[thr0wawayf00]

The lending industry in the US is very powerful and regularly lobbies congress to reign in consumer protection action from government agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which often issue guidance to limit the offerings of many types of consumer lenders.

The sad truth is that looking poor in the US is culturally frowned upon, which often drives people to overextend their credit in order to fit in. People are quite often encouraged through advertising to improve their status through consumption in the short term at the expense of the long term. It's heinous, but that's America for you.