I consider myself honest, which means I return favors, money and widgets to their rightful owners on a regular basis.
I have a dillemma: To keep my end of a bargin with what now appears to be a group of thieves.
Like most good citizens, I have a standing credit-card debt. For some years I’ve dutifully paid what I could each month but not making much of a headway. As anybody knows, it all goes towards the interest and who knows how much I’ve paid over the last 3 to 5 years while it still appears I owe everthing I started out by owing.

Recently I noticed that “my” bank, Bank of America recieved an astonomical sum of bail-out money from the government – to which I and others pay taxes. As consolation I was told that my government did not actually take my taxes to pay the bank (because that money was spent already) they borrowed it from my neighbor’s grandchildren, as if that was any better.
I further see on TV the president of my bank walking away with bales of money in his pocket for his incompetense and the scoundrels in goverment who made the deals are rewarded also.
If I, as an individual, go to the bank I can expent no break in terms of paying a lesser rate, while at the same time the prime rate (the percentage the banks pay the government for the money) is close to zero.
I think to myself: The bank borrows at zero percent, then lends to me at – say – twenty, while I acually assume the risk and guarantee the loan.
I stop. I say to myself: Perhaps it is time to stop paying my credit-card bills, end my association with Bank of America and see what happens. There is something that is not right here, fundamentally out of ballance, and while I try to figure it out I think I think it is reasonable to stop feeding the “pig” as they say.
Undoutebly they will call me, I’m sure, and try to persuade, explain, threaten me into getting back on the bus, but since my credit-score is not worth much to begin with, what else could they do?
In the world of anything-goes-if-you-get-away-with-it it don’t want to become the enemy, but apparently one must have something the other party wants to be negotiated with. If I pay my bills on time, apparently I have nothing the bank wants.
I have heard of the legend of the squeeky wheel, but after looking long and hard for common sense my wheel has stopped turning altogether.
There are some things in life that are hard, and some that are simple.
