Two words: Credit Cards

Let us all pause for a moment and consider the imbecility of credit cards.


Have you considered it? Or are you just wondering what I mean? Because what I mean is that, quite simply, the system is silly. Bonkers. Off its rocker.
How credit works:
1. I have money in my bank account.
2. I get a card with a company that has no connection whatsoever to my bank or my money. This company allows me to spend their money.
3. I then pay the company with money out of my bank account.
This process, and the faithfulness with which I repay the company its mini-loan, is supposed to establish for the general fiscal community my trustworthiness.

If you simply want to buy things with money that you have, this is a dumb idea; too many unnecessary steps. However, as lots of us want to buy very expensive things with money that we don't have (say an education, for instance, or a car, or a house), the idea of establishing trustworthiness makes a little more sense. As an aside, I would like to point out that, in my opinion, those things are not worth their "market value" - when you translate it into loans and work and stress and hassle and years. However, let's get along with the whole proving-you're-reliable business.

There are a lot of corrupt things about the credit industry, of which I'm only vaguely aware and so not ready to discuss here. What concerns me at the moment is that this system is painfully difficult to break into. Because of course, the company that is lending you their money wants to know that you'll be faithful to pay it back. After all, they can hound you for more and more money, claiming that you owe them, but in the end, if its not there, all they really get for their trouble is a lot of hassle and the satisfaction of making you miserable - neither of which line their pockets. So its a closed system. If you don't have a history of "good credit" then you're on the same level as someone who has a history of "bad credit".

What I get from all this is that we have gone to a lot of trouble to make an already complex human interaction (negotiation for something of value) infinitely more complicated by trying to sort it out with red tape.

Am I surprised by this? No. No, it is reflected anywhere a system has been set up and then let loose. I am, however, hurt and annoyed by the whole process. Because you see, while I don't mind setting out to prove that I am fiscally trustworthy, it annoys the hell out of me to have to deal with all the complication, dissembling, and straight up corruption of the business.
I cannot help but admire those who are able to understand and cope with the business world, because the more I see of it, the more nauseated I become.