OpEdNews - Page 5 of Article: Full Moon Rising: Consumer Financial Protection

can you care for yourself if you can't afford to get a degree to support your career?

Germans also have access to free state-of-the-art health insurance, comparable to anything we have in the United States and in some

cases substantially better. Finally and equally important, a German citizen never has to worry about homelessness, joblessness or

starvation. It is simply unthinkable. With the nation's fundamental community ethic, all for one and one for all, if you lose your

job, you never have to worry about being pushed into the street. There are government programs that will insure you keep your home

by subsidizing the roof over your head and the food on your table. The understanding is that illness, unemployment, personal

injury, family tragedy, divorce, natural events or circumstances beyond your control often dictate your money life and the State is

there to help you through these times. Everyone shares in the burden. Wow! What a concept.

This is how a social democracy works. Everyone gives a little and everyone gets a lot. Democratically elected government, free

enterprise, reasonably regulated capital markets and responsible banking. Social responsibility is built into the tax code and the

cost-of-living. No one dies in modern Germany because they couldn't afford healthcare. No one starves in modern Germany because an

investment banker cut off funding to an employer. No one is forced to live on the Street because they were sucked into an ethically

deplorable predatory loan.

Okay- I am not suggesting we all move to the Rhineland. I am simply offering the possibility that there are other ways to live

other than the way we live and struggle now. It is worth a deeper look at other viable financial systems in the modern world to

shift the tide of American economic indifference. The continuing banking crisis confirms we are indeed all in this together. Our

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