• Gigan@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    You don’t have to use credit, taxes are taken from you by force. Not comparable imo.

      • Gigan@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Are you saying you need credit to live? Because that’s not true. Lot’s of people live that way, but it’s not necessary.

        • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee
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          6 months ago

          Have you ever been poor? Yes, sometimes you need credit to live. I’m still paying off debt from 2020 that I only acquired due to desperation and the threat of homelessness

        • 520@kbin.social
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          6 months ago

          It can be. Depending on the circumstances in life you are in, credit may be the only way you’re able to pay for food.

          • Gigan@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            You can’t do that forever though. Eventually you’ll run out of credit and have to pay for it yourself. And by that point you’re probably getting crushed by the debt from a maxed out card, that you’d have been better off not using in the first place.

            • 520@kbin.social
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              6 months ago

              Correct. But it’s either this or literally starve. That’s why you’ve got people here saying it isn’t really a choice.

            • papalonian@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              You are saying this like they are not aware… like telling a drowning person that if they don’t stop breathing water they’re gonna die. The point is that using credit in the first place isn’t always a choice. Just because it is for a lot, maybe even most people, doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of other people for whom it isn’t.

            • IamtheMorgz@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              You’re right, they should have just starved instead! So enlightened, thanks for setting us all straight!

        • IamtheMorgz@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          The only people who don’t need credit to live are rich enough that money will never be out of their reach.

    • djsoren19@yiffit.net
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      6 months ago

      Not technically correct. If you want to be able to rent apartments or dream of owning a house, you will have to use credit in the U.S., or you’ll at least need someone with a high credit score willing to be your co-signer.

      obv nobody is forcing you to get a credit card and rack up a lot of debt, but you will face a lot of struggles in life that someone who makes regular payments on a credit card will not.

      • uranibaba@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        That seems crazy to me. I understand that what you are saying is reality, but is it really that difficult to get by in US without ever owning a credit card?

        • djsoren19@yiffit.net
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          6 months ago

          You’ll be rejected from a lot of things on the basis of having no credit, because in the U.S., it is considered worse if you have always paid everything up front and on time than if you consistently borrow and make continual payments. Now, that doesn’t have to be a credit card per say, it can be car lease payments, student loan payments, medical debt payments, my landlord reports my rent payments, but credit cards are one of the easiest ways to build up your credit score before you say, have to spend an extra $1500 upfront for an apartment on a co-signor service because my credit score wasn’t considered high enough for an apartment I pay $500 a month for.

          • IamtheMorgz@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            Also, your credit cards are a different kind of “loan” - revolving - vs those other debts, which are installment. Having a mix of the two will improve your credit. They literally want it to be impossible to have good credit without the cards.

          • Baŝto@discuss.tchncs.de
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            6 months ago

            Do you have no rental bonds? It’s quite common here to have a rental bond up to three times the monthly rent, but you get that back at the end if there are no disputes about damages or payment default.

            • djsoren19@yiffit.net
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              6 months ago

              There doesn’t seem to be anything offered by the rental company I’m currently with, and I’ve never heard of concept before. There are security deposits, which you do typically receive at the end of the lease, but most of the ones here are non-refundable, and I did have to pay one of those as well.

              • Baŝto@discuss.tchncs.de
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                6 months ago

                security deposits

                That’s the word I was actually looking for. But reading a bit about security deposits and non-refundable deposits, they are two very different things. The first is a security like the name implies and credit scores have a similar purpose, they want to be sure that you are able pay. Non-refundable deposits are essentially just fees that are paid even when you back out of the rental contract and don’t move in.

        • elrik@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Yes. Effectively you will not have any credit history, so you simply won’t qualify for lower interest credit products or will be rejected on applications that have a credit score threshold.

        • IamtheMorgz@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          The first time I wanted to finance a car I discovered I have what’s called a “thin file.” My (interest free) student loan wasn’t reporting to all 3 agencies. I was able to get my dad to co-sign. I was 26. Discovered then that being told “never ever ever own a credit card” (by my dad!) was very bad advice. Get one with a low limit and use it to pay the same bill every month. Credit! Now other places trust that you pay your bills.

          I’ve since gotten several cards (it’s been nearly a decade) and they each serve a different specific purpose. I purposely target high signing bonuses and my purchases are better protected. My limits are stupid high, which I guess is nice but I’ll never put that much on so it’s a bit pointless. Then again, knowing I have access to that if things ever become dire is nice.

    • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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      6 months ago

      They aren’t taken by force, you choose to live in a society that provides you with all sorts of services, which need to be paid for.

      You are free to live in a society that doesn’t provide any road networks, fire departments, education, … but that is not where you live now. So I suggest you move instead of complaining about something necessary.

      I heard Somalia doesn’t ask for any taxes.

      • Baŝto@discuss.tchncs.de
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        6 months ago

        Opt-out systems are never a proper choice. You don’t choose where you get born. You need to learn the language of that country, move somewhere there, find a job there and get citizenship. That all costs money and time, some countries only give you citizenship after you live there 20 years. As long as you don’t switch citizenship, you still need to pay income tax and probably other things, some taxes like VAT immediately changes and are not tied to citizenship.

        Somalia has taxes, though they might struggle to enforce their income taxes. It’s unlikely that there is any country without any kind of tax or a catch. Some have no income tax or VAT because that look good on paper, but then have a tax that acts similar or you basically have to buy citizenship.