Not a Slave

The slaves of the American South had nothing to call their own. Everything they had came from the Master. A benevolent master meant, perhaps, a plot of land to grow vegetables and two shirts a year.

Coal miners and factory workers, before the days of unions, were often so in debt to the company store that you might as well call them slaves. They worked for next to nothing and what they did earn went to the store to pay of a debt, but they still needed food for the week so they charged it, and so each week they worked to pay off a never-ending debt.

I am in no way minimizing the hardships faced by slaves, hardships I, as a safe and warm white woman, cannot fathom. I am not trying to oversimplify the dangers of working in coal mines or factories with no safety regulations. However, if one definition of slavery is “one who is abjectly subservient to a specified person, emotion, or influence” (The American Heritage Dictionary, Third Edition), then many Americans today are in slavery

.

To fear.

Specifically to the fear of never having enough.

Almost two years ago, I needed a new (or newer) car. My mechanic had told me the year before it would not pass inspection, and even with all my good intentions, I had only saved $4000, and that was only possible because of a big chunk of money I received two months before inspection was due. I sat down and crunched the numbers, and I decided I could put the $4000 as a down payment and get a loan to cover the cost of a newer used car, and I could handle the monthly payments.

I have neither credit cards nor savings; my only debt is student loans. So, alas, I didn’t have enough credit to get a loan (I didn’t have bad credit, I was told, just not enough proof that I’d make monthly payments). Ironic – you need debt to prove you should be given more debt.

So I couldn’t get the car I was dreaming of. I found a car that meets my needs and the cost, tax and tags included, was $3995! I was slightly bummed about it; I really wanted the silver rav4! But six months later, I was in the hospital and then out of work for three months recovering from surgery. . .

If I had been given the loan, I would have been car-less a year later; I wouldn’t have been able to make the payments those three months. The car would have been repossessed. I was so grateful that God allowed it to not go “my way,” because His way is so much better!

* * *

Today I overheard my cubicle mate talking to her dad while on her lunch break. Her car has died. It needs a new head gasket, which will cost $1500, money she doesn’t have for a car that might not be worth the money or effort to repair. She was going through her options: use her boyfriend’s father’s car while she and her boyfriend save up until tax time to use that as a down payment and get a good car, as opposed to a beater. Or use the credit card the mechanic is offering to pay for the work; if her credit is good enough she’ll accumulate more debt with a high interest rate and only be able to pay the minimum each month. Or try to sell the car, hope she can get $500 for it, and hope she can get a car that will last a little while. This for a young lady who has $50,000 in school debt for a 4-year degree she is not and has no intention of using.

So many of us live that way. Paycheck to paycheck, making minimum payments on high interest credit cards and so we are in ever-increasing debt. Eventually, something’s got to give! Tony Robbins said, “By changing nothing, nothing changes.”

If you’re in a cycle of debt and barely getting by, the only thing that will stop that cycle is to change the way you do things! Rethink the choices you make. Reset priorities.

Challenge 2016 is to put relationships first. Think of this: if you want to strengthen family ties, think of cheap game nights instead of going out to eat. Consider cutting the cable lines and spending time together without a screen. Those are great short-term suggestions (see March 11 post) to get out of debt, and you can follow the link to read about some more.

For the long term, consider joining Financial Peace University, by Dave Ramsey, or some other debt-reduction program that will help you to retrain how you see money. In the long run, freeing yourself and your family from debt will allow you to be more generous when you’re presented with opportunities to help others. God’s way is better than our way, or our society’s way, and the Bible is full of principles that will help you if you want to change your situation.

Money, and the fear of not having enough, doesn’t have to be your master anymore.