I’m a fan of no debt. Wife and I have been debt free for 15 years or so. But.... our national debt is approaching close to 100% of GDP and many will be worried about that... yet in their personal lives, many have debt that way exceeds 100% of their personal GDP.
1) Don't confuse GDP with family income. GDP is the value of everything manufactured and produced in the country. Think of a single breadwinner home. While the breadwinner earns the salary, the stay-at-home parent still produces -- cooking meals, cleaning, etc.
2) It would require EVERYTHING produced in this country for one year to payoff the debt. How much of that does the government own or get to confiscate through taxes? THAT is the government's income relative to the debt.
3) And even that, assumes the full amount taken is used to retire the debt. That means, no other government services are provided. No military, no social programs, no salaries (what does THAT do to GDP?)
The only thing that makes the current debt situation even modestly tenable is the low interest rates we're paying on the debt. Think those are going to stay low forever?