Letters to the Editor
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Beware, those of you who have done everything right
because you never know what life is going to throw at you. We do everything right. My car is 13 years old, and his is 10. We never eat out. I haven't bought new clothes in years. No ipods. I don't even know how to spell it! No cable! Bring our own coffee to work. No student debt. Adherence to budget. We're in a pretty good financial place right now. But guess what? We're about to rape our retirement accounts to pay for $70,000/year therapy (plus money for special school, plus medical expenses for our other kid who has kidney problems) for our child who has just been diagnosed with autism. Waiting lists for Medicaid-funded programs are 1-2 years long here and waiting that long to get help for her is simply unacceptable. At this point in my life, I hope I die long before reaching retirement age, but if I don't, I'll surely starve to death then. The point is that costly tragedies can happen even to those of us who know the ropes.
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The biggest Loser...
I have read almost every post here (I'm not currently employed) and what jumps out is that no matter what people do to manage finances, the occurence of a medical crisis can mean total disaster. A close friend is from a very wealthy family, and the greatest fear is that there will be a medical crisis with one of the children(all grown, but not as well off as their parents) and the parents' money, millions of dollars, will be absorbed by uncovered medical expenses. The children have catastrophic insurance to protect the rest of the family, but I can see that there may be many others who are not as well prepared for a medical/financial emergency. In this country, probably the wealthiest on the planet, to have less than the best healthcare system is criminal and ignorant. As another poster pointed out, healthcare and education are the keys to a healthy, vibrant and progressive population.
When our priorities are so skewed that we would deny someone healthcare and education as human rights, yet pour billions into the killing of others and the destruction of another country, we deserve to be held up as the most irresponsible nation on the planet. Those who have posted here with stories of fiscal irresponsibility are the symptoms of an irresponsible fiscal policy by the government; or perhaps it is the other way around. The government is a reflection of our ignorance of our responsibility to care for ourselves and each other, in all ways. When a family such as the one a post or 2 back runs into a crisis in spite of their preparation for long-term stability, they should not have to bear the full brunt of their circumstances. There is a saying(and it precedes HRC by probably centuries) that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it takes a village/community to care for itself by the shared efforts and contributions of all members. Call it communism or socialism; it doesn't matter the name. It works a whole lot better than the notion that we are each totally responsible for ourselves, with no sharing of the loads of life. Yes, on the one hand, I am responsible for my decisions and my response to life, but I also want to know that in time of need, there will be someone there to give me a hand up. I would do likewise, and have. I know for many of you this is crazy talk. But it is the wave of the future. Mark my words. What you see now is just the beginning.
peace,
st john
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I'm anon 7:40
I just wanted to clarify, before someone jumps in and wonders why I mentioned Medicaid, that private insurance won't cover most therapies for disabled kids, so they are sometimes eligible for Medicaid despite parental income. That's why I mentioned Medicaid and I just didn't want someone to cleverly jump in and be all, "You say you're responsible! Then why do you have Medicaid?"
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Calm down, no need to be defensive
I've noticed a lot of knee-jerk reactions along the lines of, "How dare you criticize people in debt, I got into debt because of medical/educational/job loss reasons!"
I've read every post in this thread, and have not seen one post bemoaning the irresponsibility of the sick/studying/laid-off. NO ONE is judging people who have had horrible, devestating, experiences. We all realize it can happen to anyone, and it is just bad luck.
Having said that...
Yeah, I AM irritated by irresponsible people who live beyond their means. Who use credit to consume, consume, consume and then use whatever methods they can to avoid paying for it. And there seem to be quite a few in this thread, not to mention the author of the article.
And many people live beyond their means. I worked with the poor for a while, and was amazed at some of the expensive crap they would buy on salaries that were about half of what I earned at the time. Stuff I didn't buy... because I couldn't afford it. I was amazed at the outlook some people had... they thought credit cards were free money. I mean... come on! And then they got special breaks on services that other people have to scrimp and save for. After throwing away their own money on brand-name junk.
Yeah, it's anecdotal, not a scientific survey. But believe me, its out there.
And again, NO ONE IS BASHING PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD AN UNLUCKY BREAK.
But I do have the urge to bash some of the people who overspend over the head.
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More than credit ratings at stake
I grew up in a relatively poor family with a mother who was constantly playing the debt shuffle. She'd pay the electric bill which was long overdue one month then the phone the next month. She'd buy tons of junk we didn't need on credit because each item had a low monthly payment and when the total of all those "low" payments added up to more than she could handle, she'd take out a consolidation loan. To this day, my mother has to have all her credit cards taken away from her to stop her from racking up thousands in debt for intangible and unnecessary items.
I think we grow up in an environment which says we deserve to use our money to reward ourselves for our hard work, particularly if that work isn't very spiritually or creatively rewarding. The only problem is those rewards aren't very satisfying in the long run. It's the novelty and the momentary thrill of acquisition which we get pleasure from so we have to continue to feed off of more purchases for items we don't really want or need.
As a short-term solution, people can get their spending under control and try to "grow up", but I think a huge cultural shift in America is long overdue where people learn not to associate the thrill of acquisition with self-reward and stop admiring people because of their quantity or quality of possessions.
Personally, I have grown up very "scarred" by my mother's habits. I experience anxiety about money all the time even though there is no rational reason for me to have it. If you don't believe my anxiety is improperly placed, I can tell you I have no debt whatsoever, have over $100,000 saved and save between $500-$1000 a month and I still fret about the wasteful luxury of ordering one pizza delivered in a week. When any unexpected change in my financial situation pops up, even one I can afford, I sometimes can't sleep at night ruminating on the "problem". My views are completely distorted from years of growing up in a household with someone who was in control of the family finances and lived beyond her means.
It's more than just credit ratings at stake. Sometimes you leave your kids an emotional legacy which can screw them up for life.