Debt

Debt is the forfeiture of the future. Buying something that will be paid for by future work means that the when the future arrives you can't choose to do something else, you forfeit the alternative. You can't spend the money earned on any thing else.  You have no choice but to work to pay off the debt. The payment of interest always accompanies debt. The cost in the future is some percent greater than the original price of the item bought on time. So debt really is servitude. You contract your ability to work for an agreed upon amount of time plus the additional time to pay for the cost of the interest of borrowing someone else's money.

Debt is never good but the cost of debt can be considered acceptable, by the individual, when the car or home, that is purchased with credit, can be driven or occupied while paying for it. The price of servitude is considered agreeable.

Debt should never be agreeable when it requires the servitude of another to pay for it. So why do elected legislators think that it is acceptable to enslave their constituencies?  Because it is not only their money that they are spending. It is not only their time they are committing. It is not only their future that they are sacrificing.

Debt become debilitating when we don't hold our elected officials accountable. When we don't recognize the cost of government debt as something that affects us. When we don't realize that our futures and our children's futures are being forfeited.  When we unthinkingly demand from our government and accept services that requires debt to pay for.

Debt and the accompanying interest enslaves the borrower whether it is the individual or the citizen.  The problem is when the borrower irresponsibly enslaves the next generation and a crime is committed when the third or fourth generation is included.  The generations before me enslaved themselves and affected me.  It is my generation that has not only enslaved our children but apparently have enslaved multiple generations into the future. Only time will tell how many that will be.