Thursday, October 02, 2008

Sage advice ...

... perhaps: Neither A Lender Nor A Borrower Be.(Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

I say "perhaps" because, after all, the advice was proffered by Polonius, an officious fool if ever there was one. I have always been fairly insouciant when it comes to money. A rather Micawber-like tendency on my part, I fear. But, so far at least, things seemed to have turned out pretty well. I have a few more years to pay on my mortgage (fixed rate, modest monthly payment), but otherwise no debt. Only moments ago I paid off my monthly credit card bill, which I always do in plenty of time in order to avoid having to pay any interest. But my natural optimism has been shaken a bit lately and I suspect Dr. Dalrymple is correct in this: "The future, it seems, depends upon the dishonest and the improvident. This is not altogether reassuring, at least in the abstract, until one considers the behaviour of the class from whom the candidates usually emerge. It takes a thief to elect a thief; and in the imperfect sublunary world, perhaps that is the best to which we can aspire."
I believe this is the result of our schools having been turned from educational institutions into training centers. Education, as Albert Jay Nock pointed out, focuses intelligence on the formation of character. Training is purely instrumental; it provides instruction in how to perform some operation or other without reference to the character of the performer. As Nock notes, you can train monkeys to pick fruit. Which may explain why the media have become a sort Bander-log.

3 comments:

  1. I don't know, Frank. We had plenty of financial crises back when education "built character" and banking was a "gentleman's" pursuit. Greed, lax oversight, and modern technology, as best I can tell, are the culprits in this instance.

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  2. Oh, I'm well aware that there have been financial crises before - and we can be sure there will be again. But we increasingly seem to have a society filled with highly trained ignoramuses devoid of character. Of course Congressional insistence that banks be penalized if they did not lend to people with bad credit and no collateral certainly didn't help, either.

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  3. You're in the minority, Frank; most financial institutions depend on those who don't pay off their credit-card balances in full, a practice I fully endorse, BTW; but, when it comes to borrowing, I only do so if it means I'll wind up on the street and the person from whom I do borrow can afford to lend an amount to me (knowing it will be a bit before I can return it); as for lending? I only lend money (and books) when I can afford not to need either; that is, if there's a chance the debt's not repaid, it's not a big deal that destroys the friendship (which means more than any amount to me, if it gets to that stage).

    p.s. Welp, I guess the entire westorn world's watching the debates, eh (or hey)? This is one of those rare times I miss television (but; I don't have any popcorn, either) . . .

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