The Rolling Jubilee

[Hitchens]

Also Alternet is a terrible site to go to for information. It's a moonbat version of Free Republic.

Ragedoublepost.

[Hasbinlulz]

link is one random link of many, this shit is plastered all over my timeline..

this one just had a current figure, so i figured i'd share on that note.

i do not have an opinion about the source, only the subject that it reports on.

[Ephirith]

Originally Posted by Hitchens [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Some lost their homes due to no fault of their own through predatory lending and a tanking economy.

If you lost your home, in what universe is it not your fault? Why do they get to blame external circumstances for a decision which, ultimately, was made by them? When you buy a home on borrowed money, you are assuming risk, nobody is responsible for helping you out if the decision blows up in your face.

Some people managed that risk better than others by exercising fiscal responsibility-- saving their money and investing. Overwhelmingly, these were the people who made it through the crash with their homes.

Predatory lending? Nobody showed up at their door and forced them at gunpoint to take a low money down, high interest rate loan. By that logic Coca-Cola is engaging in predatory vending because their machines sell sugary drinks that damage your health and people buy them anyway.

This isn't lovely stuff to hear, but it's one of the fundamental principles of capitalism-- personal responsibility.

[Hitchens]

I can't really argue with someone who saw pure capitalism in the housing crisis because you are so completely wrong I don't even know where to begin.

[Hasbinlulz]

Originally Posted by Ephirith [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

By that logic Coca-Cola is engaging in predatory vending because their machines sell sugary drinks that damage your health and people buy them anyway.

Do you know what the terms "content" and "fill" mean in the advertising world?

[Ephirith]

Originally Posted by Hitchens [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I can't really argue with someone who saw pure capitalism in the housing crisis because you are so completely wrong I don't even know where to begin.

I never said anything about pure capitalism or even implied I thought that was what was at play in the crisis, but you're free to assume all sorts of things about what I think because I used 'capitalism' in the same post as housing crisis.

[Hitchens]

I didn't know you were the only one allowed to respond to tiny fragments of someone's post. My apologies.

[Ephirith]

Originally Posted by Ephirith [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

but all the people who went bankrupt...

...They made poor financial decisions,

If this is what you're taking issue with than you're right to do so. I didn't mean to be so sloppy applying the "all the people" to the rest of the post. Not everybody who lost their homes grossly mismanaged their money.

My point was, everybody who lost their home did assume risk when they entered into the mortgage. Financial irresponsibility is so prevalent in the US that I think it played into the majority of situations, but not all.

How do you think it makes somebody feel who, after years of working hard, saving money, making smart investments, and forgoing luxury, puts a massive sum of money down on a house or, speak of the devil, actually buys the house-- only to watch hordes of people scream and cry because they were "swindled by those bankers".

When somebody hands you $150,000, or $150,00 in property, and expects you to pay it back plus interest......... you have to pay it back plus interest. I don't see how we systematically, as a society, ignored the fact that this stuff is HUGELY FUCKING RISKY.

[Barkingturtle]

Originally Posted by Ephirith [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This isn't lovely stuff to hear, but it's one of the fundamental principles of capitalism-- personal responsibility.

I think you meant to say "profit is king" where you said "personal responsibility".

Seriously though, you can't expect a guy like Dredge--who's so mentally deficient he can barely manage to remove his penis from his trousers before he pisses--to do anything other than capitulate when a credentialed mortgage professional advises him in a predatory manner. And sadly, Dredge is representative of most Americans.

[Kassel]

accepting responsibility for your actions is the best way to prevent repeating them.

If you got suckered, the problem is you are a sucker. Try and fix that with education. Library cards are free.