Payday Loan Lowdown

We cringe when we think of repressed societies where decisions are made for people. We cringe when we think of others pressuring us to do things against our will “for the sake of our own good.”

We believe in free choice — and a free world where everyone can live as they please, and do what they wish. That is ideal for human beings, isn’t it?

Why, then, do we constantly end up making choices that are bad for us? History is witness to the fact that — time and again — when people have complete freedom of choice, they choose that which is not good for them — that which eventually destroys them.

Look at the greatest preoccupation of America, for instance — dieting. We are obsessed with our weight, and yet we are an obese nation — the fattest nation in the world today!

The humble television that was once a useful medium for news updates and the occasional movie has now attained giant proportions with its 24 X 7 availability causing people to become TV addicts and even alienate themselves from loved ones.

The freedom to spend money that we don’t yet have (payday loans, for instance) is causing us to go overboard spending lavishly, and ending up in a vicious debt cycle.

We smoke too much, we drink too much alcohol and coffee, we indulge in unsafe sex with multiple partners? all the paths that lead to the hospital (and later the grave) — all in the name of free choice.

So, now, is free choice good for the human being?

Payday loans are a classic case in point. Anyone in their right mind knows that if you do not have enough dough to see you through the current month, borrowing at insanely high interest rates will make next month even more difficult than this month. And then you get entangled in the very costly “rollover” web, which costs you more money than you could ever afford to begin with.

In her article entitled, “How Payday Loans Work — A Last Resort?” Gareth Marples says:

Throughout the U.S., governments on every level are looking at payday loan outlets with increasing concern. Many people think that they take advantage of low-income people in financial trouble. Some go as far as to say they “prey” on them. Their argument to that is that they’re filling a need and they’re not doing anything illegal. So the controversy continues?

The problem with things and gadgets such as the mobile phone, the television, food, videogames and loans is that while they serve an important purpose, people don’t know when to stop. They move from using the facility for fulfilling a need to becoming addicted / trapped in a downward spiral.

Are payday loans good for society as a whole? While fast food and “couch potato-ing” are making America fat and unhealthy, payday loans are getting Americans more ensnared into the debt trap than ever before.

And what does the popularity of these things say about the new breed of Americans? Are we an immature nation that reaches adulthood without actually maturing enough to make wise choices that are good for us in the long run? Are we all pretend “grown ups” (like Drew Barrymore) who do all the grown-up things but still think like children?

One way to stop this downward spiral would be for the state to regulate our access to these temptations (including payday loans) that are bad for us. Should the government intervene to stop peoples access to the credit? Does this statement reek of a repressive mentality? Will we be curbing individual freedom of choice by regulating what people do and how? And will any authority figure actually ever succeed in truly repressing people? And is that desirable?

All said and done, payday loans provide quick access to cash for individuals without access to another line of credit. As Marples states:

Payday loans are controversial — but they do fill a need

(Take a look at the pros and cons of payday loans here.) So, if regulation is not the answer, what is? Maybe it all boils down to whether we can trust people to make the right decision. Can we?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 at 8:12 am and is filed under Information. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.