Are American Motivated By Self-Interest or Will They Make Sacrifices?

         In the past few years, as we all know, the economic sector of our society has come under increased scrutiny. The woes of the economy reached an all-time low, in 2008, with the housing crisis and the concurrent recession. Now in 2010, the government is struggling to agree upon and adopt measure through which the economy and society at large can be healed, both in the short term and long term. The deficit-reduction commission recently published their ideas and opinions on the most effective and popular means to achieve stability in the economy.
         As a people, Americans have an "appetite for government benefits that greatly exceeds their appetite for taxes" (Fareed Zakaria). As a result, the country has borrowed vast sums of money to bandage up this issue. The government will not be able to simply patch thing up for much longer, because in 75 years benefits from entitlement programs will be over the government revenue by about $50 trillion, and the deficit, if not attended to, will be equivalnet to about 24% of GDP in 2040 (Time). If the deficit of the economy is allowed to reach these levels, then 2 cures for the economy would be 70% tax hikes or 50% spending cuts which would just harm the country even more. The inequities between the capacity of the economy and its spending must be resolved now and not later. 
         These problems that are a part of the American economy and society today can be remedied by a combination of the measures the deficit-reduction commission recommends. No matter how many programs are cut, a significantly large amount of revenue must be generated. A sound measure to generate more revenue is a national sales tax. Not only would it be efficient, it would also be applied to what any person bought and therefore would be fair to all classes. Another possibility is, in 2050, to raise the social security retirement age by just one year. Even being one of the millions of current young people who would be affected by the measure, I am in support of it. I am willing to make that personal sacrifice, even though many people would be unwilling to sacrifice some of their own personal comforts or luxuries for the benefit of their society. There needs to be a different mindset in the United States, if any new agenda or measure is going to work. I know people are motivated ultimately by self-interest, but when did the health of one's society and the welfare of its people stop being a matter of personal interest?