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Debtors’ Prison
By Daphne | March 27, 2008
Last night I was watching Vanity Fair on a DVD borrowed from the library. One of the main character’s husbands was put into debtors prison because he couldn’t repay a debt.
That made me start thinking about what would happen now if people were thrown into jail because of debt that they couldn’t repay. For a while the couple assuaged the debt collectors and were almost put out on the street. Another family in the story were practically bankrupted and had many of their possessions sold. Though this is a plot line from the movie, this could be a scene that is played out in any city today.
In 2008 jails would be overrun with many people who were deeply in debt and couldn’t pay. In the Victorian age some had to go to the workhouse and work off their debt. Would people be able to do that now? You know work off their debt and then try to regain some financial standing.
In some ways now people are in debtors prison. If you took a gamble and took out extra loans or used credit cards for debt that you couldn’t repay then you would have creditors contacting you for loan repayment. For some people that means that they are being dispossessed or evicted. For others it means a drastic reduction in their lifestyle because they cannot afford the things they wanted to any longer.
Vanity Fair really is a fable for all ages because the richest characters were not affected by slight changes in their investments, they just seemed to ride things out as opposed to one family that went bankrupt overnight and another family that was waiting to get the inheritance of an aged relative.
Everyone sees things that they would like to have, but the envy of others possessions may make some go too heavily into debt to afford something. Though the debtors prison as a physical location is not still around in some ways we still see the financial prisons that people are put in because of debt, 401(k) loans, home equity loans, debt consolidation and credit card advances. That little extra risk seems great in advance of the loan, but as time progresses, it seems like you will never get out.
Consciously work at paying off the debt where you can and as much as you can. If you are not in debtors prison, you know someone who is or was. Learn from their experience. Easy loans may seem easy when you get the loan but repayment often requires a lot more than people are able to repay.
Finally, for those already having a difficult time managing their level of debt,debt consolidation plans can be a lead life preserver. While the plans may have some merit in getting out of debt on a one time basis, they can also erode the discipline required to stay within one’s budget by encouraging borrowing out of retirement savings. While you may have gotten yourself into a prison of debt, a mis-sold or badly designed debt consolidation plan can throw away the key.
Topics: March 2008 |