Edgework

I have been a member of the Steinbach Credit Union since 1983 and have been well-served over all these years. I was quite taken aback by the cooperative spirit that permeated and surrounded the Credit Union when I first arrived as a stranger in town. After looking at a number of prospective houses to buy, our real estate agent, George Penner, took us to lunch. That’s when I explained to him that, although we badly needed a house for a growing family, Ruth and I only had a few thousand dollars for a down payment. And furthermore, we knew no one in town who might consider co-signing a mortgage. Mr. Penner seemed unfazed by this information.

“Let’s go down to the Credit Union to see what we can do,” he said. When we got there he introduced us to a loans officer who listened to Mr. Penner explain that we were looking for a mortgage without any collateral to back it up. “But,” he added, “I’ll take care of that. So what’s the deal?” I couldn’t believe my ears. Mr. Penner was willing to co-sign our first mortgage even though he had only met us for the first time that morning. As they say, the rest is history.  I met Mr. Penner about a month ago – at the Credit Union – and thanked him again for giving us a leg-up at a critical time in our lives. You might say that we felt that he had helped us get the world’s most important mortgage.

This experience embodied for me the spirit of cooperation that undergirds the very concept of a Credit Union: members helping each other find their way financially at crucial stages of their lives – even taking risks to ensure that everyone in the community is provided for.

However, at this stage of the game I find myself feeling uneasy about recent advertising the Credit Union has undertaken. I am referring to the now ubiquitous lines read and heard everywhere, “Taking care of the world’s most important mortgage – yours!” Or more recently, “Taking care of the world’s most important loan (or money) – yours!” And I am not alone. Many of my friends feel the same way. So I have decided to unpack some of these feelings.

First of all, these statements simply are not true.  If my mortgage is the most important one in the world, then yours can’t be. Yet that is what you are encouraged to think. I know the intention behind these advertisements is to make each of us feel valued. But does it necessarily follow that my mortgage is more important than anyone else’s? I am reminded of the father of a large family who was asked which of his children was his favorite, to which he replied that each one was his favorite. But it would be highly incongruent for the same father, who had at various times made loans to his children, to say that the loan to his third son was the most important loan in the world. From my perspective it is simply wrong to say that my loan is THE most important one compared to all others.

Secondly, suggesting to me that my mortgage or loan is the most important one in the world, feeds into the spirit of individualism and narcissism that our western culture has become notorious for. It should be noted that according to culture watchers, these hallmarks of the 20th century are increasingly being called into question as modernity is beginning to crumble all around us in the 21st century. I have always appreciated the cooperative spirit that embodied the genesis of the various cooperative movements and credit unions that sprang up on the Canadian prairies. Always, when big businesses seemed to be looking out mostly for themselves and their bottom lines, we have banded together to take care of one another – a virtual antidote to that pervasive individualistic spirit. Appealing to self-centeredness, as these advertisements do, stands in stark contrast to this heritage of cooperation and altruism. Have we perhaps forgotten what the heart of being a credit union is all about?

And thirdly, I think it may be more difficult than we think to determine which mortgage or loan is the most important one in the world. Yes, my house mortgage in 1983 was very important to us but who can say how it compared in value to other mortgages? I know that some of the loans we have made since then for various purchases made certainly would not come close in importance to that first one here in Steinbach. So I am unimpressed with the innuendo that my latest loan is the most important one in the world.

Let’s make some comparisons. Let us suppose that Joe and Mary’s house and two rental properties are paid for. They retired recently with secure pensions and enough investments to afford a comfortable lifestyle. How could a mortgage for a third rental property at this point be considered as important as that of a young couple trying to get a roof over their heads? It wouldn’t even come close. Or say Joe and Mary decided to take out a large mortgage to allow them to move from a $200,000 house to a $700,000 mansion? Could that be considered the most important mortgage in the world? How does it compare to the $150 loan a widow in Bangladesh needs for a sewing machine to start a home business that will feed her five children? In my books, the latter would trump the former in terms of importance, hands down.

So my friends and I think that as a Credit Union we should rethink our advertising strategy. I am sure that we can come up with something better than making false or ethically questionable statements; something that will appeal to the spirit of cooperation and generosity imbedded in our roots instead of the spirit of individualism so endemic to a dying modernity.