Greed And Credit

The intensely marketed credit business is a big mean money making machine.

  

Credit card companies are lined up for those account interest charges and have conscripted retailers to join the pack. With so many businesses involved and competing for the same loan interest profits, costs have escalated and in some areas ethics have nose dived.

Borrowing is a necessary part of living for many today where it provides assistance in buying basic necessities. Purchasing a first home or transportation for example. But taking on credit can be a drag on one's financial and personal well being, and it can be much worse when goaded into debt overload.

Credit marketers and other industries spend vast amounts of money emphasizing consumers 'need' to require more, much more than they truly need. And they make it sound easy - just charge it and own it now.

Sellers of credit work frantically to maximize profits while not necessarily providing fair value to consumers. As has been reported in the news, businesses along with their loan marketers have used some ruthless strategies in obtaining handsome profits. Slick tactics to encourage borrowing even when it is potentially hurtful is a cruel business.

These tactics have resulted in financial hardships and disasters for so many who may have been encouraged into unnecessary bad credit usage. The classic example has been the slick sales efforts of greedy companies who sold mortgages they knew were risky. But similar efforts are popular in many areas of lending and can be crippling to individuals and families who have been talked into excessive credit usage.  

MORTGAGES - Can you read this? You qualify!

Refused by bank, bad credit, bankrupt? Loans guaranteed.

  
Price gouging is not new to enterprise, in fact it can be seen regularly throughout the shopping experience. It is free enterprise where you can charge whatever someone is willing to pay. One of those gouging experts must have created the expression; "Greed is good" - though it be noxious, corrupting and hurtful. Sadly though, greed is profitable and can create wealth.

Much of the credit rates charged to borrowers have been excessively high for years, even while investment interest returns are historically low. With bank savings and term accounts paying 0.2% - 2.2% borrowing rates can be extremely higher. Retail credit card interests take off and can run as high as 29.9% on unpaid balances.

WOW! No wonder the massive marketing campaigns. Stores and others, as well as major credit card providers are circling around shoppers like a pack of wolves.

And so the continuing promotions; gross amounts of junk mail from major credit card companies, financial institutions, supermarkets, department stores and miscellaneous associations who can all issue their version of a major charge card for a fraction of the profit.

"Use your customer charge card and earn extra loyalty points." is one 'encouragement'.  But it gets worse.

Think you can entirely avoid owning and using your department store's credit charge card? It may not be that easy in the future as shrewd sellers are finding new ways to 'persuade' consumers to use their card to buy their products. I see a trend developing where increasingly the bargain price of a store item is tied to the store's charge card. No charge - no discount.

A recent trip to a department store sale had displays with products discounted in the area of 20%-30%. On some displays there were larger signs:

Use your customer charge card and earn extra loyalty points

So what are you going to do? Pay double?

You may never miss a payment but the poor soul who is struggling from payday to payday will sink deeper into debt and suffer the consequences of giving in to the persuasions.

Sure corporate mouth pieces may defend these exorbitant charges in saying their costs are high but that is largely because of the massive advertising expenditures. And then there are defaults where the trapped debtor could not pay and has declared bankruptcy.

Loan contract trickery may include confused, bloated wording and fine print; and a bag of costly surprises for the buyer after the transaction is made. This is a winning strategy for ruthless companies and now widely popular.

More negative consumer credit experiences may be coming in the news, brought on by always creative forms of corporate greed. It will be on the backs of low income families.

Consumers need fairness and protection in dealing with this type of business and it can only begin with governments that stand up for their citizens. They can investigate commercial behavior more closely, encouraging consumer input, and applying fixes that will require fair and ethical treatment of their citizens.

If they should ever care to.


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Corporate and Consumer Greed

A Society of Greed?

Is this the era of greed or has it always had such popularity? We have widespread corporate political, personal and consumer greed and it is well presented in government and in our shopping environment - on both sides. We only need to turn on the TV to see it in the programs, advertising, sports and the news. It is also scattered throughout our social lives as we share experiences and increase possessions.


Whoever originally said "Greed is good" was pretty narrow minded and, well, greedy. It is not good for the victim of a greedy transaction. Nor is it good to be greedy if over years it returns distrust, anger and personal value lost.

We of the affluent societies seem to have our share of social stress as we work harder to be able to purchase that next thing. Perhaps giving our families what we have left over of ourselves and the only to have a new 'need'. We have been directed into this undesirable life style by shrewd and constant corporate marketing which is also shaping life and society for the next generation.

And with the new global economy Mahatma Gandhi's worse fears may be materializing; "God forbid that India should ever take to industrialism after the manner of the west... keeping the world in chains. If [our nation] took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like locusts."

The drive for greater profits and personal compensation is behind most of the marketing pressures convincing us to acquire more. Faced with dishonest promotions, false advertising and labeling and a steady dose of intense marketing it has been very difficult to avoid contracting some form of this virus-like craving and indulgence. We have been programmed as a society where we cannot acquire and consume enough to be totally satisfied.

From An all-consuming greed by William Bowles ... "The problem that confronts us is that once created, undoing it is virtually impossible; who could deny working people the ‘right’ to a cheap holiday in Ibiza or Buenes Aires or the ‘right’ to own a car regardless of the damage it does to our environment (or impinge on the ‘rights’ of those who do not own a car).

And herein lies the rub as they say, we’re all along for the ride whether we want to be or not and regardless of the consequences, but the reality is that if it were not for the control of resources and markets that the capitalist world has, none of these ‘rights’ would exist in the first place."

Defined in Wikipedia
Greed is a desire to obtain more money or material possessions or bodily satisfaction than one is considered to need. A more religious term for greed is avarice, which is listed as one of the Catholic Seven Deadly Sins.

Greedy individuals are often believed to be harmful to society as their motives often appear to disregard the welfare of others: if one person is to increase in wealth, somebody else must be decreasing in wealth (assuming, of course, that a market economy is a zero sum game). However, greed has become more acceptable (and the word less frequent) in Western culture, where the desire to acquire wealth is an important part of capitalism.

When greed is applied to the subject of the excessive consumption of food or drink the term gluttony is often used, another of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Buddhists believe greed is based on incorrectly connecting material wealth with happiness. This is caused by a deluded view that exaggerates the positive aspects of an object.

Read more on Greed Defined.

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Gambling: A Sick Greedy Tax

Grampa's Ethical News Today
Government greedily markets lotteries and casino gambling.
Little concern shown for the harm and destruction caused.

Money is the root to all evil. A very old saying but how true today is this adage from the past?

In these highly commercialized times, as businesses viciously connive for consumers' money, there are many varied examples of evil marketing practices. The manners in which many corporations attack consumers for sales now appears to be near bottom on the ethic scale as they regularly display a lack of basic genuine fairness.

Just when this gluttonous trend seems to have gone far enough a new low occurs. In this case it's the many government bodies that leave morals behind and resort to new ways in which to increase revenue through the spread of gambling.

Why do these elected representatives of their people actively promote gambling as a source of revenue when it is known to be so harmful to so many? It is common knowledge that gambling can be addictive and harmful, and can destroy or take lives, yet they want that revenue.

For their citizens?

MONEY TRAP CASINO
SPECIAL SENIORS DAYS
Laugh - Have Fun - Play
Free lunch while you win
Know your limits play within them

Gambling might have a place in society for people who want to play games of chance but it should not be marketed as a benefit. Ideally any gambling should be non-profit with the participants playing with and winning or losing money to each other. At the very least it should not be heavily marketed by the country's caretakers, as is now happening in this money mad society.

As a young man I played poker with friends and on my first job in a mining camp, every night was poker night. I left camp with a decent net result but there was another young man that was much less fortunate. On payday he always wanted to get the game started but was broke two days later. The foreman finally held his check back until the next float plane arrived, fired and sent him home, for his own good.

He was addicted. So are many that traipse into the casinos and lottery ticket booths, and the government advertisements scream out to come back for more, sucker! When the government reports the gambling income from lotteries and casinos they should balance the books and show the loss by players, their citizens, and their families.

Through marketers they use sly techniques borrowed from business shysters to entice more playing. Glossy lottery commercials constantly pop up showing just how easy and wonderful it will be to win an enormous amount of money.

"Play now and get super rich". Perhaps broken gamblers would like to get back the money that they have lost but the odds are stacked against them. They need help not encouragement to play more!

As if to justify this often cruel business promotion they post warnings, "Gambling can lead to financial and legal problems, loss of career and family, and other serious issues." No kidding! Well cease and desist!

And, "Call this help line if you have a gambling problem." But it's too late if you have lost everything!

You might expect this sleeze from telecommunications or credit marketers, but from our leaders? What is wrong with them? What is wrong with a system that attracts these people to manage our affairs? Government is supposed to be there for the good of the people. If these actions are acceptable perhaps our politicians could introduce the pressure selling of alcohol, tobacco and light drugs. But, "Know your limit. Drink, smoke and get high within it."

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

Resources

Psychologist Stanton Peele investigates, thinks, and writes about addiction.
Is Gambling an Addiction Like Drug and Alcohol Addiction?
As compulsive gambling and problem gamblers attract continued and increasing attention — due to state reliance on gambling for revenues and government and private marketing of the gambling experience — conceptions of compulsive, or addictive, gambling have evolved....

Robert Fulford in The National Post November 2008. Convincing research indicates that about one in 20 gamblers is an addict or in danger of becoming one -- "a problem gambler," as sociology says, or "a degenerate gambler," as Mafia characters on TV say. Commercials for Lotto 6/49 and other scams present gamblers as happy, fun-loving folk, but addictive gamblers live stress-filled and often wretched lives. Read more...

Quebec settles gambling addiction lawsuit. A multi-million dollar settlement has been ironed out between Loto-Québec and thousands of problem gamblers over the cost of treating their addiction. The agreement settles a class action lawsuit brought against Loto-Québec by nearly 120,000 gamblers in 2001. Read more...

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

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Ads, Contracts and Fine Print

Small, hard to read print with many confusing words and details are popular marketing strategies in advertising, agreements and contracts. Hiding important information from a prospective buyer can complete a sale where there would not be one, and it can save a company money when consumer dissatisfaction arises later. In short, this sly business practice is to increase profits, and in a nasty way.

Notice: Important buyer information lies lurking
"Accepts no responsibility... Terms are for one year after which... Use of this product is entirely...
"Warranty does not include... Valid only with the activation of... Company reserves the right..."

Usually camouflaged in befuddling text there will be strict details explaining what you need to know, and if it was easier to read and understand you might likely walk away from the transaction.

That is why it is disguised and made fuzzy.

Ignoring these areas of a contract or promotion can be a regrettable and costly experience for the shopper when the new purchase is not at all as expected, or the warranty is void. Yet we so regularly do neglect reading those little words because it is just too difficult and time consuming.

This is yet another unfriendly and mean manner in which much of business is treating today's consumers. Fine print is appearing everywhere and is even standard practice in certain industries. Scammy marketing and foul treatment of customers is no longer a rarity. The dear valued customer has become the dear valuable scapegoat.

Again our governments are letting us down to the corporate advantage. So Consumer Beware!

Fine print is in print advertising, TV commercials, food package labels, information lists, customer contracts, and wherever there may be vital negative information to conceal. We should expect that if we do not read all or do not comprehend the transaction conditions, we will be helping the merchandiser to sell us a regrettable purchase, to increase markup, or save refund money after the sale is completed and complaints arise.

We have come to expect this business trickery in our everyday shopping and particularly with costlier transactions, but unfortunately we have become somewhat complacent when it comes to complaining. It is common for many consumers to accept and regret it, perhaps even feeling a bit embarrassed about getting trapped.

Or we might be furious when we get stung as we have with so many other shady retail transactions. But business does not seem too concerned about this reaction anymore, the use of deception in marketing is quite common and apparently acceptable.

So get out your magnifying glass and read the fine print slowly and watch for deceptive expressions; if you can it will be worthwhile.

Regrettably most of us won't take the trouble - it's just too annoying.

Fine print is sometimes so small that it simply cannot be read. The little text might also be in grey, the opposite of bold, and fuzzy to read, like the conditions on the back of my credit card statement. The words, "IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR ACCOUNT" are quite prominent. The gross account agreement is lengthy and takes up two sides of legal size pages and is printed in grey.

How obvious are their intentions?

Service contracts, credit agreements, insurance plans and 'too good to be true' ads need to be carefully scrutinized. If these promotions and documents are not easily understood consider an alternative. Like a credit union instead of a bank.

Some telecommunication advertisements have conditions at the bottom that are printed so small that it appears to be a joke. But nobody is laughing. The consumer would need to very carefully ask the right questions when dealing and hope to discover the traps before buying.

As long as business needs to sell to compete, and there are no strict guidelines to stop this type of marketing, expect that treatment of consumers will only worsen. When we get stung with inferior purchases or unexpected costs we simply lick our wounds, and do not complain. Because we do not complain fine print is common in business today and will likely be around for some time.

Perhaps our governments will get concerned. However if, as here in BC,
the marketing for their gambling revenue uses fine print
- Know your limit, Play within it - what should you really expect?


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Bad News Media's Good Stories

This is not a news story about greed, profit and deceit - quite the opposite!

With the steady stream of bad news stories that pour out of the media one has to wonder why. We will be fed the kind of information that will arouse our interest and therefore sell more advertising for the producers. Shock sells because it attracts our attention and is likely to hold on to it in the details. That is unless we refuse to take part and turn our interests elsewhere, a path that I have chosen some time ago. It can be as simple as pressing on one of the remote buttons if it's the TV. As long as we allow ourselves to watch accounts of distressful and loathsome events we will continue to supply our mind banks with more anxieties.

There are pleasing and uplifting stories but they are too few and they do not catch our attention as well as the accidents and crimes. They do not have shock 'appeal'.

Here is one such story about success and the acquiring of true riches in helping others.

I visited the Price Pro store which recently opened in the Newton area of Surrey BC. This is a new sizeable warehouse style store which retails general merchandise including a large selection of foods. But it is not your regular retail outlet. Price Pro is staffed with kindly and helpful people who have substance abuse problems or trouble with the law. They are in a "life skills academy," program and live in a nearby transition home.

There is a unique tale behind the store's motto Save Money, Change Lives. It is not news about a successful tycoon that has gone from rich to richer to jail.

From Rags to True Riches.

As a teenager John Volken came to Canada with only a few dollars, plenty of energy and lots of smarts. He worked his way up from minimum wage jobs to become an extremely successful businessman with his United Furniture Warehouse chain across Canada and the US.

John Volken also had heart.

"Having achieved his financial goal, John remembered his time in the orphanage and his dreams to one day make a difference in the lives of those in need. He searched for areas of social neglect, and in 1995 began meeting with countless advocates of the disenfranchised community. All voiced the need for long term, residential based treatment facilities, which would teach life and job skills to addicts and alcoholics or any dysfunctional members of society. For 8 years John visited and researched such facilities in the United States and Europe.

In 2004 he sold his furniture business to direct his wealth and talent as a ‘social entrepreneur’. Within a year he established a life skills academy in Seattle, WA and in Vancouver, B.C., which he named “Welcome Home”.
. . . .

Welcome Home is a sanctuary where all who are committed to turn their lives around are welcomed.
It is a place where people overcome behavioural challenges and gain or regain their dignity.
It is a place where love, respect, and tolerance co-exist with responsibility, discipline and learning.
It is a place to overcome bad habits and learn skills needed to live healthy successful lives.
Perhaps, most importantly, it is a place to call Home.

When students graduate they receive a $5,000 grant and leave Welcome Home with a new ability to retain jobs, nurture families, manage finances, and the inner strength to successfully deal with life’s challenges."

Read more about Welcome Home.
Local News story: Newton store strives to change lives.

Update: A new $50,000,000 Home has recently passed local government approval after much neighbourhood concern and discussion.

Do you think we of this era are greedier and more self-centered than they were in prior decades or long ago? Surely there were mean spirited business types and insatiable consumers way back. Some cavemen must have beat others for a piece of meat - but for a leaner cut?

I believe we have been coached and prodded to accumulate more and more money, goods and services. Through continuous fine-tuned marketing, consuming citizens have had greed programmed into them like never before. But perhaps we are cresting in our ongoing intense desires for more.

Meanwhile let's look for the good stories.

Other posts about life values

Brainwashed Generations

It irks me to see advertisements indicating the necessity to maintain status by purchasing bigger and better products or certain brands. These procurements do not make a better person although we could be inclined to believe they do with the success of this type of marketing in past years.

The business ethics of many corporations are becoming meaner as they are allowed a rather free reign on their methods. A sad example is the advertising directed at kids which I view as a loathsome way to do business.

We may be 'lucky' enough to be living in an over-commercialized, over-consuming and somewhat artificial part of the world, but there is something very wrong here. The young are being programmed for life, for corporate profit and we seem to be accepting this as a standard way of living in today's society.

Our richer economies are based on corporate expansion and there is much promotional drive to attain it. The marketing which is very competitive is well near saturation as we acquire everything we realistically need, and more. New inroads to consumers are needed by hungry enterprise and they have targeted kids to keep the ball rolling.

From Media Scape:
An American marketer in the 1980s described children’s television as a business based on three simple ideas: Keep the audience up Keep the costs down Keep the regulators out. (Schneider, 1987, p5) Then television producers found they could get someone else to pay for children’s television: toy companies. They have never looked back. The ‘demographic’ of children has become the new marketing gold rush. In the two decades since the 1980s, little people’s fun has become big people’s profit! Children’s popular culture is commercialized whether we like it or not.
Read more . . .

A New Internationalist article discusses the targeting of kids as a way to greater profits.
Catch ’em young and brand ’em!
The ad biz bombards children and young people because the bottom line is cold hard cash. They’d rather chase urban trend surfers with brass in pocket, but their crossfire hits all kids. The children they’re gunning for not only have purchasing power but significantly influence their parents’ purchases. In the US, teens spend more than $300 billion a year and influence parental spending to the tune of $1.8 trillion. Between 1990 and 2000, the amount of money spent targeting children grew tenfold.
Much more here . . .

Government could fix this mean and greedy targeting of young minds but are slow about positive social changes, appearing to have a bias towards expanding commerce. If consuming families are upset with the trends in marketing they are also generally passive, being caught up in this web along with so many others.

As merchandising 'ingenuity' intensifies each year just where will another generation be taken?