On The Differences Between
Personal And Government Debt

Me and the fed government now have the same debt plan,
To stay afloat while times are tough we’ll borrow all we can.
We won’t have near-term problems while the servicing we pays,
For years there’ll be smooth sailing, then...
We goes our separate ways.

When servicing’s too onerous, exceeds my comfy zone,
I’ll simply renegotiate my each and ev’ry loan.
I’ll make clear to my lenders, you be obliging creditors,
Or push me to the wall and end up out-of-pocket predators.

It’s you, I’ll say, who gave me all that money unsecured,
That led to spending lots more than I really could afford.
I’ll look ashamed with droopy eyes, a hounddog genus basset,
And point out sadly that I’ve got no cash or other asset.

I’ll fin’ly make an offer that would settle my whole debt,
Knowing lenders will accept it—’tis the best they’re gonna get.
They may beat their breasts and bellow, getting dimes back for their dollars,
But a bankrupt gives them nothing, so they take the dimes and hollers.

Which brings us to our government, its own debt build-up spree,
Spreading red ink with abandon, debt enough to fill a sea.
If it could, it might like me, make its lenders whine and wail,
Bug out on built up owings on a far, far grander scale.

But alas, unlike me, it can’t do the old John Galt
Shrug like Atlas, give the finger, lob a spit ball, then default.
The king of sov’reign debtors can’t negotiate debt size
Nor for reasons, most horrendous, run the presses, monetize.

Individuals can play, games our government can not
If I stiff a few bank lenders it’s a drop in their huge pot
I can free myself with bankruptcy, can laugh and walk away
But on Sam’s day of debt reckoning, all of us are gonna pay,
And pay,
And pay,
And......

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