this post was submitted on 03 May 2026
63 points (100.0% liked)
A Boring Dystopia
16701 readers
776 users here now
Pictures, Videos, Articles showing just how boring it is to live in a dystopic society, or with signs of a dystopic society.
Rules (Subject to Change)
--Be a Decent Human Being
--Posting news articles: include the source name and exact title from article in your post title
--If a picture is just a screenshot of an article, link the article
--If a video's content isn't clear from title, write a short summary so people know what it's about.
--Posts must have something to do with the topic
--Zero tolerance for Racism/Sexism/Ableism/etc.
--No NSFW content
--Abide by the rules of lemmy.world
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
It wasn't really that bad as long as you were reasonable on your debt to income ratio. It absolutely stupid easy to get a loan in the boom before the bust. The contrast is why people remember it being "tight". We had no issues with getting a loan.
I did know some people who were all pissed off that they couldn't get a home loan but they had $120K in debt between car, furniture, and student loans. They had to have their parents help them out with rent every other month.
Your story still confirms the age old adage: economic crashes are wealth consolidation mechanisms for the 1%. You happen to have lucked yourself in with them just this once, good for you.
For each story like yours there are hundreds of thousands who lost their lives savings sometimes even their retirement funds and had to keep working till they died.
This was implied but not spelled out.
Critically important part of the story: if it wasn't for key government assistance at the right time, the story is would be very different.
First time home buyer - a government program that allowed us to put 3.5% down instead of 10-20% for traditional mortgages.
2009 - First time home buyer tax credit. It was $7,500 If I recall correctly. It was more than the 3.5% down. We were also able to claim it immediately after purchasing the house. We we received the money 3 weeks after closing. (How did we get $7,500? We cashed out every retirement plan we and had a small insurance payment from our apartment being robbed.)
Unemployment insurance was extended from 26 weeks to 2 years. This gave me time to apply for the higher paying jobs. It took me over year to get the higher paying job. We would have likely lost the house without assistance.
There is no effective way out of poverty without a helping hand.