George Washington’s Farewell: Cultivate Peace, Cherish Public Credit By: Michael Boldin
What is lacking today is wisdom as much as it is fidelity to the Constitution. Washington, a war general, saw the matter clearly and used his experiences to extend advice to future Presidents. For far too long Washington's words have fallen on deaf ears, if heard at all.
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"Avoid occasions of expense by cultivating peace."
Make vigorous efforts in times of peace to pay off debts "which unavoidable wars may have occasioned."
Washington insisted it was wrong to place the responsibility of paying for present-day gov't spending on future generations.
Avoid debt in the first place. "Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all."
Both major political parties have rejected this great advice from George Washington. They've run up trillions of debt with no spending cuts in sights. America's wars have cost trillions since 2001, on top of trillions more on the way to maintain a military presence around the globe.. They will almost certainly try to keep kicking the can down the road. But things that can’t go on forever, don’t.
I am afraid that will happen. My understanding of history is we went from a democratic republic being an idealistic dream in a world of kings to being the model for most countries' constitutions in a few centuries. There is no reason to expect there won't be pumps in the long arc of history. It's sad though. Things that can't go on forever don't. We don't know if it will be a mini-crisis, a major crisis, or something that brings back authoritarian rule for centuries.