Gingerbread-Cake

Gingerbread-Cake t1_jdk0yd0 wrote

Reply to comment by Due_Platypus_3913 in Struggling high-cost lender Amigo has said it will halt all lending and wind down its business after failing to raise extra funds from investors. by Naive-Maintenance244

Oh, I remember that shit, all right. All my Republican friends were gung ho for it, shit talking about a “war of civilizations” and other such thought-stopping nonsense. My Democrat friends were mostly for it, also, but less emphatic about it.

I saw 9/11 as a bully getting punched in the nose (no offense to anyone who lost someone there, I’m talking geopolitics, not personal) and was a little surprised that view wasn’t voiced more often.

The patriot act should have been repealed wholesale years ago, but no, the “border” of the U.S. still extends way inland, the expanded surveillance powers still hold up, there’s still secret courts etc etc etc.

That’s a lot of words to say that I’m 100% in agreement with you, just persnickety about historic details.

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Gingerbread-Cake t1_jdj98ao wrote

Reply to comment by Due_Platypus_3913 in Struggling high-cost lender Amigo has said it will halt all lending and wind down its business after failing to raise extra funds from investors. by Naive-Maintenance244

These things existed in the United States well before the patriot act. I cashed a check at one in Las Cruces NM while driving across the country in 95’, for example.

I am not defending the patriot act, here; I think it is very important not to assign blame for things all Willy-nilly, though, and the spread of payday loans had way more to do with the steady degradation of working class incomes than any specific legislation.

These predators used to be seen mostly in poor urban neighborhoods, but flat incomes and rising expenses have allowed them to flourish everywhere. State laws play a role as well, I am sure.

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