Since the USA is the richest country in the history of the planet, many desirable and expensive items have naturally appeared in the marketplace to take advantage of all that spending power. In the USA we have 700 plus billionaires, and many thousands more individuals and families in the 100-million-dollar range. This adds up to plenty of cash for discretionary spending, and a robust luxury item economy.
Did you know that there are at least 20 different new cars available today with sticker prices of a million dollars plus? Alongside well- known makers like Ferrari, Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin, we have the Rimac Nevera, the McLaren Speedtail, the Gordon Murray T.50, and my favorite, the Koenigsegg. Note that Ferrari and some other high-end automakers have generously supplied the market with less expensive models for those who can’t quite stretch to seven figures. You will be relieved to know that you can acquire an entry level Ferrari, the 2022 Ferrari Roma, for just a little north of $200,000. Thanks Ferrari, for not forgetting the little guy.
And suppose you are running out of room on your yacht: it could be 100 feet, 200 feet, maybe more. But it’s still too small. You have filled your house, or I should say your houses, with stuff, and now the boat is full too. You are out of room. What to do? You are becoming impatient and irritable. Your wife thinks you’re turning into a jerk, and suggests you call a therapist.
But throw away that phone number! There’s a better way. Slightly more expensive than therapy, but worth it. A shadow yacht. There are dealers specializing in this type of vessel, and there is one for you available today.
A shadow yacht is an extra boat that follows your main yacht across the seas. It has space for more things, more staff, and if necessary, an extra helicopter pad. Think of it as a seafaring mobile storage unit. Your worries are over. Whew! Close call.
And how about a nice watch? You can acquire a $20,000 Rolex and impress the proletariat, but elicit only a yawn from your rich friends. Better to call the RW Smith watch company, and get in line to have a watch custom made just for you. A watch from the world’s best watch maker will cost about the same as one of those less expensive Ferraris.
Or, since the wait time is in years for a Roger Smith watch, and you are impatient to wear on your wrist what amounts to more than the life savings of most people, then available now are less rare but still frightfully expensive offerings from Patek-Phlippe, Vacheron-Constantin and A. Lange & Sohne.
Many more such items are available to those with the cash. For a look at sparkly things you never imagined, go to jamesedition.com
This is indeed a nation of fabulous wealth. But not for everybody. Many more Americans inhabit the opposite end of the economic spectrum. People who can barely afford the basics even while working one, two or three jobs. People who constantly worry about feeding and housing themselves and their kids. People who don’t spend a lot of time pondering the current selection of Ferraris. They number in the tens of millions.
The United States is indeed the richest country, but some would also describe it as the “best” country. It is a subjective judgment, to be sure, but is held by many. And they have a case. The Founding Fathers. The Constitution. Wide open spaces. Elvis. I get it.
But in this country, the richest and the best, this land of unimaginable wealth, where lighting cigars with 100-dollar bills is not unknown, we have somehow collectively decided that it is perfectly fine to allow companies to profit from squeezing the last nickel out of this population of desperate people.
Thus we have predatory lending. It comes in many flavors, and as we dig deep, we pass student loans, equity stripping, loan flipping and several others, until we finally arrive at the very bottom of the sewer and there we discover “payday loans.”
Every company has a business model. Sometimes it involves receiving a few huge checks from wealthy people. Sometimes it is receiving many small checks from poor people.
A borrower walks into the store, writes a check and receives cash in return. The check is for the amount of the cash, plus a fee. Typical: $200 in cash, and a check for $230. The extra $30 is the fee, which is interest on the loan. The lender holds the check, then cashes it on an agreed-upon date. This is usually the day after the borrower anticipates depositing his next paycheck.
He has thus paid $30 for the benefit of receiving some portion of his paycheck maybe two weeks early. What is the annualized interest rate on this loan? Here is the calculation: 52 weeks divided by 2 weeks times 30 over 200 times 100 = 390%.
Wait a minute! This must be fake news. This kind of rip-off couldn’t possibly exist in the USA, can it? Well, it can and it does. But don’t take my word for it. Do a search. Data is easy to find. It’s a real number. 390% is actually on the low end for payday loans.
Imagine a Texas road trip. As you roll across the desert, you will from time to time spot a lonely oil rig, moving up and down slowly and patiently. This is a so-called “stripper” well. After the majors have extracted most of the oil and it no longer makes economic sense to maintain the field, they hand it over to smaller companies to squeeze out the last drops. Perhaps just a few barrels a day.
Payday loan companies are the equivalent of stripper wells, applied not to oil fields but to people.
This kind of business is a natural outcome of living in a corporate state. In case you forgot, here is the definition:
The Corporate State is a system of government, nominally a democracy, whose executive, legislative, judicial and regulatory decision-making is conducted for the benefit of for-profit corporations through the influence of money.
If all this makes you uncomfortable, then click HERE to find out about the grass-roots organization Move to Amend, and their proposal for a constitutional amendment intended to improve the lot of the poorest Americans, and thus all Americans.
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