Personal Responsibility
The Freep is trying to financial crisis hitting the middle class as being caused by “simple misfortunes.” Right. The crisis on Wall Street was caused by greed but the crisis on Main Street was caused by bad luck. One guy had an adjustable-rate mortgage that ended up at 13.35%. Ouch. Why did he think he could afford such a high rate?
“I’m a mechanic by trade,” he says. “I was a contract worker, worked in a couple different dealerships. It seems like I’d just get caught up, got all kinds of overtime, and then — boom! — we got laid off,” he says.
Emphasis mine. I’ve seen this kind of thing in the tool and die shops. Guys working 60-80 hours a week pulling down fat paychecks, which is great. But instead of saving any money, they spend it on “toys” – motorcycles, jet skis, boats, four-wheelers, etc. Then when work dries up, they’re left with tons of bills and not enough income to cover their debts. Down times can be rough, but people should know that the good times aren’t going to last forever.
It comes down to being responsible and preparing for the future, something lacking on Wall Street and Main Street.
