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In Debt We Trust
By JLP | August 6, 2006
According to this article on CNNMoney.com, there’s a new documentary coming out called “In Debt We Trust,” that is trying to tackle the issue of consumer debt in America. I’m not really a fan of documentaries because most of them seem one-sided, which undermines the integrity of what a documentary is. This one seems to be no different. Watch the trailer to see what I mean.
I hate the “woe is me” attitude about debt. Yes, there are a lot of credit card companies out there. And yes, they make credit easy to get. However, there is not one credit card company that actually MADE a person get into debt. That, is a decision we make on our own.
Another thing that bugs me is the “solution” that they talk about in the article:
As far as solutions go, some experts in the film stress the need for regulation (emphasis mine) at the state and possibly the federal level, but also seem to suggest that a big push must be made by those affected by debt themselves – the consumers.
Regulation? Their answer is MORE regulation? I’m sure they are talking about more regulation of the credit card and debt companies. I don’t think we need more regulation. Instead, how about some lessons in personal responsibility? Why must we always blame all our problems on someone or something else?
So, even though my first impression of this “documentary” isn’t good, I still want to see because I think it will give me lots of good blogging material.
Topics: Budgeting, Credit, Credit Cards | 16 Comments »
August 6th, 2006 at 10:33 pm
Right on, JLP. I’d like to add more wisdom, but I think you’ve pretty much said it all.
August 6th, 2006 at 10:36 pm
Preach on preacha! That solution is like saying if I sin, blame the leader of my church. It’s not my fault that I can’t resist temptation. He needs to be regulated so I can be forgiven.
Ok, that was a bit much, but it’s Sunday and today’s message is still fresh on my mind. Ha!
August 7th, 2006 at 12:13 am
I don’t know where I stand on the issue of regulation within the credit card industry. But more regulation isn’t like blaming the leader of a church, unless the leader is the person who makes it possible for the churchgoers to sin. In a church analogy, blaming and regulating the credit card companies would be like blaming the casinos, the whorehouses, the devil/satan, people who follow a different religion than the one you happen to subscribe to, etc.
August 7th, 2006 at 12:13 am
If the government wants to do anything they can start by improving on financial education in the high schools.
August 7th, 2006 at 12:51 am
“…more regulation isn’t like blaming the leader of a church, unless the leader is the person who makes it possible for the churchgoers to sin.”
That’s my point…
The leader is not the person who makes it possible for the churchgoers to sin nor is the leader responsible for making sure churchgoers do not sin — which is how they are revered.
This is the same responsibility placed on credit card companies. They are not responsible for putting consumers in debt nor should they be held responsible for making sure consumers stay out of debt.
IMO, the anology is relevant. I don’t want the discussion to move toward a religous debate, but in either case, personal responsibility is missing from the equation.
August 7th, 2006 at 2:29 am
The church analogy isn’t really relevant since the church is not in the business of sin. In the cases of companies offering credit, they are supplying a product/sevice that people happen to be abusing. This is more analogous to the idea that tobacco, alcohol, firearms, fast food, casinos, etc… would be responsible for how customers use/abuse their products and services. Along that line of reasoning, the church would fit more into the credit or alcohol counseling type of institution as they offer a path away from the abuse, in that case sin.
I get what you were saying though
August 7th, 2006 at 7:50 am
When & what channel is the documentary going to air? I would love to watch it as well.
Thanks
August 7th, 2006 at 9:09 am
@ Adam – to be honest, my initial comment was in jest…hence “ok, that was a bit much” and the “ha!” I knew it was an exxagerated comparison. At any rate, I do see your point as well.
August 7th, 2006 at 9:21 am
Unfortunately, education may not be the answer. I teach financial planning to college freshman and some of them really do change their attitudes but the majority act like college freshmen. They sleep and skip their way through. After four years of experience, I am about to conclude that experience is a crucial precursor to changing attitudes about credit, debt, investing, etc. My night classes full on non-traditional students consider this course to be a life changing experience because they have already experienced debt and investment problems. I hate to be negative but a high school class would be as meaningful as keyboarding or bookkeeping turned out to be.
August 7th, 2006 at 9:24 am
I just decided to use this documentary in my class this fall. We will have a debate! The Federal Government should prevent credit card companies from giving credit to people who can not pay it back. TRUE OR FALSE!
August 7th, 2006 at 11:00 am
The National Consumer Law Center drafted a 40 page report on how seniors are now relying more and more on credit cards to pay for living expenses and such. It paints a bleak picture for most…
http://www.nclc.org/news/content/rising_debt.pdf
August 7th, 2006 at 11:52 am
I doubt it will ever see release in my area, hopefully I will see it on PBS or Netflix.
August 7th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
What ever happened to personal responsibility?
August 7th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
Credit cards enable people to buy things that they wouldn’t be able to buy without the easy credit. To spend money they don’t have. They make it easy to abuse credit, and charge more than you can afford to pay back. Some people advocate regulating credit card issuers more stingently to prevent that from happening. But how do you do that? By preventing people with fewer financial resources (poor people, young people, recent immigrants, etc.)from getting credit cards? If credit card issuers started doing that, many of the same people crying for regulation would then be crying about discrimination against the poor or minorities or whomever. And the people denied credit cards would then frequent the check cashing, payday loan, title loan companies that charge even more than the credit card companies do. I’m not sure how you can regulate yourself out of the problem of consumer debt.
August 8th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
Credit cards are like marriage – too easy to get into and too difficult to get out of! The evil perpetuated by the credit card companies is not that they make it so easy for people to get into debt, but that their strong lobby in Congress makes it so hard (and just made it so much harder) for people who then get in trouble with debt to get out. it basically ruins their lives. The card companies would self-police who they give credit to if they were more on the hook for the bad debt and people who got in trouble could walk away with less pressure.
November 25th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
The real problem is how our economy is shaped in this country. The major problem is that the majority of jobs pay less today than years ago, all while the cost of living has increased. Inelastic demand for goods and services is a reality for most people who have zero representation both at the corporate level and the higher gov’t which has SOLD OUT to giant corporations.
Everyone says “education” is the answer. Yes and No. No, if it’s the case that continues today where having a four year degree is meaningless to giant corporations, they simply take the McDonalds approach: Division of Labor and basically dumbing down every job as much as possible. Trust me, I work for a large bank and have seen this happen time and time again. Don’t you ever get frustrated when you have to be transfered to _____ specialist for each and every simple transaction? Cost effective for the bank, but not cost effective for your time as a customer.
You can have the MOST educated workers, but who cares when they are forced to take jobs that are dumbed down! Obviously not everyone can be in the top ten percent from an earning standpoint.
So the issue is very simple. Power is among the upper class. You’re either somebody, or you’re nobody. There is no inbetween. However you can be SOLD on trying to become somebody by getting yourself in more debt: buy the lexus, playstation, negative amortized loan for your house, etc….
Banks win if you play the game. It’s no different from walking into a casino, if you play, you WILL lose at some point.