Philosophy Now Forum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOGk0fNGgyQ

Financial Times video some 3 and a half minute long. Titled "Archbishop versus payday lenders".

Can somebody please explain to me the point of payday borrowing? Why don't people just use their master card? Is borrowing money fundamentally different between my own country (Norway) and Britain (shown in the video)? Because in Norway you just use your master card and I would think most people can easily borrow as much as their entire pay-check is worth, only people with bad credit rating would be left out (and is that in this case what it's all about? Lending money to bad credit people?)

Payday borrowing is for people who don't even have a bank account, much less a credit card. They are living from paycheck to paycheck, and if they run into a financial emergency like for auto repairs, their only option is a payday loan at high interest rates.

bobevenson wrote:Payday borrowing is for people who don't even have a bank account, much less a credit card. They are living from paycheck to paycheck, and if they run into a financial emergency like for auto repairs, their only option is a payday loan at high interest rates.

Nobody in a developed country has zero bank accounts.

The Voice of Time wrote:

bobevenson wrote:Payday borrowing is for people who don't even have a bank account, much less a credit card. They are living from paycheck to paycheck, and if they run into a financial emergency like for auto repairs, their only option is a payday loan at high interest rates.

Nobody in a developed country has zero bank accounts.

You sure do live a sheltered life, my friend:

About 8.2% of U.S. households, or nearly 10 million, lack a bank account, according to survey results released Wednesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. That's up from 7.7%, or about 9 million households, in 2009.

Well, I guess the US is underdeveloped ^^ Or maybe they are immigrants, in that case it's only a matter of time (should be, it's a bad culture that doesn't have bank accounts... personally I hate cash and wish they could disappear, and people only use bank cards or things like it, but then again Norway is probably one of the most developed economies in terms of total electronic payment usage).

The Voice of Time wrote:Well, I guess the US is underdeveloped ^^ Or maybe they are immigrants, in that case it's only a matter of time (should be, it's a bad culture that doesn't have bank accounts... personally I hate cash and wish they could disappear, and people only use bank cards or things like it, but then again Norway is probably one of the most developed economies in terms of total electronic payment usage).

Norway is a third-world country and always has been since my grandparents saw the writing on the wall. And guess what, Norway doesn't have an immigration problem with people illegally trying to get in, does it?

bobevenson wrote:Norway is a third-world country and always has been since my grandparents saw the writing on the wall. And guess what, Norway doesn't have an immigration problem with people illegally trying to get in, does it?

Every developed country does, without exception.

The Voice of Time wrote:

bobevenson wrote:Norway is a third-world country and always has been since my grandparents saw the writing on the wall. And guess what, Norway doesn't have an immigration problem with people illegally trying to get in, does it?

Every developed country does, without exception.

I've never heard of anyone wanting to put a fence around Norway.

People arrive to Norway with trucks, they are smuggled across the border from Sweden. I reckon nine out of ten prostitutes (or more) are people smuggled from far away lands, like Southern Africa or East Asia.

The Voice of Time wrote:People arrive to Norway with trucks, they are smuggled across the border from Sweden. I reckon nine out of ten prostitutes (or more) are people smuggled from far away lands, like Southern Africa or East Asia.

No, I'm talking about people who want to come for a better life.

bobevenson wrote:

The Voice of Time wrote:People arrive to Norway with trucks, they are smuggled across the border from Sweden. I reckon nine out of ten prostitutes (or more) are people smuggled from far away lands, like Southern Africa or East Asia.

No, I'm talking about people who want to come for a better life.

I'm talking about the same thing. People pay others to smuggle them. These folk may live shit but might be given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, paying with drugs stuck up their ass or with what little savings they may have. People who go to live as prostitutes might have a better life as prostitutes in Norway than in their home-country.

Let me put it a different way, nobody in his right mind goes to a socialist country to build a better life for himself, only those looking for a free lunch, my friend.

bobevenson wrote:Let me put it a different way, nobody in his right mind goes to a socialist country to build a better life for himself, only those looking for a free lunch, my friend.

What world do you live in?

The Voice of Time wrote:

bobevenson wrote:Let me put it a different way, nobody in his right mind goes to a socialist country to build a better life for himself, only those looking for a free lunch, my friend.

What world do you live in?

One that has at least a semblance of free-market capitalism.