Debt slavery
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'''Debt slavery''' seems to be a popular term to banter around by [[cranks]] and conspiracy theorists, especially on personal finance websites, since the credit crunch of 2008. It comes from the peculiar idea that everyone is enslaved by evil debt holders (rich people, banks, corporations) and if people all stop paying their debts to financial institutions that were run up during the housing boom the economy will reset, everyone will have jobs again, and everyone will be absolved of their debts while keeping all the stuff they bought. | '''Debt slavery''' seems to be a popular term to banter around by [[cranks]] and conspiracy theorists, especially on personal finance websites, since the credit crunch of 2008. It comes from the peculiar idea that everyone is enslaved by evil debt holders (rich people, banks, corporations) and if people all stop paying their debts to financial institutions that were run up during the housing boom the economy will reset, everyone will have jobs again, and everyone will be absolved of their debts while keeping all the stuff they bought. | ||
Revision as of 08:40, 30 January 2011
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Debt slavery seems to be a popular term to banter around by cranks and conspiracy theorists, especially on personal finance websites, since the credit crunch of 2008. It comes from the peculiar idea that everyone is enslaved by evil debt holders (rich people, banks, corporations) and if people all stop paying their debts to financial institutions that were run up during the housing boom the economy will reset, everyone will have jobs again, and everyone will be absolved of their debts while keeping all the stuff they bought.
Most ardent cranks realize that it's better to pay off your debt and not get more (it's always good not to have excessive debt). It isn't just the rich who have money in the bank, as banks often pool many depositors funds to loan out to people who need it. It is part of the benefits of fractional reserve banking. Not paying that back would cause the bank to fail, wiping out everyones funds or making everyone pay more (via taxes) to bail everyone out.
Far gone nuts don't realize the bank[1] can seize the asset (and other assets for liquidation), or garnish wages, to recoup as near to 100% their loans as they can get...or they think that if too many people do it only good things can happen from bank failures, no money to cover deposits, and sudden staggering deflation.
This is often pushed by conspiracy theorists that seem to think that fractional reserve baking is a tool by the elite to enslave the poor[2]. Many seem to think that loans given out by the banks are just numbers on a spreadsheet and not real money[3]. Largely because these people don't understand the concepts well enough to pass a basic course involving these subjects at the local community college, and think the education to do so is also some sort of conspiratorial indoctrination[4]. So, the only way to take it back is to topple them from "power" and owning everything is to stop their cash flow[5]. This just happens to be the way they can keep their money, and the object they desired enough to take out the debt in the first place. Funny how it can work like that.
Coincidentally, debt slavery on a macro level has been a major government concern in many corrupt third world nations since WW2[6]. This is where the ruling dictatorship takes out massive loans from the World Bank, deposits them into their bank accounts, then pleads poverty and debt tyranny by the wealthy nations that provided funds expecting them to be paid back[7].
If anything has happened in the years from 2008 through 2010, it has shown if people stop paying their debts things get much worse. The market plummets (where all the 401(k)/403(b) accounts are), banking institutions would have lost everyones money if not guaranteed by the government, businesses fail as credit becomes more expensive hemorrhaging jobs, and more people lose their homes as rates adjust upwards.
Safe to say, time and time again as people tell their stories, the only people who seem to be really persistent on this are ones that owe incredible amounts of money and are incredulous that they would actually have to pay it back.
Footnotes
- ↑ Even a failed one bought out by another bank, in an effort to reduce losses
- ↑ The Economic Collapse Blog - Debt is The Number One Tool Of Financial Enslavement
- ↑ Money As Debt II – How Modern Banking Has Enslaved Us All – The Money Conspiracy Exposed - Warning, contains annoying video ads and long convoluted rambling
- ↑ Amazon - Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth
- ↑ The Economic Collapse Blog - Megabanks: The Banking Oligarchy That Controls Assets Equivalent To 60 Percent Of America’s GNP
- ↑ Google Books - Hoodwinked: An Economic Hit Man Reveals
- ↑ Yasser Arafat - The Thief of Palestine