The point is that, particularly in a state like Washington which has lax regulations on predatory lending, poor people are often seen as disposable customers from whom credit institutions want to extract a few fees or soem interest quickly and then get off their books.
So I am suggesting that cash is, in fact, a reasonable choice, as are the other non-bank payment options. I never said that poor people were irresponsible and I never meant anything like it. I mean that it is altogether right and good that we think of creating credit institutions which are designed to serve poor people better, rather than depending on freakin' Washington Mutual.
And if you don't think that overdraft fees are part of the model, you don't know anything about how banks work. Human beings are relatively predictable. Banks know the odds and they play them.
On 10/18/06, Jordan Hayes <jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com> wrote:
> >> So, which is it:
> >>
> >> a) "the poor don't have access to banking services"
> >> b) "cash is easier for the poor to manage"
> >
> > False choice - the poor don't have banking services with
> > fees they can afford, once overdraft fees are considered,
> > therefore they pick cash.
>
> Why do you hate poor people?
>
> > Perhaps you think people who get into credit trouble are
> > somehow unworthy of consideration, but since there are so
> > many, I think your attitude is silly.
>
> Plenty of non-poor people get into this situation as well. But: every
> single "poor" person I know who refuses to use a free checking account
> is, as far as I can tell, just fine in terms of financial
> responsibility. It's just that they pay Safeway (or the USPS!) for
> money orders to pay their rent or PG&E bill, and pay Checks-R-Us to cash
> their paycheck. They are in no danger of being "tricked" into paying
> overdraft fees, or whatever it is you think is lying in wait for their
> irresponsible, dumbass selves. I'm, as they say, bumfuzzled by it.
>
> I don't think you have any idea what my 'attitude' is.
>
> /jordan
>
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>