Fear feeds the Man

If you can scare people you keep them stupid. If they are stupid then you can take advantage of them. Have them juggling credit cards and debt to pay their monthly bills while you skim the fat coins off the top. All 1% like.

Several times in my life I've found myself juggling multiple loans, credit cards, back taxes, etc. Paying hundreds of dollars every month in vig.

And luckily, because perhaps I'm actually underneath it all fiscally conservative, I've actually been ok. I've been able to restructure and come out ahead. Sometimes its been a very close thing - but so far so good.

The main point is perhaps that we all spook easily. We whip out the easy credit to bridge this, or emergency repair that - and we watch paralyzed as our monthly expenses creep upwards. And the more terrified we get, the less we are able to see the forest for the trees. We start carrying around truly toxic levels of stress when a good set of objective eyes can cut through all the crap and tell us: take these three easy steps and you'll reduce your expenses by 10-15%. The difference between in that nice airy atmosphere above the waves, and that much more difficult to breathe liquidy stuff beneath it.

So - Fuck the Man! Sometimes life forces you to face stark choices - but the sooner you can detach yourself from your emotions - crawl out of the panic and find at least temporarily higher ground - the sooner you'll be able to see the best choices in front of you. Hell bankruptcy sure beats suicide. You hear the stories of the suicide epidemics after the Man has basically enslaved farmers in India. Don't let Him.

And don't hesitate to ask for help. An accountant or financial planner can see things with an objectivity and experience that even the most financially savvy individual will lack at times. Hell, I've said it before - resist the urge to do your own dentistry. Get the help you need. Before it kills you.