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The fact that people experience this and then somehow don't say "burn it all down" is miraculous.
by mbg721 4y ago
The fact that people experience this and then somehow don't say "burn it all down" is miraculous.
- toomuchtodo 4y agoI was unable to obtain a government backed mortgage for a decade because LexisNexis Risk Solutions was reporting a judgement inaccurately on my risk profile that they would not remove until I had a lawyer file suit against them and notified the CFPB. I received a $600 check as part of a $21M class action settlement [1]. I was lucky, and had the means to obtain creative financing (non-QM) when needed. Others are not so lucky. I share this story because once you have experienced something like this, it is totally understandable why people want to burn parts of the system down. Sometimes, they’re not wrong. There is a special place in hell for the people behind these corporate transgressions, who seemingly never face sufficient punishment for the harm they cause. [1] https://www.lienandjudgmentdisputes.com/lang/en/ https://www.lienandjudgmentdisputes.com/lang/en/
- mbg721 4y agoI agree 100%; what can a layman like me do to fix it?
- toomuchtodo 4y agoYou’re not going to like my answer. I don’t like my answer. It’s never ending work. Always vote, run for office if you can, and/or become and stay engaged as a citizen activist. See something? Report it to regulators. Think something’s up? Go digging. Engage with other folks who are doing the same and provide logistical support if able to. I spend thousands of dollars a year on FOIA fees and attorney opinion and correspondence costs, but I have the means and the time. Overarching thesis is “Find someone to help and help them.” -DeviantOllam [1] of “Lawyer. Passport. Locksmith. Gun.” Saintcon talk fame [2]. [1] https://twitter.com/deviantollam https://twitter.com/deviantollam [2] https://youtu.be/6ihrGNGesfI https://youtu.be/6ihrGNGesfI
- mbg721 4y agoI think the answer I was expecting was that it's a two-step process: 1) Be lucky, and 2) Don't be unlucky. My next-door neighbor is actually a local politician, but her party affiliation is the one I dislike, so I'm getting a life-lesson in humility.
- toomuchtodo 4y agoI’ve never been good at delivering bad news, my apologies. Talk to your neighbor and explore a run for office if it interests you. Actually wanting to be engaged is the first step, and it sounds like you want to. No one is coming to save us, it’s just us.
- droopyEyelids 4y agoI don't know if this is what you intend, but it sounds like you're baiting an answer about vigilante style "justice" to the executives/board members of these misbehaving corporations. That would be counterproductive and probably only cause them to treat us with less empathy than they do already.
- johnfn 4y agoI'm not advocating for "vigilante justice" either, but if that's the clearest / first thought you have when someone authentically asks "what can I do," that's probably a problem :P
- FunnyBadger 4y ago
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- hdhdhdh88 4y agoIf possible, leave USA. There are political systems around the world that aren’t broken and there are some that are actually being fixed by voters (e.g. Australia). But USA is broken for at least our lifetimes. You only live once.
- gretch 4y agoThe reason those other places around the world aren’t broken* is because people had the mentality of putting in hard work toward the future. If everyone shared what you thought and fled at a moment of hardship, the whole world would go to shit really fast. *your opinion, not mine. I don’t think USA is that bad of a place and I don’t put Australia on a pedestal.
- PaulDavisThe1st 4y agoIf this is true, who is going to fix it and where will they come from? If this is not true, then ... well then you're just wrong.
- toomuchtodo 4y agoI’m leaving for Western Europe, all of the tools I need for advocacy and accountability work just fine from over there (laptop and mobile device are all that is required). I’m unable to run for office, I am not an ideal candidate for various reasons. I want the country improved long term, but am unwilling to suffer in the short term because of, for lack of a better words, the malevolent and troglodytes. In the case of voting, you can’t persuade some people even with evidence and data. You might just have to wait for old people to age out (1.8 million voters over the age of 55 age out every year) and younger folks (open to new ideas and mental models) to come of age, before there are improved chances of success. If you have to wait somewhere, don’t wait here if you don’t have to (life lesson: never suffer needlessly). (I also contribute time to helping anyone wanting to expat out of the US get to higher quality jurisdictions, Europe, Australia, etc)
- PaulDavisThe1st 4y agoI grew up in Western Europe. I intend to die in the US.
- Kye 4y agoThe CFPB is so good. It's one of a small number of federal agencies that actually has teeth. I went 30 rounds with PNC after they devoured what was left of Simple before someone suggested filing a CFPB complaint. Basically, I received some mail for the account despite being assured it was closed before the Simple closure. I asked for a letter stating in no uncertain terms that the account was closed and that I wouldn't be liable for anything if they screwed up. They bombarded me with emails and calls for a week trying to avoid working through the CFPB before finally answering the complaint with what I asked for. I was adamant that it happen with the CFPB so their statement would be on file. Now the PDF is there if the bank gives me any trouble. People report similar success filing FCC complaints to get action from phone companies and ISPs that otherwise ignore them.
- roughly 4y ago> The CFPB is so good. It's one of a small number of federal agencies that actually has teeth. Naturally, the GOP has been trying to gut it for years.
- sophacles 4y agoThey often do say "burn it all down".... But in the process of losing their home and car they end up homeless or in public housing. Since "everyone" knows folks on the streets and on welfare/assistance programs are just scum who are gaming the system to take away what hard-working, honest people earn (in the form of taxes), their pleas are ignored. Ever wonder why the rich folks are often the loudest about that sort of framing? It's (in part anyway) because it lets them get away with the sort of shenanigans Well's Fargo just got slapped on the wrist for.
- FollowingTheDao 4y agoI just watched a younger man bring his elderly and handicapped father into a Planet Fitness to take a shower because they were both homeless. I am homeless as well. That fine should all go to ending homlessness. And if you vote for the D or R you are voting for the same party; the O Party, as in Oligarchs.
- azemetre 4y agoI'm sorry but if one thing America should have learned over the last six years is that the two parties are nothing alike, equating them as the same and making a poor faith effort that voting is useless is extremely moronic.
- kelipso 4y agoIt's like Maslow's hierarchy of needs...if you're wealthy enough, you can afford to distinguish between the two parties; if you're not, the two parties are the exact same.
- Zigurd 4y agoI sympathize with that view, but nearly every decision you make, every day, at every price level, about everything, is a choice between flawed alternatives.
- kelipso 4y agoSure they're different, my point being people only care about the differences once they've reached a certain comfort level.
- pxc 4y agoNeither party is willing to solve homelessness by actually fucking housing people, and you're calling a homeless person a moron because their assessment of the two parties which, to avoid disturbing the existing economic order, mutually assent to that permanent state of crisis, doesn't include enough conciliatory language for you about how Orange Man Bad? Jesus Christ.
- yellowapple 4y agoIt's only a matter of time before that miracle starts to wear off - assuming it hasn't already started to wear off.