Not My Bricks!

by Erin Eddins, Source Publications

The election is over; the economy is not magically fixed. What?! I thought it didn’t matter which candidate made it into office, both were promising to “bail us out.” Okay, so Obama is not yet in office and he may well correct some of our national economical problems. But is it really reasonable to expect him, or McCain had the numbers stacked differently on the 4^th, to ask national forgiveness for our own greed?

I understand the fundamental need our economy has at this moment in time. But it fills me with anger to hear all of these homeowners who are angry that they may not be bailed out of their foreclosure mess. Forgive me if there are extenuating circumstances in your household, but in my upbringing I was taught to take ownership to my decisions, good or bad. I live my life by a simple decree: The choices we make dictate the lives we lead. Therefore, if you choose to purchase a home you cannot afford you are choosing to risk a foreclosure.

I watched a couple being interviewed on TV a few months back that were facing certain foreclosure. Their household income was comparable to my household income but their home cost 700K. I had a brief moment of excitement thinking, “Wow, I didn’t realize we could afford such a home!” Then reality set in and I said to myself, “Silly, you cannot afford that any more than they could.” Yet, it is my job, and my government’s job to help this couple retain their indulgence.

What made them ever think that they could afford such an extravagant home? Doesn’t it seem ridiculous that they feel this is owed to them? Where is my ¾ million dollar home? Do I lose out simply because I was responsible and purchased a house that cost a ½ million less than theirs? Maybe I want that ½ million now. Where do I stand in line for that? What national talk show is going to host my sad story? This poor woman did not over extend herself, lived within her means and now has only the things she could truly afford to show for it….tear….sniffle. Oprah, here I come!

Back to the original question. What made them ever think that they could afford such an extravagant home? Well, the answer is two-fold:

First (and silliest), their neighbors seemed to be able to and therefore they felt obligated. Damn, those Jones’, they strike again! The he-did-it-first defense stopped working for me around the age of 6. The neighbors are living on borrowed money so it must be a sound idea. Their house cost X-dollars therefore ours must too. Kindergarten classes have a policy against this kind of behavior; we as adults should too. I am sorry that your neighbors tricked you into thinking that they could afford their borrowed lifestyle. And you should be sorry that it mattered that much to you.

The second part to answering the primary question: what made these people think this way? Oh, it was those predatory lenders. Sure sounds good to use a term that sounds so cynical and evil that you begin to envision the big bad wolf waiting in the dark and scary woods to attack an innocent child donning a red hood. But wait we teach our children not to trust strangers, especially evil ones that resemble any fairytale carnivore. Weird that yet again a lesson from grade school should have prevented this entire debacle. So a person, who makes a living selling mortgages, is expected to give you sound and unbiased advice on your financial security? That is to assume that a used car salesman would not offer you a car that is not ideal for you and would, in addition, be sure you were not purchasing beyond your means? You don’t trust that car salesman to do what’s best for you and not what’s best for him. Why is a mortgage salesman any different?

Let me dumb it down even more. In college the pot-pusher who lived one floor down in the dorms from me, was adamant that smoking pot was a good idea and that it wouldn’t have any negative effects on me. Perfect, now I have a fallback guy. I can smoke all the pot I want but if something bad does happen and I end up in over my head I can simply point the finger at the dealer and use the word predator. Doesn’t that justify my poor decision making? Someone in that “profession” told me to.

As a nation we should be ashamed of ourselves. Material items have become so damn important that not only did we give into our greed, we reveled in it. We now appear on news shows saying, “I got in so deep that despite the fact I was drowning in debt and unemployed, I did not look for a job or try to sell my home. Instead, I drove my BMW to Starbucks to ease my sorrows. Oh, please help me.” And people feel sorry for them. Cancel the lease on the car, skip the coffee and sell the mansion. Problem solved.

These people are not helpless, though they seem to be hopeless. I ask that they use the tools they have to begin to rebuild before I am expected to care about their financial woes. The economy is affecting us all. We all have choices in how we combat that. This line of thought brings to mind another famous big bad wolf. Each of the three pigs reacted differently to the threat that wolf imposed. They all faced the same risks in their environment. Only one made wise choices and still he was expected to accommodate the two who were not so careful.

I’m glad I built my house out of bricks. And I am not saying that I would not under any circumstances want to help those that used straw and sticks. But if they have a pile of bricks they are ignoring as they ask for a share of mine, I will be reluctant to hand them over.