Shade Tree Wisdom 10/17/08

If I were to wear that special shirt, made to order, Egyptian cotton, white on white, French cuffs, button down collar, initials on the pocket, nobody would notice. Such a shirt can be had as a bargain for under$300.00. And it would be most comfortable to wear. The problem is who would wear such a shirt? And nobody wants to stand around saying, “My shirt is custom made and costs real money”. Well, such shirts are available, and there are people who buy them. I am not one of them because other uses for my small funds always are at hand.

It is all part of the financial trouble we are experiencing right now. There are many complex strands involved, but maybe Columnist Thomas Friedman put his finger on it when he says we disregarded the basics, and found out the laws of gravity and common sense still apply. We got away from the HOW and WHO. Who is responsible, and who will assume the obligation, and who has the character to do what he promised.

From the fundamentals of prudent borrowing and lending. The sort of thing that sat down face-to-face with a banker, explained what one needed the money for, and how one expected to repay it.

But we departed from the course. The bank selling the mortgage simply sold it to someone else, who sold it again, and nobody seemed to be responsible as long as the fees were paid, and the fact that the person who made the mortgage in the beginning did not need to pay any money down, and was promised two years with no interest before he needed to start repaying his loan. Things just don’t work that way we are finding out.

In my growing up years households lived with budgets. They did not buy simply because they wanted something. Money was not spent till it was on hand, and the need was there.

Sad to say, our government is the worst at over spending. The philosophy seems to be”you’ll be gone and I’ll be gone before the bill comes due.” So billions of tax dollars are wasted each year by something called ‘earmarks’. Nobody seems to be accountable, and as long as money can be borrowed from China or elsewhere, nobody among the leadership seems to be much concerned about debt loads.

Friedman quoted Charles Mackay, who wrote a book titled:” Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds” published in 1841. He quotes, “Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one.”

Even for this, good friends, “Is there anything too hard for the Lord?” The answer is, of course, nothing is beyond His care. So, we turn to Him in prayer and seek wisdom, guidance, and an end to the woes man-made.

GPD 10/17/o8