Credit Card Truth
If you didn’t read the recent article by Shannon Gass, read it now!
Because what he said about credit cards brought up a number of old issues I had been ruminating in my head.
All quotes in this article are directly from Mr. Gass’
While Generation X is not as concerned about working all the time to make money so they can buy more stuff, they ARE still getting things. Better yet, Generation X does not have to work so hard to buy them. How so? There is the most obvious reason – credit cards!
That’s right. Buying things back in the day was not an easy thing to do. We forget that credit cards are a very recent invention. Before their time you actually had to pay cash for everything you wanted. A store could certainly extend credit to you, but it was a rare offer and it was done because the owner trusted you. Now we have magic money sticks to eliminate that need for trust. After all, you don’t actually pay the store, the company that issued your card does.
If you ever wondered why stores do not seem to care that much about you anymore, consider this statement. You are no longer the paying customer. When you use a credit card the store is guaranteed to get their money, so as long as they can get it in your hands, they don’t care as much about making you happy for the rest of the trip. Therefore the burden of your debt is not the problem of anyplace you stop and shop, only the company you have sold yourself to.
There is strong likelihood that a Depression today could wipe out an entire generation. If the credit card industry was destroyed, Generation X would be rendered unable to purchase necessary living expenses… Today, we are so dependent upon credit cards to pay for our lifestyles, we have lost sight of America as a democracy; instead, we live in America as the world’s greatest shopping mall.
The turth hurts. And the truth is we have given our rights and souls to the company. It may sound as much like an ephemeral ghost as big brother but it is very much more real. Big Brother may or may not be watching, even if it has the power to do so it might be looking somewhere else instead. The company, however, is watching and every time you slide your credit card at a counter you have its full attention. It sums you up, takes a poll of your reliability, and takes credit for all your decisions, because it will be coming to collect on those decisions soon. And the scariest part of the whole deal can be summed up in one line.
… working to pay the company store debt.
The Company Store was one of the most vile and heartless of institutions in American history. It would give you all the credit you needed to purchase what you needed for your family. After all, you were a loyal worker, and the company was glad to help. They knew you would be getting paid soon, in fact, they knew exactly how much of the debt you would be good for when you returned. The things was, though, the prices were always a little more than that paycheck would cover.
America has become the Debt Company store. You can buy and buy, and the whole while they keep that percent they add on the top just over what they know you can get out from under. They will gladly sell you your rights back at a premium, and yank them out if you come up short.
Personal debt may be the one greatest threat to our society. Luckily the holiday season is arriving just in time to mask your worries.
Every time you think about holiday cheer this season remember one thing. You can’t buy happy, and you certainly can’t expect The Company to give you a break if you give in and hope you can try.
