I just watched a segment on CNN that told the story of a librarian who, knowing full well that she couldn't afford it, took out two mortgages to buy a home. Not surprisingly, she hasn't paid her mortgage in a year and now her house is going into foreclosure. They tried to blame the guy who gave her the loan. They tried to blame the developer and everyone else while she stood there on camera admitting she couldn't afford the two loans in the first place and casually chuckled as the reporter interviewed her about it - as though she had nothing to be ashamed of.A few days ago I heard an ad on the radio with a woman cheerfully exclaiming how she'd gone into debt and now has found a company that helped her clear her debt by reducing it to thirty cents on the dollar. Who had to pay for her irresponsible behavior?
There's a documentary that's been making its rounds on cable TV called 'Maxed Out' - where they blame credit card companies and everyone else, including the President, for the bad decisions of irresponsible customers. Here is their description of the film:
'Maxed Out' takes viewers on a journey deep inside the American style of debt, where things seem fine as long as the minimum monthly payment arrives on time. With coverage that spans from small American towns all the way to the White House, the film shows how the modern financial industry really works, explains the true definition of "preferred customer" and tells us why the poor are getting poorer while the rich keep getting richer. Hilarious, shocking and incisive, 'Maxed Out' paints a picture of a national nightmare which is all too real for most of us.
There's nothing hilarious about it. It's just plain sad.
When are people going to start accepting responsibility for their own behavior? Credit management should be a requirement in high school - that you don't get a diploma without first passing a rigorous course in how to manage your own personal finances, checking accounts, credit cards, investments and savings. And, of course, it begins with the examples set by parents; it is imperative to teach our children to be disciplined and responsible with their money.
In this day and age when you've got the government bailing out Bear, Fannie & Freddie and everyone else on planet earth, it's time for a new trend.
1 comment:
There is enough blame to go around in this latest crisis. Everyone from the President, to the Congress, to President Clinton, to Obama and his old law firm that sued to get the mortgage companies to make loans to "inner city minorities" that they new could never pay back. To the companies making the loans, the Wall Street speculators who were selling short, therfore driving down the price of the stocks and everyone else that dropped the ball. It may never end. Unfortunately, when these things happen we all have to pay for it. Some day we will be bankrupt and the CEO's of these lending institutions will all be living it up, in their ivory tower looking down at us, the little people who have to pay and pay while they escape with their multi-million dollar golden parachutes. It's sickening. I wish I could just move into a cave and get away from all these scum bag, stupid, greedy assholes!!!!!!!!!
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