Yeah, ya try to help some people.
Seriously, and this may piss you off, most people are where they are by natural selection. Generally speaking, that is. There are exceptions on both sides.
There is a saying that says something like, "If all the wealth of the country were redistributed equally among all the people, within five years, it would all be right back where it is now."
Think about it. How many times have you heard of someone winning the lottery and within about five years or so, they are filing for bankruptcy or selling the proceeds of the lottery 'cause they're desperate for cash? Happens all the time.
The fact is, and this is what pisses people off, people have what they deserve. Not what they need. Not what they want. What they deserve. If you have a job making $24,000 a year, then it's because you are only worth that much to your employer. If you make ten times that much, it's because you are only worth that much to your employer.
People have this fantasy that great wealth brings great luxury and freedom and ease of living. That's true to an extent but what it really brings is great responsibility. If a person does not know how to handle great sums of money and long lists of assets and possessions, then dumping a bunch of money in his bank account only causes him problems because he doesn't know how to handle it.
Put another way, a guy who only knows how to handle $100,000 of wealth is a $100,000 man, not a $1,000,000 man. It's a fact of life and there is no other way to look at it. Granted, in this country, a $100,000 man can, over time, make himself into a $1,000,000 man but it's best done over time and with study and education.
Look at the difference between the two. One spends more time planning his family vacation every year than he does managing his finances. He'll think on that vacation for weeks, including how much room he has on his credit card to "pay" for it, etc. The other guy spends a couple hours a week planning his finances and working to increase his wealth a bit here and there. (There are a few who obsess about it, but not generally.)
Back to the mortgage crisis, if you hand a bunch of people a bunch of loan docs and they don't understand them or even try to understand them or ask anyone for help, what do you think is going to happen to those people? They're going to get shafted. Yeah, the increased home sales are going to help the economy but it's artificial wealth that can't be supported. Long term, the economy suffers as do the people.
I'm not saying that debt is necessarily always a bad thing but bad debt, badly managed is a horrible thing. As we are seeing now. We made the mistake of handing a bunch of debt to people who were not equipped by experience or by thought on how to use it or how to manage it. Granted, it's good to help people when you can but believe you me, giving handouts to people who aren't equipped for it is more damaging and harmful than beneficial.
--Wag--
is not why they call the former president clinton "slick Willy".
