. By the time we Millennials approach the year 2035 our generation will be endowed with an unimaginable debt burden of over 13x where it stands currently. Thus, resulting in a newly accumulated debt of over $30 Trillion dollars over the next 22 years. It’s time that we start realizing the very real severity of our impending future. At this point, it is entirely illogical to bicker and fight over whose fault or what programs/policies, corrupt politicians, etc, may have contributed to this catastrophe. However, quite frankly it is irrelevant, and would be in fact, entirely logical to instead begin considering viable solutions to this problem as soon as possible if we wish to see any real hope for our Millennial generation and all other future generations on this planet.
