Predatory lending is exploitation. As Barry Butler of the Virginia Organizing Project put it, if you can't make a go of it earning 36 percent interest, you need to rethink your business model.
Hit me back with your views, or your experience with the payday industry.
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In her signature plainspoken style, Michigan native Shanna Flowers peels away the layers and gets to the heart of the issues. No pretense. Just straightforward perspective. Shanna writes about local people whose circumstances reflect decisions made as near as City Hall or as far away as the halls of Congress. Other times, she weighs in on a topic because it is incredibly ridiculous. Or heartening. Or fascinating. Read Shanna's column three days a week, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, at roanoke.com
As a parent of three impressionable children, I feel it my parental duty to teach my children the pitfalls of today's debt. Now you may wonder why I would refer to this growing problem as "todays debt." This is only because the debt people faced in my era (the '80s) was different. I guess we were better informed back then.
My children each have a lunch account at school. It is funny to watch them spend the money they have available. My ten-year-old gets it. She only buys what she needs and always within reason. My six-year-old wants a cookie to go with lunch everyday and doesn't have any understanding for money - yet! My eight-year-old boy on the other hand will spend over his limit no matter how much money I put into his account. I put $20 into his account last week and burned through it in five days. I can only imagine the extra cookies he must be buying for his friends. It never fails that he will go over any line we draw for him.
I think many Americans feel they should spend the same way. The pitfall of this would be the "payday advance" business. If our society didn't place such an importance on materialism then we might not have such spending and lending issues.
I know my son has bought into it. I do not plan on laughing this little incident off though. He will not escape third grade this year without knowing his importance isn't in buying cookies for himself or his friends. He will know that there is a limit to everything and that his lines need to be redrawn.
A good lesson for many adults as well!
Comment by Amy Hanek — September 13, 2007 @ 7:03 am