Be Free - Be Debt Free to Exercise Liberty

Liberty is limited by debts. This has long been observed as so true that the term "Debt Slave" has been around for centuries and now is here to stay. Over 2000 years ago a Roman writer observed that, "Debt is the slavery of the free". Less than 200 years ago Emerson observed as still true that, “A man in debt is so far a slave.”

2013 is the new year of "The Debt Age" when so many individuals, and even most nations, are so in debt that there is great doubt as to whether any way out is possible.

If there is a way out of such tremendous debts, it is not likely to come from more income as it will come from gradually reducing spending while working hard at increasing revenues (i.e. new wealth).

It took me 'til my 60's to be debt-free. I never want to go into debt again. I've never known as much peace of mind and sense of freedom to spend prudently and invest wisely as now. Life has never been so good, even if I'm older, slower and less strong. I'm happier because I'm no longer a "Debt Slave".

I remember when I was more youthfully confident how I would assure myself, "I don't have a spending problem. I'll solve any indebtedness by increasing my income". (That kind of delusional self-talk I now recognize as a sign of my spending addiction.)

The trouble was that I had much less control over income (others' decisions and actions would largely determine my income), than I did over my spending (and I could do that spending all on my own).

Every day and every night I was increasingly aware of my debts as a burden that I'd have to address before any new spending could be ventured. There were good things I could not do before paying old debts. There were good investments I could not make because I had no reserves to invest. Debts were a fiscal and psychological burden that certainly didn't feel like liberty.

But, with experience and maturity I gradually learned to reign in spending and restrain spending, with a focus on building surplus income (i.e. savings). Yep. I never ever want to be a "Debt Slave" again.

Now I wonder about collective debt.

Today I heard it again from the highest source in the USA, "We don't have a spending problem".

And, I wondered at how much that statement sounds like the utterance of a "Spending Addict".

If an individual can fall into debt addiction, it's not altogether surprising that most nations, including the USA, now appear to be debt addicted.

The following "Signs" of spending trouble is from a helpful web site Spenders.org http://spenders.org

"Signposts on the road to compulsive spending:

$ Unwarranted inhibition and embarrassment in what should be a normal discussion of money.

$ A lack of concern about things that don't have to be paid for this month.

$ Unusual difficulty in recalling and relating specific obligations to available funds.

$ Unrealistic expectations that there should be funds available in the future to meet obligations incurred in the present.

$ Inordinate feeling of euphoria on opening a charge account.

$ A feeling that someone will take care of you if necessary, so that you won't really get into serious financial trouble.

$ A feeling that there is always someone you can turn to for money.

$ The underlying, sometimes subconscious feeling that you need someone else to help you get out from under you financial problems."

Best wishes to each of us who are doing our individual best to be debt free, to be more at liberty to spend prudently and invest wisely, and to never ever to be a "Debt Slave".

And, best wishes to all the nations, especially the USA, in our collective conversation about the seriousness of "The Debt Age", and how we'll ever pass on the liberties we've known to those who will also now be stuck with paying for our collective spending on ourselves.

Yes, best wishes to all. Be free; be debt free.

Enjoy viewing video collage titled "Those Voices Don't Speak for the Rest of Us".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wusgcG4rfo

Ronald Reagan asked Americans to remember the liberty envisioned for us by those who risked their life, their property and their sacred honor to deliver to the world a new country of liberty. The video compares that liberty vision to our contemporary state of government of more rulers than representatives of "We the people".