• Blackmist@feddit.uk
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      8 months ago

      These schemes are usually interest free.

      They make their money similar to credit card fees, a small percentage from the merchant.

      They shaft you if you don’t pay though, and I’m not sure if this is still the case but they never used to show up on your actual credit history. Which seems nice on paper, but is actually hugely irresponsible. All these credit trackers seem like an unfair scam to keep the poor in their place, but they are there to stop you getting into more debt than you can pay off. If left to their own devices, the lenders would cheerfully give you way more than you could ever hope to pay, and then come round and break your kneecaps when you inevitably fall behind.

      • Baŝto@discuss.tchncs.de
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        8 months ago

        It’s not just impatience, for companies is usually more bet. They bet that they can earn a surplus higher than the interest rate when they invest that money now and not later.

        • MacN'Cheezus@lemmy.today
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          8 months ago

          Yes but as you correctly said, it’s a bet.

          Plenty of companies fail because they take on too much debt in order to expand faster than their competition but then cannot meet the revenue goals required to pay back all that interest. We just rarely hear about them because all they get is a byline in the news while the winners are endlessly praised for their genius, which creates a distorted perception of reality where companies always succeed as a result of taking on massive debt.

    • Gigan@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      You don’t have to use credit, taxes are taken from you by force. Not comparable imo.

        • Gigan@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Are you saying you need credit to live? Because that’s not true. Lot’s of people live that way, but it’s not necessary.

          • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee
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            8 months ago

            Have you ever been poor? Yes, sometimes you need credit to live. I’m still paying off debt from 2020 that I only acquired due to desperation and the threat of homelessness

          • 520@kbin.social
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            8 months ago

            It can be. Depending on the circumstances in life you are in, credit may be the only way you’re able to pay for food.

            • Gigan@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              You can’t do that forever though. Eventually you’ll run out of credit and have to pay for it yourself. And by that point you’re probably getting crushed by the debt from a maxed out card, that you’d have been better off not using in the first place.

              • 520@kbin.social
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                8 months ago

                Correct. But it’s either this or literally starve. That’s why you’ve got people here saying it isn’t really a choice.

              • papalonian@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                You are saying this like they are not aware… like telling a drowning person that if they don’t stop breathing water they’re gonna die. The point is that using credit in the first place isn’t always a choice. Just because it is for a lot, maybe even most people, doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of other people for whom it isn’t.

              • IamtheMorgz@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                You’re right, they should have just starved instead! So enlightened, thanks for setting us all straight!

          • IamtheMorgz@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            The only people who don’t need credit to live are rich enough that money will never be out of their reach.

      • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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        8 months ago

        They aren’t taken by force, you choose to live in a society that provides you with all sorts of services, which need to be paid for.

        You are free to live in a society that doesn’t provide any road networks, fire departments, education, … but that is not where you live now. So I suggest you move instead of complaining about something necessary.

        I heard Somalia doesn’t ask for any taxes.

        • Baŝto@discuss.tchncs.de
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          8 months ago

          Opt-out systems are never a proper choice. You don’t choose where you get born. You need to learn the language of that country, move somewhere there, find a job there and get citizenship. That all costs money and time, some countries only give you citizenship after you live there 20 years. As long as you don’t switch citizenship, you still need to pay income tax and probably other things, some taxes like VAT immediately changes and are not tied to citizenship.

          Somalia has taxes, though they might struggle to enforce their income taxes. It’s unlikely that there is any country without any kind of tax or a catch. Some have no income tax or VAT because that look good on paper, but then have a tax that acts similar or you basically have to buy citizenship.