It is easy to control people when they owe money

[bleedingheart]

With today's news that the personal savings rate in this country is in the toilet, I am reminded of the old "company store"...men like my grandfather toiled in the mines every damn day and when payday came, they would find that the accounts showed that they owed more than they had made....and so they just went back into the mines....

People who are worried about paying for essentials, or all the doo dahs they buy are typically so focused on paying at least the bare minimum that they don't want to "mess with the hand that feeds them"...so they take it and they take it...

BUT...the key thing today's corporate masters have not figured out is that eventually people figure out that they owe so much that they will either take risks or buck the system...and then beware the poor for they outnumber the rich.

You see men like my grandfather eventually said..."f*ck it..." and they started unions, started striking and they started to work together...

I think that the tide will turn, sadly it normally takes personal loss and the harsh reality of the world to make people realize what they lost but then it will more than likely be the catalyst that will start the next revolution.

Healthcare cost are quickly outpacing pay raises people receive...the middle class is hurting and many will have to choose between mortgage payments and healthcare costs....and they will roll the dice. The bankruptcy rates will continue to rise as people find they risked way too much....many will be one serious hospitalization away from losing everything....

The rising interest rates are going to pound those individuals who took risky mortgages...

Mass layoffs will leave many towns wastelands....

The neocons may find themselves hanging upside down in a town square next to their mistresses....

[lostnfound]

1. Now, though, bankruptcy => indentured servitude & default => crime

Isn't the result of the bankruptcy bill such that a person generally has no choice but to submit to involuntary financial counseling, repayment schemes etc.? The net effect will be the criminalization of those who refuse to yield.

[bleedingheart]

2. to some degree I think you are correct...

it will be a crime to not submit and play the game...but I am not entirely sure of the technical aspects of the new law.

[Mend]

3. the reason the 60's worked was that none of us had any credit card

debt. We could drop in, drop out, hang out, go back to the land because we didn't owe anybody anything. The people held in the highest esteem back then were the ones who didn't need big daddy government for shit-all anything and could make their way in the world day by day.

[H2O Man]

4. Many, many years ago

I worked in a large defense industry factory. I watched people get promoted to "foreman." They would go out, buy a new car or two, new furnature, or even a new house. They were "moving up" in life. But once they went in debt, they had mortgaged their lives. When they were told to jump, they jumped; when they were told to bark, they barked; when they were told to bite, they'd bite.

[bleedingheart]

5. and that is how they are setting up the debter class ....

those in debt will have to march to the tune they play...