[pianotech] NY Times article on pianos (OT)

[Susan Kline]

Hi, Bill

We can agree to disagree about that. Certainly there's plenty of blame 
to go around.

The predatory lending, and the draconian bankruptcy bill which saddles 
young people with debt
for their natural lives, and the vicious collection practices 
(pressuring kids to
pay their loans before their rent, their utilities, their food, or their 
medicine)
seem to be to be far from blameless. And the way they've set up loans so 
if graduates
can't make payments, the principal just mounts up and up -- doubling, 
tripling --
"I owe my soul to the company store" comes to mind.

It all seems very similar to the mortgages banks sold to people who 
obviously would
default. They privatize the profit while socializing the risk.

I'm done with politics, here. Suffice to say that no one newly graduated 
with
a six-figure debt will be able to study piano tuning, or live on a 
beginning
tuner's earnings. And that has been going on for decades already. No wonder
routine work isn't getting done.

It reminds me of places where the cost of real estate and rent gets so high
that the service people (gardeners, window cleaners, day care people, 
etc.) can't
afford to live within commuting distance.

It all feels like endgame to me. If things can't get any more expensive
and complicated and impractical, in the end they will come crashing down.

Best to keep a wary eye on the basics in our lives -- where does our food,
electricity, fuel, etc. come from, and will it keep coming? Is the 
division of
labor which we've become totally dependent on really going to go on
forever? Anyone feel like investing in some nice high-paying Spanish
bonds? 25% unemployment in Spain these days. What are they all going to
do?

Thumpe's right -- gardening is good. Not because it is financially 
profitable
right now, but because the food is better than store-bought, and growing it
teaches people how to do it successfully, and how to use the produce and
plant the right amounts at the right times. Someday they might really 
need this
skill. Plus some plants like fruit trees and berry bushes and nut trees
need time to grow.

Best,
Susan

Bill Fritz wrote:
> Susan, while I'd agree that this world is indeed changing...
>  
> However, I would respectfully suggest that Wall Street is not at fault 
> for the massive Student Loan mess... it is the US Govt, the Colleges, 
> & the Professors who encouraged students to take on too much debt at 
> too young an age.  I'll also fault the parents, though the students 
> are by law allowed to make their own decisions, and indeed do so too 
> willingly.
>  
> Easy loan money from the USGovt encourages students to step up to more 
> expensive colleges, and only encourages the Colleges & the Professors 
> to raise their rates.
>  
> The law of supply & demand... except in this case, Wall Street had 
> nothing to do w/ it.
>  
> Best Regards...   Bill Fritz, St Louis
>  
>  
> From: 	Susan Kline <skline at peak.org>
> To: 	pianotech at ptg.org
> Subject: 	Re: [pianotech] NY Times article on pianos
> Date: 	Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:28:37 -0700
>
> What I see is one more way in which this country has paid for letting
> Wall Street put most of the young and educated into indentured servitude
> via student loans.
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