Immoral economic enticement is at least one cause of the economic debacle we now find ourselves in. What do I mean by immoral economic enticement? Today’s mail brought a solicitation from Capital One informing me that I have been pre-screened and approved for a $10,000 loan at 7% APR – just sign here and send back in our handy self addressed stamped envelop and the cash is yours. I didn’t ask for it. I have no immediate need for it. Capital One is not the place I would go for a loan if I did need one, but gee whiz, for only $198 a month for 60 months why not? I’m sure I could find something to spend it on. Right?
This is not all that different than the drug pusher hanging around outside the school giving away free samples, and discounts on future purchases with referrals. It is immoral!
Capital One – Shame on you!
Capital One and every single one of the dozen enticements we receive every week via USPS! Begging to give folks money, hoping they\’ll be late with a payment so that the percentage of fee may be elevated then threatening one\’s credit if a payment is late. Immorality is a nice word for the way some money is offered and made these days. Oh, my. I think the curmudgeon\’s writings may be rubbing off on me, dear, dear!
Parson,this is just the tip of the iceberg. Our whole interpretation of freedom, meaning without responsibility, to many, of the press, of enterprise, speech, religion, etc. and of course \”buyer beware\” lies at the core Our immorality was immortalized, moved from a silly movie quote to watchwords of our nation by President, \”defender of the faith\” Ronald Reagan, when he said, and I quote, \”LOOK OUT FOR NUMBER ONE\”!
Bruno,One problem seems to be a sort of reverse Malthusian theory. \”If we don\’t keep consumers in a constant state of unmet needs, we will run out of work to do because no one will want what we have to sell.\” That makes must enough sense on the face of it to be scary.CPPS Enjoy your photo essays
Adding to my own comments, my wife pointed out that we get these offers multiple times a week, and that\’s an issue. They don\’t really seem all that important. They are just a part of the background radiation, so to speak. That\’s part of what makes them so dangerous. I counsel with a few people who, with their spouses, make over $100k, and they cannot afford to lose one of their jobs or make any sudden changes in their lives. Why? Because they can barely keep up with the monthly payments. What have they got for those payments? Trucks and RVs they don\’t need and really can\’t afford, houses beyond their means, toys of all kinds. The emotional burden of keeping up their payments prevents them from enjoying life, having any sense of ease, or rejoicing in their children. With the market as it is, they are really stuck. They can\’t sell that stuff because there are no buyers. Their jobs are not all that secure. Just trying to hang on is what it\’s come to. What happened to all the promises of fulfillment that enticed them into those things in the first place? Were they just an illusion? No. They were more like a delusion. In fact, I think you could call it demonic.CP
Amen! You and your commentators have hit the nail on the head. A collusion of the victims with the victimizers, like dope peddlers with their not-so-innocent but naive customers. Create the demand for the supply, like the free cigarettes the tobacco companies used to hand out near schools and colleges. Use advertising to make the public want what they cannot afford and do not need! The moralist Carlo Collodi, in his classic Pinocchio, showed his villainous Cat and Fox who lured children who disliked school to come to the pleasure park on Donkey Island, where they would be given free candy and carnival rides, then enslaved them as donkeys to work in the mills!
Annon, et al.or like my aged mother who gets all kinds of promises if she will only,, change her insurance to,,, buy this vitamin – for life, only 300 dollars a month, who keep calling her till she is in tears and says \”yes just stop bothering me\” (legal in Nevada), or the zero interest for 1 year check offers, with small print so small and faint that the service charge of 10 percent is not legible to the older eye. Or gets told by the pharmacy that they only have a one day supply of her prescription and that she will have to come back tomorrow for the next days supply, only to be charged the co pay each day she goes in, (happened for a week before I found out and a five dollar co pay turned into a 25 dollar co pay) The abuse in the name of free trade is amazing.
Bruno,That is both terrible and common. Much the same for my mother in the several years before her death, not in Nevada but Florida.CP
Dr. B.,I have to admit that the only thing I know about Pinocchio I got from Disney. Had to look up Collodi to find out who he was. CP