"He looks the whole world in the face for he owes not any man." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I used to want a house like this
I wouldn't have been satisfied for long.. I would have had to upgrade to a house like this
Eventually longing for a house like this
That last house may be a bit of an exaggeration, but there was a point. I used to have the mentality that alot of Black people have, where the flesh is never satisfied. We always want more, no matter how much we have, leading alot of us to be in unmanageable debt. Looking at it from a sociological aspect, I'm sure you can understand why. Being the most oppressed people in the country,
"We ain't used to having shit!"
So we try to acquire material goods by any means necessary. We don't care if we are borrowing at a 25% interest rate, those rims can't wait, and that big assed Plasma TV is a necessity. There is nothing wrong with wanting nice things, but if you have to buy them on credit, you can't afford them! Period, point blank. We are so enslaved of the mind that we honestly believe that the appearance of wealth equals actual wealth.
How many times have you seen this quote on my blog?
"There is a WAR going on for the Territory of the mind" -Lauryn Hill
90% of Black adults being in debt is NOT ACCIDENTAL (Oh lawd, here she go again). Wait, allow me explain...
There are predatory business that heavily market to the black consumer, cleverly disguised as entertaining commercials. Ya'll KNOW how I feel about commercials (if not, see Fat Propaganda). So anyway, over the Thanksgiving holiday, I watched three commercials that highly offended me. The companies were Money Mutual, Rent A Center & The RushCard. Magic Johnson, Russell Simmons & Montel Williams were featured. They put Black men of position in these commercials so you will have someone to identify with. Fuck you Viacomm.
Money Mutual (featuring Montell Williams) has a slogan, "Designed with you in mind" Yep.. YOU. This is how Money Mutual, and similar companies, work: they are not a lending place but a broker to all other lenders. They "match" you with the "best" which could be very open ended. They charge a 'nominal fee' for doing some shit you could have easily done yourself.
Rent-A-Center (featuring Magic Johnson) one of the market's leaders in this industry, takes advantage of those in with less than perfect credit. They generally operate in the poorest areas of the United States. In poor economy Rent A Center type businesses would be less affected by the down turn since consumers would rather rent then buy. For a sofa and loveseat with a retail price of $1,048, a renter would pay $26.99 per week for 104 weeks, adding up to $2,806.96!! In this case, it works out to be a 122% APR. Although this is renting-to-own, it is still an extension of credit, similar to a contract for deed in the real estate world. In either case, you get something you haven't paid for and, more importantly, do not have an ownership interest in. If you stop paying, Rent-A-Center gets your money paid so far as well as the furniture. Right.
The RushCard (featuring Russell Simmons). A RushCard is extremely expensive to maintain. If we compare the fees affiliated with the Rushcard compared to the typical bank offered debit card, we can clearly see the advantage of the cards offered by the banking institutions.
Rushcard vs. Typical Bank Card
Activation Fee: Rushcard = $19.95 Typical Bank Card = Free
Convenience Fee: Rushcard = $1.00 Typical Bank Card = Free
ATM Cash Withdrawal: Rushcard = $1.95 Typical Bank Card = Free (At Branch)
ATM Balance Inquiry: Rushcard = $.50 Typical Bank Card = Free
Bill Payment: Rushcard = $1.00 Typical Bank Card = Free
Inactivity: Rushcard = $2.95 Typical Bank Card = Free
Refund of Rushcard/Bank Card via Check: Rushcard = $5.00 Typical Bank Card = Free
These companies are just an example, and are only targeted towards the black populous. The powers that be WANT you in debt, they want your credit to be impaired. Not only that, we are doing it to ourselves.
Credit is the new racism. Your credit is your reputation and its easy to lose points and hard to gain. By streaming your sub-conscious with poisonous commercials, images of opulence in rap videos (where rappers are driving Rolls Royces through impoverished black neighborhoods, etc.), and offering a check cashing store on every Urban corner, we are being fed the wrong messages from the very beginning. We are not exposed to knowledge of IRA's, MMA's, savings bonds, or stock portfolio's. The key to success was never about how much money you make, there are millionaires (meaning they salary at least a million a year) with ZERO net worth (meaning they exist on extended credit). The key to generational wealth is about what you DO with the money you make. I don't care if you make minimum wage, an hour's pay out of every 8 hours you work can be in an interest-baring account. Try it and see if you aren't worth a million in 13 years.
Bad Credit can prevent you from getting some jobs. Did you know that? Well it's true and here's where racism comes into play: Studies indicate that minorities are more likely to have bad credit, but credit problems have not been shown to negatively affect job performance. So why do they check it? Because they don't want your black ass to have a job. This is something you can't change, but you CAN remedy the situation by keeping YOUR credit in check.
Student loans: These student loans are KILLING ya'll. Students are borrowing the maximum amount allowable and going on shopping sprees! The average college student graduates with about $20,000 worth of debt.
Mentality of a black college student: Who cares if I rack up an obscene amount of student loan debt, I have a DEGREE which guarantees me financial security.
If only you knew how wrong wrong WRONG you were! There is a Sociological study that I never understood, but I'm starting to.. a high school graduate makes more money than a high school dropout, a college graduate makes more money than a high school graduate, a person with a Masters makes more money than a person with a Bachelors, Ph.D more than a Masters, so forth and so on. This is true for EVERY demographic except ONE.. EVERY DEMOGRAPHIC MAKES MORE MONEY COMMENSURATE WITH THEIR EDUCATION EXCEPT ONE...
Wait..
For..
It..
Black people! ding ding ding! Black people with Ph.D's, black doctors, black attorneys have a harder time even FINDING employment than their less educated counterparts. Black professionals are either getting fired in droves, or they can't find work. There is a mass exodus of educated Black people that are unemployed.
Understand this my kings, my queens, you can do everything you're 'supposed' to do but this system is designed for you to fail. You can go to Ivy League schools, you can obtain every degree there is available to obtain but you need NOT rely on your formal education for stability! Build your OWN business, manage YOURSELF. You don't need an education for that. Get an understanding of how debt works and stop living off all these student loans. Everyone knows I hate a 'professional student', go get a job. Even if you feel school is necessary, work through school and pay for it yourself. Trust me, it's easy. Sure it's not as easy as living off your student loan refund check every semester but once you graduate, you will see what I mean. Save money, build a financial portfolio NOW while you're young.
Listen, I DO NOT get paid for this. Not one bit of it, I write these posts because I care. I care what happens to me, to you. I care about the state of distress our community is in. I have no ulterior motive other than to help you understand what is going on around you. Honestly, it hurts my feelings to see such DISREGARD when it comes to money matters and personal affairs. Black people simply don't care or don't know. If the case is the latter, YOU KNOW NOW.
