The U.S. national debt has surpassed $40 trillion—a dubious milestone driven by endless wars, reckless military spending, and massive tax cuts for the corporate elite. Since 2016, the debt has doubled, and over the next decade it is predicted to climb to $64tn. The United States has been at war for about 95% of its 250-year history, and no other nation comes close to this level of bellicose conduct—or financial indebtedness.This is not simply a matter of out-of-control financial bankruptcy. It is an ominous sign of an unhinged empire that is desperately trying to salvage its historic failure by scorched-earth tactics of endless war. The world is being held hostage by a pathological system that is no longer tolerable for the sake of humanity, development and peace.
The U.S. debt crisis is a legacy of endless war—and a harbinger of future wars. Servicing interest now runs at $1tn a year, meaning less money for schools, healthcare, and social safety nets. The real danger is that the empire is rapidly falling apart, and to postpone that reckoning, the U.S. ruling class is ramping up war and militarism. Unless the American system is somehow systematically transformed through revolution or total collapse.
Read more in this week’s Editorial
Read more Editorials
Subscribe 
Join us on VK
