Its very easy to play the puritan. I'm slightly to the right of Norman Tebbit myself.
Nevertheless. The morality of going bankrupt does have to be carefully balanced against the morality of the money lenders. I just cannot make my heart bleed for the banks nor the airlines nor the training industry that have conspired to put Wannabes into MASSIVE debt secured against a flimsy dream.
The protection of the bankruptcy Court is just that. Protection of the individual in hopeless debt against those that they owe. Without such a protection mechanism the banks would end up owning people. Morally that is unacceptable. A Wannabe owing £80k might never find a job that paid enough for them to ever escape the interest on their loan. Conceivably they could spend their entire adult life working to pay the bankers.
Whilst there is of course a requirement for people to borrow responsibly there is just as large, if not greater, requirement for the money lenders to lend responsibly. The bible is pretty clear about money lenders and temples.
I contend that it was totally irresponsible for the banks and the commercial companies involved to place so many wannabes so deeply in debt on such a flimsy basis. That some Wannabes honestly find themselves so hopelessly in debt now the industry has turned down is neither suprising nor their fault. That some entered the debt knowing that ultimately bankruptcy was their safety net is nothing more than rational risk assessment.
The result of such relaxed lending was to spark a cancer in the airline industry. The symptoms were self sponsored type ratings, working for peanuts on a trial basis and starting your first day of work owing more than a mortgage and thus being effectively bonded for the sum the size of a mortgage. Further the easy credit just increased the supply of pilots and thereby undermined the value of those already in the industry. Irresponsible lending just caused a glut of new pilots to the detriment of all. Do not lament its passing.
Be clear that the consequences of personal bankruptcy in 2008 are minor. You will not be blacklisted from credit. Your CV will not be rendered worthless. People will not shun you socially. The law cares little and the jails are certainly far too full of and far too well supplied with violent criminals for the threat of jail to be anything more than theoretical. The bankruptcy itself only lasts for 2 years and its requirements are not onerous for most young wannabes who have neither a family home or family commitments.
The Wannabe or youngish pilot with £75K of unsecured debt is not a rare species. I expect in 2009 there will be hundreds who will seek, and secure, the protection of the bankruptcy courts. When you understand what money is and how it is created you will find it hard to think that anybody has lost anything by a Wannabe going bankrupt. 8/9ths of the money never existed in the first place. Look up Money As Debt or the topic of Fractional Reserve Banking to learn why if you don't already know.
Wannabes need to be fully versed in the issue of bankruptcy for many reasons. Perhaps the most straightforward reason is to know what they are in competition with. Other Wannabes will be racking up £75k worth of debt to pay for fast track training, maybe even a type rating. They then go bust and free of interest repayments can take a job flying for food and still manage. Meanwhile Joe Wannabe who would never dream of going bankrupt or risking reckless debt is let plodding away for years getting trained and could never stretch as far as a self sponsored type rating. He's crowded out of the marketplace by the reckless who is willing to use bankruptcy.
Without knowing about this risk our hero, Joe Wannabe, is playing against a loaded deck.
Its a very worthy topic of Wannabe debate. I know several at various points in the process. Several have gone bankrupt and its worked like a charm. its a fact and anybody saying you can't say the truth is either a censor, a tyrant or a vested interest.
And anyway. In 2009/10 there will be more established pilots in the bankruptcy courts than there will be wannabes. This is going to be worse than the 1991 recession and therefore more airlines will go bust than then. It was horrific then. It will be worse now. This is not going to be a Sept11th style dip. The BIG crashes will be winter 2009. If you are a wannabe stay as clear as possible.
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