When is it OK to help people?

I heard another interesting story on NPR this morning. This time it was about the collapse of some subprime mortgage lenders. One of the proposals was that, because some of the people facing foreclosure were the victims of so called "predatory lending practices", the government or other agencies may help some of the borrowers out. There were comments for and against this and at first I sided with the guy who said (I paraphrase here because I don't remember exactly what he said), "These people bet on the fact that their house would increase in value and it didn't. Why should we bail them out for a bad decision?" You could say that these people need to learn a lesson. But why should be less willing to help these individuals and families than we would to help a company or group in the same situation? Chrysler made a number of bad decisions in the 1970's and the government loaned them money until they got back on their feet. We help out some industries facing foreign competition by raising tariffs. We subsidize our farmers to help them through the ups and downs of the weather.

I've seen arguments that these are proper because if we didn't, large numbers of people would be affected and our economy as a whole would suffer. Well, that's right. And I'm not saying we should choose between helping corporations and helping these borrowers. I'm saying that this is also a large group of people who just don't all work for the same corporation or have the same occupation. But make no mistake that it will have a large economic impact. Not only will it flood the market with low-priced houses (further depressing the price of houses for people who need the worth of their homes to increase or at least stay the same) but home owners, as opposed to renters, support their community in a number of ways. From buying at the local lumber yard and hardware store to being able to fit in with a long-term community where they have roots. They work on their houses more (nicer looking neighborhoods), care about the schools and support the police and fire companies because they are there for the long haul.

Another argument I read stated that not all the people facing foreclosure were victims of "predatory lending practices" and that is probably true. We should look at these on a case by case basis. The reason these are subprime loans, though, is because the people taking out the loan are already in bad financial shape. They don't have any other options. The only way they could buy a house was to grasp at the straw a less than scrupulous lender might hold out to them.

Many people have a hard time putting themselves in the place of another person who is facing a crisis and is in need of help. The nice side of me prays that those people never find themselves in the same situation and hopes that they will just open their heart to the people in need. The nasty side of me says, "Just wait till you need help - we'll ignore your pleas, too."