Since first hearing of it over a year ago, I’ve been eagerly anticipating watching the movie “Maxed Out” with my son. I’d heard really positive things about it and hoped that it would provide insight to TR about the importance of individual, financial responsibility. I was sadly disappointed.
The beginning of the movie does a great job of enlightening folks on the predatory practices of the lending industry, with which I cannot argue. However, it quickly turned into another Michael Moore wanna-be pseudo-documentary, blaming big business and the GOP for the misfortunes of the masses by telling the heart-wrenching stories of some select individuals who were, for the most part, victims of their own very bad decisions.
What makes this worse is that the film’s writer and director, James Scurlock, perpetuates a false idealism that has permeated the American mentality at a time when it is imperative that people wake up to the reality that we’ve created our own problems.
In case you’ve been hiding under a rock, you should realize that we are in a really, really bad place right now and it’s not going to get better any time soon. The mortgage, financial, auto and airline industries are all in dire straits. Add to that the current war, our massive national debt, the major natural disasters we’ve suffered, soaring gas and groceries prices and there’s little denying that a perfect storm for systemic collapse has arrived.
Though I’m not an economics expert, I’m convinced that the cause of our country’s financial crisis is rooted in our cultural mindset of entitlement. As individuals, as businesses, as a nation, we’ve been spending money we don’t have for far too long and now it’s time to pay the piper. More importantly, it’s time to acknowledge and take responsibility for our own actions. We don’t have a choice.
Not sure what that means? Here’s a place to start. Here’s another.
Trina Baughn 