Some people have no one to blame but themselves. http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/news/0803/gallery.real_stories/index.html
Fuck 'em all. No one made their asses go out and buy all that shit. They couldn't resist the temptation and now they're paying the piper. Maybe they can ditch the mortgage, charge-off the credit cards and pool resources to keep up payments on the big ass SUV they bought. Then the family can all pile in nice and cozy to sleep at night.
Some real class acts here on ET. Yep, some real winners on this thread. Compassion and Empathy. Get some!
Did you bother to read any of the profiles of the 16 families in that article? My guess is no. None of them show any evidence of living excessive lifestyles such as "big ass SUV" and oversized mansions. Most of them are going thru some real tough times having lost jobs on top of paying high prices for gas, food, utilities etc...
when you contrast inflation in the prices of basic necessities with a decade of complete wage stagnation... it's easy to see how insolvency could be on the rise
I don't give a fuck. Flip fucking burgers. I would if I had to. Do you want to bitch or do you want to make it through? How bad do they want it? You have that first woman getting divorced of all things right in the middle of this shit. Stop crying about your personal feelings and do what has to be done. Try reading these stories and take away the violin music and dramatic story-telling manner of it and really thinking about how this is all going down. The first couple already filed bankruptcy once, fucking losers, and she somehow had enough money to pay for college, but not pay her debts or her mortgage. Think about it in the context of real life and not the CNN bleeding heart tear-jerking story. And fuck you if you're that stupid as to not see what's going on here. I grew up poor as shit. My dad delivered pizzas and stocked groceries working three part time jobs to get enough hours between them when I was little to make ends meet. I don't want to hear about their problems. I don't want to hear about the labor pains, just show me the fuckin' baby.
*yawn* I am one of the most kind-hearted people out there. But I have NO sympathy for these people. At all. Okay I take that back, I feel sorry for them that they were born so fucking stupid, selfish, greedy, and short-sighted. Sorry they were not equipped with the proper survival skills to make it through. I donate time, merchandise and money to charities all the time. Just not ones that help people like this out. This shit just doesn't magically happen to people. Everyone is responsible for their own lives. If that shit happened to me, I'd be out mowing yards, dropping french fries, having yard sales, you name it- but I wouldn't be fucking crying on the news about it.
Bleeding Heart Instynct, You are operating under the assumption that you are getting the actual facts instead of the "I'm a victim - poor me" story that is the mantra of most people that can't make it. But the truth is, most of them are volunteers, not victims. They are not disclosing their excessive drinking, gambling, shopping or living beyond their means. Or putting everything on credit cards and not paying them off each month. Or the fact that they can't follow a budget that includes adequate savings. Or that they fritter money away. Or that they are crappy employees that don't get promoted and get fired. Etc. Etc. Etc. Most of those people ended up in trouble because they undersave and overspend for their means - mansions or Hummers have nothing to do with it. Then when life hits them with bumps, they can't survive it well. You can still go broke over Hyundai payments if it is too large a percentage of your family income and you have no cash reserves. But the truth is, most if not all of their problems can be traced back to combinations of decisions they made prior. Most financial train wrecks are not a one-time event but rather a result of poor choices over a considerable period of time. I learned this truth about myself. You see, I am a recovering financial wreck. I know from experience the only way to make sure it never happens again is to change your priorities. And rule #1 is, there are no entitlements. It is up to me to work it out and position myself better to avoid these kinds of problems. That is what big adult people are supposed to do. Not go crying to the news and government for more entitlements.
Global competition for jobs and resources. Increased taxes. Increased debt. Wages are being kept down by jobs going abroad or cheap labour coming in. While food and energy prices are going up due to global demand. At at the same time we are being taxed at record levels. Even if you want to be prudent and not take on debt, you find yourself paying higher prices because others take on debt and bid things up. Little wonder why the average family can barely make ends meet, let alone save for a rainy day. Just a few months out work is likely to send most into debt, if they arent heavily indebted already.