Ever wonder why things are the way things are? I mean really wonder… Why do millions of people in our country and millions more worldwide get up and go off to work day after day to jobs they hate working with people they don’t like much if at all, for money that is already spent and owed to the lenders before it is ever earned? The reason is because that is what they want you to do. You are being manipulated and controled – whether you realize it or not. The message has been broadcast loud and clear continuously from the day you were born until this very day, though it has gotten louder and more insistent.

That message is buy, buy, buy and buy some more!  Be normal – just like everyone else. Don’t think about it – never mind whether you need it or not and certainly don’t be concerned about whether you can actually afford it or not – its OK. Easy financing will take care of it all, just swipe the plastic, or sign your name and its yours right now! Its normal. You do want to be NORMAL don’t you? So go ahead and buy it now.

Look at your neighbors, they are good people and they are doing their part to help the economy. See all the stuff they have and all the stuff they are still buying? That’s the way to do it! Your family and friends too. Take a look and you will see they are all doing the same things. Nice big homes – compliments of those wonderful low rate mortgages. Beautiful new cars and trucks in their driveways – aren’t they nice? Don’t you want  one too? How about that new boat your buddy just bought? Impressive isn’t it? You make about the same thing he does – so if he can afford the payments then so can you!

It is what you are supposed to believe and it is the relentless message being pounded into the masses non stop through all manner of societal conditioning. Advertising bombards the senses all day and night. Billboard ads, signs on trucks and buses, TV commercials, radio commercials, online ads of every kind. Email, telemarketing, snail mail all bring shiny new temptations all promising some great things at deep discounts  and fantastic bargains.

Conversations and interactions with friends, family members and coworkers all confirm they are all doing the same thing and the message is so should you. Mortgages, car loans, student loans, boat loans, RV loans etc. etc are all just completely accepted as being not only normal but desirable. They want you to also believe that your credit score is not just important – it is essential to your life. Even beyond that they want you to believe its a reflection of who you are and without a good score you will be lucky to even be able to continue living at all! You certainly wont be NORMAL and you wont fit in anymore if you don’t play along and be a good little boy or girl consumer like you are told to be. You certainly don’t want that now do you?

Why do you think credit cards are highly marketed to people already deeply in debt and behind on their payments? They know that payments will be late – and they count on it. Then they can jack in usury level interest rates and charge all kinds of predatory fees which result in billions of dollars of profit for these dirt bags that are aggressively preying on the working masses.

Then they take some of the millions they extract from working people and use it to pay lobbyist and make contributions and gain more influence with as many politicians as they can that make and or influence the making of rules, laws and regulations that benefit the dirt bag lenders and their allies and further ease their ability to prey upon the people.

The system perpetrated through societal conditioning has many different tools and weapons at its disposal – and it uses every single one of them effectively. First is influence, both subtle and not so subtle. Next is peer pressure, and after that comes shaming and guilt. Finally comes threats, and manipulation of the legal system to benefit the lenders over the people. When the lenders  get in trouble they go to the federal government for help and they get it in multiple forms. Then when the people cant pay because the greedy manipulative predatory lenders have extracted so many fees and penalties and crazy interest from them, damaged and manipulated the economy to the extent that their rampant greed destroyed the truly viable and honest businesses resulting in job cuts, layoffs, down sizing and outright job losses – they don’t want to hear that. They want THEIR money and they want it immediately penalties and interest and fees all included.

After all they are too big to fail – so they get the government bailouts and assistance while manipulating the system further in their favor. They get everything they need. You on the other hand will not get that help.

You are going to have to help yourself or continue suffering the consequences of credit and debt induced servitude. In other words – you have a choice to make – quit working for the lenders and start working for yourself, or just keep going along with the program as dictated by others while they continue to erode your freedom and independence.

There are many problems with this system and this mindset of rampant consumerism fueled by consumer credit perpetrated by lenders – many of whom are predatory – and it all results in in massive consumer debt that continues to increase. The biggest problem with consumer debt of all kinds is that it indentures the borrower to the lender and traps the borrower in a cycle of servitude that many will never break free from. Those few who do break free will only do so with extraordinary effort.

So who is to blame? The lenders? The government? Society itself? You? Me? Marketing and advertising companies?  We all bear responsibility for our own actions, each according to his or her own. I like to use the analogy of the drug dealer offering a person cocaine. If the person eventually gives in and accepts it and takes the drug – who is responsible? Both are.

It’s really a variety of factors and circumstances that lead us all down this path. In the end it doesn’t really matter so much how  we got here so long as you and I understand this – the responsibility stops with each individual person. No one is coming to save you. If you don’t like the situation you yourself will have to save your own self and change your own life.

In the end the responsibility for you belongs to you.

If it sounds like I have a special hatred for credit card companies in general and predatory lenders of all types specifically its because I do. I absolutely hate every single one of them and all that aid and abed them in their exploitation of the people. As to the rest involved in offering consumer finances to help sell their own products or others products, it gets much more complicated. Some of them are good people and good businesses just trying to survive and make a living themselves and they are certainly not going to discourage any buyer from buying their products or services and they are going to take any means of payment offered including credit cards. Some lenders are not in and of themselves bad – especially local lenders and credit unions and local mortgage companies.

Big mega corporations who specifically target people to exploit and manipulate people are another class of vermin entirely as are those who assist them. The truth is that they can all be avoided entirely, the good, the bad and the ugly included – you can avoid them all completely if you choose to.

So what can you do if you don’t want to play in the rat race forever? The answer is simple but not easy. You can take away all their power. You do so by refusing to play their game at all anymore and by systematically pulling out all their hooks from you and your life. Use extreme measures and tactics to eliminate all your debt and stop incurring any and all new debts right now.

Now – this moment in time, this millisecond you can decide to change your life if you want to.

Or you can keep on keeping on and playing the lifelong game of consumer debt. Your choice. Some people work hard to try and make you believe you don’t have that choice. But you do. They want you to believe it is just the way it is and there is no viable alternative except credit and debt to live a decent life. That is a lie, and those who perpetrate it know its not the truth – but the way such people see it the truth should never be allowed to get in the way of what they want. To them you and I and all the working people of the world are little more than cattle or sheep to be used and manipulated and above all else controlled as much as possible.

The way I see it is simple – ALL debt is BAD DEBT and should be eliminated. Debt is a disease that should be eradicated. It is possible to not only live debt free but to thrive debt free and to enjoy a peace of mind and freedom that is hard to imagine unless you have it.

So what about you? Will you keep on doing what you have been doing and going along with the program – or are you ready to change your life now and forever?