The Resident: Are You in Debt?

This is an important social issue, especially in these tough economic times. We are a culture of debtors. I mean financially. Economically. Are you in debt? I am! And it’s not because I’m some loser liberal who dedicates all her time to some social cause. It ain’t a liberal versus conservative kind of thing. I started my adult life in debt, having to pay for my own schooling. Thank god I got a full tuition scholarship, but room, board, books, eating, and…um…extracurricular activities put me a good $40K under when I got out. Forty thousand dollars I owed at 21 years old, and then I had to get myself an apartment right out of school. So I’ve been in debt my whole adult life. It sucks! I hate it! This is another reason why education should be free in our society: having an entire generation come out of school already in debt is very bad for our economy. Because kids who start out in debt feel like, well, what’s another 100 beans if I want these shoes, I’m already so far in debt! Our whole country is in debt, let alone us as individuals. What does it say about our culture, then? I’ll tell you what I think it means. It means none of us in this society have learned to wait until we have earned the money to get what we want, and now it’s become a major social issue. We want it all now, please, and we’ll pay for it later. Or not. It doesn’t matter because it’s not all real anyway, right? Just give me the Ski-Doo now and I’ll think about the consequences later. It all goes back to the same moral of the story, that we should place more emphasis on earning what we get in this country, the United States, instead of everyone taking all the excess for granted. Am I right or what on this one?