Is that "Ascension" from the SyFy Channel?
I had just gotten out of the shower on Friday when I heard the "whoosh" that precedes breaking news on Fox. I wiped off the mirror, then wiped off the screen of my iPad below it. I'd been listening to the headline news stream when NASA interrupted: "T minus 90 seconds until the launch of Orion." I dried my pits, ass, and balls while I watched. The rocket took off without a hitch, and the view from its capsule-mounted cameras were breathtaking. In just over two minutes, the ground was replaced by a Gravity-view of the stratosphere; the Earth was round & blue, as clear as in a movie. And just like my face in the mirror, the image on the screen was breathtaking.
Sadly though, Orion's launch was overshadowed by other troubling stories. As I shaved my head & neck, I heard reports about NASA's lack of funding, China's rise to the world's largest economy, Russia's return to Cold War behavior, North Korea's hacking Sony's servers, and worst of all, the USA's horrific national debt. And I say "worst" because of this week, America now owes over 18 trillion dollars, and nobody seems even the least bit concerned - aside from the usual threats of a government shutdown. "Eighteen TRILLION dollars?" I thought, trying to fathom such a huge amount of money. To put that debt into perspective, imagine earning 30 thousand dollars a year, but owing $350,000 in credit cards...and having to make the minimum payments, before paying your mortgage...and food, utilities, and gas. We pay over 400 billion dollars a year in interest - money totally wasted. And like Orion, the debt has rocketed high up towards the stratosphere, doubling under the Obama administration - but obviously not one of Al Sharpton's concerns. Our society would rather protest police doing their jobs (closing down bridges while people come home from their own). Chuckling...how about protesting a President who'd already have been impeached had he been a Republican? Any takers? Mr. Sharpton? YO...Al! Tapping the microphone and speaking in my best Peg Bundy voice: "AAAAAAAAAAAAL....?"
Sadly though, Orion's launch was overshadowed by other troubling stories. As I shaved my head & neck, I heard reports about NASA's lack of funding, China's rise to the world's largest economy, Russia's return to Cold War behavior, North Korea's hacking Sony's servers, and worst of all, the USA's horrific national debt. And I say "worst" because of this week, America now owes over 18 trillion dollars, and nobody seems even the least bit concerned - aside from the usual threats of a government shutdown. "Eighteen TRILLION dollars?" I thought, trying to fathom such a huge amount of money. To put that debt into perspective, imagine earning 30 thousand dollars a year, but owing $350,000 in credit cards...and having to make the minimum payments, before paying your mortgage...and food, utilities, and gas. We pay over 400 billion dollars a year in interest - money totally wasted. And like Orion, the debt has rocketed high up towards the stratosphere, doubling under the Obama administration - but obviously not one of Al Sharpton's concerns. Our society would rather protest police doing their jobs (closing down bridges while people come home from their own). Chuckling...how about protesting a President who'd already have been impeached had he been a Republican? Any takers? Mr. Sharpton? YO...Al! Tapping the microphone and speaking in my best Peg Bundy voice: "AAAAAAAAAAAAL....?"
Tic, Tic, Tic, Tic.........BOOM! The national debt terrifies me, and I just don't understand why people don't take it as seriously as managing their personal finances. What's happening with our debt reminds me of the housing bust a few years back. In just a few short months, homes like mine lost 50% of their value - and many neighbors couldn't pay their debts. Mortgages, second mortgages, home equity lines of credit used as ATM cards all came due at once - alongside "real" credit cards, car payments, grocery bills...and McMansion utilities. People lost everything, and entire neighborhoods became as vacant as Detroit. I was lucky enough to escape the Phoenix collapse in 2006, but the Chicago collapse caught up to me two years later - and my present home, after a loan modification, is currently worth 40% less than what I paid for it. And I'm one of the lucky ones on the street. When I tried to sell in 2009, there were so many foreclosures within nearby city blocks, my property was unsellable. Adding insult to injury, aside from being stuck in my own house, I also had to contend with distressed neighborhood properties that brought values down even further. And it all happened because homeowners' debt had grown so big, default was the only option. Think about THAT while Christmas shopping this year.
WHY don't people understand the gravity of national debt? I personally believe that it's because we're so distracted by social problems - grand jury protests most recently. I'll admit there are pockets of racism in some communities - blind hatred of blacks, Latinos, Middle-Easterners, and others - but I've never felt that our "country" was racist until these past six years of the Obama presidency. Obama may have campaigned on hope, but he has proven to be anything but a uniter. His actions have encouraged the ignorant/extreme to lash out, tearing apart communities and attracting self-serving charlatans. And add to that the congressional agenda of entitlements, we've become so immersed in ourselves, we've neglected to take care of the thing that matters most: keeping The United States united. Being united isn't a solitary pursuit. It will require all of us, regardless of color...and we need to get over this false racism shit. False racism is one of many dangerous issues distracting us from the inevitable debt crisis. And the national debt is a crisis.
Projects like Orion will be the first to go once the national debt overtakes our economy. NASA is inspiring, and it's hard not to get butterflies when our rockets get launched into space, but when we can no longer pay our debt's interest payments, luxuries like space travel will disappear immediately. Not only will we lose our edge in the space race, we'll lose a major source of national pride. Our news will be filled with stories of recession, while China, Russia, and all the America-haters revel in our karma - a situation we could have avoided. Reckless spending on government programs is no different than maxing out credit cards, destroying a debt-to-income ratio. This madness has to stop. We must start repaying our debt now...otherwise, we'll end up in that God-awful 1970s film Americathon.
Does anyone else feel strongly about this?
Does anyone else feel strongly about this?
