*This is an entirely uneducated guess, based more on my love of books like 1984 and my cynical view of human nature*
If you look at basically any graph on US debt, or indeed the debts of most developed nations, you'll notice that we're all basically fucked! It would certainly seem that governments are like junkies, borrowing more money in order to buy themselves out of economic collapse. Now, it's entirely possible that I've gone mad and don't understand the finer points of banking (I don't!), but if I were in the position of the US government I'd be freaking the fuck out. How is it that you can borrow yourself out of debt? Isn't the whole concept of a "stimulus package" a joke? My observation isn't in my view tainted with pessimism, but rather just reflective of the reality of the situation.
If my understanding as to the current state of the world economy is true, the next question that has to be asked is why we're all in such a position? Is it simply greed and stupidity or are there more insidious reasons? I think that greed certainly has a big part to play in fucking as all over, but I'm really starting to believe that the massing up of debt is for the most part intentional. For example, I really find it hard to believe that someone like Barrack Obama, as intelligent as he is and with all the advisors at his disposal, isn't aware of the future ramifications of simply borrowing more money!
A week ago I would have said that it is simply the politicians desire to win votes that ensures that he borrows more in order to keep the people placated. That no president/politician wants to be the one that says "hang on folks, we're going to have to stop spending and make major cuts across the board in order to survive complete economic collapse!". I think this is too simple an explanation.
If you start to think about the kinds of money that goes into financing political campaigns and the deals that are made after/during their tenure, it's fairly easy to come to the conclusion that the entire process is corrupted. Politicians don't represent the people but rather those that put them in power... I'm stating the obvious here. Nothing new! What if part of that corrupt process was in creating the conditions by which politicians are willing to consciously place their country into further debt? What if politicians are simply the middle-men, placing the face of democracy and freedom on a darker reality which encapsulates the essence of basically being utterly dominated and owned by the banks (oligarchy and slavery)?
It has to be asked why those that own the countries debt would be willing to allow their debtor to spiral into further and increasingly unpayable debt? I guess if you look at African countries that have taken similar paths, you can see that when they're unable to pay their debts the corporations etc that own the debts come in and take over, exploiting natural resources and basically taking what they want. Considering America's technological advances and love of guns and freedom, it wouldn't really be possible/ideal to take them over by overt measures. What if what we're now witnessing is simply the conditions by which we'll all be forced into an unprecedented economic depression? What is the advantage of such to those that own our debts?
It's my theory that this is the best way to take over more advanced nations without resorting to military action/WW3. Have the politicians place the nations into a debt which can't be payed, forcing harsh economic collapse which results in a complete loss of faith in democracy/capitalism and the political process as we know it. Have the people despise politicians, rejecting the authorities and demanding revolution (this won't happen while people are safe to walk the streets, have an abundance of food and are distracted by "reality" television). Remove them from their comfort zone and then, as the owner of debt and at the right time, come in with a proposal which eliminates debt and forces people for the most part to sell their patriotism for the promise of getting back to their comfortable lifestyles. Have the people demand that the largest corporations come to their "rescue".
This process removes the middle-men (politicians), creating the conditions by which corporations can openly dominate nations. I think this may then explain why Russia is so vilified at the moment. Russia has an extremely low debt to GDP ratio when compared to basically all other nations, and so are basically masters of their domain. If my theory is correct (I'm probably just mad), then war with Russia may become inevitable. It won't be a war between nations but rather between the countries which are utterly owned and dominated by the banks/corporations, and countries who wish to defend their sovereignty. To Western countries though it will be once again influenced by propaganda in which Russia is evil, etc.
How will cryptocurrencies fare in such a collapse? My guess is not well. In such a scenario, what store of value would be safe? It's also interesting to think that if you were able to drive around and look at houses and the cars on the road as being owned via debt or outright, what would the world look like? If we all wore these goggles, wouldn't this severely impact how we viewed others in terms of success? The rich, as rich as they may be, tend to borrow more and more to live better lifestyles (as nothing is ever good enough). Perhaps the poor who are content to own a shitty home outright are the wealthiest amongst us?