Ethics in recession, license to steal in bankruptcy plans

 

[caption id="attachment_13349" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Empty Pockets by Daniel Moyle"][/caption]

Editor - He's the guy who complains about politicians, about people ripping him off, about the poor values in the community and why people don't go to church, and those shiftless people who won't work; but this everyman is every bit as much of a thief and liar as those he accuses these days.

This is the kind of man who lives in many communities across America.  He smiles and waves, picks up the mail and goes to work.  He complains about the President, the national debt, and talks about the high price of food, gas and everyday items.  All the while he piles up credit card debt, buys a fine house, gives his children the best, and spends beyond his means.

Finally he can't pay the bills anymore.  He has been laid off his job and had to look for another.  But unlike some people with a few cash reserves, he has none.  He has lived, not within his means for years; and now the bills are due.

For months he planned his bankruptcy. He had more than $160,000 worth of credit card debt, owned an expensive home, wasn't working at the time, nor was his wife. When he went bankrupt in some ways he stole from all of us.

Mr. Joe, whose name is changed because it is the incident more than the name that is important, was just the guy on a street in America.  His home had a pool and all of the comforts. The mortgage never got paid much because as the value increased, he borrowed on it to continue his lifestyle no matter what.

By opening up credit cards and loans at banks Mr. Joe was able to keep on spinning, in ways most people would not suspect.  He continued to shop as he always had done, until just before that six months wait, the time he needed to file bankruptcy without being accused of fraud..

He planned carefully, maintained just enough equity in his home, but not too much, so it wouldn't be taken away.  He took cash advances on those credit cards to help him get by those six months planned before leaping into bankruptcy court.

Bankruptcies have been increasing, and Joe is one in a line of them. The problem is that Joe is part of that hidden problem that rose to the top and created problems for everyone else. Some Joes shift money to children, some to offshore banks. The laws of the states make that possible. Some encourage it, for various reasons. In the meantime the regular bill-payer gets socked with the result. The Joes move money because they can and are protected in doing it, while others go down when the money is gone.

Several things happen when Joe does what he did. All those creditors end up losing money. They have to get it back somehow to stay in business, whether they are banks or department stores. They raise fees or simply shuffle money around to stay in business. Department stores do the same. Now these financial institutions are breaking, not just because of their greed but because people like Joe decided he could do what he did and did it and had a beer with us just like old times.

Joe didn't steal because he needed food.  He wanted to live well and he did.  He attends church, smiles and makes his hellos to friends and neighbors as he always has done.

Joe is one of those hidden thieves that likely helped bring down the United States financial sectors, and with it much of the world, while he smiles and goes about the business of the day all the while complaining about the mess we're in.

That's the villain economists say did us in, just as Wall Street tycoons and the rest of the crowd, one of our neighbors,  or maybe one of us.