By Michael J. Smith on Monday January 28, 2008 06:07 PM
I'm a great believer in the basic intelligence of the public, though
like all articles of faith, it's sometimes a challenge to maintain
one's credence. So news like the following is especially welcome:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/01/a-tipping-point.html
A tipping point? "Foreclose me ... I'll save money"A nation of deadbeats! That's us! And about time, too.A homeowner who can't sell his house tells the L.A.Times, "Foreclose me. ... I'll live in the house for free for 12 months, and I'll save my money and I'll move on."
Banks and lenders fear this kind of thinking -- that walking away from a house could be the smart economic move -- appears to be on the rise....
Calculated Risk notes this is "one of the greatest fears for lenders ... that it will become socially acceptable for upside down middle class Americans to walk away from their homes."
Comments (3)
houses :
you gotta
"know when to hold em
and
know when to fold em "
" doooo... the walk away babe/eeeee
doooo.... the walk away wiff me "
its bigger then the mash potato
Posted by op | January 29, 2008 7:43 AM
Posted on January 29, 2008 07:43
You know, what's most encouraging is that it's real and determined action against the powers that be. not something we see often enough in the u.s.
i mean at the end of the day, there is a kind of subconscious wisdom amongst the american people - that should be obvious in recent polls by pro-business pollsters showing widespread contempt for big business (Robert Weissman just wrote about this on the Multinational Monitor blog). on top of that, during his 2005 senate campaign in MD, Kevin Zeese constantly referred to a survey published in the Economist magazine in July 2005 that showed that only 17 percent of Americans think their representatives in Congress represent their interests. zeese also often pointed out that more and more people are also registering at independents.
BUT that has translated into zero mass action against those scoundrels - in the electoral arena or otherwise.
Posted by tim d | January 29, 2008 1:06 PM
Posted on January 29, 2008 13:06
yeah, good notes, though Tim. D, your line of "at the end of the day, there is a kind of subsconscious wisdom amongst the american people" is a good image, let's see that "end of the day," in the den, where Dad is passed out in the Chair with a sack of Doritos on his head, the wife is crying to her mother on the over-minutes cell phone, and the cyber-progeny are texting threats - now that's subconscious wisdom, all that, right there. At the end of the day, the idiots are in charge of this immovable supersystem, and we are left with "zero action," not just "zero mass action."
Okay, So now that your whipping boy John is out, what is going to be talked about now - how great it is going to be to get Richard Holbrooke back?
Posted by mjosef | January 30, 2008 9:23 PM
Posted on January 30, 2008 21:23