#14 Life on Loan

How Debt Became the New Company Store—And Why They Never Want You to Pay It Off

SECTION I

Most Americans don’t live paycheck to paycheck anymore. That phrase used to mean something, back when wages could still keep the lights on. But today? That check doesn’t make it past the bills stacked up before the ink dries. We live payment to payment now. Auto draft. Minimum due. Final notice. Payday hits, and within hours, the money is gone. Rent gets theirs. The car lender gets theirs. Credit cards eat the rest. What’s left? Nothing. And if anything unexpected happens—god forbid a medical bill, a blown tire, a missed shift—that’s another late fee, another penalty, another hit to the credit score that decides whether or not you’re allowed to keep pretending you’re part of the middle class.

This isn’t mismanagement. It’s not bad budgeting. It’s not personal failure. This is the business model.

Everything in this economy is designed to keep you just above water but never dry. They don’t want you bankrupt, not really. They want you just scared enough to keep moving. They want t…