In between the maddening begs for money, just about all I could hear on NPR was news of the bailout bill and it's failure. (or at least, it's failure on Monday
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I'm an apolitical cynic. Before I respond, I feel it's only fair to say that upfront. So, you know, grain of salt and all that.
I wholly applaud your notion that "fat cats are to blame for this" is bullshit. I'll give you a standing ovation for pointing the finger at everybody nationwide (though from knowing some people in debt I'm suspicious more of the creditors than the debtors, since we live in a society that endorses and in some cases clearly rewards companies who victimize and prey upon those in debt, but really that's tangential to the main points here). I'll even throw roses at your feet for passingly pointing at greed as the source of all our problems
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I would argue that the problem here is a much larger problem that's been a plague as far as I'm concerned. The public's attention span is simply too short to properly understand a situation as complicated such as this. I don't think that the media or government colluded or that there was a larger conspiracy at work--the bill was presented in the only way the public could digest it. Imagine, for a moment, if the government or even media asked of the public to properly devote the time to fully understand the situation and THEN to tell their reps how to vote.
It could never happen.
The resources, however, are there for any citizen to read up and fully understand if they so choose. We are free to discuss it as openly or privately as we wish. The bill originally failed because the phones were ringing off the hook with a ratio of 100 to 1 against. To me that's still a democracy.
i think a lot about entitlement. everyone wants something for nothing, and they're pissed when they don't get it. it makes me want to go live in the backwoods of a developing country for awhile. i'm not actually sure i could handle that, though. i mean, i'm not above these feelings of entitlement; i just try to be aware of them and quash them a bit
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I think you're vastly underestimating the shady nature of many of the people who got rich (for a while) actually brokering these deals. My friend recently wrote about her experience with this; I recommend you read it before you dismiss everybody who found themselves up shit creek as stupid.
I also highly recommend that you listen to the This American Life episode "The Global Pool of Money." (I'd link to it but their servers are down right now.) It really helped me understand where some of this crisis came from. The banks/investors etc. who bought up these subprime loans did so under the assumption that the housing market would go up *forever*. Who's trying to get something for nothing?
I don't disagree that there are a lot of people out there who thought they could get away with murder, financially. But I think there are a lot of people who got taken advantage of by professionals they thought were working in their best interest.
I suppose people might find much to criticize in this story. It's always easier to armchair quarterback. I'm not ultra-naive about finance but I'm not super-savvy either.
She's right. It is easy. I won't deny that.
However, my point of view remains; she may have had modest goals, certainly in the context of the time, but it was still $100k+ that she was dealing with. At that level of borrowing and debt, I would expect any rational person to do all research necessary and to know all their options prior to walking in to talk to any loan officer. She had great credit she said, so I find this story all the more surprising--one doesn't have great credit unless they are a little bit prudent. Somewhere along the line the volume of money she was dealing with didn't seem to register.
But I think there are a lot of people who got taken advantage of by professionals they thought were working in their best interest.In high school we had a teacher (republican no less), that taught economics. One of the biggest points he made was this: our
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When you take out a mortgage on a house, your monthly payments cover principal, interest and escrow, which includes insurance and property tax. The way lenders "qualify" borrowers with middle to high risk factors is to underestimate that escrow. After your first year, they recalculate your payments to cover what you didn't pay the previous year, plus the new "correct" amount. It means increases of 25 to 60 percent - a big hit to anybody's budget
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Comments 6
I wholly applaud your notion that "fat cats are to blame for this" is bullshit. I'll give you a standing ovation for pointing the finger at everybody nationwide (though from knowing some people in debt I'm suspicious more of the creditors than the debtors, since we live in a society that endorses and in some cases clearly rewards companies who victimize and prey upon those in debt, but really that's tangential to the main points here). I'll even throw roses at your feet for passingly pointing at greed as the source of all our problems ( ... )
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It could never happen.
The resources, however, are there for any citizen to read up and fully understand if they so choose. We are free to discuss it as openly or privately as we wish. The bill originally failed because the phones were ringing off the hook with a ratio of 100 to 1 against. To me that's still a democracy.
Reply
Reply
I also highly recommend that you listen to the This American Life episode "The Global Pool of Money." (I'd link to it but their servers are down right now.) It really helped me understand where some of this crisis came from. The banks/investors etc. who bought up these subprime loans did so under the assumption that the housing market would go up *forever*. Who's trying to get something for nothing?
I don't disagree that there are a lot of people out there who thought they could get away with murder, financially. But I think there are a lot of people who got taken advantage of by professionals they thought were working in their best interest.
Reply
She's right. It is easy. I won't deny that.
However, my point of view remains; she may have had modest goals, certainly in the context of the time, but it was still $100k+ that she was dealing with. At that level of borrowing and debt, I would expect any rational person to do all research necessary and to know all their options prior to walking in to talk to any loan officer. She had great credit she said, so I find this story all the more surprising--one doesn't have great credit unless they are a little bit prudent. Somewhere along the line the volume of money she was dealing with didn't seem to register.
But I think there are a lot of people who got taken advantage of by professionals they thought were working in their best interest.In high school we had a teacher (republican no less), that taught economics. One of the biggest points he made was this: our ( ... )
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Reply
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