Sunday, September 03, 2006

Death sanitised through Credit

Credit cards are evil things. I hardly ever use mine, but was recently forced to by an unfortunate necessity. I was pushed and hustled into a corner by a hooded and cloaked figure, forcing me to sign away all of my freedoms by falling into 'credit'. Big mistake.



I only owed them £5.10, but due to my hectic lifestyle and packed social schedule I missed the deadline by a couple of days. Thus, the next bill carried extra charges of £6 interest (120%) and a £12 late fee, totalling an unneccessary £18 owed because I forgot to pay off a £5.10 debt. You'd think that would be the full extent of the shameful wallet rape, but no... after clearing all required debts the next bill turned up with a brand new interest charge of £11. Interest that seems to be owed on nothing. Nothing! A bit like walking into the Co-Op, perusing the floury baps, moving onto the cereal aisle but nothing really taking your fancy, and then leaving but still being told to pay at the checkout. Isn't it?

I know it was very naive of me, foolish even. I knew the evils of working with these people, and had even been regaled with specific horror tales of the company in question (MBNA), but I still fell for oldest trick in the book. The whole credit system preys upon vulnerable types like me though. I remember walking into uni during Fresher's Week and having Barclaycards thrust before my eyes by grinning, sinister beings. "Go on, we'll give you a free camera if you sign up", they called. There I was, at my most vulnerable, an awestruck fresher in just my first few days of independent living... and already they were sharpening the swords of debt. MBNA, specifically, prey upon the vain and needy with their co-branded 'novelty' cards, making the lure of the plastic too strong to resist for football fans etc. That's how the bastards operate. They appeal to humankind's lowest common denominator to lock us all into their culture as soon as possible.

Don't let them get you. Reject the cycle of debt that so many submit themselves to from an early age. Once you're in the red, all freedoms are sacrificed, you're truly under control. Never again will you skip through a meadow on a spring day without a care in the world. I hope to never have to use a credit card again, anyway. And I'll fight them tooth and nail over that £11.

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