After a brief hiatus I managed to come up with another gripe;

Credit

It is interesting that in the course of one generation we went from a world where credit was to be avoided, and only existed as a last ditch survival method for the "poor and near do well of society. It was looked down upon and considered an embarrassment by the American "Hard Working Middle class". (Part of that shoulder to the wheel, nose to the grindstone mindset). Today we struggle to get a good "credit score" so that we can buy overpriced items that we do not need, to impress friends that we don't have, from profit seeking greed merchants who view us as walking dollar signs.

Instead of saving for that big price tag item (that we "want", [not need, but want]) we demand the instant gratification of immediate possession by using our "plastic fantastic lover" aka; the credit card. We fight to get good credit scores and strive to obtain no less than 3 but no more than 6 major credit cards to be considered "good consumers". We will sell our souls and our futures to willingly enslave ourselves to the credit mongers.

At what point in time did this change occur? I believe that the change occurred somewhere in the mid '50s, when the average family suddenly discovered that one income was no longer enough to insure the family's survival. Two incomes became the norm, (if not the necessity), and the nuclear family's foundation was broken when the focal point, (MOM), was also forced into labor.

Why are we now at the point where people are having to use credit as a means of survival, a means of holding on to the homes, a means of supplying nourishment for their families, a means of supplying heat and comfort for those families, and a means of supply the cost of transportation to low paying jobs that are part of the problem to begin with?

There are credit companies that offer low start up interest rates to lure the consumer in, and then when the hook is set the rates increase to a level that insures that the minimum monthly payment will be made thereby prolonging the debt and maximizing profit. There are banks offering loans that start at 4-6% and at their discretion based on nothing more than greed, they can change that interest rate up to 24.9%. This can be done even if you make all your payments on time and the prime rate stay the same, if you miss a payment the rate can go to 27.9%. Quote from banking website-"the APR will not automatically vary with an index, such as the Prime Rate. We reserve the right to change your APR, fees, or other credit terms at our discretion"

Mortgages insure that you will pay over the course of 15 to 30+ years a sum total of 3-5 times the actual value of the home you purchased, as that home depreciates in value, (thank god that the recession and need for housing keeps driving the value of realty higher). The new home owner in any case is now in indentured service to the financial institution for the remainder of his life.

Let me close this blog/rant/drivel with something that is not credit related but still has a major impact on our lives; our natural resources/oil supply. I believe that our natural resources belong to the people of this country, yet they are controlled and manipulated by a handful of individuals for personal gain. If we are having an energy crisis or shortage due to increased cost of production and/or decreased levels of production, and these additional costs are being fairly passed on to consumers, shouldn't the profit margins of these companies be staying the same. Why then are they showing record profits year after year after year? More importantly; since all our lives are tied inextricably to oil and in the northern states a necessity for survival, why isn't this resource regulated, or for that matter nationalized and used for the good of society as a whole?

It is rather worrisome, (or at least it should be), that the wealth of America is being slowly siphoned off into the accounts of a few extremely wealthy, power hungry, individuals, who have no interest in the survival of America, or its people. Their only interest is amassing more power and control.

You would think that a civilized society would be more concerned with the survival of the species as a whole and not just concerned with the immediate gratification through high profit margins at the expense of the very lives of its own citizenry.

Oh Well---WANBO