Americans are falling behind on their payments
America’s relentless spending has kept the economy motoring. But it’s starting to worry some observers.
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Although credit cards are predatory, there has to be some sort of personal responsibility right?
Right... but sometimes people fall on hard times. They may get laid off and need food or to pay rent for the month. They may get an unexpected medical expense. They use a credit card in the hopes they'll bounce back on their feet soon... but high interest rates make it harder and harder to pay it back. Interest rates should never be above 20%. And even that is high.
But yes, there are those who use it to go partying or buy expensive toys too.
I used mine to cover a job loss for food and gas, and have finally been able to knock it down after two years of buying very little to ensure most of my money goes to paying them off. It is harder than it should be to get back on my feet, especially when I am making more money than I ever have in my life, but the cost of shit also went up with my pay, so it is effectively the same as it was when I was a TEEN.
...seriously? People are struggling all over this country because prices are skyrocketing and jobs don't pay nearly enough for your average American to keep up, and you think its their fault in any capacity?
I never said that. I'm just saying that nobody is forcing anyone to open a credit card.
Imagine you are working 2 minimum wage jobs and rent has gone up. You are a single parent. Your car gets a flat tire and its 200 to replace. Do you open a credit line to fix the tire, skip groceries for a week or just don't pay your cellular bill?
People aren't stretching their payments because its fun.
This is just one example and an extreme one at that. I'm not even talking about those people or those scenarios. I'm talking about the people that make unnecessary credit card purchases when they cannot afford it. It's financial responsibility. There are people making six figures that are in debt.
I'm not even talking about those people or those scenarios.
you call them the extreme scenario, but they are the norm. this kind of scenario is the average reality for a massive number of Americans. it might not be "single parent with a flat tire", but there are thousands of ways people get stuck in a rut with only credit as a lifeline, and it's getting more and more common, and it's rarely something that could be foreseen or mitigated against. that's how our society is constructed now. desperation is the norm. it's profitable.
that is what this trend reveals. the ones who buy more than they need on credit they barely qualify for are the minority. the desperate are the majority.
you'd think you'd take some personal responsibility over your ignorance on the matter before loudly asserting that desperate people need to just pull up on their bootstraps harder and stop whining near you.
Except most people who need to survive don't have a choice but to use a credit card.
People have lives and emergencies but personal responsibility and not caring about other people or something.
