Credit is Today’s Indentured Servitude
I came up with the idea that credit is the modern equivalent of indentured servitude a couple months ago, and as US history shows, the indentured servitude system could lead to outright slavery. It would seem I am not the only one who has had this thought, as I just came across an article called “Debt-The New American Slavery.” I don’t know much about the author Michael Mihalik but it sounds to me like he is barking up the right tree.
Debt, especially unsecured debt like credit cards, is stealing America’s freedom one interest charge, one late fee, one over-the-limit fee, and one annual fee at a time. In the old Financial Peace videos and also in the Live Events, Dave Ramsey pulls out a thick heavy chain to symbolize debt that he got himself into when he was younger. I wonder how many hot buttons he would push if he brought out actual shackles as his visual aid. I think it would be a much more accurate visual aid with the appropriate visceral reaction from most people!
Yes, actual shackles like the kind that were used before 1863 here in the U.S. in the slave trade and after the Civil War for prisoners. The credit card industry is trying to sneak a leg cuff around the ankle of every college student: I see them on campus a few times each semester. If they can slap two leg cuffs on you, then they can hobble you by shortening the chain between them.
A mortgage is the wrist cuff on your non-dominant hand…you can still function but it will get in your way if you really want to do something big, and tethers you to a fixed point (payment). A car or truck payment is the wrist cuff on your dominant hand, however! It hinders even the simplest of tasks, and if you have both your hands are literally tied financially. A student loan is that fat thick leather waistband that they run both wrist chains through to tie your arms close to your body.
By the time you get into a HELOC or debt consolidation loans, the debt/credit industry has now put an iron collar around your neck, complete with a big ring to clip their leash chain to. The final indignity is the “services” that supposedly exist to “help” the poor and are only found in the lower-income areas: payday loan, check advance, and rent-to-own companies. These are the noserings in 00 gague!
Michael Mihalik says: “I realized that I was unsuccessful at controlling my finances because before I could change the way I handled money, I had to change the way I thought about money.” He says his first lesson was “Debt is slavery.” He is absolutely right! Dave Ramsey loves to quote the book of Proverbs in the Bible: “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” Considering I still have a mortgage (left wrist cuff) and a truck note (right wrist cuff) I can FEEL the truth in this…as our hands are still tied until hubby and I get that truck paid off once and for all…sometime in the spring with April 2008 as our goal.
Is this post anywhere near politically correct? Probably not. But trust me…without those credit card shackles on our feet we have the ability to move around now with our budget. Budgeting is the key that will help you unlock those shackles…but you need to pick that key up, put it in the lock, turn it, and join us in the revolution against debt slavery that is alive and growing today in America!