| Show Money the new national pastime Dan Metcalf Contributing Writer In the recent film Field of Dreams the main character charac charac- ter reflects on how baseball is still played no matter what happens they still play baseball reflects Roy as he ponders the game Baseball has been considered the national national national na na- na- na pastime for some decades and even though it is still played it is slowly being taken over by another pastime pas pas- time time spending spending money The spending of money is something that most Americans do quite often and in recent years Americans have spent more than they actually have According to the US U.S. Census more than 62 of all families in the US U.S. are in debt up from below 50 some ten years earlier Debt for most people means financing and for some finance rates may exceed 20 All of these figures add up to thousands of dollars of outstanding debt Financing has become a way of life for most families and instead of the save up for it then buy it attitude that was present in inthe inthe inthe the middle twentieth-century twentieth the can we afford the payments payments payments pay pay- ments structure of thinking has because prevalent Americans seem to want all the good things in life but instead of saving and waiting they must have it all now Another tell-tale tell sign of the increased spending by Americans is the percentage of income that is saved by most families Again the US U.S. Census tells us that Americans saved 56 of their yearly income in 1960 whereas they now save 13 less The fact is that people are arc putting less money away for savings and more into immediate purchases More and more people arc are getting into debt and paying interest rather than putting money away in savings and collecting interest The old adage II A A smart man collects interest and a foolish man pays it rings quite true more now than ever before Fueling this new national pastime is the loan and mortgage companies who are arc offering financing with increasingly easier terms It used to be very difficult to get a loan for a car but now auto dealers are arc offering on lion the spot financing and bad credit no credit financing It is nearly as easy to get a student loan and what's worse is that many of these students students students stu stu- stu- stu dents have no intention of paying the loans back Americans' Americans values arc are changing rapidly with increased spending and financing and decreased savings It used to tobe tobe tobe be that almost anyone would be satisfied watching the Sox play at Fenway Park Now many people arc more concerned with interest rates and money than with how the Sox are arc doing in the pennant race Baseball no longer holds the highly valued title of our national pastime |
