9. Debit to society
Spending money isn’t just about identity. This is about our whole society, culture and conspicuous affairs with complex consumerism and economic catastrophe.
No one can convince you that without exception the national deficit is good for the country. Knowing collective debt plunges deeper into the red makes you uneasy. If you can manage your expenses, why can’t the government?
But maybe you can’t balance your personal budget—and if you can, maybe you shouldn’t. The economy is just like you.
Maintaining debt keeps you from getting lazy. You’re also more likely to treat yourself when victories need rewarding:
- A vacation to commemorate having a job.
- A fine wine to celebrate having good taste.
- A cute, pert sofa to sit your ass down on after a demanding day.
Wouldn’t life be dull if luxuries were commonplace and the little things unnoticed? Just take care to strike a proper balance. Live too far beyond your means, and you’re bankrupt.
One of the safer, more productive debits is the higher education loan. Rising tuition rates attest to institutional prestige and the importance of even the most impotent degrees. If you’re not nervous about finding gainful employment, you’re not paying enough. Aim high—fly high.
If you have already completed university, keep this in mind for your freeloading children, your derelict grandchildren and especially for yourself. Careers disappear, and you will need to retrain to keep abreast with overseas workers and emerging technologies.
But don’t settle for getting fired—get fired up. Torch outdated ideas about dignity, re-imagine what you’re good for, return to school then rise from the soot a well-rounded phoenix. Burned, perhaps, but with multiple degrees.
It takes money to make money. It takes money to fake money. Interest rates may be high, but who would want to be less interesting? Just as hardy savings entice theft and threaten your identity, debt indicates you take your life seriously—you hold the reins and control your destiny.
