IN ______ WE TRUST?

IN ______ WE TRUST?

Note: This article, written by Douglas Castle, was originally published in HUMANITAS MAXIMUS (http://HumanitasMaximus.blogspot.com)

Dear Friends:

When it comes to banking nowadays, we would all be wise to adhere to a policy of "Let the Customer" beware. Count your change. Put your hand over your wallet. Reconcile every statement.

Banks are cutting credit lines (arbitrarily and capriciously, despite your actual credit history), destroying credit ratings left and right, charging record fees for overlimit expenditures and late payments, giving us the runaround when we try to "restructure" our mortgages, denying both individuals and businesses any credit facilities, foreclosing without a second thought, and enjoying the pleasure of government-infused taxpayer money. The Fed is not exactly forthcoming with the truth about the financial condition of banks and other credit institutions. The percentage of the population either unemployed or incarcerated continues to grow. The IRS is all but turning its agents into bounty hunters. A growing number of U.S. citizens are without healthcare insurance -- yet the insurance companies seem to be doing fairly well -- their health is certainly better than the average overstressed, overburdened and struggling citizen's. Unpaid insurance claims are piling up while premiums rise like the waters of Hurricane Katrina. There is desperation in the air, like the tinge of ozone before a major thunderstorm. When you telephone any major company for answers or explanations, you get a recorded menu of choices -- and when you've finally made your selection (*after going through any entire decision-tree matrix of choices), you are put on hold. Every possible impediment has been placed between humans to prevent real interpersonal interaction. And we are all suffering the consequences.

Here's a terrific (in a sad sort of way) story and some sideline articles, courtesy of Yahoo! News:

Bank's big auction blunder
A woman returns home to find a stranger demanding she leave "his" house. » Sold by mistake -NBC Miami
Find how to fight bank errors
Mortgage delinquency at all-time high

The question to ask yourself is, "Does it still make sense to give anyone the benefit of the doubt?"

The greatest challenge facing each of us is finding someone in whom (or something in which) we can trust. Trust is the glue that holds every relationship together. In point of fact, trust is the cement that keeps a society "civilized."

This is indeed a time for trusted friends to rediscover eachother, to reconnect with eachother, and to rebuild society from the smallest fundamental elements of the partnership and the team. Person to person, real space, real time.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com

p.s. I write for THE NATIONAL NETWORKER. Get your free subscription at http://twitlik.com/OK .