[WS:] I've heard that quite a bit from other FOBs too. I think it has more to do with the inculcation of the American thinking with business propaganda - to which outsiders were not exposed (or exposed less) and thus less susceptible.
A case in point: We just received a letter from one of the condominium owners complaining about about recent maintenance fee increase. He stated his case in terms of "save America from fiscal irresponsibility" bullshit oozed by the right wing pro-business noise machine. This is even more surprising given the fact that this is a very liberal community by most standards. So if a liberal has no qualms to use pro-business right wing hogwash to persuade other liberals about an issue that can be addressed based on its merits alone (we opposed the fee increase as well) - this speak volumes about the level of brainwashing that most Americans are subjected to to.
America is perhaps the most brainwashed and bamboozled society in the world - and it shows in everyday life choices most people make, from going into debt to attitudes toward governments and other nations.
PS. I use my credit cards in exactly the same way as you do, and I have not paid a penny of interest for years, while collecting rewards. My wife, who is an American, does the exact same thing, but then she is proudly considers herself to be "un-American" (which perhaps explains why she married a goofball like me :) ) However, what she is telling me is that the attitude toward debt is a generational thing - the generation of her parents was against it - which is consistent with my brainwashing theory.
Wojtek
On Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 1:36 AM, <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Miles Jackson" <cqmv at pdx.edu>
>
> Yep. Joanna, you're a deadbeat! (And that epithet for people who
> prudently use credit cards is a nice synecdoche for everything that's
> fucked up about the financial services industry.)
>
> ----
> My ex (an American) used to make fun of me for avoiding debt like the
> plague. He called me a peasant basically. But the thing is poverty and debt
> are very, very expensive.
>
> Joanna
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