Posted July 02, 2016
(Yeah, yeah: Gaming forum, blah blah blah. I find the issue interesting, and I'm curious about the opinions of certain forumites around here. Skip this thread if it's not your kind of thing.)
Question for discussion: Are citizens responsible for the debt incurred by their government?
It might seem a simple question, but consider:
Ricky votes for politicians whom he believes are sincere in their promise to balance the budget. He donates to their campaigns, and he encourages other citizens to realize the danger of the growing debt. He writes to his representatives about the issue. Rickey pays his taxes, and he receives no payments of any kind from the government.
However, the politicians for whom he voted do not uphold their promise, or the majority of his fellow citizens vote for politicians who are heedless of the danger. This happens over and over again, and the country spirals into ever-increasing debt.
Is Ricky morally responsible for a portion of the debt? In the event of an economic crisis caused by that debt, is it just for the state to confiscate his savings? Is the answer just "Tough luck, Ricky, that's democracy for ya"?
And what about those citizens not yet born, whose futures are being mortgaged by the current generation? Can they be rightly held responsible?
For me, the only acceptable answer to these questions is that if we are to hold citizens ultimately responsible for the debt, then the state must not be allowed to borrow money except during times of war (and further that war must never be waged for any reason other than the defense of the citizens of that state).
But I seem to be in the minority in that opinion given the state of the world, so...
Thoughts?
Question for discussion: Are citizens responsible for the debt incurred by their government?
It might seem a simple question, but consider:
Ricky votes for politicians whom he believes are sincere in their promise to balance the budget. He donates to their campaigns, and he encourages other citizens to realize the danger of the growing debt. He writes to his representatives about the issue. Rickey pays his taxes, and he receives no payments of any kind from the government.
However, the politicians for whom he voted do not uphold their promise, or the majority of his fellow citizens vote for politicians who are heedless of the danger. This happens over and over again, and the country spirals into ever-increasing debt.
Is Ricky morally responsible for a portion of the debt? In the event of an economic crisis caused by that debt, is it just for the state to confiscate his savings? Is the answer just "Tough luck, Ricky, that's democracy for ya"?
And what about those citizens not yet born, whose futures are being mortgaged by the current generation? Can they be rightly held responsible?
For me, the only acceptable answer to these questions is that if we are to hold citizens ultimately responsible for the debt, then the state must not be allowed to borrow money except during times of war (and further that war must never be waged for any reason other than the defense of the citizens of that state).
But I seem to be in the minority in that opinion given the state of the world, so...
Thoughts?
