The National Debt Clock

The National Debt Clock (and Kafka). From my research, the “National Debt Clock” is an estimation, an algorithm (which I was unable to divine), that is updated, corrected, on a weekly basis, from information accumulated from this website. http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np If you have nothing to do on a Sunday, you could stare at the clock all day and watch for the correction. Sounds like fun. What I found most interesting in doing this research is the realization that this is not really a crisis. Remember, we have the rest of our existence as a nation to make good on this debt so any other timeline is artificial in nature and, most probably, political in origin. You know, create a crisis for political gain. Which brings me to Kafka: saying that the methodology behind the Debt Clock is Kafkaesque, in being convoluted and un-self-conscious (these people compiling this information are government employees and are therefore contributing to the debt), in saying it’s Kafkaesque has a nice intuitive feel to it but what does that really mean? In saying it’s Kafkaesque, doesn’t that make it even more so, like saying something’s ironic and, in saying that, making it ironic? Is it actually a self-fulfilling prophesy, just the judgment of it? I wonder how Franz would feel about being made into an adjective, is that what he wanted out of life? Did he feel convoluted and un-self-conscious? It just seems so, well, you know how it seems by now, right? I’m just mentioning this because there’s a wee bit of a whimsy, a tad of the wink and a nod, about you, Erin, and I wanted you know I get it. Keep it up, maybe someday we’ll be adjectives, too. And summarily dismissed in the same breath. Which would be… All the Best, TVA Ps. http://www.fms.treas.gov/dts/index.html is the daily report (if you must know) and http://columbianewsservice.com/2011/04/how-big-is-the-national-debt-just-look-up/ is a great background article