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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  2587 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Credit Cards Encourage Extra Spending as Cash Habit Fades Away

I think we're on the same page, but we're looking at things differently. You're saying, part of the reason credit cards exist is to help people in vulnerable positions. What I'm saying, is that debt in general and credit cards in particular, when used by people in vulnerable positions, make them more vulnerable. My argument is that business practices that exploit people financially and then exacerbate their hardships are inherently unethical because they're not creating anything of arguable social value and they are actively participating in social harm.

Credit card plans that have hidden fees and gotcha terms and interest rates that balloon out of control as soon as you hit about $2,500 worth of debt? Grifters. Pay-Day loan companies that charge anywhere from 300-3000% interest on short term loans? Grifters. Credit collectors that somehow manage to slap hundreds of dollars of fees and interest and charges on a small debt before even contacting the debtor about the debt? Grifters. The fact that these companies invest in studies in law and math and psychology and marketing to try to get their "customers" to behave in a way that's most profitable to them for both short term and long term gains? Grifters. Grifters. Grifters.

Yeah. Wages suck. Yeah, lack of social safety nets suck. Our medical industry sucks. Our rampant consumerism sucks. Our lack of education sucks. But companies that look at all of those problems and see dollar signs? They suck the hardest and I have no empathy for any of them.