posted on Mar, 22 2008 @ 12:14 PM
(Mods please move accordingly..)
This is in response to In Debt We Trust, the video link which is at the top of your screen.
Debt is a natural part of our daily lives as Americans.. and the biggest debate around how much and what kind of debt you incure.. is whether or not
it is directly YOUR fault.. or is it the lending industries fault?
I say its both.. and perhaps there are many more people to blame for the situation as a whole..
Many say that America is not going into a recession, that all is fine and that our economy is actually doing good.. that is, we are just in a normal
business cycle of ups and downs..
However, I say we are in a recession, and perhaps a depression.. one so new with an entire new method of operation that no one has noticed it yet. Or
rather, no one knows what to call it.
What happens when the companies we work and buy from go in the red? The shut down, people loose their jobs and end up on the streets..
But what happens when the companies we work and buy from are having record breaking profits? .. Yet we as a people are so far in the red we are worth
more dead then alive 50 times over?
This situation has never been seen before.. because of Credit.. easy credit.
I can go onto a credit card website and apply for a Credit card... I know I will get one, because I make plenty enough money to make my monthly
payment..
Except what if I make plenty of money to make a payment, but incured so much debt already that I actually CANNOT.. and have no cash on hand to
continue living? This particular situation is happening more and more within an unlikely group.. young 20's.
This is what bothers the hell out of me.. when people say "well a 20 year old has no right getting a credit card to begin with!"
Let me lay out some expenses for a college student in their 20's
Tuition at a PUBLIC school is about 8k a semester.
So you take out a loan... a big loan.. to cover 4 years tuition.. so already your going to be in debt 30k easily.. assuming you get some kind of
financial aid or some kind of scholarship..
But.. how does one get financial aid? I remember last year, at 20 I tried to get financial aid.. filled out a god forsaken FASFA form.. what ever..
Asks for my parents income.. I put that down, coupled with the fact that I am a male, and I am white.. I get NO aid.
Even though I live on my own, and have since I was 18. I have my own insurance, my own rent, my own car payment, my own expenses to survive
(literally.. ) yet my basis for aid is based on my parents income
UNTIL I AM 24 YEARS OLD! ..
We become independent adults at 18. I have not lived with my parents for almost 4 years now, and I cannot get aid for school without citing them as
income even though I pay the tuition..
Talk about fraud.
So we have tuition..
Then we have rent.. about 700 a month to rent an apartment anywhere near the school.. talking within 10 miles or so.. unless you want to end up in the
crappiest part of town where kids get mugged on the streets, several girls raped in their college housing in these neighborhoods.. but hey, its
cheaper..
Then you have your car payment.. I drive a piece of crap.. so thats not to big of a problem.. but the insurance, which in my state is mandatory is
outrageous .. more so because I am a 21 year old male.. again, fraud if you ask me..
Food.... doubled since I started school.. noticeably.. its insane.. I lived off roman noodles and mcDonalds for a long time.. so then I became a 20
something kid with high cholesterol which raises my health insurance and life insurance..
Dating.. Odd to put this down as an expense I am sure, but women are damn expensive..
Working full time, school full time.. sometimes you just need a break, so going out to a bar once in a while..
All of these expenses will be based on a job working nearly full time for $8 an hour.
Is it possible?
No. Its not. I lasted 1 year before I had to take out living expenses loans.. gas went up, food went up, my wage did not.. so I took out credit
cards, more loans, more cards, and more loans..
Then I dropped out of school.
I literally was 2 paychecks from getting kicked out of my apartment and defaulting on all my credit cards..
So I dropped out, got a "real job" that said I had "enough college" to get by.. so now I will spend the next few years making good money paying
back the college I 1. Did not need to begin with and 2. never finished ..
Its worse for those who do not or cannot go to a real school.. those damn cookie cutter colleges that claim to give you a 4 year degree in 18 months,
or a BSN over the internet..
Guess what? .. Its worthless.. you can spend 20k a year to go to one but employers don't like them, they don't consider it real school.. you have
just as good a chance with no school at all..
Yet these jokes are excepted. And used.
Society says we must live a certain way.. many people rack up debt on material objects they don't need.. this is true, and is a big problem with
Credit..
But for a student who just wants to live a normal life while struggling through the system that works against them..
a bank will charge on a normal credit card 24 PERCENT INTEREST!
I get .8% interest on my bank account. Thats not 8% thats point eight .. not even a whole percent.
Miss ONE payment.. $35-$50 fine.. spend all your money to pay back the fine on the credit card its $35 per charge on your checking account.. I
defaulted only once.. paid the $100 to get the card under control, and went negative on my checking by $2...... $2 ..... I was charged almost $350 in
fines by payday.. took me 5 months to get "regular" again..
Are the banks and the card companies predatory? Hell yes they are.. they have run this country into the ground.. our dollars don't go far anymore..
it takes virtual IOU's to live a normal life.. yet there is no public outrage for their atrocities and exploitations.. when we should be hanging
these bastards in the streets we instead take out more cards and buy more crap from China with them..