I told you all that I got basic cable a few months ago, an
upgrade from the zero channels I received for almost three
years.
Not having the 100 HD channels that everyone these days
seems to have means that once midnight rolls around, there is
pretty much nothing on to watch. This is when I saw the commercial.
This commercial was a cross between an infomercial and a
regular “hard sell” commercial, where testimonials of customers
who had to, for example, live with debilitating back
pain were at the end of their ropes until (cue mystical music)
PainBGon came and saved their lives!
You know the type. “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up,” or “Clap
on, clap off.”
The commercial I saw was for a company much like Rent-ACenter,
where a customer’s washer breaks and they need to
rent one until theirs is fixed or they want to have a party for the
big game, but they don’t own a big screen TV. Well, thanks to
this company, you can rent furniture, appliances and even electronics
without having to spend the big bucks to own. (Instead
you are running up a huge bill on interest. You don’t even want
to guess what happens if you miss a payment!)
And then I heard the testimonial of a man that made me stop
flicking the remote and literally say aloud to myself, “You
idiot.”
This guy starts talking into the camera about how he has
always been working class and he always will be working
class, so he was so happy when he found out about this rental
company because now “I can finally live above my means.”
Oh no you didn’t.
This is why I can’t watch “Nightline” or “20/20” anymore,
where they feature in-depth analysis of the financial crisis.
Because it seems pretty obvious what got everyone into this
mess to begin with, and that commercial I saw is an explanation
on a miniature scale.
You have the customer. They are average and not financially
bright. They see all these people on TV and in the media and
out in the world with their big flat-screen TVs and huge homes
and they want things too. And they can have it if they just borrow
the money for those things. It’s okay to be in debt because
they have a job and eventually they will have paid off their
new car debt and move toward paying off a new house debt. It
doesn’t matter to them if the financing is doubling the price of
their purchase, it matters that they have their stuff.
Listen to me: One man is as greedy as all the Wall Street men
and CEOs-he just doesn’t have as much pull.
You also have the seller, the CEO, the big-man-on-campus.
He’s your average college grad who worked their way up the
ladder and into a high-enough position that his actions on the
market have repercussions. He wants this guy in Minnesota to
purchase a new house even though he really can’t afford it
because he’s still going to make bank.
What’s he care about that guy? Mr. Wall Street worked his
way so high up the ladder that the distinction between people
and names on paper is nearly indefinable.
And after enough transactions occur between these very two
stupid stereotypes, the bottom fell out. Now, in between commercials
that tell you in this tough market you should be financially
savvy and buy this new car over that new car, you see the
news report on who’s to blame.
My answer is, everyone who let greed take over.
We live in a society that says you have to acquire things,
money to be successful. What society isn’t telling you is that it’s
not a good idea to let your life be controlled by greed, one of
the seven deadly sins.
The guy who wanted to live above their means and the guy
who wanted to rake in as much cash as possible, you’re the
guilty party.
My mother says to me not to worry about being in debt, that
I will be in debt for the rest of my life.
But, I refuse to fall into the comforts of credit cards. I don’t
get to have a really cool iphone like my brother because I can’t
afford it and although it would be awesome, I’d love to have
more than a handful of TV stations.
But I’m stopping myself from being one of the people to
blame. I am stopping myself from being greedy too.