Paying Back The Debt

[derEikopf]

If the gold standard was reestablished and the Fed abolished, that would leave an $8 trillion hole hanging over our heads. How would the government pay that money back if it only gets money from the people it owes that money to?

[Captain Nate]

If the gold standard was reestablished and the Fed abolished, that would leave an $8 trillion hole hanging over our heads.  How would the government pay that money back if it only gets money from the people it owes that money to?

Cut spending, raise more revenue than it needs, and pay it back. Just as it always has.

[ChristopherSchlegel]

How would the government pay that money back if it only gets money from the people it owes that money to?

A modest proposal I made in an essay I wrote a while back: sell the roads & schools to private companies. It might not be enough to cover the current national debt, but it would be huge step in the right direction.

Also, observe that you stated:

If the gold standard was reestablished and the Fed abolished, that would leave an $8 trillion hole hanging over our heads.

This alone is not going to be enough to reverse the current trend of gov't incurring debt. All the parasite programs would also have to be cut. Any program in which people paid in expecting something in return (i.e.: Medicare, SS) would have to be phased out. People should, in the end, get back what they paid in as the program is gradually stopped.

Of course, none of this will happen until there is a large scale acceptance of egoism instead of altruism in enough people with power & ambition to make it gov't policy. & likewise, this ethical awakening would have to be rooted in a reason based epistemology & reality based metaphysics.

[studentofobjectivism]

Of course, none of this will happen until there is a large scale acceptance of egoism instead of altruism in enough people with power & ambition to make it gov't policy.  & likewise, this ethical awakening would have to be rooted in a reason based epistemology & reality based metaphysics.

Good luck.

[scottkursk]

If the gold standard was reestablished and the Fed abolished, that would leave an $8 trillion hole hanging over our heads.  How would the government pay that money back if it only gets money from the people it owes that money to?

Or just define the money supply as the amount of gold we've got divided by the amount of currency issued. Zoink, you're 1/2 way there. But as the Libertarian Party <fyi no I'm not one of the moonbats> suggested on their platform a while back they wanted to sell of the national parks and all government owned land and use that to buy annuities on the open market for every legal citizen and then shut down social security period the end. Something along those lines.

But that is the practical side which is actually really easy. The hard to nearly impossible side is the metaphysical side is what Christopher points out.