Just read an interesting post over at The Money Blog entitled “Why do you hate people in debt?” And it got me thinking of the reactions people have towards debt, towards debtors, and towards money in general.

I’ve been in debt, and I’ve seen a whole range of responses when I told people that I was struggling with my money issues. Looks of genuine surprise, disappointment, dismay, mild contempt, open hostility and even sneaking admiration…

I think people’s reactions said more about their own attitudes to money, than my inability to stay solvent at the time.

It’s certainly a subject that can raise people’s blood pressure very quickly. Some people get almost apopleptic when confronted by a story about someone in debt (heaven forbid they actually meet one in person!)

And the camps seems to be starkly divided, with one side seeing debtors as some sort of societal pariahs who can’t handle money; and the other side lays the blame squarely on the shoulders of the financial institutions who caused the problems in the first place by making all this credit available…

So who is it?

I don’t condone flagrant misuse of credit. I’ve done that and paid the penalties. (Many of them.) Yet I do struggle with equating one person’s personal debt, with the mismanagement of large amounts of funds on a corporate or governmental level that seem to go unnoticed or unheeded, and then quickly fade into another forgotten headline.

Equally, I don’t condemn personal debtors. I don’t know the circumstances by which they found themselves in debt. And before you come back with something like: “You can’t ‘find’ yourself in debt - you spend your way there.” Bear in mind there are circumstances that may incur a level of debt which may then be difficult to deal with - long-term unemployment, health issues, etc.

It’s easier to condemn the big financial institutions. Faceless corporations looking to satisfy the need for profit, regardless of the misery they might cause along the way. Case in point - the current issue of high bank charges in the UK.

I’ve never understood the reasoning behind charging someone a hefty fee (it used to be £25) if someone went even £5 overdrawn. I’m not sure it makes financial sense, does it? Isn’t it simply making it more likely that the customer will get into further financial difficulties? Are these charges fair and reasonable? I don’t think so.

Here’s another perspective:

Of course some bank charges are excessive, just as some junk food contains too many calories and too much alcohol makes you drunk. But if we want the right to be treated as autonomous adults living free of a nanny state, then we have responsibilities too.

I think the middle ground lies in taking responsibility. The financial institutions have to take a level of responsibility for the way they encourage the use of their products (debt instruments) and we have to take personal responsibility for our own financial education and financial decisions.

We also need to take a degree of responsibility for our emotional reactions to money and debt. Maybe someone in debt could use your experience or wisdom, rather than your scorn. Maybe if you’re telling someone about your debt, they might be encouraged to see you’re willing to take responsibility for it.