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- Fred Su Letter, 6-27-20
Author: Robert Gay - Scholarship Recipient, May 2005
"Scholarship Essay"
In the early 20th century, the United States practiced a style of economics that was known as laissez-faire, which essentially means that the government stays out of the affairs of the populace as much as possible. The Great Depression of the 1930’s was a lesson to the country that the government cannot just back out of its responsibilities to the people, and that its presence is required for guidance. However, ever since the New Deal helped to bring about the end of the Great Depression, the government has gone a little overboard in its spending for the “common good.”
Recently, the national debt was estimated at $6.5 trillion. This equates to roughly $22,000 of debt for every man, woman, and child living in this country (legally). To me, that is a lot of debt, considering I don’t think I’ve made $22,000 total in my entire life. But the spending is not entirely to be blamed on the citizens, as the government does its fair share as well.
In January 2005, the White House announced a balanced budget.
Everybody cheered.
And then the truth came out – the budget was “balanced” before they included the tens of billions of dollars that were to be spent on two more programs that weren’t ready in time: the Iraq War, and the overhauling of Social Security.
This spending is outrageous. It can’t continue forever, because in order to spend money that we don’t have, our country has to borrow money, and we become beholden. Someday, the lenders are going to collect, and we’re not going to pay up, so our legs are going to be broken. The question is: what can be done?
On an individual level, there need to be improvements in education. By improving education, it may be possible to curb outsourcing of US jobs, and to keep more money in our own economy. Also, a better educational system might improve the motivation of our citizens, which could result in fewer people relying on government programs like welfare to support them and their six young kids.
The second thing that needs to be done is that the citizens need to be given responsibility for their programs. It is not good for the country to have the government paying for everything, while the people receive tax breaks. It’s like having grandma spoil a four-year-old child…she (or he) constantly wants more and more. Not only do the citizens become spoiled, but undisciplined government spending leads to MASSIVE DEBT, on the order of $6.5 trillion.
However, the people cannot be expected to shoulder the enormity of the national debt right away all by themselves. It is also important to cut government spending in order to decrease that debt. Unnecessary government programs, like Corporate Welfare, should be the first to go. It is important to encourage business growth, but there are better ways to do it than by providing corporations with large tax and legal loopholes.
The first steps toward reducing the national debt should include implementing a more fiscally conservative policy toward government spending.
©2002-2012 Northwest Business Club
Recently, the national debt was estimated at $6.5 trillion. This equates to roughly $22,000 of debt for every man, woman, and child living in this country (legally). To me, that is a lot of debt, considering I don’t think I’ve made $22,000 total in my entire life. But the spending is not entirely to be blamed on the citizens, as the government does its fair share as well.
In January 2005, the White House announced a balanced budget.
Everybody cheered.
And then the truth came out – the budget was “balanced” before they included the tens of billions of dollars that were to be spent on two more programs that weren’t ready in time: the Iraq War, and the overhauling of Social Security.
This spending is outrageous. It can’t continue forever, because in order to spend money that we don’t have, our country has to borrow money, and we become beholden. Someday, the lenders are going to collect, and we’re not going to pay up, so our legs are going to be broken. The question is: what can be done?
On an individual level, there need to be improvements in education. By improving education, it may be possible to curb outsourcing of US jobs, and to keep more money in our own economy. Also, a better educational system might improve the motivation of our citizens, which could result in fewer people relying on government programs like welfare to support them and their six young kids.
The second thing that needs to be done is that the citizens need to be given responsibility for their programs. It is not good for the country to have the government paying for everything, while the people receive tax breaks. It’s like having grandma spoil a four-year-old child…she (or he) constantly wants more and more. Not only do the citizens become spoiled, but undisciplined government spending leads to MASSIVE DEBT, on the order of $6.5 trillion.
However, the people cannot be expected to shoulder the enormity of the national debt right away all by themselves. It is also important to cut government spending in order to decrease that debt. Unnecessary government programs, like Corporate Welfare, should be the first to go. It is important to encourage business growth, but there are better ways to do it than by providing corporations with large tax and legal loopholes.
The first steps toward reducing the national debt should include implementing a more fiscally conservative policy toward government spending.
©2002-2012 Northwest Business Club
