Regulators Shut Down Lending Platform (YC Alum) LendUp
As an immigrant I can tell you that the USA is basically Jurassic Park. The monsters are mostly predatory companies. It can be a lot of fun but it’s very easy to do worse than die - to end up a slave for the rest of your life to one of the predators. Along with bullshit like making options trading available to kids, debt is probably one of the velociraptors.It is a trap sprung at the very start of your adult life when you’re most vulnerable, as a student loan.It’s sprung when you’ve lost your job, are vulnerable and are about to become homeless.It’s sprung when you’re already in debt and vulnerable, by other lenders.Anyone see a pattern here? Debt preys on the vulnerable, turns them into something that delivers returns for decades to the holders, and wraps all that up into tidy looking financial products.The business of debt is the financial equivalent of the US pork industry: Everyone treats it as part of American life, but the details would make most people throw up.Anyone remember microfinance? That was the same play: usury with a fresh coat of paint.I’m seeing posts here making it sound like 36% APR is acceptable. Look up usury folks. This is it. Debt that is intentionally structured so that it can never be repaid and keeps the borrower harnessed to the cart.It’s incredible how folks, particularly in the US, have become this morally uncalibrated.