Author here! I promise I didn't use Claude for any of this. I will admit I'm working on developing a "voice" in my writing, so maybe that's what you're sensing. Thanks for the read anyway.
There's a very basic financial instrument called a credit card and if you just exercise a modicum of control and a hint of reasoning, you get to have cheaper purchases for your entire life with no downside.
Leftists think this is terrible, because when you voluntarily sign up for this instrument and then behave really stupidly, repeatedly over a long period with no reasoning or reflection, it's bad! We can't allow it! I can't say I agree with this worldview.
> you get to have cheaper purchases for your entire life with no downside
If you uncritically believe things like this, I have a bridge to sell you. You should praise me for it too, because that's the kind of thing you explicitly condone.
> Leftists think this is terrible
Nah, it says more about your worldview than it does about your favorite bogeyman, especially when you ignore the entire article and start attacking a straw man.
I don't understand. Are you objecting to "cheaper purchases" or "no downside"?
Yes the prices go up to subsidize the merchant fees. But they don't go up as much as I save in CC rewards, because my rewards are subsidized by people not using the card or using it poorly. I have 5% and 10% cards in certain categories and a 3% in all; abolishment of cards would never drop prices by that much.
As far as downside goes I've been paying with cc exclusively for a decade and I've never paid a cent of interest, so I'm not sure what it would be.