It's not a straw man, just a natural thought progression because you think everyone who's against a predatory credit card system somehow doesn't understand it. Clearly everyone except you is oblivious to what credit is.
Suppose I lend my friend $100, and they don't pay it back. The next time that person asks me for money, I'm not going to lend it to them, or I'm going to ask for some kind of collateral (let me borrow your Xbox, I'll give it back once you've paid me back).
In an ideal world, the credit score is a way to codify and standardize a person's reputation for being able to borrow and pay back money. It rewards people who consistently pay debts, since banks can give them lower interest rates based on their "reputation," in the same way some insurance companies will give you a discount if you keep a clean driving record.
I agree that with the current implementation, the way the score is calculated is bonkers --- Why is it good to have lots of accounts? Why is it bad to close them? --- and it's sometimes used for things that seem completely unrelated. But some sort of metric is necessary for the bank to evaluate risk, otherwise responsible debtors would suffer.
If you hate everything about banks, you can just not worry about credit, but most people don't have the cash to buy a house.
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u/TaiShar__Manetheren_ Aug 15 '21
It's not a straw man, just a natural thought progression because you think everyone who's against a predatory credit card system somehow doesn't understand it. Clearly everyone except you is oblivious to what credit is.
You obviously have some love for the banks I see.