My Time as a Human

In a recent speech Henry Paulson explained why the fed was going to inject another eight hundred billion dollars into the credit disaster. He said things like, “millions of Americans cannot find financing for their basic credit needs,” and, “credit card rates are climbing, making it more expensive for families to finance everyday purchases.” My astonishment at the continued, massive investment into this fiasco was quickly eclipsed by awe at the casual way that he invoked a new norm for modern Americans: that somehow Americans have basic credit needs and, in fact, require credit to make everyday purchases.

Now, I realize that he was likely just trying to make the further bailout of large corporations and high level CEOs more palatable to the common man by including them as victims in his speech. But I certainly haven’t noticed anyone else even so much as flinching at the underlying premise. Are Americans now so poor and underpaid that they require credit to buy food, thus building an ever growing debt load until their deaths when this burden can be passed to their children? Or has living above our income levels become the norm for most Americans eager to skip steps to the American dream and the corresponding appropriately large trucks and TVs?

Growing up with frugal parents I developed a terror of credit that has kept me, for the most part, safely out of it’s clutches for as much of life as I’ve lived so far. (Wendy and I were at one point in debt during the house construction.) I’ve certainly had moments when I wondered if that has been the best strategy. I’ve watched friends pick up loads of music or film gear on credit and run off to create great things I had to put off until I could raise the money. But I’ve also been free to follow my whims, untethered by the need for an income that would cover ever growing and accelerating (through interest) debt. Emotionally I also like that I’ve done little to feed the predatory monster that is the credit card industry. (Any questions about how far this has gone should send you to your favorite video source for a copy of Maxed Out.)

Certainly large items like houses and new businesses that may have an eventual return make some sense as credit based investments. If you have a business that can go bankrupt independent of your own finances, even better. I am truly amazed, though, that this whole thing has really reached the level where credit cards and credit card debt have become societal norms. A lot of money has been spent by lenders to convince Americans to make that happen. Maybe, in the new climate, that’s one of many things that’s about to change.

USA! USA! USA! USA!

I pedaled furiously across the city at midnight until I turned onto Guadalupe, the street that runs through campus. My body cold with sweat I pumped the air with my fist as I soared past groups of people making giant O shapes with their arms and chanting. My shouts and screams merged with their cheering and the honking cars that swarmed past.

It may only be the beginning, but it’s a incredible sunrise on a day that looks so full of promise– the promise that the day’s long hard work will lead us to an even more beautiful sunset and the satisfied grin that comes of a job well done when we sit together on the porch, sharing the moment.