Friday, September 19, 2008

Economic Woes

Ok... Seriously. I'm about sick of hearing the blame game toward politicians on the crumbling market issue. I don't care if you're anit-Bush or for Obama or McCain. This whole financial crisis is due to our own stupidity and the predatory lending practices that many companies were involved in (and probably still are). The housing market boom, then bust, then failure is why Wall Street is in so much turmoil. Emotions are riding high, low, and everywhere in between because none of us know where the market is actually headed, and most of us don't have a clue what it means when the market fluctuates. Here's the thing that ticks me off more than anything else: Too many people out there are so ready to blame congress, the president, the big companies, and pretty much ANY other entity than themselves/ourselves. Yes...these predatory lending type companies should be allowed to fail; I think that's a fair statement. They wrote loans that should never have been written in the first place, and that's their fault. That being said, however, they were under pressure to write the loans because the government, during the Clinton administration, declared that people had to have equal rights to home loans. It's a little more involved than that, but that's what happened in a nutshell. The fact still remains, though, that these companies, though under pressure, still made these bad debt loans when they didn't have to. Another fair statement is that the credit turds who signed on the dotted line without reading their paperwork should be foreclosed on too! They took loans out because somebody told them they could get money! Whoohoo! Now look where we are!!

I mean really, do you think John McCain or Barak Obama really had something to do with people taking out stupid loans? Probably not. Do you think Obama or McCain will be able to fix stupidity? Probably not. Do you really think it's Bush's fault that people don't pay attention to what they're signing even if it's a loan for a house...their livelihood? Probably not that either. Listen, the only thing that's going to turn this country around is if we, as individual American citizens, become responsible for ourselves and quit blaming everyone/anyone else for our financial woes.

Maybe it's not you that did it; maybe you're not the fool who signed on the dotted line of a bad loan. Maybe you are. But that's not the issue. The issue is that it's time for change, and I'm not talking about the Obama campaign.

It's time to:
1. Change the way we think
2. Stop buying stuff with money we don't have
3. Stop buying stuff we don't need
4. Stop buying everything in sight that tickles our fancy at that moment
5. Pay attention to what you're buying, how you're buying it, and what the implications of that are
6. If you have to take out a loan, look at and read what you're signing
7. Take responsibility for your own actions; own up to your mistakes
8. Spread the word about being financially responsible, and just being responsible all-around!

If we ALL watched what we did our country would be a lot better off. The good news is this: It's not too late!! We still live in the greatest country in the world, no matter who's president, and as American citizens we would all benefit by becoming less selfish and start figuring out how we can help others in need so our government doesn't have to. If we were able to do this and help each other out, we might be able to do away with welfare programs all together! Oh no! I said get rid of welfare! Well yeah...I did! Because if we really helped others in need, then welfare wouldn't need to exist! Then there's less money taken by the government in taxes from your check, and you're able to help others, or yourself at that point, out even more! This is just one example of how we can help each other out, our country out, and ultimately ourselves!
Really it's not that hard to figure out. It takes changing our selfishness and the way we think, which will take time, but it's doable! It's so simple! Let's keep this country great before it goes down the tube with our own stupidity and selfishness at the helm. C'mon America...WAKE UP!!!