Personal Responsibility

[missourimary]

Wouldn't it be interesting if American pastors stopped preaching tithes on income and started preaching tithes on increase...tithe on those loans you take out, the price of the new boat and so forth? If they could convince people to do that, they'd get a lot more money...

"Owe no man anything" is a piece of a verse that is taken out of context. The passage isn't talking about money. Debt is not generally a good thing to have, and a lot of Americans-and America as a whole-is hurting because they believed so strongly in borrowing. But there are times that debt can be considered, and must be. I took out loans on both of my houses. I may also take out a loan on my college expenses or next car. But I much prefer to be debt free.

What would happen if Americans couldn't take out loans for everything? Do you think the new home that sold for $12,000 in 1974 would now be worth $95,000 if people couldn't get loans for increasingly large sums? How much has personal and federal debt actually contributed to inflation? Do you think there would be so many $500,000 homes if people couldn't get loans? The median income in my area is $34,000/yr/family. The average home costs $150,000-$200,000. This would not be possible without debt. And it is totally unnecessary... families of 5-10 people survived for hundreds of years without three bathroom houses and four car garages. And it is utterly ridiculous for me, a single person, to be living in 1800 sq ft of floor space. (My goal is to super-downsize within two years-from 1800 sq ft to maybe 400-600.)

Sorry, that's way off topic.