I suppose all those babies paid for their own housing, food, education, healthcare and vacations for up to 25 years before they were productive members of society?
Politicians. It's one thing to issue bonds to pay for much needed infrastructure at the time. It's quite another thing to issue bonds to pay the interest on existing bonds. Our governments have kicked the can since the 80s. If you issue a 20 or 30 year bond you are saying I'm not paying for this, but kids born today are definitely good for it.
Not all debt is bad but our government is using it poorly. A 30 year bond on a bridge with 60 year lifespan is good debt. A 30 year bond on 2 expensive, 20 year wars with no positive objective is bad debt.
I suppose all those babies paid for their own housing, food, education, healthcare and vacations for up to 25 years before they were productive members of society?