Friday, June 8, 2007
Overcharged?
Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won’t pay for a roof, won’t pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far $5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore
Need a loan to tide you over 'till payday? Well, you no longer have to deal with the likes of Tony Soprano, just hop on down to your Wells Fargo bank. The vig is competitive with Tony's -- 120% APR -- with less potential wear on your kneecaps.
We used to call it loansharking and it was illegal. Now, it's called "sub-prime lending" and its legal. And, it's an increasingly sophisticated big business according to a Business Week special report.
Outfits named in the report that are on the frontlines of the "alternative financial services" sector include J.Y Byrider, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, Baltimore-based Bluehippo Funding and Compucredit. If you've never heard of these guys, then how about Bank of America, U.S. Bancorp, Merill Lynch, GMAC Financial, Sallie Mae, or HSBC Finance? These are some of the mainstream financial institutions playing an increasing role in this arena. For example, the report notes that Merrill Lynch works with CompuCredit to "package credit-card receivables as securities which are bought by hedge funds and other big investors."
Kevin Phillips does an excellent job in American Theocracy explaining the cultural big picture on the "financialization" of the U.S. economy which Phillips views as a sign of "late-stage debilitation, marked by excessive debt, great disparity between rich and poor, and unfolding economic decline" (p.268). He also notes that ordinary citizens "suffer most, but they usually lack the expertise to fully comprehend the changes under way." The Business Week report stories the lives of such ordinary citizens caught in the debt trap set by the "alternative financial services" providers.
For those of us calling ourselves Christians, these stories should inspire not only heartbreak but moral outrage that we've allowed this to happen -- "this" being the abandonment of Biblical principle in the pursuit of financial gain.
One question the report doesn't address is whether or not those who belong to a church community are less susceptible to financial predation. Surely, even a passing familiarity with the Great Commandment makes us less likely to exploit our brothers or sisters? I grew up "working poor". My parents were forced to buy on installment back when such an act was a sure sign of moral desuetude to many. Our church, however, was a leveler -- a place where every Sunday we sat next to S.T Kelly, the town banker who owned the mortgage on our house. We knew his character was subject to no judgement other than his Maker's. S.T. knew the same about ours.
Granted, this memory is nothing more than a pleasant vignette from my increasingly distant childhood -- I doubt there are any "town bankers" left whose hands aren't tied by forces larger than the local economy. Still, I am pretty sure Jesus' teachings have not changed -- at least not in my lifetime. I am also fairly certain that good church people might still be able to help each other find the larger truths about life. The ones that don't require a plasma screen television to discover.
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won’t pay for a roof, won’t pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far $5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore
-We Can't Make It Here, James McMurtry,
The righteous know the rights of the poor; the wicked have no such understanding.
- Proverbs 29:7-7
Need a loan to tide you over 'till payday? Well, you no longer have to deal with the likes of Tony Soprano, just hop on down to your Wells Fargo bank. The vig is competitive with Tony's -- 120% APR -- with less potential wear on your kneecaps.We used to call it loansharking and it was illegal. Now, it's called "sub-prime lending" and its legal. And, it's an increasingly sophisticated big business according to a Business Week special report.
Outfits named in the report that are on the frontlines of the "alternative financial services" sector include J.Y Byrider, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, Baltimore-based Bluehippo Funding and Compucredit. If you've never heard of these guys, then how about Bank of America, U.S. Bancorp, Merill Lynch, GMAC Financial, Sallie Mae, or HSBC Finance? These are some of the mainstream financial institutions playing an increasing role in this arena. For example, the report notes that Merrill Lynch works with CompuCredit to "package credit-card receivables as securities which are bought by hedge funds and other big investors."
Kevin Phillips does an excellent job in American Theocracy explaining the cultural big picture on the "financialization" of the U.S. economy which Phillips views as a sign of "late-stage debilitation, marked by excessive debt, great disparity between rich and poor, and unfolding economic decline" (p.268). He also notes that ordinary citizens "suffer most, but they usually lack the expertise to fully comprehend the changes under way." The Business Week report stories the lives of such ordinary citizens caught in the debt trap set by the "alternative financial services" providers.
For those of us calling ourselves Christians, these stories should inspire not only heartbreak but moral outrage that we've allowed this to happen -- "this" being the abandonment of Biblical principle in the pursuit of financial gain.
One question the report doesn't address is whether or not those who belong to a church community are less susceptible to financial predation. Surely, even a passing familiarity with the Great Commandment makes us less likely to exploit our brothers or sisters? I grew up "working poor". My parents were forced to buy on installment back when such an act was a sure sign of moral desuetude to many. Our church, however, was a leveler -- a place where every Sunday we sat next to S.T Kelly, the town banker who owned the mortgage on our house. We knew his character was subject to no judgement other than his Maker's. S.T. knew the same about ours.
Granted, this memory is nothing more than a pleasant vignette from my increasingly distant childhood -- I doubt there are any "town bankers" left whose hands aren't tied by forces larger than the local economy. Still, I am pretty sure Jesus' teachings have not changed -- at least not in my lifetime. I am also fairly certain that good church people might still be able to help each other find the larger truths about life. The ones that don't require a plasma screen television to discover.
Labels: alternative financial services, Christians, working poort
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]