It is all over the news, the web, and word of mouth: The Housing Crisis. Many people are angry because the government is helping people who accepted loans they couldn’t afford. They are mad because their tax dollars are helping people who shouldn’t have taken those loans in the first place to have houses that were beyond their means. They are also mad at the banks who gave those loans out in the first place. It is hard to point the finger of blame to when there were multiple parties involved making bad decisions. It’s one of those times where you just feeling like throwing your hands up in the air and saying, “Whatever! I’m done!” and groan and moan.
The unfair part is that these bad decisions are affecting people who were making the right decisions and living within their means. The people who managed their money well are giving their tax dollars to support the stupid people, but they have to let that happen. This is where it got fuzzy for me. I kept thinking, “Why does it matter whether or not the government helps these people?” Besides it being a moral matter of so many people losing their homes, I couldn’t
understand why these mistakes affected everyone who owns a home. NBC News finally clarified that when people foreclose on their house, the value of that house goes down, as well as the value of the houses around it. On Meet The Press (32 Minutes Into that Video Clip) David Gregory states that the problem is that “doing nothing is not a good option.” Even if people are mad because they made their payments by adding a second job or something, they can’t complain about federal funding because it’s the only way that the housing market will stabilize and their homes will maintain their value. Someone on Meet the Press said that people feel like they are the Ants taking Care of Grasshoppers (A Bug’s Life anyone?) The only difference there is that grasshoppers, at least in the movie A Bug’s Life, pressure ants to do all the work, whereas, this was a case of misjudgement, greed, and ignorance.Humans aren't the only ones being affected by the housing crisis: pets are too. When homes are foreclosed and people are losing jobs, petowners often have to move to renting situations, where pets aren't always allowed. For example, the Berkshire, where many AU students reside, does not allow dogs, and only allows cats for a certain amount of money. Even if a family who recently foreclosed on their home could keep their pets in their renting situation, they most likely are struggling financially and are forced to give up their pets. According to Shankblog, people are doing this left and right, and not just the typical drop them off in the shelter method- they are simply leaving pets behind in the houses they can't afford. What happens to them, then? So not only do the people who have been handling their money well pay the taxes to support others, but not they have to pay up to $150 for adoption of pets
who are now homeless.As negative about this situation as I sound, I honestly think the giving of people who have been able to maintain their lives to those who have had some trouble and made bad decisions show how well this country can support each other. We all make mistakes, and this happened to be a widespread, financial crisis-size mistake, but it is something our country can make it through.
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