Employment

It is important to remember that jobs in the United States of America (USA) have been hampered by numerous initiatives such as global outsourcing and free trade policies implemented by neoliberals. Despite this, it is true that American workers have continued to struggle in order to realize the fruits of the American dream. However, the country's post-industrial culture has played a major role in undermining the base of many middle-class Americans, mostly because malls have been embraced as the modern motors that propel the American economy (Schechter, Danny, John, and Gary) This has seen the rise of a different kind of economy that sees it more profitable to invest in consumption rather than in production. This has led to the decline of the basic wages, thus, the living standards of the middle-class Americans have continued to dwindle as the living expenses continue to soar. To maintain their lifestyles and to ensure survival, the middle-class Americans have been forced to depend on credit, as well as, debt (Schechter, Danny, John, and Gary).. It is important to acknowledge the journalist and social critic referred to as Danny Schechter because it is through his entertaining, as well as, powerful documentary referred to as ‘In debt trust’ which reveals that the power and the profits of the financial service industry in the country are protected by the elected officials, US Supreme Court, and the federal regulators, hence, protecting the corporate forces that keep corrupting the democratic institutions in the country under the umbrella of ‘FINACILIZATION’ which is a symbolic financial industrial complex (Schechter, Danny, John, and Gary).. This particular paper is a detailed analysis and assessment of the article referred to as ‘In debt, we trust America before the bubble burst’ by Danny Schechter.

In debt we trust

It is true to state that this particular article is the most illuminating exploration of the debt issue in the USA. The article begins by describing the standpoint of the American society and how it is has been set up to keep the American people struggling for almost their entire lives and in the process, they end up saving almost nothing and remain with the heavy burden of paying debts. The article by Danny Schechter continues to describe the shell game that is perpetrated by key players in the country’s credit industrial complex. According to the article, this credit industrial complex cannot profit or exist without others having debts to pay. Those who end up having debts to pay are referred to as the losers in the shell game and they are the middle-class American people.
Danny Schechter goes continues to describe the origin of debt in the article stating that debt does not just happen. According to him, debt is a continuous process that is carefully crafted and engineered by the country’s debt industry. He traces the process of debt creation from a person’s childhood to when the person graduates from college and indicated that an average American graduate’s from college with a credit card debt of $20,000. Danny also makes it clear in the article that he is well aware that the same average American might graduate from college with an additional $30,000 debt in the form of student loans, thus, such an individual might find it very hard to successfully commence their career after college with such a huge debt (Schechter, Danny, John, and Gary).
The article clearly reveals that the debt industry in the country sets up the American consumers to be in debt from the minute they begin consuming goods and services to the minute they die by making them heavily depend on the credit card system, getting students loans, taking mortgages that add up to additional purchase costs, as well as, making payments for cars. Danny describes what the American money lenders hate the most and that is a consumer who always makes sure he/she regular pays off her debts. Danny notes that the lenders refer to such individuals as ‘deadbeast’ meaning that they are of little value to the debt industry (Schechter, Danny, John, and Gary). This indicates that it is only the consumers who continuously carry their debts that are of significant value to the debt industry.
By critically analyzing the article, it can be established that the indebtedness of the American people does not only serve the country’s financial system but also the country’s political system. It is important to note that because it favors the country’s political system the indebted middle-class American cannot organize politically and complain about the system because of the fear that their credit ratings might be used against them. The article also puts focus on the marketing strategies of the country’s debt industry stating that the marketing strategies are mainly designed ‘in the words of that particular industry’ to serve the purpose of encouraging a lot of the American middle-class consumers to accept more debt into their lives.
Danny notes that the collection industry is highly profitable because it thrives on confusing the American people by providing unintelligible instructions with the cards it offers that make the more and more of the middle-class people accept to borrow money from it. It is important to note that the interest rates set by this particular industry keep on increasing and this adds more weight to the debt burden a majority of the American people are already struggling to bear. In the article, Danny makes it clear that a majority of the policies implemented by the debt industry should be brought to question as they appear illegal. He supports this by stating that by large, the debt industry continues to lend money to people who it clearly knows will not be in a position to repay their debt. It is important to note that in the financial world this is referred to the as act of fraudulent inducement and it is punishable by heavy fines and to the extreme cases by imprisonment, however, because the activities of the debt industry also favor the political system, the debt industry continues to exercise fraudulent inducement.

Conclusion

It can be acknowledged that the above-analyzed article by Danny ends just like many other documentaries do and that is by exposing what is happening within the countries financial sector. Little can be done collectively by the middle-class to stop this exploitation by the debt industry, however, much can be done by the individuals, as well as, their families by making sure that they pay off their debts in full and avoid falling into the debt traps set by the country’s debt industry.

Works Cited

Schechter, Danny, John McLaughlin, and Gary Keith Griffin. In Debt We Trust: America before the Bubble Bursts. Globalvision Incorporated, 2009.