Those middle-class rigids who were/are full of condemnation for those of us living in debt have been stunned. The recovery is taking hold and some of us, in a few good months, have wiped out a lot of that debt. No wonder the middle class are economically stuck and can't build a platform on which to climb out. They essentially are economically unenlightened.
In his classic article in THE NEW YORK TIMES "The American Way of Debt," Jackson Lears documented how debt has been as American as apple pie and helped the nation become the number-one wealth producer. Specifically, Lears states,
"Debt has always played an important role in American lives - not merely as a means of instant gratification but also as a strategy for survival and a tool for economic advance."
Are the stuck middle class killing possibilities by being so risk-averse regarding piling on debt? Here's a brief case study of a big-time debtor:
African-American Elie Mystal took on about $150,000 in student loans getting a JD at Harvard Law School. Turns out he hated practicing law, at least the kind that's done at Manhattan law firms. Despite his debt, which he hadn't put a dent in, he left law. He then went on to audition, American Idol-style, for a writing, yes, a writing, position at gossipy legal tabloid Abovethelaw.com. He got the job.
Surely, it can't pay what a large law firm does. However, at ATL, Mystal is putting together something that is leading to new options. Because of the tabloid's popularity - think the NATIONAL ENQUIRER of the legal profession - bookers put him on talk shows. He's quoted globally in media. He's feared by the public relations types. And my hunch is that he is going to be making seven or eight figures in some entertainment niche.
Mystal never allowed debt to influence his approach to creating wealth, his way.
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