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But Nixon had to collateralize that debt somehow, and he hit upon the plan of quietly setting aside huge tracts of American land with their mineral rights in reserve to cover the outstanding debts. But since the American people were already angered over the war in Vietnam, Nixon couldn't very well admit that he was apportioning off chunks of the United States to the holders of foreign debt. So, Nixon invented the Environmental Protection Agency and passed draconian environmental laws which served to grab land with vast natural resources away from the owners and lock it away, and even more, prove to the holders of the foreign debt that US citizens were not drilling. mining, or otherwise developing those resources. From that day to this, as the government sinks deeper into debt, the government grabs more and more land, declares it a wilderness or "roadless area" or "heritage river" or "wetlands" or any one of over a dozen other such obfuscatorial labels, but in the end the result is the same. We The People may not use the land, in many cases are not even allowed to enter the land.

This is not about conservation, it is about collateral. YOUR land is being stolen by the government and used to secure loans the government really had no business taking out in the first place. Given that the government cannot get out of debt, and is collateralizing more and more land to avoid foreclosure, the day is not long off when the people of the United States will one day wake up and discover they are no longer citizens, but tenants.

Ping.

Every now and then a fresh perspective scrolls up the FR screen. Ihe idea of government withholding of natural resources as collateral for the debt came by FR a couple years ago, a moment of fiscal satori.

The tracts of land and resources on and below the land are, however, public land and public resources, meaning that the government owns them and manages them. They could reduce the public debt to a degree by issuing more licenses and permits for mineral development, but pressure to release such natural resources is not intense. Drill ANWR, but there is no critical shortage; oil is flowing from many sources and in greater quantity than ever, and cheaply. Harvest timber in the national forests, but there is no shortage. Open Alaskan coal fields to entry, but the demand is not there. License asteroids and the moon to metal mining, but no one will make the initial investment to create the space mining infrastructure.

Some day these resources may be needed, that day could come suddenly, perhaps even later today, or the need may grow gradually as time goes by. Develop the resources when they are needed by the market. As long as government is managing the land and the natural resources, they will manage in a spirit of conservation. Or they could give up management and let capitalism run everything.

Either way, national debt is not unmanageable at this time, it is about equal to private debt, which appears to be largely voluntary and under control. There is no problem, although constant vigilence in this and other matters such as maintenance of freedom should be exercised.