Visa has a new slogan on their TV ads: “Life Takes Visa.” It’s a typical marketing ploy, designed to make you think you need a product or service you don’t really need. The message is: You need Visa to live. You have no life without us. Without Visa, you don’t really exist.
Nothing could be further from the truth. I’d like to turn their little slogan on its ear, and say, “Visa Takes Your Life,” because it does. If you let them, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and the rest will rob you of your life. They don’t care about you. They want you to debt, because they want to make money. Let me say it again: they do not care about you. Their only interest is getting you to use their products, because that’s what makes them rich. Never mind that it could leave you spiritually and psychologically broken; as long as they get their money, they’re happy to keep you debting.
Debting is a deal with the devil, because you get the instant gratification of getting what you want right now, but as you do so, you’re slowly burying yourself in debt, stress, and emotional isolation. So much shame goes with the debt that you dare not talk about it with anyone. You just slowly see your life getting sucked away. Most of us don’t even know we can do anything about it.
My financial and emotional situations are still pretty bad, but at least I know I have a problem. At least I’ve cut up my credit cards. And writing about my struggles is really helping. I realize I’m one of the lucky few who have actually escaped from the jaws of these predators.
I feel a lot of compassion for my fellow debtors, especially those who don’t know they have a problem. My life is very challenging because of my debt, but at least I’m fortunate enough to know I have a problem, and I didn’t make it worse today by accruing even more debt before I stopped. I go to therapy every week to talk about my financial situation and its roots in my emotional issues. I analyze the things I learned about money from two parents who have both had serious financial issues, and from a family that featured multiple bankruptcies and a good deal of drama around money. I have full disclosure with my wife, who has supported me in my recovery (though not without some difficult moments). From this point of view, I have a lot to be grateful for.
But what of those who aren’t so lucky? What of those who are buried in debt, with no idea what the problem is, let alone that there’s a way out? Our culture is creating more and more debtors every day. “Buy now, pay later” has become the war cry of commerce, rallying the proletariat to indebt themselves to big business and bigger banks. It makes me sick, and while I take responsibility for my actions, it frustrates me no end to be six figures in debt as a 29-year-old man. I feel I was duped. I’m just getting started in life, and I’m saddled with a ton of debt that was all too easy to acquire. I know I’m not alone in that; after all, 74% of college students have a credit card by their 4th or 5th year of school.[i] Credit just isn’t that hard to come by, even for young people. In fact, it’s all too easy.
I’m just one of millions who gets in over their heads, and I’m one of the few who stop before it was too late, before bankruptcy, drugs, alcoholism, and ruined relationships take over. I was right on the edge, but I pulled away at the last minute. I don’t know how I’m going to get out of the mess I’m in now, but I know I’ll do it, somehow. As long as I don’t accrue any new debt, I know I’ll get out of this mess one day. And I’ll live to tell the tale. But I do worry, very much, about those who still suffer, and don’t see a way out.
Maybe that’s what this book is about. I’m beginning to wonder if I’m really writing to be a voice for others who suffer from this illness, especially those who don’t know it yet. I know I wish I could have read a book, early in my recovery, about how another debtor discovered his or her problem, and dealt with it. Maybe I’m writing the book I wish I could have read. Perhaps I’m being called to be a voice in the darkness, offering a message of hope. I thought, when I started out, that I was writing for myself, but maybe I’m really writing this book for you.
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