You're not considering that some of us may have actually been/are poor. My frustration at people throw their paycheck-to-paycheck earnings at Rent-a-centers isn't "oh, look at the stupid poors", it's "I've been there, and I know that you can get a $1500 couch for $50 cash if you are willing to get up at 5 AM on Saturday mornings and go hit garage sales."

The article's presentation of "These people have no options except to be horrifically exploited" is wrong at best, maybe even dishonest. No matter how much money you make, spending beyond your means because you have to have luxuries you really can't afford is a bad financial play.

I feel a lot of empathy for people who get caught in the RAC trap. They're digging themselves into a hole that they'll never escape from, and that's genuinely sad. But it's a fixable problem! They aren't victims of their circumstances, they're victims of their own consumerism. At the end of the day, each of us is responsible for what we choose to spend our earnings on, and if you choose to spend all your expendable income on instant gratification, that's your choice, and you get to own the consequences of that choice.