Debt Catharsis

“Fiendishly Hard”

We Owe It to Ourselves

Debt Fixers

Tough Compromise

We Need a Better Model

Dallas, Austin, and Old Friends

The ancient Greeks had a word κάθαρσις, which in English we now spell as “catharsis,” although it’s pronounced basically the same. It originally referred to purifying religious ceremonies, medical treatments, and so on.

Aristotle was the first we know to have used the word in a non-physical sense. He compared the emotions felt by spectators of Greek tragedy to a bodily catharsis. Tension builds until the audience feels the same intense emotions actors portray on stage. All this is released at a climactic moment, called the catharsis.

Our modern-day debt situation is a kind of Greek tragedy. A dramatic tension is certainly building. But a catharsis will come only when we, the audience, all become part of the story. We have to feel it. As of now, most of us aren’t.