dionysius
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08:40:17 pm on January 8, 2008 | # |
Details: Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit by James D. Scurlock | LibraryThing
I’m reading this book, an expose of the credit industry and I am appalled at gross excesses and appalling evil of this industry ! Even more disturbing is how the whole thing is aided and abetted by the government. Of course, blame has to be placed everywhere it is due: not only the creditors but also the greed and sloth of the average consumer. There is no way that we can sustain this; our society will collapse from the weight of all this debt and we will trash the environment with our unlimited appetites for more stuff !
related links…
James Scurlock – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Category:Credit cards – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Americans for Fairness in Lending – Home
InsideARM: Accounts Receivable Management News and Information
nan0058 8:44 am on January 9, 2008 | # |
I havent read your link yet but it reminded me of when we bought a bed not long ago. I forget how we got on the subject with the salesman, because we paid cash, but apparently the store counted on and wanted customers to default on their accounts…somehow they made more that way…….I was pretty shocked to say the least. Credit and TV trying to tell us what lifestyle they want us to have is killing us. It makes people think they are supposed to have everything they see on tv and it is not only not possible but not wise. We are working on our debts this year but I think more importantly, we are working on becoming better stewards of what we have and making better use of our resources.
dionysius 9:21 am on January 9, 2008 | # |
Yes the whole situation is very bizzarre. We have loads of debt and I suspect we’ll both be dead before it is paid off. But even so, they make money ’cause the interest and fees more than make up for anything they have to write off. An of course, when they write a debt off, they get a tax deduction. Yes, I think our society needs a major systemic overhaul. I hate to be so pessimistic but I think we have devolved into a bunch of fat happy fools.
nan0058 9:36 am on January 9, 2008 | # |
Fools is Right. We have let the Idiot Box turn us into idiots and our neighboring countries are laughing at us because we have gotten lazy and greedy. Our parents tried to give us a better life than they had but they forgot that some hardships actually make better people out of us. I see some pretty spoiled kids and adults that have so much more than their counterparts in other countries and yet they think they are deprived. Some day we will get a HUGE wake up call and its really gonna hurt when we do. My Dad always believed there would be another depression like the Great Depression he lived through. He didn’t see it in his time but it would not surprise me at all to see something like that still happen yet.