Great statements of our time - consumers told to "seek advice"
Of late there appears to have been an absolute deluge of programmes on ITV and the BBC about the credit crunch. The latest one consisted of Martin Lewis helping consumers source the best deal with great words of wisdom such as "shop around" and "seek advice".
While it would be easy to mock Mr Lewis for stating, as my dear father would put it, "the bleeding obvious", it did strike a chord with me. People were literally hanging off his every word in a way comparable to how I would image the crowd looked at Jesus when he made his speech on the Mount.
And that's when it hit me. Back in the day people were taught 'few things worth having are easy to get', yet this now appears to have been replaced by 'if it is worth having it should be easy to get and someone else should do the thinking for me'.
And this is where I start to rant. I can honestly say I am truly fed of people filling in my screen who want sympathy for failing to engage their brain.
“Oh I took out a £200,000 loan and I only earn £20,000.” Well, I hate to say it but that is your problem.
“Oh a broker told me to do it and then the bank said it was a good idea.” Great, so if the broker told you to sell your granny and the bank recommended opening up a brothel in the driveway on the grounds of it being a good “business opportunity”, would you do it?
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