CREDIT
THE KEY TO SELF
GRATIFICATION, AND DESTRUCTION
[A lesson in
Economics]
Looking
at the state of the economy in this nation, one would have to say, we
are in serious trouble. People are losing their jobs, their homes,
and even their sanity. And while this is bad enough, we are seeing
that big companies, and even our financial institutions, are having
problems as well.
The
financial institutions, the ones that make the economy work, have had
to look to the government, for assistance, just to stay in business.
Just about everybody knows, if these institutions fail, then the
resulting effect would be, catastrophic, and possibly mean the end of
our way of life.
Well,
in all of this, just what is our way of life??
It
is one where we tend to believe that happiness is our goal, and
getting there is worth it, no matter what the cost. We are so in to
being happy, that anything short of that, means we are failures, and
failure is unacceptable.
Most
of us, tend believe that true happiness is wealth, and all of the
things that go along with it. Houses, cars, boats, jewelry, trips to
exotic places, the ability to purchase anything you want, whenever
you want it. That is the stuff, dreams are made of.
Why
shouldn't we be able to enjoy those things as well?? Keeping up with
the Joneses, is what it is called.
Well,
thanks to a new tool, that actually, is not new, for it has been
around since old testament times, many of us, have begun to use it,
to tap in to that world of self gratification. No longer do we have
to wait until we get rich, and have large bank accounts, to have the
finer things in life. Now, no matter what our financial condition is,
we can walk and live with the 'big boys'. All we have to do, is take
advantage of a little tool that is just waiting for us to use. That
tool, is credit.
Credit,
the 'great equalizer.'
It
can open up the doors to the 'good life.' It can make all of your
dreams come true. It doesn't take much, just your signature, on a
piece of paper, and you are off and running. A whole new world is out
there, beckoning you to come and jump in, and enjoy your new life.
There
was a time, when people, who had credit available to them, only used
it, when necessity arose, and then, they would make sure that they
could afford the payments, and paid them off, as quickly as possible.
They took great care in using it, because they knew the trap that
they could get caught up in, if they let it get control of them. They
had discipline, where they figured, that if they wanted [not
needed] something, they would either save up and pay cash for it,
or put it in a layaway, and make payments on it until they could pay
it off. That way, there was no bill to pay, where they were obligated
to fulfill a contract, in a certain period of time, thus, putting
themselves at the mercy of some person, or company.
The
bible says, Prv 22:7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the
borrower is servant to the lender.
When a person borrows something from another, or a
company, they, in effect put themselves in the position of being a
servant of that person, or company. That person, or company, becomes
their master. It tells them how much they will have to pay back, and
how long they will have, to pay off the bill, or they will be hauled
in to court, and possibly face loss of the purchase, and still have
to pay, even more money, and possibly serve jail time. Even then,
that may not be all there is to it. Back in bible times, debt was
paid, not only by the borrower, but by their family. It was not
unusual, for an entire family, being put in to servitude, because of
debt. If the one that made the debt, failed to pay it off, or was
unable because of injury or death, then the rest of the family, had
to work to pay it off, or their possessions, or even members of the
family, sold off, to satisfy the debt.
It was a vicious circle back then, and today, even
though family members are not sold off to satisfy a debt, they still
may be legally bound to a debt, if the one that originally made the
debt, is unable to pay. However, the family today, is still liable
for any debt, that the borrower is unable to pay.
So, going in to debt, does have consequences that are
not all that apparent, when you are so engrossed in fulfilling you
own desires.
But, that is not all the problem that credit causes.
Credit, enables more people to go out and buy things
that they wouldn't ordinarily be able to buy. That means demand
for the product goes up. In our system of economics, when demand for
a product goes up, that usually causes an increase in the price of
that product, which usually means that the cost of living will rise
as well. When the cost of living goes up, working people tend to seek
raises in pay, to keep up with that raise in cost of living. When
wages go up, that means employers have to raise the prices of the
products they sell, to be able to continue their standard of living.
That further increases the cost of living.
So here we can see, credit, starts a chain of events,
that goes further than just the family. It affects everyone.
The next stage is, when prices go up, one of several
things will happen. One is, people will continue to buy the
products at the higher prices, by going further in to debt, through
using more credit, which will, in effect, keep the cost of living
going up. Also, as the prices continue to go up, those that don't
have credit, lose out on being able to buy the things they might
need, let alone want.
Another thing that might happen is, as prices go up,
consumers may back off from buying the products, causing lower
demand, driving employers to lower prices. But then, there is a
problem. The employees that these employers gave raises to, when the
demand was high, are now faced with the problem of how to take back
the raises they gave their employees. Seeing that is a difficult
thing to do, they resort to another solution, layoffs.
Layoffs, are a way for an employer, faced with loss of
revenue, due to lower demand for their product, to save their
business from going out of business, as revenue shrinks. When things
were going good, and demand for their product[s], was high, employers
usually would add more employees to help meet the demand. When demand
slows, then employers have to let some of those employees go.
All of this takes place because of credit. The more we
use it, the more jobs it creates. The minute we start backing off
using it, it creates a situation for job loss. So, credit is the
engine that is responsible for over 75% of most manufacturing jobs in
this country. Lose that, and things start to unravel quickly.
The way our economy is running, is a train wreck
waiting to happen. It is built on false pretenses. The first of
which is, the borrower believes they will be able to make payments
for their purchases, for an extended period of time. If they have a
job, they believe it will be there long enough for them to pay that
purchase off. They don't consider job loss, sickness, injury, or some
other incident coming in to play, that will cause them to not to be
able to make those payments.
The biggest cause for things to unravel, is loss of
employment. People, for the most part are pretty good at figuring out
how much money they can afford to spend on things they want, after
taking in to account what they absolutely have to spend for
necessities. And, most of them stick to it.
The problem is, they base their figuring on a job that
they have, that provides a steady wage, over a set period of time.
Creditors, the reputable ones, look at the amount of money a person
is making, and the type of job they have, in figuring how much this
person can afford to pay. So, the job is the main source that goes in
to the figuring, as to how much person can safely afford to spend,
and how much credit can be extended to the individual.
This is a
safeguard that reputable lenders use to 1. Protect their money, and
2. Protect the borrower.
Let's face
it. Lenders are in the business, to make money. They do that by,
lending money, and tacking on fees, so that when all is paid back,
they have a profit. Therefore, it behooves them, to look at all of
the available data concerning the borrower, to see if the person is
worth the risk of lending money to. If a person has a good, steady
job, and, has the ability to pay, and a good credit history, then,
the company will take the chance, and extend credit, to this person.
In
protecting the borrower, the lender knows what to look for, that will
show that the customer, may be getting in to a situation, where they
are at a high risk of not only being unable to make payments, but,
may be getting caught up in a situation where they might find
themselves in financial, personal, and legal problems.
When
reputable lenders, turn down a request for a loan, or credit card,
they are looking out for both their interests.
But, then,
we have the less reputable lenders.
These
lenders, also want to make money, however, they are less concerned
with the well being of their customers. They will lend, or extend
credit to just about anyone. However, they will do it, and tack on
above average fees, so that they can make bigger profits, for taking
the bigger risk, that reputable lenders won't take. They don't care
all that much, about what type of job you have, or how bad your
credit history is, if you even have one. What they do care about, is
making money, and they see a demand, for their service.
The demand,
usually comes from those who need, or want something so badly, that
they will agree to anything, just to get it. These people are usually
ones with low paying jobs, or on some sort of government assistance.
The lender,
knowing this, will lend them the money, or extend credit to them, but
at exorbitant rates. The reason the lender knows it, is because if
they come to him, then he figures that they have tried other means,
and were turned down.
So, if they
get the credit/loan, then they have put themselves at high risk,
because they stand a good chance of defaulting on payment of the
loan, or, paying a greater amount of money back, than normal.
What is
happening to our economy today, is the result of credit, drying up.
Practically
everything in our economy, is driven by credit. Jobs are made
possible, because of credit. Banks make money by extending credit.
The government functions on credit.
None of
these entities, in reality, have the cash on hand, to fund their
operations. They all are funded by reaching in to the future, so to
speak, and taking money from an imaginary source, that they are
counting on to be there, when the time comes. That source is the hope
that everything will keep going the way it is, or even better than it
is today. Everybody will have their jobs, and will pay off their
loans on time. No one will get sick. The demand for their products,
will stay the same, or grow. These, along with a lot of other
factors, are what everyone puts their faith in, when operating their
business.
The problem
is, as mentioned earlier, things do change, and not always for the
better.
People
lose their jobs. They get sick. They die. The demand for a business'
product, drops, because of price, competition, or quality issues. As
these things happen, that causes a greater demand on government, to
provide for those that have suddenly become needy. But, there is
another problem. As these people lose their jobs, and businesses
close, then the government is receiving less tax revenue, while the
demand for their services, is going up.
And, how
does government meet that need?? By borrowing from the future.
It
has been said, and is a fact, that the wealth of the majority of
individuals, and corporations, in this nation, is only on paper. What
this means is, there is not enough real money in this nation, to give
them, all of their money, in cash, if they asked for it, because it
doesn't exist. It is a figment of the imagination. And, that
is what our economy is running on, a figment of the imagination.
In order
for our economy to function, 'you have to go out and get in debt!!'
Banks and department stores, are sending credit cards out to
everybody. Why?? To keep the economy going. You are urged to 'buy
American products', even though they may cost more, and have poorer
quality, just to keep the economy going, and to protect the jobs of
the American worker.
Now,
here is the real problem that we need to think about.
Barack
Obama says he wants to stimulate the economy by putting an infusion
of cash in to it. Yet, the economy is already running at a deficit,
meaning it has already outspent itself for about 30 years. In order
for Obama to put $775B-1.5T, in to it, that would essentially mean,
what he wants to do, is borrow money this year, that would have to be
paid back for 50, or more years from now, without the government
spending another dime, for all of those years, and we know that isn't
going to happen.
What
this means is, our children, and their children, and their children,
will have to work, to pay this debt back. And that isn't even looking
at the interest that is being added to what was borrowed from past
decades of borrowing.
To
put it frankly, every thing the government promises, is predicated on
the notion, that we will borrow from our great grand children's
generation, and make them pay for our irresponsibility.
So,
something written in a book, that many like to claim is nothing but
the ramblings of some one who has no connection to us today, has
proven the point of what borrowing does. We have become slaves to the
future, all because we want what we want, when we want it.
Do
you know why a lot of people continue to work, past the time they are
eligible for retirement?? It is because they know, that their
pensions, and/or social security, won't be enough to help them meet
their financial obligations. They are truly slaves, to credit.
And, what's worse than this, is, our young people can't
find good jobs, because these workers, that should have retired so
they can get a job, are holding on to them, because of a life time of
chasing dreams, using credit. Then we wonder why they are resorting
to crime, and whatever else they can get in to, to make some money.
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