Originally posted by xpert11
Some more of my thoughts .
A lot of the troubles can be traced back to the end of the 90s dot com bubble bursting. After people lost there high paying jobs and instead took
employment at places like Walmart they either continued or started to live off credit . I have encountered two schools of as to why many people are
struggling to cope with increased living costs . The first is that people can no longer afford to pay the bills because they have been living off
credit alone . The 2nd school of thought states that people are struggling because incomes haven't kept pace with rising living costs .
In a way they are both right . The truth of the matter is that those who haven't been living off credit are much better able to deal with rising
living costs . Arguable someone who makes less then a person on a higher pay packet who hasn't been living above there means is in a better position
to deal with rising living costs then the higher income earner .
That is a very correct assessment. If you read many of the books written by Kevin J. Phillips, he essentially asserts that much of America's economic
problems is due to the complete misuse of credit, or the need to live off credit.
I would further argue that its not just poor and working class people who are the problem. Its the middle class as well. We have a middle class who
have no concept of what it means to be frugal and save. They spend all that money on cigarettes, alcohol, eating out, that big-screen TV, big-ticket
concerts and sporting events, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Xbox Live. These things are not cheap. period. Yet these people just spend and spend on
these items, much of it coming off credit or money they don't have. This idea of now now now is a major excess of capitalism.
This will have major implications during a time of war.