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Hip Deep in Evil (01.14.03)
Living in "This Toilet Earth" it doesn't take long for one to realize we're hip deep in evil. It would appear the trick to not loosing your mind is making two categories. Gargantuan Evil and Itsy-bitsy Evil.
Gargantuan Evil would be things like a dictator with no value of human life and access to countless weapons of mass destruction. But there is little you can do about George Bush and his blind lust so it's best to concern yourself with other things. Make no mistake; adding to this column isn't easy. First you must admit there's nothing you can do about it, and then swallow that feeling of helpless that inevitably follows. But since there are only so many hours in a day, it must be done and efforts must be put to where something can actually be accomplished.
Thus bringing us to the Itsy-bitsy Evil category. A good example would be someone with delusions of grandeur trying to change the name of their street or their town simply because they don't like it. This you can try to stop by simply writing a letter to your local paper, or councilor telling them not to listen to such rubbish, and leave the no-name alone!
Like any systems there are, of course, exceptions. Times when you can take an Itsy bitsy bite out of the Gargantuan evil. There are very few who would disagree with the statement Visa is evil. But for those who regularly join me in the minimum payment pool of debt, we're only exposed to a very small portion of their true dastardliness. Visa is bending small business' over as well.
First, before you even do business with them, they require you to get
an account number for each currency you'll be dealing with. For
Canadian and US dollars that's $500. After that it's clear
right? Nope, then have a startup fee of $50, and a monthly fee of $45.
But wait there's more; you also get charged 25 cents for every transaction.
Yes, yes, Visa is evil, we already knew that.
Well amazingly enough there is something, albeit small, you can do about
it.
What's your interest rate at now? 15, 17, 19 percent? Well that right there is disgusting enough. Especially when you figure that most of us are still paying off 98's eggnog and last minute Christmas gifts. Well now the cut gets smaller. If your interest is unacceptable you can get it lowered simply by asking. Yeah, I thought it was crazy too, just phone the number on the back of your card (1-800-769-2512) and ask for a lower rate. Stop laughing/crying I just did it and after weaving through their labyrinth phone menu (just keep pushing 2 until you speak to a human) they instantly sent me another card with half the interest rate I was paying!
The moral of the story: Recognize Itsy Bitsy Evil from Gargantuan Evil, then never stop fighting!
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