Outside view: Spending spree

The following editorial appeared Monday in the Everett Herald.

As a society, we continue steam rolling toward the day when George Orwell’s novel “1984” becomes reality.

In the book, The Ministry of Truth exercises complete control over all media. The ministry would be pleased with the version of Orwell’s Newspeak employed by today’s media, corporations and government.

A particularly troubling example is Visa’s ongoing TV ad campaign that carries the slogan “Life takes Visa.” In one such ad, a mall food court is busily humming along, like a factory, as robots swipe their Visa card to pay for lunch. Then everything comes to a crashing halt when a customer has the temerity to pay for his lunch with cash.

Yes, the well-oiled conveyer belt lunch production goes off the rails because the man didn’t pay with plastic.

Then comes the Newspeak catchphrase: “VISA check card, Because Money Shouldn’t Slow You Down.”

The message that cash slows down retail purchases is infuriating. Apparently the Visa folks haven’t stood in a grocery or food court line lately, or ever. There is no card that you simply swipe, and the transaction is magically finished, as seen in the commercial.

A reality check would show: Reswiping the card a second or third time, because it didn’t take the first time. Then pushing the “credit” or “debit” button. (Visa can call it a “check card” but machines recognize it as a debit card.) Then typing in a PIN, if it is debit. Then pushing “yes” or “no” on the “cash back” option. Then pushing “yes” or “no” on the “is this amount correct?” option. The signing the slip if the card was used as a credit card.

Once in a while, although it should be every time, card users are asked to show identification proving the card actually belongs to them.

Using a card can take as long as writing a check. Cash doesn’t slow anyone down, period.

The more insidious message, however, is “Don’t let the lack of cash slow down your spending.” If you pay with cash, you might just realize you don’t have enough money to afford whatever it is you have to have.

Credit card debt allows you to play your part in keeping the economy rolling along by buying stuff. Hmmm, that’s an Orwellian idea, indeed. Americans owe roughly more than half a trillion dollars in credit card debt. Forbes reports that credit card default rates are now spiking, as more Americans file for bankruptcy after a huge decrease following changes to U.S. law making it harder to file for bankruptcy.

Oops. We’re waiting for the commercial: “Bankruptcy, Because the Lack of Money Shouldn’t Slow You Down.”