I'm not saying borrowing for the stimulus was necessarily a bad idea. Only that, unless you think the current level of debt is either sustainable long-term (maybe?) or that it can continue to rise, that the only rational conclusion is that our material standard of living has to decrease. That seems to be the only rational conclusion when you see 25% increases in US national debt in an environment where GDP is growing 1-2%/year.

We've made a lot of "promises" in this country in the past 50 years. Senior healthcare. Education. Old-age pensions. Government worker pensions. Being the world's police force. I'm only saying that if you take a hard look at all this, and we can't or won't continue to afford it, some things have to be cut. Will it be four-year college for everyone? Or will it be granny's healthcare? Anyone who says "we have to continue to do all if it" is just kidding themself. We just don't have the money.

I'm not long-term optimistic about what it means that the US isn't funding NATO as heavily as it used to be, but I do have to give Trump credit for making this a kitchen table issue. Being the world's police force is damned expensive and I wouldn't mind if we cut that back a bit if that's what it takes to balance, e.g. social security.