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Argument

There's no such thing as national debt

"National debt" is a popular buzzword used by conservatives, but it doesn't exist.

Firstly, the concept itself is incoherent, because to owe a debt means to have taken from someone else, but only individuals can be responsible for actions (and multiple individuals only if each one contributed to the taking), and therefore a nation cannot owe a debt because it cannot own property or commit actions.

Secondly, if we put aside the incoherence of the concept and assume that "America" owes trillions of dollars, *to whom* does America owe this money? It never seems to be explained when conservatives babble about this.

Following from that, what did America do to accrue this debt? For the debt to exist America must have *taken* equivalent value from this entity.

If some elected officials did plunder trillions of dollars from other countries (remember, that has to mean some specific people inside those countries), that still doesn't implicate me because I didn't vote for them or ask them to do it. I can't even be considered a recipient of the theft because the government's actions are forced on me against my will and are easily a net negative. I'm a victim of the US government, not their debt-paying slave.

And besides that, when I was born the "national debt" was already in the billions; if you want to tell me that I'm responsible for mistakes made not only by people other than me but *before I was born*, then fuck off and good day to you.

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