Doc 224899

The State of the Consumer

"Consumers" are self-segregating into two groups, and the actions of these two groups are what should be followed.

One group, the higher-functioning one that is coincidentally a smaller group, has sized things up and has basically stopped spending money on stuff they don't need. Every now and then they buy crap in WalMart that they bring home and throw in a closet and never look at again, like they used to do, but for the most part they've forced themselves to grow up and wise up. People in this group buy a car and hold on to it until it's really old, and change the oil and keep it repaired, and either have never paid a credit card interest rate in their lives or they got caught once and paid it off and vowed never to do anything that stupid ever again. These people don't need the president to protect them from credit card companies, and have never even been close to defaulting on their mortgages, and can operate power tools without being injured. This group will always be small, and will always be resented by the other group.

The other group, the lower functioning one that is the larger group, still spends money on stuff they don't need and still wonder why they have really high credit card bills. They get new cars every three or four years, and either take on the burden of car notes or lease cars they could never afford to buy and then get taken by surprise when the total cost of the lease turns out to be more expensive than the advertized monthly fee led them to expect (duh). They need the president to protect them from credit card companies (though nothing the president does will make a difference because stupidity is an indelible stain that can't be wiped off), will never pay off a mortgage in their entire lives and shouldn't even try to buy a house, and they can't handle power tools without getting hurt no matter what gets printed in the WARNINGS. The more this group is protected, the larger and dumber it gets.