SATIRE
In the face of staggering, record-breaking trillion-dollar deficits for this year and the foreseeable future, America was understandably worried about its financial future. Luckily, several unexpected windfalls came up and helped America break even.
“I was all sweating about these bills I got coming up, you know, infrastructure and social security and stuff, but then I got this call and it was like a miracle…I totally won the lottery!” an elated United States told the Associated Press yesterday.
The fiscally irresponsible country will get $10 billion as a reward for picking the right ticket in a scratch-off lotto from a nearby gas station. The international superpower will, however, have to share their winnings with two housewives from Omaha, who also picked the winning numbers by playing their children’s birthdays.
Of course, ten billion dollars hardly covers the debt that America, like many impulsive, short-sighted consumers, has racked up in recent times. The calls from bill collectors were still troubling the distraught democracy, threatening to repossess the volunteer military and bicameral legislature that it got at the mall when the economy was riding high, but against all odds, the U.S. got another fortuitous surprise.
“My great aunt Agatha died!” said America in the same interview. Trying not to sound too excited about the demise of a relative, it explained, “She wasn’t really close to anybody else in the family–she and Australia haven’t even spoken in, like, fifty years–but she wanted to leave me her life savings. I guess she thought I had potential or something.”
Aunt Agatha’s will left a plum $50 billion to the spendthrift republic. “But there’s a catch,” America said. “She didn’t want me to blow it all on pork and stuff, so I can’t get it until I can show a balanced budget.”
Such a task might sound daunting for a country that now throws out the word trillion the way it used to say million, but America now sounds more confident. “I have a plan. I’ve been saving up my old baseball cards for a rainy day, and I’m totally gonna sell them on E-Bay for, like, a hundred trillion bucks. Dude, I’ve got a Daryl Strawberry rookie card. Seriously.”
NOTE: The joke being, if our financial woes aren’t solved this way, then what exactly do we expect to happen? Isn’t this actually the most realistic hope we have? Also, I liked comparing America to a dumb kid who needs an adult to help it pay the rent, and this time’s the last time, honestly. I had a really good interview at Burger King, so I’m totally gonna have a job next month!
Gently Hew Stone 