When I watch a man on the street interviewer and the interviewee says about the United States "We are living beyond our means." - I want to reach into the screen and strangle him to death. I think a huge percentage of Americans think that household debt is the same as national debt. It's a myth that will never die.

One day I opened a tab and started watching CNN. Jake Tapper was the host at that hour but I decided to keep the tab open. Within about a minute a guy on his panel said something like "The US has a lotta debt. And you know how it is when you owe a lotta money—" and I closed the tab. For fuck's sake. I've heard such stuff before on MSNBC too. And nobody ever points out it's 100% wrong.

[–] TraschcanOfIdeology@hexbear.net 28 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I'm not so sure it's a myth that will never go away. Polls show that almost nobody cared about national debt until the 70s, when there was a concerted effort by the neoliberals of the world to use it to squeeze more surplus from the working class and the global south.

As easy as this myth took root, another can. It's a matter of effort/organization.