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Steve_S

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I'm very interested in the world around me. Politics, religion, philosophy, management, human rights and the environment are high on my list of interests. I love going out with my wife and friends and still find time to walk the dog. Above all I enjoy helping people which is why I became ordained as a Minister in my religion (Scientology).

  • How do banks resolve "bad debt"?

    If we simplify this argument we call "fractional reserve banking" we could say that for every $1 or so the bank has in capital or seed-funds, they can generate loans of $10. Making a $1million loan means the bank presumably has about $100k to support it.

    If this $1mill loan goes bad right away and they can't recover any of it, how do they handle it? My understanding is that they have a ledger account in debit for $1mill that would gradually be zeroed out as payments of principle were made over the life of the loan. At the end of the day, the $1mill created would become $0 once more (not considering the interest). When the loan defaults, the bank still has its $100k reserve and hasn't really lost anything at all that it can't recreate at will.

    Does the Central Bank deem that the $1mill still exists in the economy even though the bank can no longer recover it from the person they lent it to? If so, how does the bank zero out a $1mill account when they never had more than $100k of it in the first place? It seems improbable to me that the bank would throw $1mill of capital at a bad loan to get it off the books. Yet I keep seeing bank press releases saying they are "making provisions" for so many hundreds of millions of dollars in bad debt. What does that mean?

    1 AnswerCredit1 decade ago
  • Why do Scientology critics call it a money-making scheme?

    There are no individuals making money out of Scientology. Survey the critics pages and they don't even have any suggestions of someone who may have an 18 car garage. They do say that Ron Hubbard only started it to make money but in fact he funded the establishment of the Church himself and then left most of his money and property to the Church. Yes, we pay money towards our Church, but it's my experience in Scientology that all money is pretty quickly paid towards facilities for members. Does anyone have any evidence at all to the contrary?

    12 AnswersReligion & Spirituality1 decade ago
  • Scientologists believe that you are as healthy and happy as you are self-determined. What do you think?

    This is a key concept in Scientology. It means that people would be happier and healthier in places where they are more able to control their own life (such as USA or Australia as opposed to China or Zimbabwe). It means that as governments and groups place more restrictions on individuals, that people get less happy & less healthy.

    This relates to why children are frequently ill. They have difficulty communicating what they want and often don't understand that what they want is probably not the best thing for them. So they tend to get over-ruled rather forcefully and often. These upsets accumulate and can create an angry,rebellious teenager.

    We believe that if you were to put aside all the reasons you can't do it (money, time, fears, other-people) and figure out what you really want to do with your life, that you are taking your first step towards a happier, healthier life.

    What are your thoughts on this?

    12 AnswersReligion & Spirituality1 decade ago
  • What single Scientology principle turns you on the most & why?

    I know this is a hard question for Scientologists to answer as there are so many inspiring concepts. I love the discovering of purposes I had almost forgotten about (the 8 Dynamics). The goal of recovering self-determinism and the two golden rules for a happy life are personal favorites. What about you?

    14 AnswersReligion & Spirituality1 decade ago