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2007-09-18 issue:

When debt becomes too much

Mediaculture review of Maxed Out

by Anna Groff

Print Article

Maxed Out (available on DVD), a documentary about America’s debt crisis, shows the desperation of American families overwhelmed by consumer debt.

Elizabeth Warren, a professor from Harvard Law School, predicts that if the crisis continues, the United States could fall into a two-tiered system—with a smaller group of successful, stable families and a much larger group of families in debt, barely making it paycheck to paycheck.



I wonder how the church will respond to this system—or will churches simply fall into these two tiers, with those who owe money and those who have money segregated from one another? And how will churches respond to individuals featured in Maxed Out—like Sean, who found himself $12,000 in debt his sophomore year in college? And how would they comfort Sean’s mother after he died by suicide that same year?

Another individual in Maxed Out—a widow in California—went into debt after her husband’s death and took out the ever-tempting cash advances to make house payments.
She kept taking them out thinking, If [the companies] think I can pay this, maybe I can pay this. But, she says, “29 percent interest kills you.” She also admits to looking for the foreclosure on the house every time she checks the mail, all the while fighting thoughts of suicide.

These powerful stories explain the cycle of indebtedness, but Maxed Out relies too much on text shown in parentheses after certain clips. For example, after showing a clip of Suze Orman firmly instructing to her audience that their FICO credit score is the number one determinant in their interest rates and financial futures, a still shot of text reads “She has a deal with FICO’s parent company.”

Another shot says FICO has nothing to do with one’s income and is often inaccurate.
These tidbits offer superficial facts into the murky world of credit corruption but would persuade me more genuinely if evoked in interviews instead of text.

One clip runs without any commentary or text: Jerry Falwell presenting his spiel on “spiritual mathematics”—the logic that if one gives more to God, they will end up with more in their pocket.

Falwell tells families in financial trouble, “A bad attitude about money got you into debt.”
I rolled my eyes at Falwell’s advice and dismissed it (as the writer intends). Falwell blames the debtor entirely, without taking into consideration how credit card companies strategically target the most marginalized and vulnerable.

For instance, Warren claims a vice president of MasterCard admitted to her that a bank’s most popular customers are people who have declared bankruptcy for two reasons: First, they cannot file for bankruptcy again. Second, they have a “taste for credit” and are willing to make minimum payments indefinitely.

These “popular customers” are easy to find. This year, more Americans will go bankrupt than will get cancer or divorced.

In another clip, two young debt buyers defend the system by arguing for all-around integrity, claiming that credit was made available for people with all kinds of emergency needs, but when it comes time for them to pay it back, they need to step up and do their part.

But, Warren argues, it’s not that simple. She claims that for every dollar charged, the average American pays $2 more in interest and fees. So while people in debt must take responsibility, it’s astounding to realize the profits credit card companies rake in.

Churches must begin to speak about this as an injustice. We can take a different approach from Falwell and others by continuing to dialogue about spending and stewardship but proceeding in a way that addresses the corruption of credit card companies and understands that the oversimplified “spiritual mathematics” may not work in all situations.

The Christian Century’s Aug. 7 issue (“Crusade Against Debt”) also covers consumer debt and features Dave Ramsey, a “radio personality and anticredit crusader.” Ramsey is also interviewed in Maxed Out.

The article critiques the evangelical financial ministries of Ramsey and others as having political agendas and of “thinking too small.” The messages about credit and debt benefit the middle-class, who want to spend guiltlessly after tithing and saving—and perhaps Jesus’ message about money is far bigger than that.

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