creation of a society indebted to creditors. By design?

Stoller: A Debtcropper Society



By Matt Stoller, a blogger-turned Congressional staffer. He was a policy advisor to Rep. Alan Grayson on financial policy issues. Cross posted from New Deal 2.0.


From the Article published at Naked Capitalism  "A lot of people forget that having debt you can’t pay back really sucks. Debt is not just a credit instrument, it is an instrument of political and economic control."


"Today, we are in the midst of creating a second sharecropper society. I first heard the term “slaves to the bank” from a constituent fighting a fraudulent foreclosure.......... we should recognize that what the creditor class wants is what they’ve always wanted: total dominance of our culture." Find the complete Article Here



Stoler makes some very interesting points.  It is very true that creditors have always wanted to your personal finances at stake any time you take a loan.  We are seeing the perfect example now as we go through the foreclosure crisis.  People have always been forced take out loans in there name rather than in a business name or LLC.  This has been the banks way of locking borrowers in for life, regardless of changes in the economy or employment. 

Today we have millions of Americans underwater with there mortgages with little hope of ever having the home regain its original value.  The large too big to fail banks and insurers have already been bailed out and were given opportunities to "write down" their debt.  The home owner, however, has not only lost their nest egg for retirement, possibly their home, and credit score because the banks are looking to cash in again on this mortgages.  They seem to feel entitled to treat borrows with contempt because they have punitive powers that will take away the rights of citizens. 

What would a creditor do if they had take a major loss because of an economic downturn?  Consider something other than the usual response of milking tax payers to pay their debt.  They would file bankruptcy and restructure, hold their head high, be treated as responsible business people who just hit a rough patch.  The would not be shamed or berated by the media, politicians or the public.  They would likely survive the downturn with out losing any of their personal assets.  Donald Trump has filed bankruptcy for his businesses on more than one occasion but we never hear any say he is "deadbeat" or that he brought it on himself by "buying what he couldn't afford". 

Read more on  how lenders manipulated social views so much that people have been brainwashed into thinking it is much more shameful to default on your home loan than it is to default on a loan or your business.

the factor predictions

O'Reilly mad a few more predictions the other day about who could and could not be elected president. I thought he would learn after he pronounced about a year or so ago that Barack Obama could not be elected president. I recall something about "the folks aren't going to elect". I haven't seen it ever referenced again but I am sure he wouldn't mind. He is a bright man and would have no problem owning up to his mistaken predictions. Right? I don't know about that but he has taken plenty of time to publish his "right" predictions. I am specifically referring to the demise of GE and O'Reilly's beat down of CEO Immelt. ( you could almost say it was a short sale pounding by O'Reilly) I am not on the side of crooked CEO's but to be fair GE is not the only stock taking a beating during this down turn. I would guess that the beat down of Immelt is more a because they parent NBC , MsNBC. As long as The Factor has the ratings lead NBC and Immelt will be hit hard by O'Reilly.