When people start to blame the government for consumer debt, you know you're in trouble. What ever happened to personal responsibility in this country?
- This is political, not just financial. People are in debt because the laws allow companies to underpay their workers and keep their profits. Too much of this is based on blaming people on not saving and not exploring the way American companies do business and treat their workers. But Ramsey is right in the sense that we do not teach financial discipline. And the credit card companies rely on that.
Let me get this straight, people are in debt because the laws allow companies to underpay their workers and keep their profits? Ummm no they aren't. People are in debt because they choose to be in debt, for the most part. Let's not talk about emergency situations where God and all Creation decided he hated you and completely altered the financial course of your life. Let's talk about the typical case.
The typical case of a person is in debt is because they bought into the consumer myth that things make you happy. When someone does this, they rapidly go into debt. I know, I've been there. And it was completely my fault that I was there, not the fact that I made $8 an hour. Owning money is a part of life and so is not spending all of it so that I'm not living check to check.
Logic exercise: if it's the minimum wage that's causing people to go into debt, what happens when we make the minimum wage $50 an hour? People surely won't be in debt anymore will they? Actually they will because there will still be people who choose to live beyond their means. On top of that, the American economy will grind to a complete standstill as thousands of businesses go under. Raising the minimum wage is not the answer to crushing consumer debt. Advocating personal responsibility is. To think otherwise is to live in a rather strange alternate reality.