Capitalism : A love story
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| Thu, 10-15-2009 - 11:22am |
So I saw the movie and enjoyed it. His stories this time around are good, very good. They made me laugh and cry and think and get upset in all the ways I’m sure he intended. Moore is a great storyteller if nothing else.
One particular story was quite poignant and moving. Woven throughout the movie is the story of a family that is being forced out of their home of many years. It seems that the bank has significantly increased their mortgage payments and they can no longer make payments. Adding insult to injury, the foreclosure company has offered to pay them $1000 to dispose of their own belongings, mostly by bonfire. The image of sheriffs officers literally forcing their way into one familys home to foreclose on it is difficult to watch. Isn’t the use of violence and force against unarmed, helpless people wrong under any circumstance?
Anyway, I left the movie and wondered how much further the gap between the rich and the poor would widen. As someone who has one foot firmly entrenched in financial ruin (and the other foot feeling around for a solid bedrock of financial security), I can’t help but worry.
Is prosperity really attainable?
Kate

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Jumping in out of lurk-dom...
I used to agree that we all make our own luck. However, my DH and I were recently put in a position where I could see us declaring bankruptcy, despite making 6 figure incomes out of college, having fully funded retirement accounts, having one year of living expenses in cash savings, no debt except for a mortgage we will have paid off in 10 years instead of 30, never having paid credit card interest or a car loan (everything cash except mortgage). We did everything right, always, until...
My husband's company went out of business when I was 5 months pregnant. No indication that would happen. But it wasn't really a problem because we have savings, etc., EXCEPT (we learned) that when a company goes out of business, the group health plan goes away and there is no COBRA available. And in Colorado, you can't get private insurance if you are pregnant because it is an existing condition. So we are pregnant and uninsured and uninsurable.
We could pay cash for a perfect delivery of a healthy baby. EXCEPT we know that sometimes things go wrong, and a premature baby staying in the NICU can run $300,000+. We don't have that kind of cash - maybe those of you who make your own luck do, but we don't. So we start a frantic job search, including out of state. Competition is fierce in this economy and going through 5 rounds of interviews over the course of 6 weeks is the new norm. Selling our house in this market is a challenge, but we would consider a short sale. Also, benefits at these new jobs don't kick in for 60 days or so, so I am still not covered if a premature birth happens. We don't qualify for state coverage because we make too much trying to mitigate the damage of job loss.
Fortunately, our story has a happy ending because his defunct company was bought out, and our benefits only lapsed for a month. However, I could see a scenario where we did everything right and suddenly our financial world came apart. If it could happen to us, it can happen to anyone.
Hard work had nothing to do with the fact that the company was bought out in the nick of time. We did have more options than most people would have in this situation, but none of that really mattered in the end when every alternative we could think of came to a dead end.
We got lucky. I have never felt so close to losing everything as I did a month ago. It just makes me more sympathetic to those who, despite working hard and playing by the rules, end up losing everything or struggle to get ahead. That doesn't mean I think people who don't work, are lazy, live off the system, and generally make really poor spending decisions don't deserve the poor quality of life they create. But not *everyone* living that lifestyle is necessarily doing so because of poor decisions.
The thing is, hard work does not guarantee financial security.
Wow, very interesting replies!
Yes, having children is a financial decision that impacts your finances for the rest of your life!
Kate
I keep comming back to this thread. This is my second attempt at posting a message to it. I am surprised by those of you that seem to be saying "Prosperity IS attainable if you work hard enough and plan well enough" I believe that "Prosperity MAY BE attainable if you work hard enough and plan well enough and IF disaster doesn't strike you"
fcbecks18 posted the experience of how one event, a company closing its' doors, almost took away all the prosperity they had attained through hard work and planning. I am glad for fcbecks18 that things turned out ok in the end.
There are many people in this country today that have not been so lucky. And yes I do believe in luck good and bad. Why does one company get bought out at the last minute and the one just down the street doesn't? Were the people who worked for the company that didn't get bought out any less hard working? Sometimes there are reasons we can see why things happened the way they did and sometimes there is just no explanation.
I am a believer in hard work and planning. I just don't think that it is a given that you WILL be prosperious if you do those two things.
Hi Kate,
I'm sorry you are feeling so down right now. Here are a few things to think about to cheer you up:
1) You have a fantastic daughter. You two are obviously close (I can feel it through the internet) and that means more then anything money can buy.
2) You have a good job with a great pension. I have no idea what department you work for or how long you've been there, but the reality is, you are likely ahead of the game since most people don't have nearly enough saved for retirement. The pension is a big deal.
3) In terms of language training, I'm right there with you (to those who may not know, Canada is officially bilingual, English and French). I'm english only and at my previous job, there was no money for language training (I finally got into parttime classes
Bex -
Hi Kate,
I understand your fears.
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