Research+Social+Justice-+Douglas

DEBT IN AMERICA

// #4. Individual Fiscal Irresponsibility // //“God gave the world to men in common; but…He gave it to the use of the industrious and rational (and labor was to be his title to it); not to the fancy or covetousness of the quarrelsome and contentious.” –John Locke, English philosopher// I live in zip code 89031, which had [|the highest foreclosure rate in the nation last year]. I see the results of monetary immaturity in the “bank owned” and “foreclosed” signs on about every third house in relatively good neighborhoods. Also, how is it not a catalyst of mass national panic that we now spend more than we make each year, creating [|a negative savings rate] ? Since 2005, we’ve lost all budgetary restraint as a nation. We now keep less money than at any time since the Great Depression. And, don’t forget, the runaway consumer credit debt among our self discipline-deficient society is now about [|$2.5] // [|trillion] //  [| dollars]. http://gentlyhewstone.com/2008/04/04/the-five-worst-problems-in-america-today-and-the-one-thing-we-can-do-about-them/

America has become trillions of dollars in debt in the past decade. Student loans, credit cards, and simply just spending more than we have has caused this outcome. The issue I'm mostly focusing on is that half the reason this country is in debt is because there are so many people who are able to work, that don't and President Obama gives them money because they're "the needy". This is ridiculous to me because I personally know people who are given thousands of dollars a year and don't work a single day and are completely able to. Where does this money come from? The government, which gets money from our taxes. Overall I want this project to focus on how American's spend and spend and there are so many horrible outcomes such as my idea above of someone losing their house.