Credit: The American Way of Life?

Ok folks, I am going to plead a great deal of ignorance here but am speaking from the heart. I have no problem being corrected on the following information and the subject matter is nothing more than my opinion. How do we, as consumers, get to the point in a "capitalistic" society where our entire existence and ability to buy things is determined by a "score" that is set by nothing more than a formula determined by three companies that have no knowledge of who we are? It seems that we cannot buy a house, car, and in some cases, get a job, because of what these three companies decide what value we have in society. Of course I am talking about our credit scores. The more I see their impact and how much of what we need in life is determined by what they think we are able to pay, the more I am seeing signs of a situation where a "higher" authority is determining our worth as human beings. For all I know, most of us work hard for the money we have. In many cases we spend a lot on such things as a college degree in order to get these positions of employment. As a result, we start our futures already in debt. Lets throw in the fact that we need a place to live, transportation, health care and an assortment of other "life sustaining" essentials. Is it any wonder that most of us start out our futures in debt? Now lets add to that the fact that we have three companies out there determining what we are worth and capable of paying for other needs with absolutely no knowledge of our personal situations, what we do for a living, our other responsibilities, etc. Yet, these same companies are the ones who determine whether we can purchase a house, a car, furniture or even open up a checking account. Is this fair? In my opinion, it reeks of a system in which only those with a certain degree of wealth have any position in this country. How many of you out there have pristine credit scores but are living paycheck to paycheck? I will not deny that there are those who do exist but I would also venture an opinion that the number is in the extreme minority. As such, it seems that those in control of these "scores" are those that can afford the luxury of establishing wealth and the resulting scores that accompany their situations. To us, the more common citizens of this country, we have no choice but to bow down to the rules set forth by these companies and do everything they say in order for us to have any chance of living the "American dream" of home ownership, a car, a decent job, etc. In my ever to be humble opinion, we need to stop this situation and let people have the ability to show their worthiness and financial responsibility without the need to conform to set formulas and bowing to the wishes of the few that feel the need to control our society.

In my next opinion, I will go even further and discuss how capitalism has sunk America further into moral decay by allowing unethical business practices to flourish all for the sake of the almighty dollar. Stay tuned!