Thoughts on the US National Debt

I don't claim to be an expert on finances but I would like to share some thoughts concerning the US national debt. I do not mean to be dogmatic on this issue, but simply wish to share some thoughts on this topic as many COG followers seem to view this with alarm and fear.

I recall once hearing Meredith insisting that back in the day the USA was owed money by other nations but today the USA is the state most heavily indebted.

This information was presented in order to make followers fearful. In the world of the COGs they are fearful that the US debt will cause the USA to financially fall apart thus paving the way for the European Empire (the Beast) to emerge as the new world hegemon and then conquer the USA and Britain.

First of all the US Government has always owed money. From Wikipedia, United States Public Debt.

The United States has had public debt since its inception. Debts incurred during the American Revolutionary War and under the Articles of Confederation led to the first yearly reported value of $75,463,476.52 on January 1, 1791 [and a dollar back then was worth a lot more than it is now]. Over the following 45 years, the debt grew, briefly contracted to zero on January 8, 1835 under President Andrew Jackson but then quickly grew into the millions again.

The first dramatic growth spurt of the debt occurred because of the Civil War. The debt was just $65 million in 1860, but passed $1 billion in 1863 and had reached $2.7 billion following the war. The debt slowly fluctuated for the rest of the century, finally growing steadily in the 1910s and early 1920s to roughly $22 billion as the country paid for involvement in World War I.

First of all half of it is owed to itself, to the US Federal government.

Then there is the external debt, debt owed to other states. As of December 2009 the US Government owes $3614.0 billion to external states.

According to this list from the US Department of the Treasury the largest external debt is with Japan. As of December, 2009 the US owe $768.8 billion to Japan.

Second is China with the US owing $755.4 billion. Because US-Japanese relations are very good and Japan has no pretensions to challenge US power or to be a rival, while China's power is growing and it will clearly place its interests first just like any other powerful state. Because of this rivalry there is a lot more attention given to the US debt with China than there is with Japan.

Third is Great Britain, with the US owing $302.5 billion. And on and on it goes.

Another thought is that every other state in the world today is also in debt.

The creditors to whom the US owe its debt know that if the US falls apart they will not get any money whatsoever and will invite chaos for everyone. So these factors suggest that the US debt will not yet cause the US to go belly up.

Although a fearful COG follower will probably still be convinced that the US will fall down because of (historically and genetically inaccurate) British Israelism, prophetic dualism (as taught by the False Prophet of 1975), the reluctance to entertain the thought that all those great sacrifices made were in vain, will still cause COG followers to cringe in fear at any mention of the US National Debt.