My Future's So Bright --

I don’t like this prediction. If anybody can make a realistic case for some rosier outlook, I will receive it eagerly.

Ten to thirty years from now the United States will go broke. There is not the faintest bump on the horizon that holds any hope. Maybe in ten years, maybe in thirty, the Chinese or somebody – probably the Chinese and a lot of somebodies – will give us the same choice that we have offered so many countries that we deemed fiscally irresponsible: Cut out all un-necessary spending or we will cut off your credit.

They, not we, will decide what is necessary. They won’t care about entitlements, about national defense, or anything else that we think we can’t live without. Millions of people who sell goods or services to the government will be out of work. They will stop buying consumer goods and services that keep millions of others employed. Congress will vote a pot of money to save the day, but will be in the same straits as Old Mother Hubbard.

People will default on their mortgages and car notes and credit cards. Millions will be homeless, surrounded by dirt-cheap houses that they can’t afford, and the credit industry will have nothing to loan them anyway.

Illegal immigration will no longer be a problem as the Mexican peasants realize there is nothing in the U.S. better than there is at home. It will be a problem for Canada, as Americans sneak across the border seeking a livelihood.

People will rebel, march on Washington, form radical political movements. Nothing will do any good. Recovery, like prevention, would require sacrifice and commitment to common goals. These virtues are beyond our abilities. We and our children will pass into history full of bitterness, blame, and resentment over the loss of illusory expectations.

Forty to sixty years from now the next generation will come to adulthood in poverty unknown to us since the Great Depression. Many will live like the Somalians of today. Those with jobs will barely generate a livable income and most of that will be extracted in taxes to pay the costs of debt. Roads, airports, power and communication grids, bridges, sewers, and water systems will decay faster than their limited resources can repair them. They will hate us for our legacy.

One hundred years from now that generation's descendants will begin to pay off the interest on the interest on the wealth we borrowed and squandered. People will begin to hope and eventually believe that their labor may yield some benefit in their lives. They will embrace a grim determination to make better lives for their children. They will have regained the ability to sacrifice and commit to common goals.

One hundred to one hundred fifty years from now will be a period of national pride and triumph, as our descendants rebuild a functioning nation from the wreckage. The national memory will lose its resentment, but will retain a scorn for our generation, and its destiny will be guided by a determination never to sink to the depths that we so willingly sought.