Today, a form that can be called an overdraft society has taken shape. If the operation of society in the past was centered on production and living within the limits of income was the basic logic of life, then today's social operation is centered on consumption, and living within the limits of expenditure dominates people's life logic. Almost everyone is overdrawing themselves. Young people are burdened with debts in order to consume in advance and enjoy the imaginary life. In order to make young people live better, middle-aged and elderly people are able to maintain the urban lifestyle driven by housing and education, and they are also overspending their labor. In the past it was to make money to live a life, but now it is to make money to pay off debts. It is generally believed that it is “silly” to use the money you earn to buy a car, buy a house, travel, and socialize. A smart way of life is to spend money in advance with financial institutions. Of course, it is best to "money makes money".
The formation of an overdraft society provides a stage for financial capital to dominate social life. Almost all financial institutions, whether traditional financial institutions or Internet financial institutions, are trying their best to improve the accessibility of financial products. Under the banner of inclusive finance, they tried their best to integrate people's daily life into the financial field. These financial products continue to mobilize people's desire for consumption under the guise of advanced consumption and illusory enjoyment. With the powerful penetration of the Internet and the hegemonic expansion of financial capital, people's life world has also been colonized. Some of the mechanisms that society relies on to maintain balance have been dismembered to pieces.
There is a saying in the people: Rescue the emergency does not save the poor. New financial products do the opposite. It is not playing the role of helping the poor, but constantly creating consumer demand and creating life crises. According to some Internet financial advertisements, buying a birthday cake for children, boarding first-class airplanes for the elderly, or giving gifts to lovers on their wedding anniversary is already a necessity in life, otherwise it is not a normal way of life. . These practices seem to be for the sake of the poor and are inclusive finance practices, but they violate the basic principles of society. As a result, the entire society, especially the poor, has fallen into an overdraft state. Almost all Internet financial products have a common feature, that is, they unrestrainedly encourage ordinary people to borrow money for consumption. Their targets include ordinary white-collar workers, migrant workers, students, etc. Without exception, these people do not have enough spending power. A young man who has not yet worked is in debt for the sake of comparison; an ordinary working class borrows money to enjoy the lifestyle of the affluent class. It seems that these wealth have all fallen from the sky. Such a state is obviously unsustainable. In recent years, the author has encountered many cases of family destruction due to online loans. Young people with huge debts have dragged their parents, brothers and sisters into trouble, and there are countless cases in which husbands and wives turn against father and son.
The overdraft society is exacerbating social divisions. For those wealthy classes, their life world is difficult to be colonized by financial capital. They may also have overdrafts, but that is for production activities. They are engaged in the "money for money" activity. This means that their production and consumption have an invisible wall of protection. Even if it fails, it is merely bankruptcy as a "legal person", and life goes on as usual.
But for ordinary people, their lives have been directly colonized by financial capital. Their overdraft is necessary to serve life. To pay high-priced gifts for marriage, to buy a house with a loan in the city, and to buy a car with a loan for face, all the overdrafts are for consumption. They have no retreat. Once it fails, such as losing a job, changing the family, or uncontrolled consumption, it is likely to fall into bankruptcy. Their bankruptcy is a bankruptcy of personality and social credit, which means social death. They will be the losers of this society, maybe they will never turn back.
The advertisements of certain Internet financial products are instilling a set of corrosive values. They are subverting some accustomed life concepts, pretending to be a universal face, in fact they are treating ordinary workers as leeks. The saddest thing is that these leeks didn't realize it until they were cut, but it was too late.
