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Americans fear they can't pay back their debts, credit cards
(www.newsweek.com)
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this post was submitted on 17 Dec 2023
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Too many have been conditioned to live beyond their means.
tell that to the cheapest apartment I could find being, quite literally, more than half my income.
That's not mentioned in the article, and not how I've been able to pay my rent, always bank transfer or cash.
The US has an issue with credit cards, this is nothing new. Too many feel they deserve stuff before they can afford it. I'm not talking about the sickness is the US medical "system".
Why do you think people use a credit card to buy nice things they don't need, per se?
Something like 62% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. It's not that people "feel they deserve stuff before they can afford it", it's that in our current economic system, prices are going up and wages are staying low. Productivity is going up, but compensation is not keeping up with prices or productivity. People can at least dream of being able to pay off a credit card that they used to buy a new TV or maybe a new car, but something bigger like a house, or comfortably affording children, is off the table because of how expensive everything is right now.
But let's be totally honest, people get into debt to do things like pay rent, or on car repairs, or hospital bills, or vet bills, etc. etc.
Also, people are allowed to have nice things they don't need. They should have nice things they don't need. This idea that, unless you're well-off, you should only buy the bare necessities is bullshit. Comfort is necessary for basic mental health. You're not an idiot who can't take care of their money because you dare to buy a PS5 and a big TV. You just want to squeeze a tiny bit of pleasure out of this miserable existence.
also a big TV and PS5 cost less than one month's rent at even a 50 year old small apartment
I didn't say that though, did I? I said that unless you can afford it, you shouldn't be using a CC because you feel entitled to something. The capitalist system encourages that and now we have huge amounts of CC debt which is unmanageable.
Because this is well known that people do it in the US. Putting a car on a credit card is madness, as the interest will eat you alive month by month.
Still being an apologist
For what?
"Means" here meaning food
Not what I intended. The US has been used to credit cards for so long, and a terrible minimum wage.
Classic victim blaming. I understand you mean well, but what you wrote didn't express that. If it were simply a matter of bad personal choices, legislation could easily fix it, right?
Even if it were simply a matter of bad personal choices - one or two of those, maybe a big medical emergency and you get buried forever? That's the system we're all cool with?
It's probably a mixed bag. I live in a high cost of living area. Weird to see people, with such high salaries living paycheck to paycheck and carrying CC debt due to life style choices.
I wish the article or survey had a breakdown of the sentiment based on household income and other demographics.
Also curious, do schools teach financial literacy these days? I had volunteered in the past with some youth outreach programming, and one of the popular classes was financial literacy to help young people understand account management and how to avoid credit card debt pitfalls.
There is a lot that needs to happen to change the rules of the system to get to a more equal society, but in the meantime it is important to teach the rules of the system and how to work within it as best you can.
Apologist
For what? Try better than one word.
The system of cronyism we have.