Mar
21
Loans and Cigarettes – Both Turning Kids into Addicts
March 21, 2007 | Comments Off
I happen to invest in both loan and cigarette producing companies. You probably have seen my cash-cow portfolio. One thing that both banks and Altria/Phillip Morris (MO) have in common is that they make addicts of very young people: before they even have an income to buy their products.It is no secret that several judicial entities in the USA have found the cigarette producing companies to be advertising an adventurous (Marlboro Man), or even a jovial and joyful life for young people that smoke. Their advertisement is so powerful that it creates clients that are addicted to cigarettes for life – in many cases endangering their lives, or even shortening them.
Recently it has been found that institutional loan sharks have been steering kids into debt since they start college – before they have a steady income to pay for them. Some companies have even been accused of giving kickbacks to school officials for steering kids into their loans. Even some of my friends and members of my family have been severely impacted by funding their college years through loans. The improvement on lifestyle or the extra cost of a different college, in comparison to my spartan living and public college years, have delayed their financial achievements many years.
For years banks have given credit cards to college students. Now they are even targeting kids under 18 years old with limited credit limit cards. Many of these kids will be deeply into debt before being able to repay, and will fall into a carry-balance situation for a very long time, maybe forever.
What do cigarettes and loans have in common? They turn kids into addicts for life. They have the potential to cripple their lives. They both know that the younger the audience the easier is to make them acquire a habit or addiction.
I sometimes think that society likes that. Society has not done too much to stop them, so in a way society may want them to continue their practice. Maybe cigarette and loan addictions are not seen as bad as I see them. Maybe they are just some of those less-than-healthy pleasures that society tolerates and sometimes encourages: like alcohol binges and promiscuous sex of college life that are nowadays seen by many people as innocent experiences that kids should enjoy.
In the meantime, I will profit from them. I will continue enjoying the fruits of my cash-cow portfolio.
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