A guy in my church sent this around. It’s called The Cult of House Worship by Thomas Crowther.
Favorite quote: “Fleecing little dreamers with no safety nets and no financial acumen is a terrific business, but a risky one.” You can read it here:
And then come back.
I think it’s interesting– mostly because of his point about predatory lending, fleecing the dreamers, so to speak. Right now they’re trying to pass a bill in Ohio that would effectively put the Check Cashers out of business, and the uproar is unbelievable. I’m writing all my reps about it, and if it passes– and the governor swears he’ll sign it– I’ll lose a third of my income within a year, since as a guy I work with said recently, it sucks that our job security is based on other people’s poverty. And perhaps some fleecing, as well.
And I will so gladly find other ways of making money, or spend less, if it meant they’d stop selling two week little dreams to all the people in my neighborhood with ‘no financial acumen’.
I’ve just found all of this interesting from the stand point of how much debt can this country carry along… and how much the entire economy is built and depends on consumerism; and since it does, the only answer seems to be that we have to make people buy more — because what else could happen? Our personal experience currently, going from debtors to savers, has me thinking about this in a microcosmic way. There’s a very real crunch in the middle where it’s like… well, no money on non-necessaries at all. (My iPod broke the week of this budgeting transformation. The one thing I could not live without. I honestly believe God was making sure I was serious. )
And since then, the only ‘items’ I’ve purchased in two weeks is a wallet, on clearance at Target, for 4.88 (5.21 with tax), because the Velcro wore out on my old one and now that I’m carrying around cash for food and gasoline, I feel the need to have a secure closure on the thing. And six pairs of socks at Big Lots, for $4.00 ($4.27 with tax) for #2 son. And one new exhaust system for a paid for car. ($310.93) That’s our consumerism for the week. So much for the Economic Stimulus payment, which is sitting in the savings account minus one exhaust system. Earning interest.
My point is that for our family now, trying to make the switch from being debtors to savers means that while in the past we spent money we didn’t have, and in the future we might spend money we do have, in between those times we’re buying one wallet, six pairs of socks, and a muffler. And I don’t think we’ll be needing mufflers for a while now.
But we will not be a family of debtors, enslaved to credit card and car payments that equal our mortgage, and threaten it besides. We are not doing much to keep the American economy going. But I couldn’t see how we could keep our family going the way it was, and I honestly don’t see how we can keep the country going as it is.
They may put the check cashers out of business in Ohio… but they can’t legislate an ethos of living within your means. Especially when it won’t help the country out of a recession, so there’s not much governmental incentive to suggest such things. Instead we send people money to get them out shopping–knowing damn well people in America spend more than they make, so of course they’ll spend more than they get.
I’m no economist, but if there’s some people like me–and much as I like to disbelieve it, I don’t think I’m terribly unique– they’re looking around and going, whoa. This is not working. Not for me, not for my family, and not for America.
And if they do something about that– what happens to our economy that is utterly dependent on them spending more than they earn?
I think there’s a crunch time in there before it gets better. Feels like it in this microcosm, I’ll tell you that. But it feels more peaceful than credit.
Ironically, from what I’ve been reading lately, the last time people couldn’t bear to go into debt? After the Great Depression.
That’s not what the article’s really about. It’s really about greed. But I do think it ties together.
