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I finished that post off with a bit of a snark. I tend to believe Homeboy when he's recounted his charitable activities. But the point I was trying to make is that it's not terribly productive to assign blame when someone needs assistance. Certainly, I'd like to see a system where after getting back on their feet, folks are given the tools and the training to avoid trouble in the future. I'd also like to see a system where folks are educated about avoiding problems in the first place.
But then, there are always toes in the way. When you tell someone with low income that rent-to-own places aren't really in their best interest, the folks who run those fleece factories squawk about how you're trying to put them out of business. (Actually, I would like to see them, as well as paycheck loan and car title loan places shut down, and their proprietors strung up by the eyelids and beaten in the testicles until they blink, but that's another story.)
When you educate someone about the risks of revolving credit and how buying that $65 Diskman on credit winds up costing them $200, then you hear from the creditors whining how it's not their fault if someone can handle credit responsibly, all the while filling their mailboxes with come-ons for outrageously expensive credit cards. "Hey, Bill Gates doesn't put off buying stuff, why should you?" Well, because with very few exceptions, none of us are Bill Gates, but our society doesn't run on deferred gratification.
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