If you’re still with me, use my own sad story here as the perfect metaphor for our voluntary enslavement to creditors.

Once a client defaulted some $2,000 for work I providedover a 6 weeek time frame. It seems small, but affter 6 weeks, then 8, then 12 of no money…electricity was disconnected alogn with the phone, insurance lapsed, so the tag on the work vehicle had to be surrendered…thus I was in bankruptcty , and facing foreclosure. I went to my high school lawyer friend for help. He put me to work for him, in his factory…at $60 a week until the case was settled. Of course, my ‘friend’ was in no hurry, and had no incentive whatever to expedite the case, did he? It was to his advantage to work me for over 7 months at a below subsistence wage. Indeed, I discovered that he routinely practiced “indentured servitude” for many who made the mistake of coming to him for legal work in exhange for the skilled labor they had to offer.
Eventually, I just quit. Never mind collecting $2000. I had lost ten times that amoutnby then-not to mention suffering without electricity for 7 months in winter-goign to bed with sinter coat toboggan and gloves…reading by light of kerosene lantern, as my breath condense in the bitter cold air of my bedroom!

Point being,I volunteered for indentured servitude without realizing it, hadn’t I? By this time, I had lost my home, and was homeless. Did my lawyer friend ‘care’?. Are you kidding? When I told him what this had cost me..he just said “That’s not my problem”.

(Incidentally, I prayed to my Creator for help, and He provided $17K out of nowhere, and I recovered al lthat I had lost….this for anyone who doesn’t beleive God cares about individual people, or has the time…He does and He will. Ps 34 states it plainly. My credit score is over 700)

We are all in a similar circumstance with our creditors. We all volunteer for indentured servitude to them…who raise fees, or interest rates at will. If this causes hardship, and we inevitably default by late payemnts…we are burdened with even greater debt and fines and fees, until we are completely broken and our credit ruined for 7 years. OurCredit Card lender’s response? “Thats not our problem”

We will never escape from these vicious cycles of boom and bust, until we as a nation, as a large group of many millions of us, perhaps as many as 40 million…simply close our accounts, and never use their lending service ever again. What would happen to them?..Why they would go belly up, and default themselves, and lose their homes! That is exactly what would happen. it happend to ruthless GMAC who filled Auto Max and others with repossessed cars, ruining the credit of some 40 million people-while =raking in obscene profits .

How about it,friends? Let us compose a declaration of Independence” for everyone to agree to in principle, and pass it around the web.

We appreciate you sharing your “personal” battle. It used to seem like the stories in the news happened to someone else — we used to find ourselves saying things like “that will never happen to me,” or I’m grateful that didn’t happen to me.” However, these days, those news items are happening to us. And when it happens to you, the game changes. I can understand where you’re coming from.

Thanks for sharing, always a pleasure,
Tim

And I don’t usually take this strong a stand against anything, unless it’s personal, and in this case, it was.