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I recently got a taste of this kind of social tragedy after seeing the housing conditions some families would live in months after their homes were foreclosed.

by darien 16y ago

I recently got a taste of this kind of social tragedy after seeing the housing conditions some families would live in months after their homes were foreclosed. They were squatters in their own homes.

hugh3 16y ago
That's not tragedy, that's just them being assholes. If your home is foreclosed you're supposed to move out.
- noonespecial 16y ago
  Foreclosure is not a binary function. Its a slow motion tragedy of deepening desperation that ends when men with guns forcibly evict you.
  - hugh3 16y ago
    I still fail to see how it's a "tragedy" when the bank buys you a house on the strength of your promise that you'll pay them back, and you fail to live up to your end of the bargain. My sympathy in these situations is reserved entirely for the bank.
    - delluminatus 16y ago
      Don't bother feeling sympathy for the banks; it's their own fault for granting very large loans to people they knew couldn't pay it off (or to people who they didn't know could pay it off, at least). Besides, they're a business. They lose some money? The person loses their HOUSE. I'll feel sorry for the banks when the U.S. government forcibly evicts them from every single one of their physical properties.
      - hugh3 16y ago
        The person loses their HOUSE It's not their house, it's the bank's house. The bank bought it for them, and all they were obliged to do was pay the bank back for it over a period of decades. They didn't live up to their end of the bargain.
        noonespecial 16y ago
        I think the backlash is coming from the fact that the "social contract" (if I may blatantly abscond with the term) between lenders, employers, and government regulators didn't live up to its "end of the bargain". The promise to pay made by borrowers was made against the banking industries' promise to uphold a certain level of professional conduct. The undercurrent of perception that's been created "when they fail they get a bailout, when you fail, you get screwed and pay for their bailout" is far more dangerous than most politicians and investment bankers realize.

by darien 16y ago

I recently got a taste of this kind of social tragedy after seeing the housing conditions some families would live in months after their homes were foreclosed. They were squatters in their own homes.

hugh3 16y ago

That's not tragedy, that's just them being assholes. If your home is foreclosed you're supposed to move out.

noonespecial 16y ago
Foreclosure is not a binary function. Its a slow motion tragedy of deepening desperation that ends when men with guns forcibly evict you.
- hugh3 16y ago
  I still fail to see how it's a "tragedy" when the bank buys you a house on the strength of your promise that you'll pay them back, and you fail to live up to your end of the bargain. My sympathy in these situations is reserved entirely for the bank.
  - delluminatus 16y ago
    Don't bother feeling sympathy for the banks; it's their own fault for granting very large loans to people they knew couldn't pay it off (or to people who they didn't know could pay it off, at least). Besides, they're a business. They lose some money? The person loses their HOUSE. I'll feel sorry for the banks when the U.S. government forcibly evicts them from every single one of their physical properties.
    - hugh3 16y ago
      The person loses their HOUSE It's not their house, it's the bank's house. The bank bought it for them, and all they were obliged to do was pay the bank back for it over a period of decades. They didn't live up to their end of the bargain.
      - noonespecial 16y ago
        I think the backlash is coming from the fact that the "social contract" (if I may blatantly abscond with the term) between lenders, employers, and government regulators didn't live up to its "end of the bargain". The promise to pay made by borrowers was made against the banking industries' promise to uphold a certain level of professional conduct. The undercurrent of perception that's been created "when they fail they get a bailout, when you fail, you get screwed and pay for their bailout" is far more dangerous than most politicians and investment bankers realize.