Monday, July 11, 2011

The check's in the mail. I swear!

Hey, I went to art school, so if anyone can tactfully avoid a creditor, it's me. From tagging them in my cell as "DO NOT ANSWER," to claiming they've spelled my name wrong (which has kinda happened), to simply making promises I do not intend to keep, I've kept creditors at bay with the best of them.

Once, I had this apartment just outside of Chicago, and the landlord promised me when I moved in that he would fix the tile work in the bathroom. I started with-holding rent checks, telling him that they were taped to the bathroom door, and he could pick them up when he finished the tile. While I was just buying time, I did manage to save up enough to cover all of them. Shortly before Xmas, I came home to find my checks missing and a shitty job done on my tile. The day I moved out, I found an eviction notice on my door. I laughed. Ain't shit to evict but my trash. Slumlord.

So when you default on your car note, or default on your mortgage, or default on your furniture loan, "they" come and repossess it. What happens when America defaults on its loans? Do the Chinese come take back the lead-painted toys? Does Toyota come for their cars? Does Mexico charge in to repo their electronics?

I really shouldn't make light of the economic crisis, but, really, what happens when we tell our debtors that we can't cough up the dough? How does America tell the rest of the world that the check is in the mail? We can't exactly turn a national cell phone off or screen caller ID for Asia or Europe.

While I'm not the best student of economics, and don't really understand what raising the debt ceiling will do for/against me, I know that it will be a good step towards NOT raising my taxes, which are crazy to begin with. I work hard for every dime I make, legally or illegally, and although I enjoy government projects like roads and parks and bridges and stuff, I can't possibly squeeze out any more dough. Especially when I can't even get unemployment or welfare or food stamps (LONG story) when I need it.

Rant aside: tell me your opinion - what will other countries "repo" from us should America end up defaulting?

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