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Money, Loans, Personal Finance and Exploitation — Complete and Utter INSANITY!

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@denmarkguy
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3 min read

I have spent a number of years moving "outside the system" to some degree, being less than what many conventional/traditional people think of as A Responsible Adult™.

In pretty simple terms, I really didn't care much about that all-important number many people in the US of A are obsessed with: Your "Credit Score."

Of course, whereas that is nice and potentially "alternative" of me, it has certain functional drawbacks, when it comes to making your way through our modern world.

Balancing life...

You find yourself in situations where you have to have a credit card, or take out some kind of loan... even if it's something as simple as making installment payments on your homeowner's insurance.

For about a year or so, I have been in the process of rebuilding after we ran into financial difficulties back in 2011-12, and got a lot of "dings" on my credit history.

It was the usual thing many people in this country faced: even though we had health insurance at the time, a couple of shoulder surgeries for Mrs. Denmarkguy left us with unpaid medical bills ("patient is responsible for this amount") of some US $20,000+ which basically put us perpetually in the poorhouse.

Of course, when you start trying to become "a human being" again, you get all manners of "offers" in the mail, some of which are so ridiculous it just leaves me scratching my head. At the same time, though, it also makes me realize WHY — in many cases — it is almost impossible for those who have become penniless to dig their way out of their predicament.

Take one, for example, that arrived a couple of days ago:

Now, I don't actually want a personal loan... but I always like to at least read the small print on these offers.

In a sense, it's a reality check.

So it came from these people:

Typically, I throw these away without a second glance, because the "hidden terms and conditions" tend to be that you have to be able to offer a vehicle as security, usually with a market value of at least $5,000.

Neither of our cars are worth more than maybe $500, on a good day, since they are over 20 years old!

Anyway, I went directly for the "small print," which was truly tiny, but thanks to the magic of a 1200dpi scanner, I was able to just pull that stuff right off the page!

Check THIS Out!

A loan at an annual interest rate of 350-600%???

I guess "gobsmacked" is about as close to my reaction as you can get.

But here's the thing: Unless people were actually taking these loans, they wouldn't be wasting a small forest on the paper needed to mail out these offers, right?

I don't think even the words "truly desperate" would cover the state of mind you'd have to be in, in order to accept such loan terms. BUT, if you actually did, how would you ever be anything but truly desperate?

I mean, someone hands you $1,000, and after a year you have to hand them back $4,448.50??? (The $1000 principal + 344.85% interest, in case you missed it)

Aren't you better off selling a kidney?

When I see stuff like this, I can't help but feel utterly disgusted at the world; and particularly the shark bankster/moneylenders who create stuff like this.

I'm going to get back to my weekend, now... thanks for reading!

*Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for this platform.) Created at 20200606 15:46 PDT 0060/1287