What would happen if we all "just said NO" ?

[Mind_your_head]

To credit cards, to cable/dish teevee, to lenders, etc. These entities currently rule and direct most of our lives.

What would happen if a considerable bunch of 'us' didn't follow along?

Would it be a good thing or a bad thing? .... or a new thing?

[Lasher]

1. I use a cable modem to access DU.

No cable, no cable modem, no DU. Thou doest blaspheme!

[Wetzelbill]

2. we are screwn nt

[Mind_your_head]

3. We get information faster true. But is it really 'better'?

I'm not sure.

(I'm off to bed....g'nite all :hi:)

[JTFrog]

12. Have you ever had your comp lock up trying to dowload a page on dial-up?

Yeah... it's really 'better'.

[xenussister]

4. We have, pretty much

We canceled our DirecTV, haven't watched TV for a year (except online sometimes).

We use an online debit card with a $3.95 flat monthly fee (since 2002).

We rent, and have no debt.

Our monthly bills are rent, utilities and phone/internet.

We haven't owned a car (by choice) for 19 years.

And still, I'm laid off and it's not easy. We live from month to month. I can't even imagine what it's like for singles and families who are in debt. I feel for them.

[Mind_your_head]

5. All things considered, it sounds like you are in better shape than many

Best wishes for peace and prosperity to smile upon you......you've earned it/been smart :-)

[xenussister]

13. Thanks. I forgot to add...

My husband and I each have a Tracfone which came with double minutes, so we don't pay monthly bills for our cell phones. We still have a landline too for various reasons.

[FedUpWithIt All]

20. We live similarly. We did buy a used vehicle and paid it off within 12 mos.

We now own just the one vehicle outright but that is necessary in our circumstances.

Otherwise, we rent, use a pre-paid visa for things like bill paying at a cost of $0-$5.00 a month, have only had the $15 cable package 1 year out of the last 5 (we are switching it off this month)shop sales and practice food storage to supplement our home grown produce, are starting a rain water collection system this spring to cover our garden water usage. We have also been composting and recycling a lot more and hope to cut down our garbage collection costs.

We entertain ourselves with puzzles, games and videos we have collected over the years. Every gift giving occasion in our family includes some of these and has for years. We also keep a video rental plan at the video store @ $32/ month unlimited rentals. It keeps us from going out and spending 3x's as much in a single night. It also is helpful because it is prepaid with no late fees for the month so there are no back end costs.

With the child support i receive (in all fairness it is more generous than some receive) we were able to withstand over a year of difficult employment. There is a steady job now but the winter bills are really making a dent in any progress we are able to make. Just waiting for spring.





:hi:

[Drunken Irishman]

6. We'd be Nancy Reagan?

:shrug:

[hfojvt]

7. I get cash back from my credit card

and it keeps me from having to carry cash and make multiple trips to the bank/credit union. I don't see how it rules my life, although credit card lobbists have power in that way.

I am ditching cable TV soon, and I am gonna miss KeithO, Rachel, Stewart and Colbert.

We cannot really say no to lenders unless nobody wants to buy a car or a house. In which case, your landlord is at least as much of an exploiter as your mortgage lender is. Plus I paid for my car in 3 months and paid for my house in about four years (including some $5,000 that I borrowed from credit cards at low rates (a story I find to be hilarious. I had a mortgage at 5.5%. My credit card offered to lend me money at 3.9% until the loan was repaid. So I borrowed $3,000 from them and paid it on my house. Meaning I basically made 1.6% on borrowed money. The really hilarious part is that my mortgage company and my credit card company were the same company. So Citi paid me 1.6% to borrow $3,000.)

Our economy is built on over-consumption. If masses of people opt out of it, that would cause massive job loss, until labor and income were re-arranged in some unknown fashion.

[coalition_unwilling]

14. That is a great story about how

you used debt arbitrage to take advantage of the spread . . . between different divisions of Citi.

Reminds me of Milo Minderbinder (of "Catch 22" fame). Or of Lenin's quip that a capitalist "will sell you the rope to hang him with" (loosely translated).

Thanks!

[Political Heretic]

8. I'm taking a more balanced approach.

I'm not ready to live in a log cabin in the wilderness just yet.

I have no credit debt, own no credit cards. I use a single prepaid debit card as my bank. I rent, thus have no mortgage. I own my car, and will never finance a new car.

On the other hand, I have huge student loans and I will never regret the debt I paid for my education. I have a cell phone, and no other phone, so sometimes I hesitate to give that up. And I have internet, and I won't be giving that up. Although internet I can pay month to month. I would love to have cable or DirectTV but I currently don't. However I am not as anit-TV as a lot of people here. :)

[Tsiyu]

9. It would be a wonderful thing

and would separate the wheat from the chaff.

If people spent less on low quality goods and services and directed that money toward local businesses providing high quality goods and services, the impact would be profound.

Many would lose the crap life they have now, and many would gain new employment as local businesses grow.

But Americans love to do the most wasteful, ridiculous, self-defeating things, so lots of luck trying to Starve Their Pet Beasts.

[aikanae]

10. That's already the trend

I've seen articles for awhile now (couple of years) where people were paying off credit cards that could. That's why cc started heavy marketing towards people who can't afford them but have needs - students, lower income, medical and dental offices, etc.

Recycle and reuse has been the trend. The Freecycle boards have gotten huge and big box chain stores were out. Same with celebritism, branding and "bling". Who wants something with someone else's name on it? Cottage and diy industries are in.

It takes mainstream about 5 years to figure out what's going on and by then whatever it was, has moved on again.

I ended buying when I realized all the big companies were "red" in 2004 and Buy Blue started.
No more Walmart, that's for sure.

[historian]

11. it would certainly awake some dunder heads

There has been no tv in my house since the kids were born. If they were bored they ran out outside and played with the other kids. If the weather is bad, wed play card or board games or i would read to them. We never went to Vegas but travelled abroad whenever possible to open their minds. A fun day out would be reading time at the library, a visit to a museum, day at the beach etc... They are now both voracious readers, avoid the malls if they possibly can and find other things to do.
My budget is very comfortable and their minds are as sane as its possible to be. Oh and Ive taught them french which, contrary to bush ass is not a crime but something to be proud of.
Not bragging; merely giving opinion. Frankly i can do quite well without Oprah though i would miss Bill Maher and Monty Python.

[Berry Cool]

15. Also not ready for the cabin in the woods yet.

Even though I have no credit cards, rent, and have never owned a car.

Paying my cell phone bill is easier by the month than worrying about how many minutes I have left, even with no contract. I'm not about to give up my Keith by dumping cable--and the Internet? Forget it.

One more thing. If you don't have a car, the public transportation schedule rules and directs at least some of your life. So I have some freedoms, but also some restraints.

There are times when I love not having a monthly car payment and insurance payment. There are other times when I stand at a stop, desperately searching for a mirage in the distance, and curse The Bus That Never Comes.

[scarletwoman]

16. Gee, that's kinda my life.

Never had credit cards or cable/dish tv. Bought my little house and 10 acres on contract-for-deed, with 10% down that I accumulated by saving for several years -- it's all paid off now, so I own my place free and clear.

Never really been a "consumer", I've always tried to live as simply as possible. I was raised by parents who grew up during the Great Depression, and took their lessons to heart: save ahead for what you're going to buy, repair and reuse instead of buying new, know the difference between "need" and "want".

Don't know what it would be like if a "considerable bunch" of us lived this way, but it seems like a sane way to live and I don't see how that could be a bad thing. Unbounded consumerism doesn't seemed to have worked out all that well at this point, does it?

sw

[Bucky]

17. But if I follow your suggestion, aren't YOU then ruling & directing my life?

Anyway, neither credit cards nor tv broadcast modalities have any control over me. Lenders, of course, have held control over peoples' lives since the Renaissance. I don't think that's ever gonna change.

[stray cat]

18. I think we are seeing the results of a contraction of those things in the economy

and its going down the tube and taking most of us with it regardless of our level of participation. Also, how many really have cash for a car, house, school or unexpected medical bills even vet bills.

[OwnedByFerrets]

19. And the next time my car breaks down, I will walk the 22 miles to work....

and when my HVAC stops working and its 102 degrees this summer, I will just go naked. And when my child breaks her arm, I will just put and bandaid on it and hand her an aspirin. No, its not quite that easy when you live payday to payday.