Most of us are in debt, and if we aren't in debt now, at some point in our lives, whether it's because of college, mortgages or any numbers of things, we will be in debt.
It's quite common and is nothing to get too upset about. At the a time, however, when everyone is whispering the word "recession" about our economy, we need to consider the financial repercussions of the acts not only of individuals, but of the financial transactions that make individual debt so possible. So as not to confuse my point further, let me state clearly that the irresponsible acts of the credit companies, mainly Visa, act in a way that is atrociously harmful for society and the individuals trying to sustain any sort of worth within it.
Understand that it's not debt that's necessarily our problem. Rather, it's the notion that spending fruitlessly isn't. This notion is perpetuated by commercials suggesting the use of a credit card for literally every transaction. While MasterCard continues to use comedy as an abstract device to attract potential users, Visa (and I must admit that I am a cardholder) literally suggests that "Life takes Visa" as they imply that to function within the acceptable norms, you need a credit card. Unfortunately, their annoying commercials take it one step further and actually suggest that, when given the option of using the most liquid of assets — cash one should still use an interest-bearing credit card.
One thing that I've never understood is how, at the high school and college levels, administrators feel the need to enforce prerequisite classes such as computer basics and any other form of orientation class, yet they fail to see the need to address financial issues such as taxes and, of course, credit cards.
How many Americans, young and old alike, see the minimum due on their balance, even when the total is in itself minimal, and simply pay the absurdly small amount required by these credit card companies? And how many billions of dollars have these companies made of this practice? How many executives are there out there that have made personal millions after these stimulating commercials came out?
While it's difficult to see how these commercials have influenced debt within the past years, the numbers are staggering beyond comprehension.
Take, for example, the personal debt of U.S. citizens in 1974. According to the Federal Reserve, the personal debt was $627 billion. By 1994, the number was an incomprehensible $4,206 billion. By 2004, it was a preposterous $9,709 billion. What is going on here? And to think: we're worried about our treasured buck over seas when it seems worthless even here domestically.
Credit cards and other interest-bearing accounts all have a purpose. Tabling a payment for a month or longer is one thing, borrowing money temporarily to make an asset bearing purchase is another, but the notion by credit card companies that all transactions should be used via a credit card is detrimental to the society in which they themselves thrive from.
It's not to say that the burden is all on credit cards. It's important to note that loans from banks or other companies (and there are more banks and companies nowadays) became much easier to acquire. People who shouldn't have been approved were, and people who couldn't spend money on even mundane household items could.
We're in a recession, and there's significantly less cash out there for people in our society. Yet, if people continue to spend what they don't have, there's only going to be less and less cash as the divide among the lower, middle and upper class grows further and further and the debt within this nation continues to grow. The irresponsible acts on behalf of the credit card companies and banks, and the lack of intervention at some sort of state level, has caused an America that doesn't own the buck, but borrows it instead.
Something needs to be done to add literal prosperity back into America, because it seems safe to say that at this point, life doesn't take Visa. Rather, Visa takes life.
Thankfully, Visa has not taken Josh's life … yet. So send him an e-mail at jspivack@asu.edu.
