Pay Now, or Pay Later!

As we have been watching the unfolding economic troubles of the world, and listening to the ongoing political rhetoric that springs from it, something that I heard said many years ago comes to mind. I don't remember where I heard it, or who said it, and I'm sure this comment, or many like it can be attributed to many different people.

I'm sure that I heard my Dad or my Grandpa say this at least once growing up, and probably several times as I reached young adulthood. It is a concept that society as a whole seems to have forgotten.

What is at the center of the economic crisis? Credit! So-called "toxic loans". Banks and other major companies "cooking" their books to show higher profits. Many consumers declaring bankruptcy to bail out of loans they probably knew they would be unable to pay in the first place. Government encouraging/requiring/guaranteeing loans to people who would be considered a bad credit risk under any other circumstance. Well guess what? It is crashing down around us. Why??

Because we as a society have forgotten a very basic principle of success. (Both financially and otherwise) Pay now, or pay later. And pay later is usually the bad end of the deal. There is always a "premium" on the quick fix, the instant gratification. If we attempt shortcuts in athletics, for example, we see drug use, steroid abuse or just plain cheating, (although the last one is maybe harder to get away with). Practice takes time, and we don't like things that take time.

In terms of our health, many choose to have expensive surgery, or take experimental and sometimes risky meds, in order to drop weight that often could be shed with better diet, exercise and some serious soul searching. But that takes time! We don't like things to take time.

In a school setting, if we don't want to put in the time necessary to learn something now, but we want the GPA to get to a good college, we see students resort to cheating. Using online sources as if they were our own work. Turning in a paper done by a friend, trusting that their spellchecker caught all mistakes. (Yes I have seen papers IDENTICAL down to the misplaced comma, or a misspelled word.) Doing our own research takes time, and we don't like things that take time.

In the financial world, most of us are not crooks. We would never steal money outright, and the majority of us would even return money we found, if we could. It still gives me hope that we hear stories of people getting their wallets back with hundreds in cash still in the pocket. Of course, maybe we hear about it because it is becoming less common. We commonly make the mistake, though, of wanting something so badly right now, that we change that "want" to a "need". In our country, we have an average of nearly $3000 consumer debt per household, not including car and house loans. We could save up for it, but that takes time, and we don't like things to take time. We want them "right nooooooooooooooooow", to quote Veruca Salt, of Willie Wonka fame.

Can you hear our country and our government screaming? "We want it right nooooooooooooooooow"? Remember what happened to dear, sweet Veruca?