the united states is a unique case, because it's a hegemon with no close competitors.

i mean, you're going to have a hard time getting a fiscal conservative streak out of me anyways, because it's not there. but, i'm going to rather propose a question: should the united states abolish taxes altogether?

"but who would pay for roads and schools and..."

they'd just print it. and, in fact, if you remove the arbitrary limits enforced by the budget process, they could build far more roads and far better schools.

it's just the reality on the ground: there's no really good reason that the united states government has to tax it's citizens, or pretend that it's restricted in spending by what it can raise in tax revenues. the whole premise is just bullshit. they can do whatever they want.

that's not true in a country like canada.

but, if i was living in the united states, i wouldn't be getting upset about the debt, i'd be arguing that there's no reason to pretend the situation is zero sum.