eradicating debt

Curing the Debt Addiction - New York Times:
"Mr. Paulson recently told reporters that the nation’s deficit in trade and other international transactions — on track this year to reach $800 billion, or nearly 7 percent of the economy — is actually a sign of strength. America has kept the world prosperous, he said, by buying global goods.
Come again? America’s borrow-and-spend ways have indeed juiced the global economy. But the resulting indebtedness makes the country vulnerable to the protectionism Mr. Paulson wants to avoid, as well as to broader economic disarray. "

We need to start talking and thinking about these issues--read the whole piece. Debt reduction is a first step towards economic health. Debt eradication and building equity confer a degree of immunity for what's to come. Does anybody know the stories of Ben Stefanski in Cleveland and John Galbreath in Columbus during the last Great Depression?