Have credit cards ruined America? Not the cards in and of themselves, but the mentality that we've adopted to go with them? Normally, when one does not have enough money, one must make decisions about what not to spend money on. But with the credit, this no longer applies - money can be spent, even if one does not have it currently. No decisions must be made about what to cut and what to keep.
Also, I think that people use credit as a means of avoiding fights about what to spend on and what not to spend on, and so spend on everything rather than choosing, thus digging themselves deeper and deeper into debt.
So, the question is, can Americans get their own spending habits under control, because if they cannot, they're not going to be able to force those who govern them do it either.
5 comments:
Fortunately, it was installed upon me at an early age that debt is a bad thing. Subsequently, my credit rating is currently over 750. But, I know, I'm a minority.
I had some pretty good credit, but also some understanding credit card companies. Then came The Associates, and pretty soon the surcharges went up and the tolerance for the occassional late payment (always made up the next month) went down. Way down. Marriage and children followed, and now I'm a problem waiting for an identity thief.
Dont really miss it though, credit card companies are run by the devil.
I just did a piece on our nation's credit card debt for The UnCapitalist Journal.
Whilst doing the research, it scared the bejesus out of me how much cc debt there is in our nation. And that people are now buying their groceries with plastic.
When that industy blows apart like the mortgage industry..it will be pretty fugly.
Dusty, I think most of the ugliness will come from further lobbying to tighten the screws down on debtors by the credit card companies. Never mind the deceptive advertising, never mind the draconian "late fees" and interest rates for those in trouble, never mind their habit of handing out credit cards like candy at a parade to people who have no business having credit cards (my credit is trash, total trash, and still I get offers from companies - there's no sense in it).
Dave, I rebuilt my credit after decades of negative ratings.
THen, I got hurt at work, and currently in year two of workers compensation. The payments were all made on time, and the minimum payment made.
Then, some of them sent me notices that they were raissing my interest rate..over five percent. When I asked why..they said they 'sent me a letter'
explaining why.. it boiled down to carrying high balances but NONE had ever posted a delinquent payment.
So, I said FUCK YOU and quit paying the ones that pulled that bullshit. They wanted an excuse and any would do.
So now..my credit is fucked once again..but not by my own doing..its because the greedy bastards took a chance that my rating was more important to me than principles..and it wasn't.
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