Lately web advertisements have been making floating web things.
Really impressive terminology, eh? (ooh, forgive the ‘eh’ I was in Canada for the holiday)
Basically, ads appear on a web page floating over the page. More often than naught with a little close button on them.
Today, I opened CNN.com and was met by a wallet that appeared in a cloud. The cloud billowed a little, the wallet vibrated and then opened to show me a credit card. The amusing thing was that this all manifested over the front article of CNN which is entitled, “It’s official. The economy is in a recession.”
Because, nothing spells, financial frugality better than a credit card ad forcing itself in front of you over news about a recession with no way of escaping.
Personally, I think that the first thing we need to do as a nation is escape consumer credit. By amassing large credit bills, the nation has shown it’s willing to pay for things that it can’t afford. The public does this by the traditional bad behaviour of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Granted this has come as a result of the behaviour of our government which has done the same thing. Billions into a war and security theatre and watch education, the arts, scientific research, and jobs all trickle away.
Credit should be based on what you can pay for over time, not what you’ve paid for in the past. There are an amazing number of people out there who are about to enter into unemployment with starling credit. And that will only make them plunge further, faster.
What’s in your wallet? Nearly 10% can now answer, “Nothing.” with more to follow suit.
we need a new gold standard.
I vote mustard seed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sneetchie/3074513803/
(taken at mustardmuseum.com)
While I agree that credit use needs to be more prudent, I think its naive to say that the credit problem is as a result of the behavior of the government. If you ask anybody who is either in or having survived a credit crisis, I would be very shocked to hear them say, “I did it because the government does it, so why can’t I?”
Credit problems arise from people that don’t understand what credit is. It results from the Verruca Salt syndrome. It results from poor habits built from either similar parental habits, or a lack of education about money management on the whole. And then there is just general impatience and laziness.
Credit SHOULD be based on what you can pay off immediately, or nearly so, with the idea that credit gives you the convenience of paying one bill at the end of the month, not 12 months later, same as cash. The exceptions being significantly larger purchases, and prudence should dictate common sense in terms of down payments, appropriate credit plans, and monthly overpayment (not paying just the minimum). Serious thought should go into how it gets paid off, what time frame, and what happens in the event of a financial emergency.
As long as credit continues to be easily available, unrestricted, and poorly managed, its going to get very messy for some.
I am often apalled at people who use credit cards for ‘daily’ uses- and then do not pay off the month’s uses… people who ‘live off credit’ and it just keeps growing and growing… I have a friend who was 17,000 in the hole, on a card she pretty much used for lunches out at work and little purchases like games… it was boggling.
That’s one thing I’m happy to say that Peace Corps did for me: it got me off my butt and I got my credit paid off. I am consumer debt free for the first time since I was 18. That said, I have a six digit student loan floating over my head, but WOOT! No consumer debt!
Probably the first thing that made me turn my back on the Republican party was it’s kowtowing to big credit with the bankruptcy changes a few years back. After the Consumer Bill of Rights from the Republican congress of 1996, we now had a situation where the exact opposite happens: for a tiny bit of -promised- improvements from creditors, they’re given every single thing they want in a rewrite of bankruptcy laws, ensuring more people lose everything to predatory credit companies. That’s not conservative, it’s just plain evil.
I couldn’t agree with you more, we need a serious overhaul of how personal credit works in this country. As a conservative, I’m generally dead set against government oversight and regulation, but I don’t see another option here. The credit industry is shameless, and is now almost entirely based on giving too much credit to people who cannot -ever- pay off the balance in the hopes of creating a slave caste who work to pay these banks interest alone.
– Credit cards should be limited to people 21-years and older
– Credit cards should require proof of employment
– Credit cards should adhere to a set bracket of pay grades with matching credit limits, with credit limits dropping accordingly if a pay cut occurs, or canceled completely with loss of employment that extends beyond a set period
– Medical bills should not be payable via credit cards (While this would mean more defaulted medical payments, it would also mean the medical billing industry would be forced to stop behaving like the predatory credit industry and encouraging people to go deep into debt to pay for needed medical care.)
– Bankruptcy caused primarily (simple 51% or more majority) by credit cards should default back to the old system…but should result in a 10 year ban on new credit card approval
Just a few ideas. The point would be to make it so the credit industry stops being the backbone of American spending and, more importantly, the bulk of American debt. Retail may suffer, but the big industries such as auto and housing would flourish if everyone had better credit, wasn’t thousands of dollars in debt with endless fees and interest, and generally lived within their means.
In April, I read a local news article about a man who had gotten beaten/stomped to death by a local gang.
There was a flash ad on that page for a nearby regional airport … that featured an inflatable weeble style clown that got punched by a boxing glove on the end of a spring loaded accordion arm — complete with sound effects.
Sometimes, advertising misses the mark. Other times, it rubs salt in the wound…