Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
I am of the firm belief that the intersection of a woman, bills, and a checkbook is detrimental to the American economy: this woman will undoubtedly pay bills in a timely fashion, thereby robbing the engine of capitalism of untold penal revenue. Men should hold tight their bills and checkbooks if ever capitalism should succeed.
My Addled Brain, the morning of 12/22/05
I had a ’40s period voice in my head, as is more often the case than you care to believe, replete with overtly sexist commentary. Though the idea in and of itself is curious at best, it got me thinking: should I be thankful for my less-than-perfect credit rating? Is an attempt at creditworthiness actually harmful to my humanity?
During the three weeks of training preceding my shorter tenure at CitiBank years ago, we the trainees developed an apprehension of what credit is all about, which apprehension covered the applied aspects of legalities as well as some theory. Yes, theory. Not much, mind you, but there was a somewhat theoretical discussion of credit and the stability and extensibility it provides an economic model. The general point was that we all enjoy a higher quality of life if we don’t stuff our cash under mattresses, but rather deposit it in (effectively lend it to) banks. The banks invest the cash and receive dividends on the investments, some portion of which they can extend to us—if we’re creditworthy—increasing our effective buying power. We then pay them for their generosity, and everyone wins—sort of.
There is that decision process, the assessment of creditworthiness, which all but requires a body to commit himself to making and keeping a good name with financial institutions. It’s not necessarily invasive to do so, but there are odd points: if, for instance, you rent your domicile (quite independent of whether or not you own a house you happen not to be living in), you’re automatically less worthy of a bank’s trust. I can’t fight the statistical evidence that likely informs this decision algorithm, but it doesn’t motivate the idea that “credit is not only good for the abstracted financial machine, it’s good for it’s cogs, the People.”
Honestly, I’m not interested in developing an argument against the theoretical underpinnings of credit here, nor am I qualified to do so. I simply wonder if living more hand-to-mouth isn’t a better alternative than we give it…well, credit…for. Do I really care if Equifax or American Express think highly enough of me as a statistical unit to offer me a shiny noose? Can it be argued that our system of credit has more than anything else just exacerbated our natural human greed, and so, while it might make it easier in an instance to provide for our welfare, in the long run it saps life of much of its intimate vigor?
It certainly feels that way. There is, of course, this seasonal shopping craze, but that’s an easy target that everyone’s already bludgeoning. Consider advertising, then: we have in our midst an industry whose sole purpose is to help companies persuade the units of our economy to enter transaction. Steel mills and auto makers and produce vendors and shipping companies all maintain the fundamental structure of the marketplace, i.e. facilitating the completion of transactions between producers and consumers. Advertisers, though, seek only to amplify those transactions, either in scale or frequency, maybe both.
Hyandai wants you to buy their car, and you may need a car to get to work, so it is your need that drives you to buy that Elantra. Advertising, though, seeks only to convince you that, yes, you need a car, but not only a car, but a Lexus, nevermind that you’re not quite sure what for, other than that it would be convenient and sexy and now you can listen to your CDs through a 12-speaker system while you’re parked on the highway with all the other folks with less sexy (though equally convenient) Elantras and Civics.
A world without credit has no place for advertising, at least not in its current garrish form. If you have only the money you earn, without the prospect of taking out another loan or getting another credit card, cost-benefit analysis probably kicks Visa in the jewels (or boxes them, bare-fisted). What kind of world would that be? I don’t know. It would likely be simpler, but I’m not working up a primativist idyll. It would be different, both from what we have and what we’ve had—there’s no rewinding to whatever aggrandized vision of history you favor.
Would it find us more intimate with our world, with one another, with our lives and our deaths? Yeah, that’s pretty reasonable to expect. Would it be better? Dunno. All I know is I can’t stand paying bills and worrying about any worthiness other than that I owe to myself. I can’t stand constantly feeling as if I’m hammered daily upon an anvil in an attempt to forge proSumer v3.1.1, with new HOW THE HELL DID I EVER GET TO BE THIRTY-SOMETHING WITHOUT YOUR TASTY, INTERACTIVE, ENVIRONMENTALLY-CONSCIOUS PLUSH TECHNOWIDGET? grip. I’m tired of wanting anything 360, anything digital, anything new, anything that takes batteries and only gives them back when they’re used and useless.
I’m not worthy, and I’d like to keep it that way.
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