"The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender."

Proverbs 22:7

Reasons to get out:

1. We are a nation of debt slaves

"Debt throughout most of history has been little more than a slight variation on slavery," wrote Michael Hudson in his prescient May 2006 article in Harper's ("The New Road to Serfdom: An illustrated guide to the coming real estate collapse"). Today, however, perceptions have changed to such a degree that a mortgage is now seen as an "investment," and levels of personal indebtedness for both Canadians and Americans have never been higher.

The Vanier Institute of the Family recently reported that Canadians' household debt rose seven times faster than income between 1990 and 2007. This debt now represents a record 131 per cent of average household income, meaning that for every $100 of net income earned in Canada last year, $131 was owed.