Re: Congress Went to Denmark, You Got the Bill
It's interesting that people say things like this but always refer to their grandma or grandpa, mother or father when attributing the credit, but never to themselves. I myself have heard it from elders in my own family whilst growing up and have seen it said by a few people in these threads more than once.
Frankly, this is an old, outdated and overly-simplistic point of view for a generation long past.
While this mentality correctly urges caution in "borrowing from Peter to pay Paul" as my own grandmother puts it, they fail to take into account inflation and debt as it stands today both for businesses worldwide, and for a single person living with the financial commitments that didn't exist back when. The modern citizen would find it alot harder to apply such a narrow mentality to the more complicated problems of our time. Like I said, back then, things were less complex, and were sorted pretty quickly by using this rule of thumb. It has its uses, but is becoming less useful as time passes.
I would submit a revised version. "Do not borrow more than you can handle from Peter, to pay back Paul". But not borrowing money to get yourself out of debt from a less hostile lender? People do it all the time. Unless of course, you have never had a mortgage. Or asked your parents, siblings or friends to spot you $100 until you get paid. Or developed a payment plan with a company whilst incurring late charges and interest. Not to mention people who take out personal loans from banks or credit-unions. Modern society has made such things standard practice nowadays. In principal, it sounds awesome. But in reality, it is just not the case.
Sure, there are some frugal, old-school people still around, who keep their money in a box under their bed, and pay the 3 bills they have every month steadily and consistantly, living a simple life and making no major changes for most of their life. But it's worth noting that anyone I know who lives this way belongs to an older generation. When factors like the economic troubled times of today are prevalent, it is hard to plan for the unexpected.
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Still I feel like a child when I look at the moon, maybe I grew up a little too soon...
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