"People had houses, kids and emergencies long before they had credit cards."
Not that it will ever happen without total economic collapse and chaos, but I've been thinking lately about what the world would look like if we somehow managed to slay the dragon called debt. Debt is so entrenched in our culture now, just like cell phones and Internet radio, it would be a very traumatic process to get it out.
And there are situations that need exactly what debt provides, which is a way to have an outcome now and make the investment that generates that outcome later.
For example, without debt (uh-um, financing) instruments, how would anyone be able to buy a car or a house? How would someone receive urgent and expensive medical treatment? What about the couple that finds out a child is coming, with all of the joy, healthcare expense and living adjustments that come with it? How about a college student whose parents are too well off to qualify for financial aid but too poor to foot the college bills?
It seems like there are times when debt is not only necessary, but absolutely advantageous. Thank God we can drive a new car and pay for it monthly. Isn't this a good thing?
Like any drug or substance to which human beings become addicted, debt has certain undeniable advantages. The same could be said of anything to which people are addicted. The addict can always justify his actions, and assign value to whatever self destructive behavior he chooses to engage in. Debt is no different.
So, over the next few days and subject to issues that I find more interesting, more exciting or more plausible, I want to address the standard reasons why debt is important. These are Buying a House, Pregnancy, Medical Emergencies/Illness, Transportation and Education. If I can maintain my interest in it long enough to get through those, there are also business issues like the electric company building new power plants, or investment in new telecommunication infrastructures, etc.
I think there are ways of accomplishing all of these without debt. I want to see if I can outline reasonable plans for doing so that make sense. But whether I can or not, debt needs to be destroyed in our culture just like prejudice, intolerance, child abuse and political corruption. Who knows, this might even be fun.