Botswana discovers a diamond the size of a potato. Could it pay off their national debt?

[i]Photo above – stop dissing dead dinosaurs. This is what they turn into when you cook them at the right temperature and time.[/i]

Botswana just found the worlds 2nd largest diamond ever. 2,492 carats. I’m not a gemologist, but that thing looks pretty good. How much is it worth? 1 carat flawless diamonds go for around $8,000 (there’s a range up to $16,000). So this one might be worth $20 million (2,492 X $8,000). Or possibly more, if you believe jewelers that 2 carat diamonds are worth MUCH more than double a 1 carat diamond, etc. This spud is 2,492 carats.

Could this pay off Botswana’s national debt? I was curious, so I looked it up. Not even close. They owe $3.5 billion. That SOUNDS like a lot, until you remember that the US national debt is $35 Trillion – 10,000X higher. But the USA has 100X more people. So Botswana’s national debt – per capita – is a still a tiny fraction of the USA, on a per capita basis. Its only 1/100th (1 percent) as much, on a per capita basis.

Okay, I hear the guy in the back yelling: “You have to calculate debt on the GDP (gross domestic product) of a nation. I did that too. Botswana’s national debt compared to GDP is 20%. The USA is 120%. Not to hammer the point to hard, but the USA has 1/3 of the entire planet’s national debt.

We ARE living large, right?

Wait . . . someone says we’re NOT doing that well? Despite having borrowed all that $35 trillion, we still have homeless tent encampments, crappy health care, crappy public schools, 17,000 bridges rated “poor” and in danger of imminent collapse. I can keep going.

Where did the $35 trillion go then?

Well, it certainly didn’t fix any of the problems listed above. We probably spent it on stupid stuff. Like 800 military bases around the globe. Giant orbiting telescopes, competing to look back to “the moment of creation”. Giant tax rebates on teslas that can exceed the speed limit in 3 seconds from a standing start. Milk price supports. Strategic cheese stockpiles. Public housing that gets torn down only 20 years after it’s built. Billion dollar sports stadiums built to lure teams to your city.

America is about to have the most expensive election in history. Kamala Harris is raising $100 million a week in campaign contributions and spending it immediately on TV ads. Trump would do the same, if he could convince people to donate as much.

Neither of these candidates are discussing the national debt. If it doesn’t come up at the debate next month, then we’re being conned. Because the media and everyone involved knows this can’t keep happening.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

~World’s second-largest diamond discovered in Botswana – NBC New York~