Everything you say is true but it is even worse than that.

Not only is debt encouraged, it is rewarded. Hell I have been greatly rewarded by it. I've been in debt most of my adult life and still am, and depending on circumstances and what makes sense financially may be till the day I die.

They are paying us to be in debt right now. The system as it is designed is taking away from savers and giving it to people like me. Now I am not pretending there is no risk involved in that debt because there definitely is. But what more enticement could there be to get people to conform to what you want them to do than taking money out of one persons pocket and putting it in yours to get you to do what they want? That is exactly what is happening.

One big difference is at least I think I understand how the system works and am voluntarily choosing to take advantage of what they are offering for business purposes that are hopefully fruitful. So many, many people have no clue how things work and are the unwilling and unknowing victims of what is being foisted on us, all the while we are told what a great deal it is. For the unknowing I agree that they can become debt slaves to the system very easily and in fact I think that is the goal and plan of the financial industry. Not every single individual banker or person working within the system, but the large financial behemoths that controll not only the financial system but the legislators and regulators that are supposed to be watching out for we the people and keeping tabs on the very industry that owns them.

I think the key to avoid being a debt slave is not whether you have debt or not. It is understanding how debt works and when, where and how much if any is appropriate. Debt can be a tool just like a screwdriver is a tool and just like a screwdriver works well for driving screws but works poorly as a hammer, debt used in the wrong manner is a broken tool.

Completely avoiding debt is a noble goal and is the most very conservative and "safe" route. It is the route my parents took and it worked for them. But from a business perspective, when debt is being subsidized by savers, to completely renounce it is to give your competetion an advantage you are refusing yourself to use. I'm not at all saying it is the wrong decision for any particular person. All I am saying is that the person who is willing to embrace a subsidized debt market is being given a government sanction and encouraged subsidy compared to the person who is not. Much like the person that takes out subsidized crop insurance gets a risk management advantage paid for by the people who do not take it.

Is it fair? Not only no, but hell no. But if your mama ever told you life was fair, she lied.

That is just the current rules of the game, till they change them. And when change comes it may be for the better or for the worse. And the ones that avoid debt will be in the safest position. But in the mean time they are subsidizing the ones using debt, like it or not.

It sucks, but that is the way it is.

John