The dirty little secret about our “debt” is that it is not all real debt. With much of the spending the government has actually purchased things which are retained: buildings, cars, bombs, ships, food, oil, condoms etc., etc.
Do we have any idea how many assets the federal government has? It owns almost the whole STATE of Nevada and large portions of almost every state, particularly in the West.
Now it is true that there is no real market for much that the government purchases i.e. aircraft carriers, subs, etc. But, still, you cannot get a real grasp of government finances unless you look at assets purchased with the debt.
Of course, none of this should be taken to mean that there have not been trillions of wasted spending over the years. Or that government should not be reduced in size and spending.