Freedom isn't Free

Recently, I spent the better part of my morning watching a documentary on the the credit card and bankruptcy crisis. Each time a new attorney, family, or expert shared testimony I felt an incredible twinge singe my brain causing me to feel not only angry at the credit card companies but also myself.

Here's what I learned and the sickening data:

In 2005 George Walker Bush signed a bill in effort to curtail the number of people eligible to file bankruptcy. This bill essentially made it easier for large credit conglomerates to continue charging $2 for every dollar of principal owed--under this system, you and I will never pay off our debts--even if we pay above the minimum. The Republican party profits greatly by working in cahoots with said companies; therefore, they helped to forge a campaign strategy to convince middle-class and poor Americans that they could claim a bonafide stake in the American Dream... by borrowing. As a result, after much warning from Alan Greenspan, the nation is now neck-deep in foreclosures. What's more, the nation has seen a dramatic increase in suicides as a result of not being able to pay debts. What's worse: no one group is immune. College students hanging themselves in dorm rooms with their bills spread beneath them or sixty year old fathers looking to find a way to erase debt without the family having to pay by "forgetting" to stop at a red light. Then after the husband kills himself, his wife threatens to follow suit because she can't pay the mortgage and the bank approved her for high risk loans to pay the debt and for the funeral. She's sixty and she will never pay the debt in her lifetime.

But the information just gets worse. This documentary's information is outdated-- it was released in 2005-- long before the banking crisis or car manufacturing bailouts. But I learned more.

In an attempt to pay bills, purchase needed items, or what have you, everyday Americans have started frequenting pawn shops as a means to acquire instant cash. Through the transactions the people would complain about lack of health care and a need to improve education and settle the USA's incredible national debt. (We as a nation spend more on just interest payments to the national debt than we do for Homeland security, education, and ....oh now I can't remember... combined. Interest only!). What's your stake....how many of your dollars help to mitigate the debt-- in 2005--$90,000. Those are your dollars that you can't spend on getting Grandma a new hip or getting Jr. his much needed braces. But what disturbs me is that these middle-class Americans who struggle to make ends meet and hold on to their houses think are opposed to electing a Congress, Senate, or President that can actually work to alleviate this issue. Obama isn't taking your guns and he is not enforcing a subversive Communist regime. To think so, in my opinion, is allowing your own personal ignorance to take precedence over common sense. If we could develop a system that makes the American people responsible for holding elected officials accountable (as opposed to our current apathetic state) we can see change happen. But again, you--the individual-- can't plead ignorance and say that politics are too confusing and so you choose to just vote party lines.

The Republican party is essentially decimated as a result of a botched presidency, irrational war, and foul legislation. I also contend that how can someone so blindly align themselves to a group of people who preach moral piety, but philander more than any other group. South Carolina's governor just admitted to an affair, the "bathroom incident," I could go on and on. Lindsay Graham just stated in a CNN interview that his party feels compelled to adhere and maintain moral standards, but yes, they are often victims of temptation. But I digress.....

The lack of morality and ethics in our government and business in America has become status quo. While the minority of people's pockets are deepening--they have forged enough influence to keep us--real people whose lives are being played with and ruined as a result--out of the loop and silent. A voice of dissension is radical, not pragmatic, un-American, and un-called for. The right to dissent is part of our Constitutional rights. Yet, we have no right to question why the FICO credit rating system is known and proven to have a 90% inaccuracy rate--why every time we sign a check or use our debit card the transaction is being stored in a file to be used against us when we go to buy a home for the first time? And when someone slightly powerful enough does seek to make credit companies like Citigroup testify why they practice a morally bankrupt system, the meeting is scheduled right before a senate hearing, so no time for questions is allotted. Credit conglomerates don't have to answer for their wrong-doing.

I know this might seem disorganized and chaotic. But here's the deal: when a war was started and has been waged in the name of protecting our freedom--why is no one protecting us from the very criminals that seize our chances at truly fulfilling the American Dream and takes all financial freedom? Please don't say--well you had the choice to not use your credit card or employ no credit at all? Really? A choice? For the record I haven't used my credit card in a year and half and I have always paid more than the minimum. Secondly, I do the best I can to live as fiscally responsible as I can given the economy. When people don't feel free to buy groceries, give Christmas presents, or purchase prescriptions-- then we have a more complex issue than just shitty lending. And to feel sorry for those in finance that have lost their jobs after the economy crashed this year---no I can't. What about the people who don't own a yacht to sell or have a savings to draw from? Middle-class Americans and those in the depths of poverty are the real victims here--they have lived under a veil of freedom and never even knew it was threatened until it was too late.

So---I will pay off my credit if it kills me. I will not contribute more than I have to to this corrupt system and I will not be apathetic because it is easier than working for change.

I need to vent!

Disclaimer: Pardon my frankness and seething tone.

I am thoroughly infuriated! Why? When I moved across the stinking country to live in a quaint old home to enjoy solace by the beach, relax, and hopefully get "knocked up," I had no idea I would feel so swindled.

I found a cute little house to rent that needed some love, but had great potential. The problem. It was still being cleaned and worked on, so when we viewed the home we knew the house was in progress. Being under the impression the cleaning and what not would be finished in the three months before we moved, we progressed with the lease. But alas, when I arrived no glimmer or shimmer for that matter had been completed. The only thing provided: a new roll away dishwasher as per our request. What did we see: urine and fecal matter stains, food in the cupboards, trash in the drawers, filth in the fridge, etc. It took over ten hours to clean the house to make it livable.

So I wrote a letter to my landlord explaining the disappointment and a fair compensation was in order. She wrote back that under no circumstances would she entertain my request, nor did she believe my inventory was accurate. Are you freakin' kidding me? So now as you take my money you question my honesty! No way Jose! I may be rude, too talkative, and sassy as all hell, but I am honest. So now I worked diligently to live in a home that's livable and gave my landlord copious amounts of free labor. I know I chose to do the work...but wouldn't you? Who would be okay with the living conditions as such? I scraped shit off a floor for 45 minutes!

So here's the resolution: I get screwed and landlord gets paid. It seems to be a recurring pattern in my life. I trust too much even when I am being a bad ass.

I cry foul! Thanks for letting me vent....I will be okay....I just feel bitter....bitterness gets us nowhere fast.