Linda Powers’ Guide

Victims of the economic meltdown

February 19th, 2009

I am so tired of television and radio pundits who talk about how we are “addicted” to oil and borrowing and on and on. Talk about piling on the victims of this economic meltdown.

I breathed a sigh of relief when gas prices slipped back down to about $1.60, but I didn’t change my driving habits. I can’t change my driving habits. My grocery store is about 4 miles from my house. I have to drive to it on a divided highway. Even if I felt like walking along the side of the highway to get there, I’d still have to haul my 10-12 bags of groceries back home. Not to mention other necessary errands. Addicted to oil, my foot. When someone comes up with something to replace it that I can afford, the “addiction” will go away almost instantly.

Recently I’ve been hearing a lot about how we in this country have become “addicted” to credit and living beyond our means. Come on, really? Yes, there are those among us who when they get their first credit card go nuts. They learn very quickly that this isn’t the best path, and they suffer mightily for years with trashed credit. This behavior has been around for many years, and it’s hardly new or news.

What we have now is a population that was deliberately targeted by people who stood to make billions in salaries, bonuses and Lord knows what else. These people are some of the sharpest and most conniving out there, and they cultivated legislators and regulators to promote bills and rules that would specifically benefit themselves. Not happy with the interest you are paying on your credit card or how your credit card company changes the terms of your agreement? Thank these guys. Blindsided by the galloping interest rates that have ballooned your mortgage payments? Thank them again. Crushed by a mortgage that’s more than the value of your home? Yup, it’s them.

I read somewhere that several of the architects who devised the tools that made their way into the credit markets were the same folks who brought us Enron and that huge energy ripoff in California a few years ago. When you stop and think about it, it makes perfect sense. There had to have been a lot of people involved in those scams who learned plenty. Very few went to jail, and the rest would be highly sought after by the unscrupulous who would love to perpetrate the same type of scams on a larger population. How perfect.

And we’re “addicted?” Hardly. We were the rubes at the snake oil show. Let’s call it like it is. Then maybe we’ll get angry enough to go after the snake oil salespeople once and for all.

A moment for a little self-promotion — If you would like to earn extra money helping people escape the ravages of the debt, please visit United First Financial.

Categories: Commentary, Economy | Tags: addicted, borrowing, economic, financial, first, meltdown, united