August 2011 might not hurt Wall Street as much as feared, according to MSNBC’s Tom Curry (July 29, 2011), but it will be financial Armageddon to many millions of Americans. Every aspect of society will be impacted, from health care to disability benefits. Many elderly Americans depend on earned monthly benefit checks to pay rent, mortgages, medications, and groceries. Default of the United States government will not just produce austerity, but could pauperize millions of citizens. President Obama referred to it as “disruption” (July 25, 2011), but the true definition will be closer to despair and chaos.
Global Opinion on the U.S. Debt Crisis
The shutting down of America will also send the wrong signals to the rest of the world. Is this what democracy is all about? Is this why so many people brave the odds to come to American shores? What of the credibility of U.S. currency? The German news magazine Spiegel (July 28, 2011) reports that Europe, itself snared by Euro troubles, is losing patience with the United States: “Should Republicans continue to block ongoing efforts at finding a compromise, the consequences could be severe.”
Writing in the Asia Times (July 28, 2011), David Goldman discusses a scenario in which, “The Tea Part Republicans stick to their ideological guns and walk into an ambush set by the White House, in which they take the blame for the crisis that allows Obama to crisis-manage ostentatiously.” This is the stuff of conspiracy theory, however: forcing a crisis in order to achieve a radically different outcome.
