America is a land of freedom and opportunity. At least that’s what we celebrate each July 4th as we watch fireworks sparkle over waving stars and stripes. But there are many different types of freedom and numerous instances throughout history in which our actions have belied our ideals. One thing in particular from which we are not free at the present time is debt. Millions of Americans owe trillions of dollars to various types of lenders, and even Uncle Sam is deep in the hole.
There is plenty of blame to go around for this beholden state of affairs, from corporate shenanigans and questionable political leadership to a lack of financial literacy and the gradual transformation of old-school luxuries into new-school necessities.More important than how we got here, however, is what we’re going to do about it now.