The author does an excellent job of proving his point by citing numerous statistics on his given subject matter. Therein lies one of the problems I have with this article. The majority of the article is statistics with very little opinion involved.
He cites numbers and reasons and the end results but in only a very few sentences does he come out and say “This is wrong.” He gives hints and intonations that it is wrong, but he really never comes out clearly and says that this is wrong or why it is wrong, except to say that the majority of people that use the products described often wind up in a worse position. It is not until he states halfway through the article “It is not only the middle class and the wealthy who exploit the poor” that he even intimates that this not an acceptable practice by using the word “exploit.” He proposes very few solutions, and these toward the end of the article, wherein he proposes even more government regulations. The problem with his solution is that it does nothing to address the root cause of the issue which is financial ignorance.
We have grown up in a society where debt is regarded as an asset and needs are confused with wants.
No one “needs” a 62” flat screen, but we have been programmed with the concept of “you need this, and you can get it for only $20.00/week with no money down.” So we wind up with a generation or two or possibly even three now that are in an endless cycle of robbing Peter to pay Paul for our temporary and immediate pleasures. The concept of delayed gratification has long been outdated in our society, wherein if you wanted a large ticket item you would save up for it, take the money and then it was yours to do what you wish. Today, you are indebted to the company for x number of years, and if you miss a payment on your shiny new toy, you lose it and the money you spent and have nothing but a stack of receipts. If our society were empowered with more financial knowledge, these predators would have a much less fertile field.
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