Comments | 1144: Help or Hindrance?

1144

Help or Hindrance?

Oct 10, 2009 14:48

Obama is willing to spend political capital to shut down payday lenders. Never mind that the people will pay for his good intentions.

In a December 2008 working paper, [Dartmouth economist Jonathan] Zinman concluded that former payday customers in Oregon ended up using less desirable alternatives such as overdrafts and utility shutdowns, and that ( Read more... )

Comments 15

choc October 10 2009, 19:08:47 UTC

As overheard in a conversation between two airport hotel employees: "Check-Into-Cash is the bomb!"

1144 October 10 2009, 19:23:07 UTC

Clearly in need of saving from themselves.

choc October 10 2009, 19:33:03 UTC

Well, I was just joking, but as far as "saving from themselves" goes, it's the reason I don't trust Libertarianism. It puts faith in the individual, and... frankly, I think many people would be better off (even relative to their own wants) being "saved from themselves." That said, there's a huge difference between me thinking that, and actually thinking that it's morally right to do it.

I dunno, I'm really curious to know what your general philosophy is regarding those who clearly aren't willing to better themselves. Is our current system allowing them to remain this way, like "enabling" them? I know this is kinda tangential to your point in your post.

1144 October 10 2009, 19:55:35 UTC

No social system will eliminate the fact that every person is fundamentally dependent on their own effort in life, and that effort is a matter of free will. Hope and aspiration are likewise irreduceably individual matters, and indispensible in proper human functioning. No social system is going to remove human nature from humans, and none will substitute something artificial that function better in its place. People need character. There's no way around it. That's why it's a serious matter ( ... )

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