A Life and Debt Situation
by
Wayne L. Parker
Some people get ahead in this world, others don’t. At the same time, some of those who “get ahead” don’t stay there.
We can always wonder why some folks “get ahead” and some don’t, but a more important thought is what it MEANS to “get ahead.”
For too many Americans, getting ahead means having a steady job; preferably a high-paying one. It means being able to accumulate possessions. The more “things” you have, the farther “ahead” you are.
This presumes, of course, that “getting ahead” means the same thing to everyone. It also brings up the question, “Ahead of what or whom?”
Observing the behavior of some of our nation’s newcomers may provide a glimpse at a “typical” American’s priorities, by providing a contrast between the “American dream” and the American immigrant’s dreams.
Living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, I’ve had the opportunity to observe some of our Vietnamese citizens who came here some time ago, after their native country was destroyed by war. While living in California, I had the opportunity to observe many Mexican as well as Vietnamese immigrants.
Such families usually had a lot in common with each other.
I’ve noticed that immigrants from poor countries, and Mexico and Vietnam certainly qualify as that, often have three generations of one family living in a house. Frequently they have three generations of MORE than one family living in a single dwelling.
My unique American perspective on these people was “look at those poor, struggling people. Too bad they’re not able to enjoy the American dream, as I do.”
Well, let’s look a little more closely at these “poor” people.
They have a bunch of people crammed into a single house. Every member of these households contributes not only to the SURVIVAL of the family, but to its advancement as well. Children are expected to get an education as well as do chores around the home. Parents go to work in various industries; and they are known to work very hard. The elders do most of the domestic work, as well as supervise the children during their parents’ absence.
To a spoiled American like me, these people are making huge sacrifices in their lives. After all, being American means having your own home for your own family! We “individualists” don’t need, nor do we WANT to share our homes with our parents, grandparents, or, Heaven forbid, another family!
These “poor immigrants” may even be considered as doing things the “hard way.”
But most such families have a goal. A goal that I think many American families would do well to set for themselves.
ALL of the members of all the immigrant families living in the same house are working together to establish a prosperous and safe future for themselves.
They all contribute to paying the mortgage on the home, as well as the car payments, boat payments (if their business is fishing), and utility bills.
How long do you suppose it takes 6 or 7 adults and adolescents working full-time to pay off a mortgage? Not long, to be sure.
Oh! Those poor, poor immigrants!
And what do you suppose these immigrants do once the mortgage is paid off?
Usually they go into debt to establish a business. Then the same process is followed; everyone contributing to the effort until THAT loan is paid off. Then, perhaps, ANOTHER business is begun.
Let’s jump a couple decades ahead and see how these poor immigrants will come out in life, here in America. Perhaps with all their sacrifice and hard work they’ll finally be able to enjoy the American dream.
Twenty years hence, the house (at least one, maybe more) will be paid for. The business(s) will be paid for, and guess where all their incomes will go? Into savings or some other wealth-producing endeavor.
As they continue to work and save they’ll be able to accumulate more wealth. Over the years, as their finances have allowed, they’ve sent for relatives still living in their native country, and enabled those relatives to join them in their prosperity and opportunities here.
After all their hard work and sacrifice, what do these people end up with? A close family, with many relatives living nearby. They have as much financial security as anyone could hope for in that they are debt free and own numerous income-generating properties.
Hmmmm…..Close families, and economic security. Don’t we ALL wish we had those things?
No, we don’t. Americans seem to worship upon the alter of “things.” To achieve the goal of having “things” many of us work at accumulating, not wealth, but DEBT! Sure, Americans go into debt to buy important things like houses and cars, but instead of working feverishly to pay off our debts, we seek to extend our credit for as long as possible, in order to lower our monthly notes.
Why do we do this? So we can borrow MORE money elsewhere, to buy more “things.”
American culture seems to be one of debt. The average credit card balance is something like $8000. Many young college students are running into trouble with credit card balances in the 10’s of thousands!
People from Vietnam, Mexico, or anywhere else, for that matter, would recoil in horror at such an attitude toward debt!
The difference, I think, lies not only in the immigrants’ previous impoverished condition, but in their culture as well.
From what I could see during my limited time there, the Asian cultures place “family” at the top of their list of priorities, whereas in America, young people are urged to get out of the house as soon as possible and become “independent.”
American culture seems to direct our young to get married and “settle down” shortly after graduating high school.
Young couples get married, move out of their homes, usually into a rental, have kids, go in debt for a car, then, perhaps, a house. As the husband and, increasingly, the wife, move up in their careers they put the kids in day care (or use the public school system for that purpose) and, with their increased incomes take on MORE debt for a boat, bigger house, fancier car, or whatever.
When I worked in the nuclear industry I was surrounded by people who were making over $100,000 a year, plus full benefits. These people would go out and buy $300,000 houses, $70,000 cars, expensive boats; and all on CREDIT!
These people were making $100,000 or more a year, and STILL living from paycheck to paycheck! If any one of them had lost their job due to an economic downturn, in just a few months they would, quite literally, have been on the street! With all their “wealth” they would have found themselves in abject poverty!
Even if these people keep their high paying jobs, what does the future hold for them? They will spend the most productive years of their lives working full-time, often at the expense of everything else, including their families, in order pay off their debts.
In the end, if they’re lucky, they’ll have a 30 year-old house that’s paid for, an old, expensive car that’s paid for (unless they bought a new car every few years, as many “rich” Americans are wont to do), and not much else. Their kids will perhaps have been sent off to college, further draining their financial resources.
Thus, in the golden years of their lives, many Americans will find themselves still needing to work, in order to put food on the table, and frequently with very loose ties with their children and extended family.
I say “loose” family ties, meaning in relation to the family ties enjoyed by our immigrant families. I’m sure many Americans have happy, close families, but I suspect they’re not as close as they could be. And can a family ever be “close enough”?
The nursing home industry is thriving in this nation. Granted, many people place their parents into such homes because the medical care they need cannot be provided in the home. Many others, however, don’t have that concern; but since they must work full-time to pay their debts, they don’t have the time to devote to an aging parent.
It’s a fact that many people PLAN on placing their elderly parents in a home when they reach a certain point of helplessness, it hardly ever occurs to them to include their aging parents in their plans for their future.
And don’t forget, nursing homes cost money, resulting in a further drain on one’s finances.
Let’s consider how Americans might do things differently.
What if, instead of leaving home immediately after graduating from high school young people stayed at home with their parents and went to work in the same jobs they would have taken if they’d left home.
These young people could assist their parents in paying off their mortgage, and at the same time establish a financial claim on that resource.
Even young people who choose to get married might live with one spouse’s parents and still contribute to one or both sets of parents’ mortgages. (Remember the family arrangement in the sixties show “My Three Sons”?
As these young people, in cooperation with their parents, pay off the home mortgage, the parents would now be free to pursue other endeavors. They may also continue to work, only now their money can go toward saving for retirement. The house, which is now paid for, would serve as a sizable nest egg for the family. The kids might borrow against it, in order to purchase their own house, in which case the parents might now be able to help them pay off THEIR mortgage.
Imagine this process being repeated by every American family over several generations. What would be the result? Practically every American family would own property outright, freeing up resources for investment, education, or any other productive pursuit.
Such an approach to money would create a very prosperous nation indeed.
What we have today, instead, is a large population which lives strictly for the moment. A majority of the baby boom generation has NOTHING saved for retirement. Where are these people going to be found when they reach an age and condition where they can no longer work?
Somewhere along the way, the American people took a wrong turn.
Maybe our relatively high living standard has made people forget what created our wealth in the first place. Perhaps we take it as granted that things will always be provided for us, as they’ve been all our lives.
Obviously, many people are no longer teaching their children the importance of a financial plan and avoiding debt. Perhaps, in the back of their minds, Americans assume “the government” will come to their aid in their old age. What that REALLY means, of course, is that the government will force those of us who HAVE handled our money wisely to provide for those who did not.
In any case, in this land of opportunity wealth can still be accumulated by just about anyone who can work a job.
Whether or not this once again becomes the rule rather than the exception depends on what priorities parents set for their children at an early age.
Are children going to be handed everything, or will their parents, like mine, require them to work for every penny they get? Will they pursue a course of wealth-accumulation, or debt-accumulation?
Many young people today are learning, through bankruptcy and the destruction of their credit ratings, that debt is a double-edged sword.
When used as a tool to accumulate wealth, it can be a very good thing. When used to simply buy “things,” it will usually destroy you or, at least, force you to spend the best years of your life laboring to pay off your obligations.
Doing things sensibly, we can all have a modest amount of wealth that will enable us to live our lives as we please, free of long-term financial obligations.
The way we’re doing things now is creating, quite literally, a nation of indentured servants.