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this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2023
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Ima be real with you:
It's not a bad thing for a person to live within their means.
Now, now, I understand it's not so cut and dry. Fuck me, I'm in poverty and have cancer, it's not exactly a situation I'm able to find "means" for, period. Trust me, I get it.
However, as a country, we've been living on borrowed time when it comes to the credit economy.
Abuse of credit by private companies is part of the problem and part of why price-gouging is so bad.
They hand out high-rate credit cards to anyone with a fucking pulse, and then have those cards maxed out shortly to help cover rising costs. As those costs continue to rise, people continue to offset their meager earnings with paying for things with credit, until soon enough, every paycheck goes entirely to paying credit bills while the credit cards keep maxing out to get bills paid.
It's not bad for a person to live within their means, and the US's easy credit system means plenty of credit companies don't care that they're handing out cards to people who can't really afford it, because that means they have a permanent, endlessly paying customer who they can sue the shit out of if they fail to pay up one day.
Part of the reason companies have been able to raise prices so high so fast is because of the prevalence of easy credit and US citizens willingness to turn to that to cover increases. The credit industry is really the wallpaper covering the cracked plaster of the wall that's about to fall, it's part and parcel to the reason why price increases were able to be handled by citizens. Not because they suddenly could afford it, but because they turned to easily accessible credit lines.
Credit isn't overall a bad thing, but the US credit system is out of fucking control, and Buy Now Pay Later is part of that, too. Our entire financial system is completely fucked, just ask the GameStop stock guys. (Don't buy gamestop stock, just ask them about it, and look at the proof, the fucking game is rigged.)
Anyway, that's my two cents, credit companies are why inflationary increases were able to be handled, not because people suddenly had higher purchasing power. In the end, that's a bad thing for everyone to be living endlessly off of credit.
What does 'live within your means' mean exactly? Because usually it seems to mean "if you're poor, eat beans every day and don't buy anything to make your life more enjoyable.'
A lot of people would say someone who is poor that buys a PS5 and a big TV is not living within their means. Sure. They aren't. They're just trying to eke a tiny bit of pleasure out of this miserable existence. And that shouldn't be criticized. The criticism should go to the people paying such low wages that you can't actually live within your means and have anything but a terrible life.
I literally only mean that the cost of living has spiked so dramatically that people essentially have to turn to credit to cover bills. They shouldn't have to do that. It should be reasonable for someone to live within their means, and credit shouldn't ever be for paying down necessary bills to stay alive.
I am in no way placing the blame on the consumer. Sorry if that didn't come out quite right. Like I said, I have cancer treatments that cost $16k a month without insurance. There is not a way for me to "live within means" without being a multimillionaire. I am not placing the blame on people in situations like this.
Fair enough. And I'm sorry to hear about the cancer. Fuck cancer.
Yeah, it sure seems as if the credit economy is being used to provide additional liquidity to cover a cost of living crisis. I mean, everyone always says that if companies don't pay a fair wage, there will be nobody to buy their products. Credit seems to be the capitalist's answer to that.
You're not wrong, education around credit cards is nil. But they are a useful tool that can keep people make ends meet.
I think that's exactly what they're criticizing. Having an economy where most people need that tool, where it's expected to be used that way, is not good.