What is your problem with people in debt?

I was browsing the web recently and I came across an article about people in debt. The article outlined all the facts and figures about how we are all doomed. Then I got to the comments section and I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Almost every single comment was in a negative and derogatory tone against the people who were in debt. It was unbelievable. Some of the people’s comments were pure poison.

One such comment went something like this

“Don’t try to educate these fools. Having their homes taken away from them and their lives destroyed will teach them”

I mean come on what is that all about? I was a little shocked to say the least and this got me thinking. Why were these people so angry at people in debt? What motivated them to post such vitriolic comments? 

I think some of these people who posted the comments feel that they lost out during the boom times and for whatever reason feel angry about it now. They seem to want to blame the people who were trying to make a better life for themselves. I’m not denying that there were excesses during the good times - this is always the case. Some people went overboard with the easy credit. But in my opinion the vast majority of people who find themselves in trouble today do so because they were simply seeking a better life. What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with trying to make extra cash doing something like flipping properties – ok it is highly risky but you got to admire the people who were willing to take those risks. A lot of people got burned but they will be back again doing something different trying to better themselves and improve their lot.

I know people who simply wanted to improve their kid’s education. Give them the best start in life. How can you judge someone who goes into debt for that? How can you judge the college graduate who is up to their eyeball in debt as a result of tuition fees? Man some people can be cruel.

The Germans have a word called “Schadenfreude” which basically means “to take pleasure in someone else’s misfortune”. A sort of “serves them right” mentality. This kind of attitude is wrong and unhelpful. How are we supposed to solve our debt problems with people beating on us?

Amid the negative comments there was one comment that I agreed with. The comment went something like this.

“People need to live by the choices they make and accept responsibility for them”

Yes I couldn’t agree more but just because some makes some bad choices about their finances should they be labelled a fool? These people who have made bad decisions about their finances are paying the price whether they like it or not. Some may lose their homes or have their credit rating ruined – is that not penance enough? Why start the name calling as well?

In the end we are all responsible for our own financial wellbeing and it is only us that can put it right. So what if we make a few mistakes along the way. It’s how we learn. Mocking people who are in debt now is like laughing at someone who has a car crash and saying – you should have learnt how to drive properly. You just don’t do it or at least you shouldn’t because someday that person could be you.

To those people who are in debt and are struggling to get out of it I salute you. Pay no remarks to those little people who are trying to exercise some sort of moral superiority. Simply by trying to do this they show that they don’t have any moral superiority - no one does. Stick with the fight. No matter what happens simply by going through your debt situation you will come out the other side as a stronger person.

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