Interrobang's Journal: The Price of Credit Crack

I was just reading this article on the new US bankruptcy bill on Counterpunch. Looks like bankruptcy is intimately involved with credit cards, all right.

Let me say this straight out. I don't have a credit card, let alone several. Frankly, the way I look at it, I already have enough debt (about $15 000 worth of student debt), which is no way for a cute young person such as myself (still youthful at a not-so-old 27 years of age!) to go about trying to get herself established in life. I don't really need more.

And I know myself. I know it would be more if I had a credit card, or credit cards. There's a reason I seldom carry cash in my wallet: If I do, I will spend it. On something. Anything. And even though I make enough money now not to really want for much (if anything), I'm not exactly wealthy. More bills I do not need on a salary of just a shade under $24K/year. (The phone bills are bad enough, thanks, David.)

But I cannot believe how much not having a credit card can impinge upon someone's life, especially if that someone also doesn't have a (valid) driver's license. I am, in short, practically an unperson.

Now, sometimes I like it just fine that way. I get a lot less junk mail/telemarketing calls than the average bear, not everything I purchase winds up on someone's marketing computer database somewhere, and financial institutions only partly (instead of completely) own me. And that's a good thing. But oh, the price.

For instance, it's hard, if not absolutely impossible, for me to:

rent a car or truck (a hassle at moving time)

find an ISP that will let me pay by cash, cheque, or Interac (debit, fer you furriners)

(Cheque Aside: Is it just me, or is it getting increasingly difficult to pay for anything by cheque these days? Even my landlord wants certified cheques [grumble: a $4.25 surcharge on my already-expensive rent], cash [easy to "lose"], or money orders, even though he knows my boss and knows exactly how much money I make!)

rent a movie or videogame

make an online purchase

sign up for certain services without a guarantor or co-signer (I'm nearly 30 years old! Although I still look and think young, I actually am legally an adult! Stop treating me like I'm a financial minor!)

The point is, even if I carry a perpetual "zero" balance, I shouldn't have to hock my life to a big corporation just for a few (spurious?) benefits!

Call me a reactionary, but money didn't used to discriminate like this, hence the phrase, "Her money spends the same as everyone else's," but I'm beginning to think the only "legal tender" in some people's minds is corporate-controlled plastic.

Oooh, there's a scary thought. Private money. Heh, I hope it's a Reductio Ad Absurdum...