A 2011 Tomorrow’s World commentary, “Slaves to Debt,” reported that the United States was approaching $14 trillion in debt. Now, fourteen years later, that indebtedness has grown 160%. According to the U.S. National Debt Clock, U.S. debt is over $38 trillion. But why is the national debt so high? While the obvious answer is that America spends more than it takes in as tax revenues, there is another, far more dire reason.