A stunt that went largely unnoticed by the national media might give Americans concerned about the debt more confidence in the country’s future.
In late March and early April, students at more than 75 colleges with Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) chapters protested the country’s $14 trillion debt by displaying 40-foot-long “National Debt Clocks” on their campuses.
“There is a growing youth movement in this country very concerned about our fiscal future, and we are proud to lead the way,” said Jeff Frazee, YAL’s executive director.
At the University of California, San Diego students placed one of the gigantic debt clocks next to their library.
“[The debt is] definitely going to change our lives, for the past generations we’ve lived on borrowed money and borrowed labor from the rest of the world and all of a sudden, we have got to pay those debts,” UC San Diego student Karen Scamman told KUSI News. “This is going to effect us, not our parents and I think that resonates well with college students because it’s not something that will effect them in the near future, but now.”
Utah State University YAL members posted a debt clock on the school’s public patio.
“People will walk by and think ‘Oh that’s our debt; that’s a big number,’ and keep walking,” USU student Angela Sherwood told The Utah Statesman. “I hope they realize what trillions of dollars really is. We need to realize what the government is doing, what they are spending.”
In Mississippi, students at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College posted their clock on the walkway between the library and science buildings.
“We put it up Sunday night,” student Corey Adkison told the Mississippi Press, standing in front of the clock. “The numbers are from last Monday, so it is actually $8 billion to $9 billion higher. I think it goes up by $8 billion every five days.”
According to YAL, America’s $14 trillion debt amounts to $100,000 per taxpayer.
The U.S. is expected to hit its $14.3 trillion debt limit in the coming weeks.