People don't save, they don't eat right, they keep smoking, they don't go to the dentist regularly, etc etc. In general, most people want "now" to be good, and 10 years from now is an eternity. Now imagine these two scenarios:
1. Person goes to the Doctor, Doctor says "Hey, if you don't eat right, you'll die within 10 years". Person goes to another Doctor and Doctor says that it seems if he just takes a 5 minute walk each day, the problem will go away. Person smiles, switches doctor and takes a 3 minute walk every few days.
2. Person goes to the Doctor, Doc says he'll die within 10 years if he doesn't eat right. Person goes to another doctor who agrees, and says he needs to make a change now or he'll die for certain. Person might actually change their eating habits.. at least there is a chance.
I think the same situation is true for financial problems. The "average" person doesn't understand deficits, taxes, government finances in general. Some smart analysts may say that there is a huge problem, government is going broke, etc. But if you keep reading, you find politicians, other analysts, etc disagreeing. They'll say the problem isn't nearly as bad, if you grow at x% at 17 years while increasing the tax basis and approving my comprehensive growth plan, we should be able to fund everything.
Basically my point is that government finances are too complex for the normal person, and with politicians always complicating matters, I find it hard to believe we'll ever get ourselves out of the mess. Perhaps that's why republics have a short life span, because inevitably people vote themselves into a corner and screw themselves for short term gain. My wife calls me a pessimist
