Congress, American Culture, and Personal Financial Responsibility

OUR CULTURAL REFLECTION GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION

With all the talk recently about deficit spending, the national debt, the need for a balanced budget amendment, and the western world operating largely on borrowed money, two things come to mind. This might be a good time to share my thoughts because there are lots of lessons for all of us who have concern about our financial condition – at home and on a broader scale.

Congress is a Reflection of American Culture

My first thought is that those in the U.S. Congress are largely a reflection of the “buy on credit and have debt around our neck” culture we have in America. And, we’ve had this culture for generations. So, this whole deficit spending, debt ceiling and national debt mess shouldn’t be a big surprise.

I am reminded of an episode of You Bet Your Life, a black and white television program from the 1950’s hosted by an aging Groucho Marx. During one episode, when he was engaging in small talk with the contestants, the audience learned that they were recent immigrants from Europe. More importantly, they learned that the man wanted to wait until the couple had enough money to buy a dishwasher for their home, while his wife insisted (repeatedly) that since they were now in America, they were going to do things the American way and buy on credit.

About fifty years later, the late George Carlin reminded us that politicians don’t come from another reality, they come from American homes and schools and communities, so whatever faults we see in government are just reflections of the kind of people we’ve raised in our communities. It’s an over-simplification, because there are other factors that come into play, but there’s a kernel of truth in his observation to be sure.

Imagine Americans Behaving Like Congress

My second thought was to imagine an American family behaving much like Congress. Wouldn’t that be odd? If we could peer in on such a family, what might we see?

I think we’d see that the wife is worried sick about her irresponsible husband who just can’t stop spending beyond their means, despite being many tens of thousands of dollars in debt and having no cash reserves. On top of it all, we’d see that family income has been reduced as a result of the failing economy and yet he continues to spend like a drunken sailor. She would likely complain that he’s taking out personal loans at private lending establishments to pay for lines of credit he’s already maxed out at the bank. Her complaints would also point out that he’s getting cash advances from one credit card to pay the minimum on another, and he has mounting fees at the bank because of being regularly overdrawn on the checking account. All the while, he would explain to his wife that the only answer to their financial crisis is to have the credit card companies raise the limits on their card limits, and to borrow more money from various sources, otherwise the family won’t be able to pay rent, buy groceries, stay current on their telephone and utility bills, or meet other financial obligations.

From where I sit, that’s about the size of it. Some in Congress have already warned us against not being able to make good on payments for Social Security, Medicare and Military personnel unless they can rack up more debt. I always thought that the first thing to do when you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging.

Lessons and Suggestions to Consider

To be sure, we’ll all have our own “take away” from this, but let me share mine to get the discussion going.

  • The behavior of our government is to some extent a reflection of our culture. Change our culture, and we change leadership qualities of those whom we elect to represent us.
  • It wouldn’t hurt to learn more about who we are as a culture from others outside of our country. After all, it can be difficult to see the forest because of the trees.
  • We certainly don’t have the luxury of behaving like some members of Congress, but we most certainly should be doing what we can to insulate ourselves from the backlash that will come our way as a result of their irresponsible decision-making over these many years.
  • Perhaps we ought to get a bit more involved as citizen lobbyists. Let’s be that protesting wife who has good reason to protest. Indeed, we have a grievance that needs to be redressed. Our responsible members of Congress need our encouragement and support too, so let them hear from us. Many of us have given those in government our tacit approval for their irresponsible ways, and as a result, we’re getting what we deserve.
  • Let’s become more visible as a counter culture in America. To live debt-free, to have sound finances, to be financially prepared, to enjoy financial freedom, to live with financial peace of mind; all of these things require some level of fiscal conservatism, so let’s show others what kinds of beliefs, attitudes and actions can lead to financial success. Let our good examples of personal responsibility and financial sanity help create future elected officials who understand what a hole looks like before they start digging, and who appreciate that the top priority when deep in a hole is to stop digging.

It’s my hope that each year there will be an increasing number of people who realize that personal financial responsibility can and must come about through wise decision-making, not because we find ourselves in a deep financial hole one day. There are plenty of lessons out there for us to learn from, so we’re not necessarily doomed to replicate the sad affairs of others. And, we certainly don’t want to imitate the behavior of our “leaders” in government.

In my next few posts, I hope to share some real life stories of people in financial trouble because of poor behavior, and what simple steps they could have taken to prevent it. I also want to share my suggestions for building financial security that leads to peace of mind. Until next time, I wish you the good fortune you deserve – the good fortune that can only be achieved through wise planning, good decision-making, tenacity, hard work, and perhaps a leap of faith every now and then.

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About Clair Schwan

6 Responses to “Congress, American Culture, and Personal Financial Responsibility”

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  1. Angie says:

    So, so true. Thanks for sharing.

  2. When Congress finally passed the bill, my thought was, “congratulations, you just did what households across America have to do EVERY DAY.”

    I completely get what you’re saying about personal financial responsibility. I had none for about 14 years and it got me a mountain of debt.

    Thanks for the great post!

  3. Clair Schwan says:

    Travis, there are so many private sector corollaries to this government fiasco that it would be amusing if it weren’t so sad. If history repeats itself, which I have confidence it will, then we’ve seen the debt ceiling get raised, but we won’t see any real and significant spending cuts put in place – they just won’t materialize. That’s what’s happened repeatedly, so I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t happen again and again before we’re forced to have true reform. As P.J. O’Rourke says, “Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” I’ll bet our new law allows them access to whiskey and car keys only during daylight hours, and it requires them to be home (or be brought home) before the streetlights come on.

  4. Ashley says:

    I agree 100%. And you left out all the borrowing we do in order to give money to other countries. Cause I always borrow money and give it to my neighbors… NOT.

    It’s crazy to think we are going to spend our way out of this mess.

  5. Clair Schwan says:

    Ashley, yes, isn’t it great how we busy ourselves pretending to manage the affairs of other countries and their citizens, all with money taken (and borrowed) from our own citizens, and yet we don’t have our own house in order? And, I don’t hear anyone in Congress calling for a reduction in foreign aid as our first step in the direction of a new kind of austerity. What a hoot, we can’t even keep our wealth inside our own country!

    It makes so much sense to me that we have to be solid and strong, otherwise, how in the world could we ever hope to help anyone else. We’ll have neither the wealth, nor the good example to follow.

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      I believe the answer lies in a post I wrote about securing your own oxygen mask before assisting the person beside you. Our (the USA) financial house looks like a pig sty and yet we still send so much money to foreign governments some of which express hatred towards us. Great post as usual my friend!! 🙂

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