Long Time No Blog

In part due to my long absence from blogging, and also in part due to a recent conversation I had, I have returned to rant, write, or whichever you choose to describe this. I will leave the details of the conversation out in order to protect those involved, but basically the issue was raced over financial policy in this country; You know, interest rates, banking policy, etc, and what the mean for the poorer citizens. The person I was conversing with felt that it was just to have extremely high rates for poorer folks because they shouldn't try to live beyond their means. My basic response to that sort of question is that it is delusional and wrong. There are forces beyond ones control that can dictate their economic standing. Sure, some people are in fact lazy and have no initiative, but I fail to believe that is a majority. Rather, there are those who get demoralized from the lack of opportunity and upward mobility presented before them. It's not laziness, it's called depression. Some people just can't get ahead because they start several paces behind the starting line that others begin it economically.

So is it right to have high interest rates for high risk borrowers? Economically maybe, morally absolutely not. A problem in society is that we use our wallets and pocketbooks to think more than our hearts. I think there needs to be avenues to help the poor with things that matter, like education, health care, and getting a home. Maybe we should lower our rates when it comes to borrowing for those purposes. I"m against the sort of reckless borrowing meant to buy needless things such as big screen tvs and plastic surgery, or what have you, but to help individuals live healthy fulfilling lives; it's not always wrong to give them a boost with more friendly borrowing terms.

And lets not forget that debt terms are often constructed to milk more from the borrower. It is a business, which means profit is the motive, not humanity. Lenders want you in debt, but not too much; They want you just enough in debt so that you can pay your monthly payment, yet not pay it off so that you can accrue more interest. Once again, the money is in this country to help everybody. We should be searching for ways to live a more virtuous lifestyle, which does not always translate into an economically more prosperous one. Humanity NOT profit should be our motives.