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Thursday, April 5, 2012

Economic Slavery

Banks and colleges have teamed up to enslave college kids to debt. Students are enticed threatened and harassed to activate a credit card in the guise of a student I.D.





I know because I recently took college classes and to my amazement had to firmly choose "no" to many offers to activate the credit card portion of my I.D. card.





You will lose refunds if you don't activate your credit/debit card the prompts warned. It is easy and much faster if someone wants to send you money if you activate the credit card, you are told.





Finally after punching "no" several times, you are asked to give your name and address so the sponsoring bank can mail you a letter confirming you didn't want their credit card.





Can you imagine putting that kind of pressure and temptation on a kid fresh out of high school? Do you know what kind of debt students can acquire along with those student loans? What do you think will happen when all these college kids start defaulting on loans and massive credit card debts? And you know they will.





We are already a country in debt, our economy shattered, dollar devalued, gas prices climbing, and now banks are going after fresh meat. I think these higher learning institutions should be made to show common sense and responsibility. What can we do to stop greed? Let's all have that "financial responsibility" talk with a young person and help them to see there is a new form of slavery in America, and it's called "debt".

18 comments:

  1. Well said, Debra. I was so surprised when my kids went off to college and started getting all those offers. Thank goodness they had the good sense not to take the offer, but some of their friends did and got into huge debt problems.

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  2. MaryAnn-thanks for your comment. Its so awful how they tempt kids into debt. It's wrong! God bless.

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  3. Very true - sadly. But as college fees continue to rise, students sometimes have no other option.

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  4. horrendous! credit companies are evil!
    and how do we revolt against them without depriving ourselves of stuff?...oh....

    sad isnt it?!

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  5. This is such an important topic. I have one son in college, and another in law school, so I definitely can relate. It is unbelievable how many different companies are offering an "easy way out." Julie

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  6. I agree with the comment above, this is such an important topic. As a student, I rely purely upon the loans I get from the government, which means I will finish university with a lot of debt to pay back throughout my working life. I have a credit card, which I keep locked away at home, as I was told if I have one but don't use it, I will have a good credit score (I don't understand how they work, but that's what I was told) but so many students are vulnerable and will use credit cards, not understanding fully how they work and how much debt they can get into. I've heard of people taking private loans in order to pay back student debt, with horrible outcomes. With the rising fees, it's becoming more and more of a problem.

    Great post, as always :)

    Nikki – inspire nordic

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  7. Bravo for you writing about a tough subject. You're right that the banks seem to take advantage of the young and sometimes gullible kids.

    We aren't preparing our kids well enough to have some street smarts about banks and other institutions, and even how to evaluate all the marketing offers we get these days.

    Great advice!

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  8. I had no idea. I'll have to make sure my kids are aware of this when they go to college.

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  9. Paula- it's being caught between a rock and a hard place
    Tara- there ought to be a law against credit card company abuse
    Julie- I had to monitor my college student's mail talk to your
    boys. Email them this post.
    Niki- I'm like u I use that credit card sparingly. I can't
    afford the interest.
    D.G- You are right we have the sex, race, education talk but not the beware of bans bearing slave chains talk.

    Thanks to all of you for daring to comment. My blog is for thinking people. A lot shy away from true conversations. Kudo to you!

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  10. The banks go by the motto..."catch them young", and when educators , our so called god parents encourage this madness, I pity the generation that racks up debt with grades.

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  11. Great post! Makes me angry to see some of these so-called technical schools advertiements on TV hustling young people who will borrow lots of money but struggle to land a good paying job. Lots of these schools are just scams.

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  12. Very important post, I knew I stumbled upon this place for a reason.

    This 'student loan slavery' is parallel to the early and invasion introduction(in high school) to military recruiters; there is a misleading direction with both. Your advice is wonderful, to ask parents to make a conscious and necessary investment in their childrens early decisions.

    I think I'll pick up Fight Club before heading to bed tonight!

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  13. There was just an article in last night's newspaper saying student debt in the U.S. is rapidly approaching a trillion dollars, much of which students CAN'T PAY OFF. This could very well be one of the next crucial issues facing our economy. Very interesting topic. Count me in as your newest follower.

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  14. Hey, it's time for the old fashioned republicans to be in charge. First there were mortgages for people who could not afford them now credit for youngsters who can't pay it back... Someone has to stop that insanity and somehow I think Obama will not do it.

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  15. Excellent "E" post - very enlightening...educational and evocative.


    Jenny @ Pearson Report
    Co-Host of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

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  16. Rekha- it is going to be a disaster. Thanks for stopping by.
    Stephen-you are so right. Why aren't these places regulated?
    Archna- We must educate our kids against becoming debt slaves
    Susan-welcome and thanks. This will be bigger than the bail-out
    EvalinaMaria- Obama nor Republicans can do it. WE can! teach a
    child financial responsibility early. Thanks for
    stopping by.
    Jenny- thanks for your support. I try to keep us all thinking

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  17. WHAT!? That is ridiculous. I thought we were supposed to be paying attention to that sort of thing right now, what with much of the economic collapse having to do with people who were unable to handle their debts, such as credit cards and home loans, appropriately. That is not okay, to utter a complete understatement.

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse, co-host of the 2012 #atozchallenge! Twitter: @AprilA2Z

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  18. Wow, that's a nasty tactic! That didn't exist when I went to university in the Nineties. We were flooded with credit card offers, though. I got one, but was smart and didn't pile up a balance.

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