The debt conundrum

The car is starting to squeak a lot more than it used to, the suspension may be shot soon, and it’s overdue for a transmission flush — but I have to make the monthly payments first. I should be saving up to buy the car that will replace this one — and the computer that will replace this one — and the lawn tractor that will replace the one I bought five years ago — but instead I am spending hundreds of dollars a month to pay the balances on the car loan and the credit cards that I haven’t used in more than a year.

And that’s the problem with debt. A debt is a trade — you exchange your future income for the money to buy what you want NOW.

The cost of having it now is a little thing called interest. So the $10,000 used car costs you $12,500. Is it worth it to have it NOW? That depends on whether you could have used the other $2,500.

Essentially you are gambling that nothing goes wrong for the life of the obligation.

Actually, for it to work perfectly, you are gambling that your income will increase and you will get $12,500 worth of value from the vehicle, so that you don’t miss the extra $2,500.

It all works more or less acceptably until something goes wrong with your income. Suddenly you lose your job and you can’t make good on the exchange — you don’t have money coming in, so it can’t go out. They take the car and alert other businesses that you’re a bad credit risk. Now you have no car and no ability to buy another one — at least if you want to buy on credit.

People are starting to see through the scam. That’s one reason why home sales are down and the economic recovery is anemic — people are starting to save for what they need instead of going further into debt than is wise. They’re also tired of paying hundreds of dollars a month to pay credit cards that they haven’t been able to use for years because they’re maxed out, and the monthly payment is only slightly more than the obscene interest charge.

As they pay off these loans and save enough money, they’ll start to spend again, with bigger down payments or buying with cash — but in the meantime sellers of goods, especially big-ticket items, are hurting.

About half of the country seems to understand this when it comes to spending by government. A national debt of $14,500 billion is not seen as wise. But the other half seems to believe that constant borrowing combined with steady or increased government spending is sustainable.

Paying off the national debt will hurt, but it won’t hurt as much as carrying ongoing obligation to the owners of the government’s debt.

You can balance the budget and cause a lot of temporary hurt, or you can maintain the status quo until it all collapses — in which case the hurt will be deeper and, if not permanent, at least lengthy. Either choice hurts. No wonder so many politicians are paralyzed.

Originally posted July 19, 2011. The national debt is now nearly $29,000 billion. At least my credit cards are now paid off, although it took four or five more years.

Freedom is not for the faint of heart

You are free to shout “fire” in a crowded theater. All you have to do is be prepared to accept the consequences — for example, time in jail or prison, and/or civil suits by people injured in the ensuing panic, or their survivors.

You are free to blame a madman’s actions on your political adversaries. All you have to do is be prepared to accept the consequences — for example, looking like a damn fool when the madman’s friends confirm he was apolitical and paid no attention to your adversaries.

Freedom comes with responsibility, accountability for your words and actions. It’s not always easy to speak your mind publicly, because just as you have every right to express your views, those who hear have every right to offer their opinions in response. Sometimes other people’s opinions of yours won’t be pleasant.

Never mind what Big Brother said, freedom is the opposite of slavery. The solution to foolish or angry words is a reasoned response. The solution is not silencing the foolish or angry speaker by the force of new law – and the solution is certainly not violence. Not ever.

Freedom is not for the faint of heart. Freedom of speech means sometimes we will hear things we’d rather not hear. Stupid and/or evil folks will abuse freedom, and you can count on that. But the actions of a few do not justify stealing freedom from the many.

Freedom is not a gift of government. You were born with certain, inherent rights. Governments are formed to secure these rights, not create them. The most tyrannical government cannot remove these rights, although (as governments are designed to do) it may impede the exercise of freedom, and often does.

Freedom is the default mode of a human being. We relinquish our freedoms at our own peril. Think hard before you advocate for restricting any of them.

Originally posted Jan. 13, 2011

Take up the tools of creation

© Luis Francisco Cordero | Dreamstime.com

He sat in his chair, trying to be creative, but the duties of his day job kept pressing against his consciousness. A memo left unfinished – a report left unread – It was difficult to concentrate on creating new worlds when the real world kept calling.

The doubt birds kept calling: “You can’t – you shouldn’t – no time for that – no talent – no discipline – you can’t – you can’t you can’t you can’t.”

“No,” he said, not sure he believed himself. “I can.”

“You can’t,” chattered the doubt birds.

“I’m going to,” he insisted.

“You’ll regret it,” said the doubt birds.

“Try and stop me,” said he.

They swarmed. He screamed. All was quiet.

And the words appeared, one by one, slowly at first and then all in a rush, over the blank pages.

“It’s crap,” said the doubt birds.

“Of course it is,” he said, “but it will get better – and I invented the doubt birds this morning, didn’t I?”

– – –

Sit down to create. Put the tools of creation in your hands. Move your hands. Something will be created. If you’re just starting, it may not be much.

But it will be something, and something is better than nothing. A feeble effort is better than no effort.

Do it again tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and the many days after that. With practice the creations will be better, and at some point, as you keep it up, they will become so good you can say, “This is the creation I imagined – this is what I dreamed of.”

“It’s crap,” the doubt birds will surely say. But it’s not wasting away inside you anymore.

Sit down to create. Take up the tools of creation. Move your hands. See what happens? It’s a creation.

“I made this!” you cry in astonishment. Yes, you did. Yes, you can.

Is it good enough? Well, Theodore Sturgeon famously once said 90 percent of everything is crap (well, he said “crud,” but he meant something more colorful than “crap”) – but the corollary of that is that 10 percent is pretty good. You can’t create that 10 percent by worrying about the 90 percent.

And maybe you can fix some of that 90 percent through repair and revision – at least 10 percent of it …

Originally posted July 8, 2015