In the 21st century impatience, lack of discipline and flamboyant attitudes facilitate poor financial decision-making. Why is it so hard to say "No. I can't afford that" and just let it be. Every time I turn on the radio or television I hear about debt consolidation this and debt elimination that. These ads are usually directed towards my demographic, the 20- something year old, specifically the females. How can you be that young and have such debt? I am not referring to student or home loans since they are considered investments (or at least were considered so once upon a time). Most debt comes from living beyond ones means, buying what one can't really afford with credit cards.
My first encounter with credit cards occurred during my freshman year at my alma mater, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During the first week of the semester, if you played your cards right, you could survive and spend very little. If your tummy rumbled there was free pizza, subs, drinks and any other junk food your heart desired. (Who'd want to eat junk food you ask? A recently liberated adolescent with a license to FINALLY make their own decisions about every aspect of their life, that's who!) Need more clothes? If you knew how to work The Pitt and The Quad (the two spaces at UNC where everyone hangs out between classes) you could score a few t-shirts, caps and visors to complete your wardrobe. All of this stuff was free, or was it really? Who was giving away this stuff? You guessed it....credit card companies. "Sign up for this card and get "x" free." "Apply today to lock in this interest rate and get a free lunch." Blah-blah-blah! Thank God I knew better.
My mother taught my sister and me about personal finance from an early age.I learned that poor financial and credit management would limit what apartments you could rent and increase long-term costs when financing a home, furniture or a car. If you are poor AND have bad credit you will pay much more for the items you need (and want) because extending credit to you is riskier, so interest rates are higher and down payment requirements are larger than they would be if you were a safe credit risk. This was a lot for a pre-teen to absorp, but I'm glad I did.
I wasn't ready for the responsibility (or temptation) that a credit card offered and I came to terms with it. Sadly, can't accept their reality. Quite a few friends of mine fell into the credit trap, finding themselves in a new place with a desire to reinvent themselves with a new wardrobe, new gadgets and maybe a new car. These instant pleasures caused long term pain as the thrill of having something new wore off while the compounding interest from the cards kept them slaves to making credit card payments. How quickly they signed their lives away for depreciable assets. How quickly they regretted their decisions. I can only hope they learn from their experiences.
My travels abroad have left me amazed at the influence hip-hop has made on an international level. Most of the time I'm quite embarrassed, I must admit, as rap music is no longer represents real life, but instead relies on macho fantasies or female gold digging, both playing out as a modern minstrel show. Once in a while hope is restored through an artist who (usually only with one song goes) beyond shuckin' and jivin and really takes makes the political and economic a tangible tipic for the layman. DJ Black, from Panama, did just did this with his hit "Chucha Su Madre".
While I must admit I did not like the song at first because it samples Little Vicious's "Freaks" (I'm a music snob. "Oh? You can't create your OWN beats? HATED IT!) and because hearing "chucha" (Spanish word for cunt (in Ecuador) and damn! or f***. It means something different wherever you are in South America) every two seconds grated my nerves. Once I listened to the lyrics, however, I was sold because he speaks the truth creatively.
"Chucha de su madre" or "chucha su madre" literally is your mother's vagina (think of a more vulgar way to say that). Essentially you can substitute this Spanish phrase to mean "(like a) mother f***er", someone who is "screwed" or "out of luck", "f***ed". I tried my best to translate the meaning below. If you see ... below, it refers to one of the many uses of "chucha su madre".
Esta es la cancion del [This is the song about the "screwed"]
chucha de su madre
dedicados pa´ los [dedicated to all the "out of luck"]
chucha de su madre
pa´que lo suenen como [so it sounds like "(like a) mother f***er"]
chucha de su madre
y se pegue de aqui asta la
chucha de su madre
Esta es la cancion del [This is the song about ...]
chucha de su madre
dedicados pa´ los [dedicated to all the ...]
chucha de su madre
pa´que lo suenen como [so they sound like ...]
chucha de su madre
y se pegue de aqui asta la [and they listen to this song until it ends]
chucha de su madre
En el pais hay un problema bien
chucha de su madre [In this country there is a very serious problem]
que no tiene hasta la
chucha de su madre [There is not enough to go around]
que trabajamos como
chucha de su madre [We work ourselves like a mother f***er]
pa´recibir un sueldo bien
chucha de su madre [To receive a salary that isn't worth a damn]
y cada 4 años se aparece un
chucha de su madre [Every four years an asshole appears]
prometiendo como
chucha de su madre [Making promises like crazy]
pidiendo voto como
chucha de su madre [Asking for votes like crazy]
voten por mi ["Vote for me"]
chucha de su madre [(Look at this mother f***er)...]
pero [But]
en la asamblea hacen
chucha de su madre [In the political assembly they don't do anything]
no hacen nada por ni un
chucha de su madre [They don't so anything for anyone]
se olvido de todo los
chucha de su madre [They've forgotten about all us ...]
y se roba la plata el
chucha de su madre [And they steal the money, those...]
Esta es la cancion del
chucha de su madre [This is the song about ...]
dedicados pa´ los
chucha de su madre [dedicated to all the ...]
pa´que lo suenen como
chucha de su madre [so they sound like ...]
y se pegue de aqui asta la
chucha de su madre [and they listen to this song until it ends]
mira esto lo que me paso a las una de la mañana [Look at what happened to me at 1 o'clock in the morning]
Espero taxi como un mismo
chucha de su madre [I'm hailing a cab driven by a ...]
y por ser negro no me llevan los
chucha de su madre [And because I'm black the ... won't stop for me]
y a lo lejos se me acercan dos
chucha de su madre [And from afar two damn cops walk toward me]
cedula ciudadano ["ID please."]
chucha de su madre [ Fuck!]
me llevan pa'l curtel los
chucha de su madre [Those ... take me to jail]
me sueltan a las 4 como
chucha de su madre [The released me at 4o'clock, those ...]
llego a mi casa y la
chucha de su madre [I arrive at home and the ...]
mi mujer tu estavas con una
chucha de su madre [My woman asks, "Were you with a damn woman?"]
Esta es la cancion del
chucha de su madre [This is the song about ...]
dedicados pa´ los
chucha de su madre [dedicated to all the ...]
pa´que lo suenen como
chucha de su madre [so they sound like ...]
y se pegue de aqui asta la
chucha de su madre [and they listen to this song until it ends]
En el pais hay un problema bien
chucha de su madre [In this country there is a very serious problem]
el seguro asta la
chucha de su madre [Social security and insurance is out of control]
los doctores hacen huelga los
chucha de su madre [Doctors are on strike, those ...] {Not sure if he's saying "huelga"=strike or "verga"= dick (doing nothing)}
el dietilenglicol [learn more about dietilenglicol here]
chucha de su madre
mato un poco de viejo el
chucha de su madre [They killed a few old people, those ...]
y los taxi hasta la
chucha de su madre [Taxi cabs are too expensive]
y hasta los buses se prenden
chucha de su madre [The buses work]
y nunca meten preso a ni un
chucha de su madre [And they don't throw any of these guys in jail]
sigue el transporte hasta la
chucha de su madre [Transportation is too expensive]
gasolina hasta la
chucha de su madre [Gas is too expensive]
la comida hasta la
chucha de su madre [Food is expensive]
y el salario en el ghetto hasta la
chucha de su madre [The average salary in the ghetto isn't worth a damn]
Esta es la cancion del
chucha de su madre [This is the song about ...]
dedicados pa´ los
chucha de su madre [dedicated to all the ...]
pa´que lo suenen como
chucha de su madre [so they sound like ...]
y se pegue de aqui asta la
chucha de su madre [and they listen to this song until it ends]
El pais esta creciendo hasta la
chucha de su madre [The country is growing beyond it's capacity]
rantan de edificio como
chucha de su madre [Development and sprawl like you wouldn't believe]
que lindo q bonito los
chucha de su madre ["How nice! How pretty!" say the naive ...]
y quien va ir a vivir hay los
chucha de su madre ["And who do you suppose will live there?" "Those rich ..., brother."]
brother
esto esta hasta la
chucha de su madre [We are so fed up]
todo el mundo sufre como
chucha de su madre [Everyone is suffering like dogs]
el pobre mas pobre hasta la
chucha de su madre [The poor keep getting poorer]
justicia pal´pueblo
chucha de su madre ["Justice for the people"]
'tamos cabria'o hasta la
chucha de su madre [We are angry and fed up]
sufriendo como
chucha de su madre [We are suffering like dogs]
llorando como
chucha de su madre [Crying like]
trabajando como
chucha de su madre [Working like dogs]
y echamos pa´lante como
chucha de su madre [We've got to keep advancing]
ya tu saves. [You know]
