What should our grandkids pay for?
I’ve been pondering the ethics of making my grandkids pay off my national debt.
The ethics shake out depending on what we borrowed for:
To build bridges, runways and harbors they will benefit from? You bet.
To get college educations for their parents so they’ll have a head start in life? Probably.
To ensure they and their parents will have affordable health care? You bet.
To ensure that their parents and I will have comprehensive last-illness medical care? I don’t think so.
To fund a war to guarantee our access to Middle East oil? Definitely not.
Fund development of other energy sources? You bet.
Prevent collapse of the world economy, prevent a greater depression and the worldwide bloodshed likely to follow? Probably.
Make more military hardware? Probably not.
Develop electric cars? Probably. Bail out GM? Probably not. Buy up old cars? Sure.
Improve the national parks, city parks, rails to trails? Absolutely!
Fund arts projects? Just my opinion — no.
Fund music and dance and writing lessons? Sure.
Fight the war on drugs the way we have been? Nope.
Fight that war by giving confiscated drugs away free to kill the drug economy. Sure.
We could articulate such an ethic.
— Nathan Kirk, Auburn