In Debt ? Who's responsible ?

[jlhpisces]

I would love to blame the credit card company that offered college-student-me the card, but it was my poor judgement that led to more charges than I could pay off. Now working mom me has recovered from that and I am teaching my son better credit habits than I had!

[Gootsy]

The individual is responsible for his/her own debt. The government is responsible for letting it get as bad as it is. Course the CC companies play a HUGE part, but to expect them to not try and bleed anyone and everyone completely financially dry, is a little silly.

[Miss Rosie]

Originally Posted by firstourselves

We just watched Maxed Out, a documentary about debt and the credit card industry, over the weekend. It was eye opening, in the predatory practices of banks, credit cards, and even the government---particularly towards the poor. And yet, for many of the people in the movie, their debt came about as a result of poor choices.

Which brings me to another point: Do we really expect people to make the right choices all of the time? And do we want to penalize "poor choices" with financial disaster?

I'm poor. Not my choice. I'm disabled. However, a $30.00 miscalculation in my spending can set off a cascade of bouncing checks that could go on for weeks and cost hundreds of dollars. It's happened to me a few times, and to a friend whose financial situation is also precarious. I have also hit the end of the month with literally $0 in the bank more than once.

Okay, that $30 could be called a poor choice, but is that something we really want to punish that harshly? And if so, is it working? Are more people becoming financially responsible? Or are they too scared to even look at their problems, much less try to fix them?

As it is now, this country's laws give the banks a free hand to conceal information, by using unreadable type and a college-level vocabulary in materials aimed at people with a 9th grade reading level, by lying ("Sorry, Ma'am, but you don't qualify for a regular mortgage; here's a nice sub-prime loan for you."), or by simply not revealing critical information, like interest being charged on an account in collections. That happened to me once, too.

A system that expects people to make the right choice at every turn, to have the equivalent of a degree in accounting or banking in order to navigate normal financial transactions, and to go into every negotiation with a reputable financial institution expecting to get screwed is fundamentally broken.