Quote Originally Posted by antongast View Post
Here you go:
America is an extremely rich country, and getting richer all the time. The national debt is a matter of policy [[our elected leaders have reached the consensus for various reasons that certain government expenditures should be financed through borrowing rather than higher taxes), not of America being poor. Lots of people in America are poor, and getting poorer, but that's also a matter of policy [[our elected leaders have reached the consensus that inequality isn't a serious problem, and that it's acceptable for nearly all new wealth to accrue to the very rich). Anybody who says "we can't afford X" is actually saying "I don't think we should prioritize X."
This is quite true.

But its not solely a decision by our elected leaders. I believe that our social leaders as well have devalued personal responsibility, and we far too often blame others rather than simply solving our problems with the tools available. Instead, we rely on the power of government to redistribute wealth, rather than increase it. That said, I do believe we have an issue with distribution of wealth. Just a debate about how to solve it.