For the Children?

Richard Vernon: Now this is the thought that wakes me up in the middle of the night. That, when I get older, these kids are going to take care of me.
Carl the Janitor: I wouldn't count on it.
--The Breakfast Club

Government spending is often justified 'for the sake of the children.' If you buy this, then you have been emotionally captured. Spending today is largely debt-financed. Government debt burdens future generations.

Stated differently, we are increasingly consuming what amounts to our children's future production. And, as the chart below suggests, the burden that we are saddling onto our children is increasingly back-breaking.

Imagine showing children this graph and explaining it in terms of "we are doing this for you."

This is generational theft at its worst.