I have a question for you all, is debt the root of all evil?
I have a theory, if we abolish and outlaw debt the world
would be a better place to live. I have several reasons for this some of them a
bit thin but some I think make sense. I can hear you all now, who is this
idiot, has he got more money than he can spend, well I can answer that, no, I
have more debt than I earn, I struggle to survive each month as the repayments
squeeze my finances, I basically pay out more than I earn, so I am getting
deeper into debt. Well that’s not true now as I have made arrangements with
some of my creditors to reduce the payments, but still I basically have no
disposable cash due to debt. Yes this is entirely my fault, I am a weak person,
and I want my children to have all the things I never had, but then thinking
back I had things money could not buy.
Increased appreciation – A few years ago debt was so easy to
come by, you didn’t even need to apply credit card companies would send you a
card at the drop of a hat, I remember one day getting a call, “how would you
like to move all your debt into one easy payment”, I thought at the time this
was a great idea, so I did, and about ten years later and a few more
consolidations and I am still paying for it. My point here is if it’s that easy
you end up thinking “What the hell, if it breaks I will buy a new one”. Now
consider you had to save up to buy the new mobile phone or TV or really
anything you own, go on take a look around the room you are in, how much of it
did you buy outright with cash, one payment. The only things in the room I am
in are my baby’s toys, or the things I have been given, every other major
purchase in here was bought using credit.
Moral integrity – have you considered that some of today’s
moral and social issues could be directly linked back to debt, if you don’t
have to earn something and it is given to you on a plate, if you lose or damage
it you can get a replacement or upgrade with little or no effort then you have
no concept of the value of the item, with never having to earn why bother even
getting a job, why bother getting out of bed in the morning, you can have what
you want anyway. This devaluing of the things we own creates a “what the hell”
attitude, and this attitude spreads into other aspects of our lives, and before
we know it we have a dysfunctional society who have no self-esteem and drive to
achieve.
Profit from Misery – if we outlaw debt then people and
companies would not be able to profit from the misery of easy targets such as
me, in fact the banks would basically be no more, outrageous bonus payments
would be a thing of the past, companies would not fold as often due to bad
management of funds, if they did not have the money they could not buy more
stock that they can’t sell. This would change the way businesses are formed,
operate and eventually fail or succeed. Yes it would be tougher but perhaps
natures “The strong survive” would make for more stable business models instead
of the current risky models, and lets be fair they are not working so maybe we
should try something new, no sorry old.
Government Funding – Taxes, when taxes were first collected
they were not popular amongst the people it was being collected from, but we
all understand this needs to be done to help run the country, however,
governments should not say collect ten pounds then spend twenty based on the
money they may collect the next time, this is crazy if you’re not collecting
enough money either cut your spending or collect some more. Due to this is
exactly why governments all over the world are in massive debt and we the
people have to suffer some more.
Conclusion – so if we all have to save before buying our
beloved possessions we would appreciate them more, it may mean that product
life expectancy would need to be reviewed as consumers would not want to save
for six months then buy something that will only last a year, this would also
be good for our children making them wait for the things they want, maybe encouraging
some appreciation for what they have, there would also be less waste, if you
saved for something then bought it and it broke in six months, right now you
may just go and get another, but if you had saved for it you would either
return it or get it fixed. Also we could re-introduce some lost skills, manufacturing
skills, repairing skills and probably many other skills we have lost over the
years, we would also instil some self-respect and motivation back into our
society.
By outlawing debt we would create a happier, motivated,
proud nation.
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