When the USA gets a cold, the rest of the world gets the ‘flu… so the saying goes. Well, it seems the USA is about to get the (economic) ‘flu… do we get a cold? I doubt it somehow. This documentary from 2008 shows firstly the terrifying state of the US government debts, and secondly, why it is important (they state it mildly - the US will be under the thumb of its bankers, mainly China. This effectively means that their ‘empire’ will end and by extension the Western empire will end; US citizens will be in hock for a generation or more; poverty will be commonplace).

Putting it more strongly, it means US citizens (and others) will end up effectively as slaves, working to pay off irredeemable debts all their lives. In short, freedom is good, but you cannot sustain freedom without financial responsibility. To me, that is just the way the Universe is constructed. Money represents freedom of action. Without the one, you can’t have the other. Debt equals slavery.

The West has a demographic time bomb as well: the average age of the population is increasing so much that not enough workers are available to pay for pensions, healthcare and so on. Clearly, governments in Britain and the US are dealing with it, secretly, by allowing huge numbers of young immigrants from Eastern Europe and Mexico respectively to enter the countries (while pretending to be tough on immigration). Well, fine, but it will alter the cultures of these nations. And anyway, the debts in the USA look too big for this to work too well. But… maybe they’ve done their sums. I’d like to see them. The video doesn’t address this possible solution, mind you.