Taking a Look at National Debt

When compared to countries with a lower amount of national debt, such as the United Kingdom and Sweden, America seems to be built on a foundation of materialism. American materialism influences its society to believe that the more things someone owns, the happier she will be. Many Americans insist on ownership of goods and services, despite how expensive some may be. Even if an individual lacks the necessary funds to afford said goods, however, she can still purchase them by using credit. Credit is money that a bank or business will allow a person to use, provided she reimburses them in the future. The existence of credit encourages people to spend more than they can afford to, ultimately rendering the borrowers slave to the lenders. Abusing credit results in debt, which is a problem that plagues almost every American through most, if not all, of their life. Bad credit and debt are among the worst of problems in America because it contributes towards a progressively unstable state in the economy and prevents many Americans from fulfilling their financial dreams.

There are different types of debt, although they all contribute towards the country’s status just the same. One of the most common types of debt Americans have is personal debt. This type of debt is the result of purchasing assets with values that diminish over time. Said assets include: new cars, clothes, furniture, and credit card purchases – short-term pleasures. Investment debt, however, is one of the more acceptable types of debt. This kind of debt results from borrowing to fund companies, education, or even homes – assets that will likely increase in value over time. Of course, both types of debts are equally difficult to repay. Debt ranges from mortgage payments, ca...

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...rom falling into debt. People who are entrenched in debt, however, should employ a strategy of cutting down variable spending and putting the extra money towards debt payments. Akin to the proposed balanced budget amendment, this ensures that they lose less and make more money.

Debt is slowly pushing America’s economy into an unstable state. This will eventually result in a dramatic increase of taxes, which will subsequently decrease the overall budget of most Americans. National debt is increased even more when people abuse credit, accepting debt into their lives. Unless America focuses its efforts to discouraging materialism by spending less money than what its overall income is, it will proceed further into debt, risking even higher taxes and bankruptcy. Our nation has to overcome its nurtured materialism before we can truly expect to improve its economic status.