Many people make the sma claculation that Customers Revenge described: “How much will it cost me per month to have everything I want?”

Sadly, the answer is always “way more than you can handle.”

We place great emphasis on teaching high school and college students calculus, algebra and history. We should probably teach them about personal financial managment. In today’s day and age it’s a far more useful skill than, say, home ec (but, come to think of it, it could be taught as part of a home ec course).

Having watched this, it’s amazing how ignorant people can be. The mathematics of credit really aren’t THAT complicated and it’s a testament to how some people are either sleeping through junior high or high school or being grossly misserved by them. However, that being said, I actually work in a safety consulting business by profession and it’s amazing how many people ignore things like safety warnings on products where it can be their life at stake, so it’s not surprising people basically embrace a sort of ignorance about their financial condition as well.

Interest is incredibly powerful, as is credit. They are not to be wielded lightly and take responsibility and restraint and can serve you well if respected and used judiciously.

Person I felt most bad for: The woman with the mentally retarded son. I don’t quite understand how he could sign anything legally and have it be binding.

Person I felt least bad for: The widower who just kept taking on debt because they would give it to her and, gee, they must know best. I’m surprised she made it to age 53 acting with such ill-advised trust of total strangers.

CCC’s don’t generously give people money to spend and then hold them accountable for their mistakes — they open lines of credit with agreed repayment terms that people choose to spend.

I also don’t think that people who take personal responsibility for their actions and recommend it as a course of action to others do it out of anger, jealousy, or self-righteousness. A person is either responsible for their actions or they are not.

The credit card industry is highly competitive and there is no real evidence that the hundreds of banks and financial institutions that offer them have conspired to take advantage of people and charge them higher than market rates. There is no one to blame here but the consumers who lack self control. DHP gave the perfect example of the infantilism I was talking about when he said “But you wouldn’t put a child in a room full of drugs and candy and blame them for taking the drugs would you? Why? Because they are kids and don’t know any better.” But we are not dealing with kids here. These are adults who do, or should, know better.

“FACTUAL, OBJECTIVE [a documentary film of the war]“.

Merriam-Webster. Hard to argue with that. Factual AND objective. And “documentary” the noun is simply “a documentary presentation (as a film or novel)”. A factual and objective presentation such as a film or novel. Helpful to know.

Now let the tightwad in me speak. I think people are so hard on those in CC debt because of the sacrifices we make every day. I really, really want new things. I watch people around me getting new things. I resent the hell out of the fact that they get them and I don’t. My answer to that is to respond in anger and self-righteousness about personal responsibility: Who are they to whine!? They took money that they didn’t have and bought things they couldn’t afford. They agreed to the terms when they spent the money the CCC generously gave them. They have no right to complain about it being unfair!! What’s unfair is that they spent money they didn’t have!!

Bottom line is that other’s choices really have nothing to do with me. It’s just really easy to take my anger at the sacrifices I have to make to live debt-free and turn that on others to justify my jealousy over what they have and I don’t.

I think personal responsibility is key, but I do have to take to task the CC companies. They extend credit to people who do not merit it and then when they don’t get paid they want to change the law. Well in my mind responsibility works both ways. When you make terrible business decisions there are consequences, or should be. Lobbying to make the bankruptcy and credit laws tougher may make sense, but it should not absolve the industry from its bad decisions. Credit card companies assume risk for unsecured debt and profit in the form of higher interest rates for accepting higher risk. Unsecured debt is exactly what it sounds like. Don’t want the risk, don’t issue the credit.