The Evil I's

They say humans are motivated by greed and fear.  Lot of people know this.  But do a lot of people know that both greed and fear have chosen the two evil I's as their primary method of deliverance?

The first evil I stems from greed and it is called interest.  Interest as in an "interest only loan" or interest as in "a low 17% interest on your credit card".  You borrow money to consume today what you should be consuming tomorrow.  You buy a house you can't afford by borrowing a lot of money and paying a lot more interest.  The more greedy you are the more you want to have now, the more you lever yourself.

The second evil I stems from fear and it is called insurance.  Insurance as in "earthquake insurance" or "car insurance".  You pay to cover yourself from something bad happening to you.  You take a bet against yourself and spend all your life trying to win, and guess what, you do.  That's how insurance companies make money.  Insurance feeds on your fear.

If you want proof that humans are motivated by greed and fear, just look at the size of the banking and insurance industries.  QED

So beware the evil I's.  The object in the picture above won't save you from these kinds of evil I's.

Why do I write this?  Why now?  No particular reason, other than the fact that I recently bought a house and am just pissed that have to pay a lot more interest and insurance.  But that was my choice now wasn't it?

Comments

[Ben Smith]

Baris, but you forget the ever important rationalization on how that Interest on the house helps you with the most evil I. Income Tax.

[Baris Karadogan]

Yes, and then they get you with property tax. There is no fighting the system, the best you can do is to figure out to be part of it as fast as you can. I think you know that well :-)

[O Unsal]

The System, the Man, has new weapons in its arsenal. Insurance and lawsuits. Castor and Pollux. We are governed by insurant ethics. Your actions are curtailed not by morality but because your insurance premium might go up. You cannot do certain things in certain places because their insurance does not cover that action (or its consequences). Try putting your young one on your shoulder in a mall, the security guard would swiftly come and caution you that it is not a safe thing. Safety is a euphemism for their insurance policy banning the shoulder carry. Because you might sue if you fell over and injured your kid. I am sure the actuary ran the numbers and is right. It is not so much that we fear our house burning or getting into an accident (human beings grossly underestimate the likelihood of those events happening to them), but because the system forces us to get that insurance so that the actuaries can police our actions. It is a very efficient system actually because the premiums insureds pay equal payouts to events (which 90% of the time involve lawsuits). Insurance companies are not profitable per se due to the efficiency. They appear profitable in bull markets because of the interest they earn on the premium "deposits."