I don’t normally go off on rants here, but I am getting frustrated with credit card companies. I have seen quite a few ads that say, in one way or another, that you should buy stuff (a lot of it) with your card, because YOU DESERVE IT.
What exactly is it that we deserve? To buy something that we are lusting after, that we don’t have the cash to pay for, that some credit card company is going to increase it’s profit margins by?
Why do so many Americans have such an extreme sense of entitlement? Are the ads the result or the cause of our feeling this way?
I don’t know about you, but I deserve hell. Not a trip to Fiji or a 52″ plasma TV. Thank God that Jesus gave up what He deserved, so that we could have what we don’t deserve.
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- They cancelled my credit card
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- Debt Reduction Carnival
- 6 reasons for giving more in 2009
- Should college students be issued credit cards?
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Aaah! I’m with you on this one, I absolutely can’t stand credit card commercials. When they use that word, I just want to reach through the TV and… well, you know.
And if I have to use a credit card to buy it, then there’s no way I deserve it, as I haven’t even *earned* it. Sounds kind of like respect, in a way.
Amen. Well said.
Right on !!!!!!
I totally agree! I simply cannot stand those kind of commercials. While the credit card industry is the worst offender, there are so many other industries that have jumped onto this bandwagon as well, with cars being the most expensive. Unfortunately, these advertising blitzes work, and result in some rather ridiculous financial situations (like lower enlisted military buying vehicles that cost more than a full year’s pay!).
This may be the best post I have ever read on your blog! I will admit, I do want it, I lust it, but you are right, I don’t deserve it. Then, when I do get it, I wander why I don’t like it like I thought I would.
I agree, Bob. As you know, I just got a new credit card. When it arrived in the mail, it came with a nice little brochure that told me to start spending because I deserved it. So I took the medicine given to me, and I maxed out my card the next day! Ok, just kidding!!! Actually, when I saw their “advice”, I just shook my head in disgust because I’m sure there are a lot of people acting on that “advice.”
Preach it, brother
I avoid watching tv, but I have seen those commercials and they are horrible! Argghh!
@Tucker
well, I guess that may be proof that less is more – or maybe that I should go off on rants more?
@Tristan
that made me laugh – thanks
I agree completely. We are all sinners and deserve hell. Only the sacrifice that Jesus made for us allows us to avoid our deserved fate- thank God I don’t get what I deserve!
This sense of entitlement is so pervasive in our culture nowadays that people almost don’t even notice anymore, a lot of people will agree – “yes, you do deserve it!”. The ideas of delayed gratification, saving, and working towards something are being lost in the shuffle.
great post.
Amen!!! God has blessed this nation so much….and yet we take what we have for granted…and want more!! We are blessed not because we deserve it but because God is so good! If we take the “things” we have for granted…maybe we also take our own salvation for granted also.
@jan
good point – that is one thing I want to be on guard not to take for granted…
“Can I get an Amen!” Amen!
Good stuff, and you are dead on!
@GLBL
You got it – Amen!
Amen! With good stewardship and hard work, you can get the things you want credit free, and use the credit card for emergencies.
I heard a radio ad selling computers to people with bad credit, and they kept saying “It’s not your fault” that you have bad credit. Which left me wondering, then who’s fault is it? Of course it’s my fault if I have bad credit!