United States debt as of 5:56 PM, EST – 2/26/25. (USDebtClock.org)
As our nation screams towards a mind-numbing $37 TRILLION of debt, I honestly have a tough time wrapping my brain around what just one trillion of anything looks like.
Is there anything that I could relate to in my everyday life of what a million, billion, trillion, even 37 trillion would equate to something I could actually experience? Well, yes there are… sort of.
Complete with web address of the various calculation websites, here’s just a few examples that could help illustrate just how deep in debt we really are.
After the specific numbers, I’ll post a handful of real-world examples. Suffice it to say that my brain can’t relate to a real-world trillion of anything;
- One million seconds – 1.6 weeks
- One billion seconds – 31.6 years
- One trillion seconds – 31,688.7 years
- 37 trillion seconds – 1,172,483.3 years
Sometimes, life just ain’t fair.
The Roman Republic was established 2,534 years ago. The Neanderthals went extinct 40,000 years ago. If you dealt one card per second, it would take you over one million years to complete if the deck had as many cards as our debt will soon be.
- One million inches – 15.7 miles
- One billion inches – 15,782.8 miles
- One trillion inches – 15,782,828.2 miles
- 37 trillion inches – 583,964,646.4 miles
The total straight line flight distance from Portland, ME to San Diego, CA is 2,625 miles. The total distance of the equator is 24,901 miles. Thirty-seven trillion inches is slightly more than half-a-trillion miles.
- One million grams – 2,204.6 pounds (1.1 US ton)
- One billion grams – 2,204,622.6 pounds (1,102.3 US tons)
- One trillion grams – 2,204,622,621.8 pounds (1,102,311.3 US tons)
- 37 trillion grams – 81,571,037,008.4 pounds (40,785,518.5 US tons)
The M-4 Sherman medium tank of WWII fame weighed 60,000 pounds (30 US tons). The maximum takeoff weight of one of the biggest military transport aircraft in US service, the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, has a maximum takeoff weight of 840,000 pounds (420 US tons). There have been 131 C-5’s build to date, that means that of all the C-5’s combined, total weight is only 55,020 US tons.
Please don’t let these people know that quadrillion is a real number.