From Will Frable:
A couple of days ago I read an article that mentions a Bill being proposed by a New York Senator that would put harsh regulations on young people seeking a credit card. Now given that this country runs on a credit system for any large purchase it is important to establish credit at an early age.
What the hell is the matter with our government? They have taken regulation to a new height. Senator Charles Schumer of New York is posing a bill that makes the legal age of having a credit card 21 and only under parental consent after a financial literacy test is taken. This is ridiculous on several levels. One is that this is a credit card that you have now put more restrictions on than alcohol consumption. Two this legislation puts kids even further behind because they are even more reliant on their parents. Third whatever happened to personal responsibility in this country? And last and this is the same argument for drinking, before I even turned 18 I had recruiters knocking on my door asking if I wanted to sign a 4 year contract to and they’ll pay for my college, talk about predatory lending. I believe that if at 18 you can sign your name and go off to war you should be able to drink, and by all means have a credit card.
My first grievance is that they are proposing more regulation than alcohol. The reason we have laws for alcohol consumption is because it kills people when used irresponsibly, and even then it is limited to a minimum age and not driving while intoxicated. However, credit which doesn’t kill people or affect anyone but the person’s credit in question we need a literacy test, and a permission slip. This is no different than the voter literacy test in the Jim Crow Era. Everyone has the right to choose to vote and everyone has the right to choose to have a credit card.
Number two, When I turned 18 my parents told me I’m free. Any decision I make from then on is my responsibility and mine only. Then I find out that in order for me to go to college and apply for loans I’m a dependent of my parents until I’m 24 or I have a kid whichever comes first. Now they’re putting me deeper in my parent’s shadow, with credit cards. Whatever happened to cutting the cord and letting people succeed or fail on their own merits.
What about personal responsibility, where did it go? These adults who are in college and fuck up it’s their deal no one else’s. I am just as old as they are I’m in college and I didn’t mess up why, because I was taught the importance of good credit. Nobody in my generation can say they didn’t know it is drilled into our head form grade school on up. The reason myself and people like me didn’t screw up is because we restrained ourselves from that pizza on a Friday night. Start taking responsibility for your actions.
And last is the age limit. At 18 you’re an adult all decisions, and I cannot stress “all” enough, should be yours and yours alone. As a society we need to abandon this mentality that when you turn 18 you’re adult in every aspect except “fill in the blank.” You are 18, you are an adult deal with the consequences, and reap the benefits.
In short this legislation should go absolutely no where, and as someone who is independent of my parents and younger than 21. I am personally insulted that the government is trying to tell me how responsible I am.
