If it makes you feel better Phat, there are other countries in far more dire straits when it comes to public debt relative to the United States.
The metric you want to look at is debt to GDP ratios. The USA does have debt issues, but it isn't that far out of whack relative to other western nations. There are other countries like Greece, Italy and Japan that are far worse off:
WEF: Countries With Highest Level of Government Debt Vs GDP
Japan especially is likely going to have severe issues in the coming decades. They have an aging population and thanks to a deep seated sense of nationalism, they don't really embrace immigrants.
Also, China is a bit of an enigma. A lot of their actual debt numbers are somewhat suspect. By some accounts, their debt to GDP ratio is between 250% to 300%. Now they are a rapidly growing nation. But the way they report their numbers and the general tendency for secrecy from the communist party leads many to speculate that their debt levels are unsustainable.
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