Survive

We know we have a debt problem. How it unravels without excessive pain is the million-dollar question. The less discussed question is the income obsession. The spending obsession. They are linked. You can mostly only borrow if you can prove you don’t need to borrow. Mortgages are a societal favourite drug. Income is the societal favourite syringe. We don’t have enough housing, so we push up the prices of the few houses we have (pressure cooker) and lend money to those who are playing the salary musical chairs game. Low interest rates. Long borrowing periods. Low deposits. In a world of feast and famine, the whole system is fragile if we don’t have buffers to support our required spending. To support the basics. Our foundation needs to be independent of our earning ability. Our buffers need to be independent of our productivity. People need to be people first, and productive assets second (if at all). You can’t just wave a wand for that to happen. Wealth is built consciously, over time, through a separation of who we are and what we do. We will have moved forward if the question “What do you do for a living” is permanently separated from survival. When we solve problems, rather than creating problems to survive.