--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What we are effectively doing, I say this…" description: "\"What we are effectively doing, I say this to the young people of America whom my colleagues represent, is leaving our children and grandchildren the ta..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0c/john-spratt-29317_adding_what-we-are-effectively-doing-i-say-this_1169944.jpg" --- # What we are effectively doing, I say this to the young… ![“What we are effectively doing, I say this to the young people of America whom my colleagues represent, is leaving our children and grandchildren the tab for fighting a war, letting them pay for the lion's share of it by simply adding it to the national debt.” quote by John Spratt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0c/john-spratt-29317_adding_what-we-are-effectively-doing-i-say-this_1169944.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0c/john-spratt-29317_adding_what-we-are-effectively-doing-i-say-this_1169944.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0c/john-spratt-29317_adding_what-we-are-effectively-doing-i-say-this_1169944.jpg) > “What we are effectively doing, I say this to the young people of America whom my colleagues represent, is leaving our children and grandchildren the tab for fighting a war, letting them pay for the lion's share of it by simply adding it to the national debt.” [John Spratt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-spratt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker criticizes passing war costs to future generations, framing it as an unjust financial burden on children and grandchildren. **In simple terms:** War costs are shifted to future generations. Key Takeaway Advocate fiscal responsibility for future generations. Themes politics economics war generational justice policy Mood critical urgent Type political ethical When to use this quote - budget planning - public debate - military spending - education outreach Key Concepts public finance intergenerational equity ethical governance Questions to Reflect On - How can societies fund defense without harming future generations? - What alternatives exist to reduce debt from war spending? A Different Perspective Some argue national defense is a necessary investment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adding/) [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [America Colleagues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america-colleagues-3387550/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Colleagues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colleagues/) [Debt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debt/) [Doing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing/) [Effectively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effectively/) [Effectively Doing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effectively-doing-3387549/) [Fighting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fighting/) [Grandchildren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandchildren/) [Leaving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leaving/) [Letting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letting/) [Lion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lion/) [National](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/national/) [National debt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/national-debt/) [Our](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our/) [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-america/) [Represent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/represent/) [Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say/) [Share](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/share/) [Simply](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simply/) [Tab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tab/) [Them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/them/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Whom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whom/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) [Young people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-people/) ## Related quotes > [I am not disputing the need for this money. 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So they competed by making institutions better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-m-christensen/colleges-would-compete-by-adding-professors-enhancing-programmes-or/) [Clayton M. Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-m-christensen/) [Browse all 77 Adding quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adding/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What we are effectively doing, I say this to the young people of America whom my colleagues represent, is leaving our children and grandchildren the tab for fighting a war, letting them pay for the lion's share of it by simply adding it to the national debt.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Spratt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-spratt/what-we-are-effectively-doing-i-say-this-to-the-young-people-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adding" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-spratt/what-we-are-effectively-doing-i-say-this-to-the-young-people-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0c/john-spratt-29317_adding_what-we-are-effectively-doing-i-say-this_1169944.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0c/john-spratt-29317_adding_what-we-are-effectively-doing-i-say-this_1169944.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0c/john-spratt-29317_adding_what-we-are-effectively-doing-i-say-this_1169944.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What we are effectively doing, I say this to the young people of America whom my colleagues represent, is…” — John Spratt", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Spratt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-spratt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What we are effectively doing, I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-spratt/what-we-are-effectively-doing-i-say-this-to-the-young-people-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-spratt/what-we-are-effectively-doing-i-say-this-to-the-young-people-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```