Once upon a time, there was a great ship called the USA Titanic. All the people who boarded marveled at its strength. A ship this strong can never sink, under any circumstance, they were told.

All the people felt safe. The passengers and crew partied without a care as they sailed through the night. Then the USA Titanic hit an insurmountable object: the national debt — $20 trillion debt and $120 trillion in unfunded liabilities.

The USA Titanic rolled under the extreme weight. Nothing could be done. The captain and crew had neglected their duty. The passengers had been fools to put their lives blindly in the crews’ hands.

The limited lifeboats were filling up fast. The captain and crew took their places in the lifeboats and pointed blindly, blaming each other as the passengers drowned.

When our ship sinks, it will happen almost this fast. The dollar will collapse overnight as people try to cash out their money for something of value.

Our GNP is $20 trillion per year. Many experts claim that the tipping point is when a nation’s debt reaches 100 percent of its GNP. No nation in the history has ever been able to recover and control its debt past this point. They have all collapsed.

We are at the cusp. No one really knows what our iceberg will be or when we’ll hit. I wonder how many people have noticed the asterisk on their Social Security statement telling them their benefits may be cut in the near future. Maybe it’s the next war we can’t pay for.

Like death, I don’t know when it’s coming, yet I know it is coming. Our children are going to be swallowed by the cold, harsh sea of debt left by this generation.

John Hopkins

Manchester