The Cash for Clunkers program has lured many consumers into debt that they cannot afford.
Most consumers who've been through bankruptcy, and we're talkng
about millions, will tell you they never want to use credit again. To that end
when they buy a car and pay it off, they keep it as long as it runs to avoid
incurring debt. These people have been sucked into the credit threadmill and
don't want to suffer that fate again.
Then Congress in it's infinite wisdom comes up with this Cash for Clunkers
program. This is like offering a drink to an alcoholic. How can they turn down
$4,500 or $9,000 if you count the auto company matching program. So, they take
the bait and now have a nice new car but also have $10-15,000 of debt probably
at a high interest rate.
I have a 1998 Nissan Altima that runs as good as any car on the road and its
paid for. Many cars like this will be destroyed and crushed and their owners
will be saddled with big car payments that they can't afford. If their financial
situation is marginal this new payment could be a great hardship and the source
of considerable emotional distress.
It's a shame that our economic recovery depends on making consumers buy things
they don't need and incuring debt they can't afford.
The current financial crisis wasn't a surprise to me. I saw it coming and tried to warn the public years ago in my novel, Plastic Gods. Unfortunately consumers didn't want to hear the truth and the business community didnt want their secret exposed, so the novel fell on deaf ears.
Greed and materialism are the root cause of what is happening today. I saw it on a daily basis as clients streamed in my office hopelessly in debt from living so long above their means. It wasn't entirely their fault as few could resist the easy money that predatory lenders were throwing at them. It was sad to see these once proud Americans forced to file in front of a bankruptcy trustee and try to explain what had happened to them.
Another reason I wrote Plastic Gods was to have something I could give my clients to help them understand what had happened to them. They needed to understand they'd been victims of a carefully conceived conspiracy, so they wouldn't fall in the same trap again. I delivered my message in the form of a novel with the hopes that it would be more likely to be read. It worked out well and I got much appreciation from my clients.
The critics appreciated Plastic Gods as well:
Despite all these great reviews, none of the top tier reviewers like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal or Booklist bothered to review it. That didn't surprise me as you know who controls those publications, but it meant only a few thousand Americans would ever know the book existed.
So, if you want to understand what's happening to the economy today read Plastic Gods. I think you'll find it very entertaining and quite enlightening.