Debt Overload
This is a disturbing trend that probably summarizes the current lives of many Americans.
Living beyond one’s means has become the norm in America. Looking around at all the new subdivisions going in around Floyd County with the minimum price of around $200,000, you wonder where all the money comes from. There certainly are not that many high paying jobs in the area.
Speaking to several bank presidents and loan officers, the hottest thing for many is the interest-only loans. This is basically saying you own a house, but in actuality, only renting, because you never pay any off the principle. This is a sad trend.
The courier [Thousands rush to file for bankruptcy] reports more than 17,000 bankruptcy filings before the deadline which is more than double the norm for a month. How many of these people have unnecessary luxuries before they claimed bankruptcy? How many had cell phones, cable TV, high speed internet, more than 1 car payment, unneeded boats and other luxury items and how many smoked?
I agree that we need to get much stricter on bankruptcy legislation. It is Americans who learn to live within their means that end up paying for those who cannot. Americans that are responsible get penalized for those that aren’t, and Americans that work hard and sacrifice end up paying for the slackers and entitlement-driven individuals who demand to have what everyone else has without wanting to work for it.
We need a revolution in America where people live within their means and the norm becomes being debt free not debt overload.!!
Living beyond one’s means has become the norm in America. Looking around at all the new subdivisions going in around Floyd County with the minimum price of around $200,000, you wonder where all the money comes from. There certainly are not that many high paying jobs in the area.
Speaking to several bank presidents and loan officers, the hottest thing for many is the interest-only loans. This is basically saying you own a house, but in actuality, only renting, because you never pay any off the principle. This is a sad trend.
The courier [Thousands rush to file for bankruptcy] reports more than 17,000 bankruptcy filings before the deadline which is more than double the norm for a month. How many of these people have unnecessary luxuries before they claimed bankruptcy? How many had cell phones, cable TV, high speed internet, more than 1 car payment, unneeded boats and other luxury items and how many smoked?
I agree that we need to get much stricter on bankruptcy legislation. It is Americans who learn to live within their means that end up paying for those who cannot. Americans that are responsible get penalized for those that aren’t, and Americans that work hard and sacrifice end up paying for the slackers and entitlement-driven individuals who demand to have what everyone else has without wanting to work for it.
We need a revolution in America where people live within their means and the norm becomes being debt free not debt overload.!!
posted by Anonymous at 7:53 AM
7 Comments:
Your revolution won't occur until we dismantle the consumer-driven system of materialism that we've come to accept.
Except you and I probably differ on the solution to that particular problem ...
I don't believe it is the consumer driven system that is the problem.
It is personal responsibility and choices that are the problem.
The free market and competition is what makes the USA great and allows individuals to succeed.
It is the government's willingness to save people from their own poor choices that is the problem.
I sincerely appreciate Mr. Smith's openess and candor and I do understand that there is much more to the issues.
He has some excellent examples of some of the other problems our society has created and continue to propagate.
But I firmly believe that personal responsibility is the primary starting point. If our culture doesn't change this type of behavior, all the other regulations, rules, codes etc. won't fix the problem.
The vast majority of people who file bankruptcy do not have those devastating circumstances you mention, although some do.
The bankruptcy laws were meant for them, but has expanded far from the original intent.
That responsibility has to extend to the companies that participate in the "free market".
Until it does, the average citizen operates at the mercy of corporate interests, many of which are regularly subsidized by those same citizens, even while posting record profits.
United Airlines, with millions if not billions in assets, is allowed to default on its employee pension plan with no penalities.
The retired United employee with only a house, a car, and some furnishings is expected to pay in full, including the taxes that go to support United.
As Brandon suggests, the market is anything but free, as all of us are currently paying for United's "poor choices" and the millionaires those choices have produced.
Unfortunately, that pattern has been repeated for centuries while the pensioner, having met their employer's demands for decades, is still waiting for the trickle that still hasn't made it's way down.
As Steve Earle so successfully expressed it, "There's more than enough here to take care of everybody. Any reason someone offers you for why people can't get a job or can't get enough to eat or can't get medical attention is bullshit. There's no other explanation than greed."
I often wonder how many more multi-millionaires are going to appear in the news claiming that they just can't afford to pay somebody $12 an hour before the shooting starts.
A part of that thread should probably include a discussion as to whether or not the same responsibility guidelines apply to the federal deficit.
If one were to model their financial behavior on our current national leadership, one would have been in line to file bankruptcy prior to the deadline.
It's going to be especially fun if the oil markets start trading in euros and China starts cashing in all of our dollars, which is a realistic possibility.
It's scary to think that, even with the exchange rate so strongly favoring the euro right now, it may be good strategy to take the immediate hit and convert any liquid funds to euros in order to ensure long-term financial health.
Sorry to be so far off topic, HB, but financial responsibility (or the lack of it) has wide ranging implications.
I'd personally much rather pay for the relatively low expense generated by the small percentage who take advantage of a social program than to suffer widespread losses at the hands of those who already have more money than we bloggers will make in a lifetime, particularly when they have more power to change the game than anyone.
For Bluegill,
I personally would not want to pay for either of these options but if I had to choose, I would agree with you.
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