One man's opinion on Life and Debt

The concept of debt is older than the written word.  I am reading an interesting book called

“Debt the first 5000 years” and on the first page I had a few revelations: (These are not something new yet we need to take cognizance of it)    Here they are in no particular order   ”If you owe someone money he owns you “    “You have enslaved yourself”    “You are going to regret this”    “You will be treated as secondary to the lender”  “There is no such thing as an ethical lender”

The reason for these posts are to enlighten debtors (that is you if you owe someone money) on some of the revelations I am on about and the first of those is this one “There is no such thing as an ethical lender”

Never ever think any of the slogans of any of the banks have your best interest at heart.  It does not.

If you ever feel abandoned the only thing you have to do is to miss a payment on a loan and see how many people will actually WANT to talk to you. 

Banks are Businesses. Businesses are in business to make money.  Everything else is secondary. They will do anything (UN) ethical in the process.   The African Bank debacle in South Africa is a classic example.

They enslaved hundreds of thousands of the poorest of the poor by LENDING THEM MONEY at the most ridiculous interest rates and then utilize a system called Salary emolument orders which is a (i)legal  and a most (un) ethical  system enforced through   (un) ethical bank staff, lawyers and courts in South Africa.

I read an article this morning by a lady by the name of Theda Muller called “When in debt, giving up is not an option”

She had the best of intentions  writing this.  I agree with around 90% of what she says. But and as far as I am concerned a “But” supersedes everything said before.   She is a bit out of feeling with reality.

The  MAIN problem I am having is this :   She wants you to trust your creditors and that is like standing in front of the bull and saying:   You are not going to charge me and then bend down and look him straight in the eyes.

Accept that they do not have your best interest at heart. They will stoop down to the lowest of low to get their money back.

I do not profess you should not talk to the bank when you are in trouble.  But be wary – You are looking into the eyes of the bull.

“ Dear Joe, we (do not) understand what you  are going through. Please fill this document out and we will present it to credit management and get back to you soon” The document has to be signed and contain clauses like “if I default again I consent to judgment”  “We do not have to give you any further notice”  “ I consent to you taking my vehicle back without further documentation”  There are a few 100 more of these legalspeak and (UN) ethical bankspeak clauses around. 

Life happens and so does challenges. Whoever said challenges comes in ones. It comes in pairs, in tens or even worse.   You lose your job, You get sick and use up your sick leave. And all your annual leave. All that is left is unpaid leave.  You get a new job at much less salary as before. You are the victim of BEE.  Etc. etc. 

The bank (might) believe you once. And offer you some relieve (on their terms of course) They might even believe you twice – if you bend down low enough and take a while to get up from your knees .

But life happens. 

I am not purporting to have the solutions -  I am stating the challenges that we need to find solutions to.