The question is: Does it really make sense to think of this as a debt? After all, a debt is by definition something that we could at least imagine paying back. It is strange enough to wish to be square with one’s parents - it rather implies that one does not wish to think of them as parents any more. Would we really want to be square with all humanity ? What would that even mean? And is this desire really a fundamental feature of all human thought?

Debt: The First 5000 Years

The entire section on primordial debt is really great.