24-02-2010, 05:08 AM
I want to throw some small coinage into this argument. I respect all of you here, so I''m not picking a fight or standing up for anyone (DPF member, the 'Austin Red Baron', or "the state").
A fast scan of the thread shows that I agree with the idea that it is virtually impossible to escape the banks and the predatory lenders; they throw the cards at your feet with attractive offers, then change the rules once you are in to the game.
Example #1: When at a time when I was virtually living off my credit card and doing my utmost to keep purchases to a minimum ( I was out of work and in the middle of relocation), the lender suddenly jacked my APR to 24.6% (virtual usury). I secured work, called the company, immediately made major direct transfers of $300 payments for two weeks with others to follow, and then suffered a medical event that caused me to be hospitalized without access to records or files (quite literally I was unconscious for two weeks, after which I was in a state of bed-ridden immobilization for a longer period) and, when discharged, discovered that the balance had grown egregiously, the card suspended, the credit bureaus notified, and efforts put underway to sue and seize. Despite calls and verification of my situation, I was met with little compromise, understanding or planning. Though it was paid off fast enough to avoid a legal case, it caused radical escalation in APR on other cards, and downward availability of credit. But it turns out this is also fueled by other things.
Example #2: My elderly mother-in-law, living on Social Security alone with significant health issues and bills, including pharmaceutical bills that would choke a horse, has a credit card she had run up to $5K on which they are charging 29.9% APR. That's literal usury. It's the money Chase. The one that has you going in circles trying to keep up.
![[Image: chase.gif]](http://www.gdusa.com/issue_2001/04_apr/feature/pics/chase.gif)
Secondly, although on a relatively minor level, I have had the pleasure of an IRS audit; I would not wish it on anyone. It is prior training for Abu Ghraib wardens.
Third, tax resistance is a significant issue/threat/reality in the States; there is the case (among others) of Ed Brown, upon whom was visited "diesel therapy". The whole issue of whether U.S. income is valid is hotly debated on some circles and there are enough holes in the argument that it is valid that are big enough to drive a wedge through, if not a bus.
Fourth, Magda is right about the culture selling the situation of home ownership and "keeping up with the Joneses". It is so thick, particularly on TV, as to choke someone who is alert. One need look no further for proof than to watch HGTV which has multiple shows on real estate.
Fifth, it is one thing for those of us out here in the cheap seats to visit opinion and judgment upon this poor fellow. Is what he did wrong? Yes, of course it was. But first we must walk in his shoes. Who here has been under the same degree of stress? Who here, from this distance, can really be absolutely clear on all of the factors involved in this act?
Sixth, the real issue is perhaps not what this fellow did, but how the media has treated it. More people likely died that day on the freeways in the Texan metropolitan centers that did in this event.
On that note, has anyone seen Ed Encho? He had an interesting POV on the matter.
A fast scan of the thread shows that I agree with the idea that it is virtually impossible to escape the banks and the predatory lenders; they throw the cards at your feet with attractive offers, then change the rules once you are in to the game.
Example #1: When at a time when I was virtually living off my credit card and doing my utmost to keep purchases to a minimum ( I was out of work and in the middle of relocation), the lender suddenly jacked my APR to 24.6% (virtual usury). I secured work, called the company, immediately made major direct transfers of $300 payments for two weeks with others to follow, and then suffered a medical event that caused me to be hospitalized without access to records or files (quite literally I was unconscious for two weeks, after which I was in a state of bed-ridden immobilization for a longer period) and, when discharged, discovered that the balance had grown egregiously, the card suspended, the credit bureaus notified, and efforts put underway to sue and seize. Despite calls and verification of my situation, I was met with little compromise, understanding or planning. Though it was paid off fast enough to avoid a legal case, it caused radical escalation in APR on other cards, and downward availability of credit. But it turns out this is also fueled by other things.
Example #2: My elderly mother-in-law, living on Social Security alone with significant health issues and bills, including pharmaceutical bills that would choke a horse, has a credit card she had run up to $5K on which they are charging 29.9% APR. That's literal usury. It's the money Chase. The one that has you going in circles trying to keep up.
Secondly, although on a relatively minor level, I have had the pleasure of an IRS audit; I would not wish it on anyone. It is prior training for Abu Ghraib wardens.
Third, tax resistance is a significant issue/threat/reality in the States; there is the case (among others) of Ed Brown, upon whom was visited "diesel therapy". The whole issue of whether U.S. income is valid is hotly debated on some circles and there are enough holes in the argument that it is valid that are big enough to drive a wedge through, if not a bus.
Fourth, Magda is right about the culture selling the situation of home ownership and "keeping up with the Joneses". It is so thick, particularly on TV, as to choke someone who is alert. One need look no further for proof than to watch HGTV which has multiple shows on real estate.
Fifth, it is one thing for those of us out here in the cheap seats to visit opinion and judgment upon this poor fellow. Is what he did wrong? Yes, of course it was. But first we must walk in his shoes. Who here has been under the same degree of stress? Who here, from this distance, can really be absolutely clear on all of the factors involved in this act?
Sixth, the real issue is perhaps not what this fellow did, but how the media has treated it. More people likely died that day on the freeways in the Texan metropolitan centers that did in this event.
On that note, has anyone seen Ed Encho? He had an interesting POV on the matter.
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"