The Ethics of Everyday Decisions - Cash or Credit?
The latest Federal Reserve statistics report a 9.75% increase in credit card debt for the month of May, 2007. An article in the July 10, 2007 St. Paul Pioneer Press had this quote:
David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York, said some of the surge in credit-card debt reflects the fact that it is getting harder to get home-equity loans with banks tightening up on standards and home values not soaring as they did during the housing boom.
What are the ethical considerations of the decisions we make several times a day on whether to put something on the credit card or not? Here are some thoughts to help define our values in a number of areas. Remember, this web log is not meant to prescribe the right answer, but rather to get you to ask the right questions. Weigh the differing, and even competing values you hold and make decisions for action based on what you hold dear. Ethics is about making informed choices based on the values you and others believe in.
- Spending what we don't have
- Borrowing against the future to meet today's needs and wants
- Determining the difference between "need" vs. "want"
- Paying more than what something is worth (through interest)
- Placing ourselves in bondage to the banks
- Immediate vs. delayed gratification
I'm sure there are others, too, but ponder what you believe in these areas and then ask yourself if your behavior around credit matches up with those beliefs.
Scriptural Insight: The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a servant to the lender...Do not be a [person] who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you. Proverbs 22:7; 26-27
Labels: credit cards, debt, ethical decisions, ethics, moral decisions, practical ethics
posted by Bob Ryan @ 9:05 AM
2 Comments:
Bob,
I really enjoy your every day series. I just had a fun every exchange I wanted to share. A Dell technician just replaced my laptop keyboard. The letter A was broken. I’m not sure but I think it may have had help from my 3 year old.
I commented to the technician how much I appreciated the fact that Dell never asks what happened. I once gave them a whole, true story of a different mishap with the laptop and the toddler and they kindly told me that they didn’t care. It broke, so they would fix it.
Their kindness and their warranties have turned me into a happy customer for life!
Ann
This also begs the question: How much is enough? In a consumerist society such as ours, we never reach "enough." It's a conscious decision to not buy something even though we have the money to buy it if we so desire.
We are called to be good stewards of the stuff God has given us. You point out rightly to discern the difference between "need" and "want." Most of what we put on credit cards is a want, especially those things that max out our limit.
Carl A.
Post a Comment
<< Home