The Rich Won?

[Jolly]

The war on poverty...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-war-on-poverty-is-over-rich-people-won/ar-AA1bag5n

[Mik]

He has a lot of good points, but his only answer seems to be wealth transfer. He harps on public housing, which has been a dismal failure pretty much everywhere it has been tried. Many are now torn down.

[Jolly]

After graduating from college, my son needed a job. Any job. Jobs are not plentiful in this part of the world, especially entry-level jobs that pay a semi-decent salary. He took a job as the assistant manager at an Aaron's store.

For those that don't know, Aaron's has over 1300 locations, of which over 1000 are corporate owned. So at least there was a career ladder. Aaron's makes their money by exploiting poor people.

They are a rental and rent-to-own store. Rates are not cheap. They know the vast majority of their items will be repossessed and they know the approximate time span before they go back. Ergo, the person renting to own, usually pays enough before the item goes back, that he could have bought it outright in the first place.

And...Aaron's gets the used piece back, that they can rent out again.

One of their big sales pitches, is that if a customer finds a similar item elsewhere for less money, they'll refund the difference. Good luck. Aaron's buys old stock from computer or appliance manufacturers, helping them clean out warehouses or use up inventories of old parts in special manufacturer runs just for Aaron's. You can't find a competing item, if you tried.

I read some of their store manual. Darn thing is as thick as the Bible and details multiple ways to sell schlock to poor people and not run afoul of the law.

My son lasted about three months...

[Mik]

Not to mention payday lenders who thankfully have been mostly eliminated around here.

[Jolly]

Talk to some of the guys who do HUD rentals. That's an eye opener.

On one hand, they have much of the rent guaranteed by the government. OTOH, most of their renters wind up trashing the houses.

It's an interesting dynamic...

[Mik]

No one taught them not to shit where they live.

[Doctor Phibes]

Let the blathering and nitpicking begin.