Yesterday I was looking at washingtonpost.com and this article caught my eye, The Shadow of Debt. Becoming an observer of the exchange rate market is one the strange things that happens to an expat who lives in Europe and paid in US dollars. And because a couple of years back we got caught in a storm that was a combination of a falling dollar and high living expenses we found ourselves deeply in debt. So I followed the link...
Here's the first paragraph...
Let me tell you about a place called Slavic Village and the death of a
girl named Cookie Thomas. You've never heard this story before -- talk
of housing markets and hedge funds, interest rates and the Federal Reserve has drowned it out.
And with that the author takes you on a journey into what has happened across America. Loans offered to people who weren't qualified. Houses built then abandoned because of foreclosures. Neighborhoods becoming the playground of criminals because because people who need to hide look for empty houses.
And in all of this you see the ugly side of capitalism when it loses its moral bearings.
Because of what we lived through I understand the dynamics of falling into debt. I know what its like to grab at easy money and hope that somehow tomorrow will be better. I know what it feels like to look at loan payments and think there is no way I will ever be able to pay them. And in all of this I know that I'm responsible for my choices. But there is more to this than just making bad choices.
When I read through the article I saw once again how dishonest people take advantage of naive people. 20 years ago I would have observed that and credited it to man's sinful nature and a godless world that would be washed away when Jesus returns.
I can no longer think like that. It was wrong then and those who think like that now are wrong. Jesus came to bring good news to the poor. Yes, we are all poor spiritually but it is also for the poor materially.
Who will defend that cause of those in Slavic Village? The Church has something to say about systemic evil. Amoral capitalism is evil. Will we change everything? No. But we will not stand silent.
In my corner of the world I need to see the injustices and be willing to act out...
We too have crawled out of a mountain of debt. We had so little guidance on our journey and the lie of "establishing credit" caught us in over our heads so deeply. It was only through the deep ministry of others with financial management gifts that we were taught how to take one step after another to move slowly out of debt. It was a hard lessoned learned.
I have wondered how this low dollar was affecting you. Friends in Spain are hurting badly. I can only imagine how capricious it all feels to have something loose value just because someone said so.
We have been working more intimately with those on the margins since our move to New Brunswick and seeing those who prey on these who have no resources is one of the most ugly things indeed. I think there is one of Dante's levels of hell reserved for those who take advantage of the poor.
Posted by: Heidi Renee | October 02, 2007 at 02:16 PM