If I go to the casino and win a pot of money, I am considered wise and lucky. If I go to the casino and lose my shirt, generally I am considered something of a dope and the world’s right to so consider me.
No where that I know of can I turn for someone to bail me out for my unsuccessful gambles — nor is there much sympathy for the casino when in the rare event someone actually wins there. The gambler is on his own; the casino is on its own. As it should be.
If I entered into a risky sub-prime mortage that was delivering me a good rate and I gambled that the free lunch would go on forever even when it is in the contract that there’s a pay-up ahead then that’s my call. If I bought too large a house because the deal was sweet in the short term, the responsibility’s mine when the piper comes to be paid.
If the banks, who do this for aliving, hand out money at low rates and then things go bad then they hardly deserve much of our sympathy. Or our bail-out money. If they do dumb things and do them on purpose, taking their own gambles, how is it the rest of our’s duty to make them whole again? Were they ready to share their gamble’s successes with us if it had paid off? Of course not.
The increasingly irrelevent CNN labels this settling of simple accounts as “War on the Middle Class” when it is the borrower and the lender who have gambled, made their early profits and face the music now. War? Those at the subprime roulette wheel made their bets; some are losing. It’s be a neat world if all our losses could be made up by someone else. We’re not talking poverty here, not talking people srtruggling with economic oppression or social injustice. We’re talking about gigantic lenders and people in very, very expensive homes.
The consequences of the recklless lending and borrowing world are horrendous but maybe they could spare us the indignity of calling the gamblers the “victims.” Notably, when they are coming to us for even more money.
I was at Foxwoods last week and lost just over $100 on one of those $5 one-armed banditos. Later that afternoon, as I approached my car in the lot, I saw five guys dressed like they were maybe from Dubai or someplace like that loitering around the old Hyundai. I approached with caution. But not to worry. They smiled and held out their hands. We shook hands. Then each of them pulled out his wallet. Each offered me a twenty dollar bill. I said, ” No, no. You really don’t have to do this! ” Then added, ” And why would you want to? ”
They persisted in their efforts to pay me the $100, a figure just short of the amount that I had lost in the casino. I finally gave in. Took the money. Their smiles had turned to frowns; I took this as a bad sign. I’m a lot-wise kinda guy, ya know? I thanked them, got in my car and drove away. As I was pulling out of the lot, I looked in the rear view mirror. All five of those guys were laughing their asses off. Giving each other high fives. What the hell was that about? I thought as I drove home to Rhode Island.
Maybe this was a case of mistaken identity. I was wearing what I usually wear when I go to the casino: Blue jeans, sneakers and a black leather jacket. A red Phillies cap on top of my head. I wasn’t wearing a pin stripe suit and wing tip shoes. I don’t LOOK like a banker. Do I?
Dennis,
I agree with you that many people knowingly gambled on the subprime market. Yet I can’t help but sympathise with some people who know little about money, or mortgages and trusted their bankers. In reality many of these bankers or sub prime lenders were salesmen who said anything to make the sale. Many people think if the bank or lender says they can afford the loan, they can. I can’t tell you how many of my daughters college friends said that about getting a credit card.
I agree to that we should not use taxpayers money to bail out the banks and sub prime lenders. We can afford that but not to give health care to children?
And bailing out the people…. I don’t know. Huge consequences for not remembering what my mom always said “If it sounds too good to be true it probably is!”
vicky