Debt is powerful. It can ruin a reputation, put someone in jail, or even bring a nation to its knees.

The latter has been the case for numerous countries, including France. One of the key catalysts to the French Revolution was the oppressive taxes and massive spending on behalf of the government that sent the country spiralling into debt. Eventually, France went broke and thus started the Revolution that would be remembered for ages for its casualties and savagery.

Just as debt had the power to take down France, it also has potential to ruin our country. With our national debt recently found in a study by Peter Baker and Michael Cooper of the New York Times to be nearly $16 trillion, the US runs the risk of coming to a complete standstill as have other countries in the past.

Another part of the problem is that teenagers, the people that had little if anything to do with the debt, are continuing to have its weight put on their shoulders. Grandparents are ‘handing the baton’ to the next generation in the belief that nothing more can be done on their part to fix it or in the idea that they would rather keep their money and efforts to themselves.

The truth, however,  is that the job of the baby boomers is not finished, and that they have much power over the fate of our country. This power comes through their ability to cut the cost of medicare and social security.

Costs of medicare and social security to the US have been steadily rising for the past decade due to different reasons. One is that there are simply more people over the age of 65 than ever before. This might be in large part due to the huge number of baby boomers that are now seniors, but whatever the cause, the fact is that according to a study done by the United States Census Bureau, the population of those over 65 has increased by 15.1% while that of all Americans only by 9.7% from 2000 to 2010 is a reality that we must face.

So one of the issues is that more people are on medicare and social security than were ten years ago, but the issue does not stop there. While medicare per capita according to Medpac (Medicare Payment Advisory Commission) cost $4826 in 2000, ten years later in 2010 it costs an incredible $8147 per capita. That means that not only have the number of medicare users increased, but also the amount of spending per person has risen by 70%.

The point is that in a country with a huge debt problem seniors have, consciously or unconsciously, been catalysts to the issue. A counter-argument might be that the amount of debt that baby boomers have created is little compared to the total US debt, but according to a report in 2011 written by Republican Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska, with Social Security’s unfunded liability at $6.5 trillion and that of Medicare at $38.4 trillion, these are definitely large contributing factors.

The US debt can be very depressing to any American citizen, but the point is not that this country is going to inevitably go bankrupt and that the world will come to an end. The idea trying to be expressed is that senior citizens’ jobs are not finished, and that they actually have huge potential to help save our country.

Seniors’ insurance programs have created much debt, and it is time that they realize it. Once they have this in their minds our elders can either turn their eye to the issue or they can respond to such a crisis and cut their spending in order to lead by example.