Lindell and Ramsey: Debt Discrepancies and Outright Lies

https://www.reddit.com/r/MyPillowTalk/comments/16tcko7/yesterday_amex_dumped_my_pillows_1_mil_credit/?rdt=53153

What do you even say to something like this? The whole thing is one big cinematic smoke and mirrors lie.

Lindell continues to dress himself up with Christian imagery despite the fact that he's nothing more than a swindler. From his tacky cross to his hymn-inspired backdrop he's trying to 'sell' himself to the Christian community. But as I've repeatedly argued, his testimony rings hollow. The self-help and self-transformation ideas he espouses are not the gospel of the New Testament and it's clear he has not understood even the basic elements of the message.

 Actually he's to be pitied, a deceived deceiver if ever there was one. And the Christian community isn't helping him or the thousands of duped people who look up to him. Desperate for celebrity allies they'll give anyone a 'pass' as long as they forward the political agenda – which apparently at the moment is to ally with criminals and fascists, and to support the overthrow of the government.

If you take just a few minutes to look into his claims, you'll find that he wasn't dropped by American Express because of his activism (which if I were a patriot I would consider treasonous) but rather his insolvency. He's not paying his bills. He's clearly in trouble and they're not going to keep extending him credit. He's a liar as is Mr. Bannon.

Speaking of debt, there's an irony here for the Evangelical community. Florida educators are upset because Dave Ramsey's pseudo-Christian works have made their way into some public school curricula. With the general collapse in education some are concerned that young people are entering adulthood without a basic understanding of money and finance. Christian activists have a solution – they have introduced the works of Ramsey into Florida classrooms.

Some people are upset because he has some Scripture references in his work. This is absurd – by which I mean the idea that Ramsey's thinking is at all shaped by Scripture. He's a worldling through and through who doesn't know the difference between Libertarian ideology and Kingdom doctrine, the ideas of Friedman versus those of the apostle Paul.

Interestingly the educators were also upset because Ramsey is so critical of debt. This is tricky on many levels. Due to the credit revolution (part of capitalism) it has become almost impossible to afford major purchases apart from financing. The goal for the banking industry is to trap all of us into cycles of debt. Ramsey doesn't like this but apparently is too simple to realize this is what drives the economy and besides he has no problem with usury (or interest as it is commonly called today). Usury has today been redefined to mean excessive interest but that's not its historical or even Biblical meaning.

Maybe Ramsey doesn't understand the role debt and finance played in creating the modern world – a course already being pursued in earnest during the Renaissance. This investment would lead to further innovation and competition and ultimately to exploration, global markets, and most important of all – industrialisation.

This narrative is considered by most to be uncontroversial and in fact is commonly celebrated. While debt can be destructive and there are risks involved, many have utilised debt to accomplish great things, build businesses, innovate and the like. That's why many otherwise liberal people still tend to embrace capitalism. They view it as inevitable, necessary, and despite its problems it remains the least bad option for the world. Their beef isn't with capitalism, they simply want to make it more humane and accessible to the disenfranchised of society. Some people (like Ramsey) confuse this impulse with socialism. It's not socialism – not even close. There's no hint of dismantling the capitalist order and appropriating its wealth – let alone eradicating its concept of wealth and profit. No, the many so-called socialists (in the American spectrum at least) are simply advocating for a kinder patron-type capitalism and little more.

As a New Testament Christian I have a very different take on all this and view such questions through a different lens. But I don't see how Ramsey can. He's 'all in' when it comes to the end result but apparently doesn't understand what's brought it all about – this modern world he so clearly is in love with. It would be unimaginable apart from credit, debt, and usury.

Someone might say he just means personal debt. Does he? There are some who run up frivolous debt to be sure but not everyone does, and for some, debt enables them to live the kind of lifestyle they need simply to access certain tiers of society – to live in certain locales for example that will enable them to hold certain jobs and so forth. Again, I don't endorse any of this but I don't see how Ramsey's stand makes any sense in light of the larger ideology he represents.

In my opinion he's just a naive and small minded man that possesses a degree of shameless cunning rather than genuine intelligence or financial wisdom. His advice is self-serving and as I (and others) have often said – it's a rich man's advice for the rich. He has nothing to say, no advice to give when it comes to the struggles of the working poor. The same has long been true when it comes to other Christian financial gurus like Larry Burkett and Howard Dayton.

Returning to Lindell, his business model reveals the real precariousness and even bankruptcy at the heart of the US economic system – a kind of late-stage decadent capitalism on life-support. Many businesses used to rely on debt for large purchases or maybe an investment – building a new warehouse, buying a new fleet of vehicles or something like that. Some would borrow in order to buy out a competitor – a leveraged buyout. Today, many companies borrow just to meet their overhead. They borrow to keep the lights on and make payroll. This is especially true in the retail sector where the profit margins are so small due to Big Box competition. Breaking even or operating at a loss throughout eight months out of the year, they rely on the Christmas season to pay off their debts and hopefully make enough money to re-order inventory, maybe pay a few bonuses, and keep going. And if they're publically traded they must pay out investor dividends even if it means cutting jobs. This is where other tricks come into play like stock buybacks and so forth in order to boost the value of the stock just before quarterly reports.

But for most in the retail world, the smallest hiccup often spells doom and results in collapse. Companies get behind and if they're in trouble we often witness the strange or even counter-intuitive phenomenon of store closings and layoffs leading to a rise in stock prices. Intuition would tell you that such moves are the sign of a company in trouble. True enough. But the fact that someone is seeking to counteract the trend by cutting down on overhead and investing in whatever stores or lines are more profitable leads to more investment. And as is often the case, profitable but low-performing elements (whether in terms of production, logistics, or retail) are cut. The dropped overhead results in an increase in profits which leads to disrupted and often destroyed lives – and doesn't necessarily make the company more healthy. It's a quick-profit tactic that lines pockets but in the long term may harm the company. It is a vicious cycle and a deeply immoral system but it has become normative.

What if everyone followed Ramsey's advice? No debt.

The US economy would collapse. It's that simple.

To this Ramsey might say he's giving advice to individuals not economic advice in general. Then his advice is not universal but tailored, contextual, and situational. But that's not how he presents it and once again it has nothing to do with Scripture. I can make a contextual argument based on where I'm coming from but I'm not presenting myself as a financial expert, selling books with my 'principles' and plans – let alone presenting it as Christian or the application of Christian worldview.

So what we have is two frauds and yet both are lionised by the Evangelical community. Some churches (to their shame) even use Ramsey for Sunday School classes. If that's the case, it would be a good time to leave. I suppose he probably reins in the cussing and his general nastiness when he's teaching an official course but if you listen to his show (I can tolerate it in segments) it becomes clear enough what he is. I remember years ago my wife finally grew exasperated with what I was listening to in the car – she didn't know who Ramsey was. She wanted me turn it off. She was appalled when I informed her that Ramsey was a professed Christian and his materials were used in churches. She almost didn't believe me.

The Evangelical movement continues to beggar belief. I have argued for some time that Lindell is a fraud. One would think Evangelicals would be upset to find him collaborating with an out and out fascist like Steve Bannon. But it makes no difference. These words have no meaning. The movement revels in its ignorance and as such falls prey to buffoons and frauds like Lindell and Ramsey.

Since this video was posted in September, Lindell's situation has worsened. I will not weep if his or Ramsey's empire collapses.