Being somewhat of a cable junkie, I became hooked on the History Channel’s series of the Seven Deadly Sins; lust, envy, gluttony, sloth, greed, wrath and pride. And as I have been following our country’s economic situation, especially in regards to credit cards and credit card companies I found a strong correlation between these “sins” and today’s financial quagmire. I am by no means the most religious person, but man, are we sinners. I can’t say for sure we’re going to hell, but I do know we are making our lives miserable. So while many are divulging remedies to cure the financial symptoms, I believe we need to cure the disease (root causes). These sins are so human and traits are found in every one of us, however it is the excess of these sins that cause problems. So, I decided for the next seven Monday’s I will address a specific sin and it’s correlation to credit.
When Ancient Rome invaded a territory, they charged that territory for the invasion and imposed a tax on the people of that territory and then sent out tax collectors who over-charged citizens to make extra money for themselves. But that is ancient times right, but not so fast. Credit card companies charge you an annual and sometimes monthly fee for membership, charge you interest on every purchase you make and sometimes charge fees; late payment, over the limit, and a pay by phone fee. But that’s not all. They will charge interest on all those fees. It is called, “Compounded Interest.” This practice is not much different than the exploitation of the Romans. Greed and massive debts was a major contributor to the fall of Rome. It makes you wonder, since we are guilty of similar behaviors are we doomed for a downfall, if it isn’t happening already?
With these exploitations, credit regulation is often thwarted because credit corporations support many political careers. Ah, money and politics; can’t have one without the other. This is called corruption. And now many articles are relaying stories of Credit Card Companies financing universities with the promise they can sell credit cards to students.
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” was questioned in Matthew 16-26 in the Kings James version of the bible. The one thing I found most telling is articles and blogs written about how to make money in a credit crisis. How do we make more money, get richer while others in our nation are suffering through unemployment, loss of wages and sometimes worse?
I have a very dear friend who is a fan of the book, “The Secret.” Her goal in life is to attain wealth. In telling this to her son in law he profoundly asked, "Who are you going to take the wealth from? One cannot gain wealth without acquiring it from someone else.” It is true. So when people are promoting methods to make money in a financial crisis, we have to ask from whom are they taking away money.
“Working the credit system,” is one method some have devised to make money off credit card companies. So while some are getting rich off of credit card companies, credit card companies are losing money. Credit companies do not make money off the people who pay their credit card off every month. There is no interest incurred, so no money is made. Credit card companies make money on those who don’t pay off their debt every month. Interest is their profit. Truth is credit card companies WANT consumers to carry debt. It is how they make money.
But regardless of what side of the credit chain you’re on the “Working the System” side or the debt carrying side, greed is in play. Working the system folks are trying to make more money. The debt carrying side is spending over their means for product they do not need or sometimes even want. They are living and spending on “want”, or greed.
We all want money and strive for a comfortable, secure life. The challenge becomes when the lust for money becomes unquenchable, and at the expense of others. They question we must ask ourselves is, do we care of others in society? Do we believe in a fair and balanced society? Are we truly open to the spectacle we created in our obsession for wealth and materialism? And after we obsess hours, days and years making money and we acquire mass amounts of wealth, what happens in the end? As we see our greed destroying our society, is it worth it?
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