Corresponding, not so long ago, with another local blogger -- a self-identified Republican at that -- I found myself the recipient of a scathing email for having asserted that poor people are poor by their own choice. Now, by that, of course, I'd simply meant that the opportunity exists to become rich if people will only do what's necessary.
I'm quite poor myself by the way, but it's only because I don't really want to exert myself or to get the education necessary to go into a field that pays better. I've found my comfort zone, I suppose, and in the end if I don't make much money, it's my own fault.
Imagine the outrage I'd have provoked, though, had I stated that poor people are stupid. Whoa, that's just not said, though most people of the progressive persuasion in New York certainly imply it.
Democratic state lawmakers, including one from Buffalo, are seeking to rein in the controversial rent-to-own industry in New York with legislation capping the prices the stores can charge and mandating additional consumer disclosures.
The bill, introduced in the Assembly this month, marks a significant challenge to a profitable industry that has long been denounced by consumer advocates for gouging low-income consumers.
Imagine that, a law capping prices that a legitimate business may charge its customers. And not in this case a business that makes huge profits like the evil "Big Oil," just average street-corner furniture and appliance rental stores (that's what they are after all.) While the legislature purports to rein in unsavory business practices, their unspoken goal is to protect people they consider idiots from spending too much of what little money they do have.
You know, those poor people who patronize the rent-to-own stores don't live in a vacuum. Even if they don't comb the newspaper ads for bargains, they certainly see television commercials for Wal-Mart and Valu-City. They know how much furniture costs, they understand completely how much a new computer sells for and they can do the math comparing weekly trips to the laundromat with buying a washing machine.
They know very well that by putting aside a few dollars with each check, they could eventually own their heart's desire, but they want their new stuff now and they're willing to pay through the nose for it. You can call it short-sighted -- it is. But please, don't call it "gouging" the consumer and embark on a noble crusade to save the poor from themselves in the name of reining in unsavory business practices.
When all the rent-to-own stores are gone, when no one in Buffalo will cash a check and when the last anti-casino lawsuit has been won; the poor people will still be poor. If New York would put as much effort into creating a business climate that could create jobs for the poor as it does into making them more comfortable in their poverty, we'd all be a lot better off.
And the no-longer-poor could then get credit and bury themselves in legitimate debt like the rest of us.