The Plastic Conspiracy October 1, 1958 American Express introduced their first credit card, which was purple and made from cardboard. Then In 1959, American Express introduced the first card made out of plastic. According to MasterCard, in the same year, the concept of offering the option of maintaining a revolving balance on the ?plastic? card was introduced. This option was called the ?Closed-loop system.? This new concept meant that cardholders could carry a balance on their ?plastic? and make monthly payments, which included interest charges.

Fifty years to the date later, plastic has nearly bankrupted our Country, our financial institutions, and its citizens. You may be asking, how these two events, which happened a half century apart, could possibly be one of the biggest causes of our current financial nightmare. It is not that huge of a leap to figure it out. Over a period of decades, people learned that instant gratification is possible if they pulled the ?plastic? out of their pocket book or wallet and purchased that ?must have now? item. Generations of responsible citizens, previous to the introduction of ?plastic? saved up enough money to purchase the item they desired; they just understood that it was going to take longer.

Today, our entire financial system is based on a balancing act between credit and currency. ?Plastic? is not free, in actuality, there is a tremendous cost; and some of the cost is not just financial. Although much of the ?plastic? pandemic is prevalent throughout all social-economic demographics, ?plastic? is being spread like candy around college institutions to continue the concept of instant gratification and worry about how to pay later. Imagine a generation of Americans, the young adults of our time, who no longer have a clue how to spend within their means; or how to balance their own budget. This irresponsible and greedy act of financial institutions has created a post academic addiction to ?plastic.? Now college students, not only leave college with student loan debt, but they also have ?plastic? debt that may take years to pay off.

This ?plastic? has become such a phenomenon that it doesn?t take much lurking around to discover whose wallet possesses ?plastic.? However, herein is the hidden tragedy of this ?plastic? conspiracy; millions of American homeowners are getting scammed into refinancing their home to pay off their ?plastic? debt. This is where the swindling process begins. Prospective buyers are disheartened with the extensive amount of paperwork they are signing at the closing of the purchase of their home. In addition, there is little encouragement by those who know what is actually in-between the fine lines or small print of the documents,?they are trying to read and sign. Eventually, homeowners discover at their peril, their monthly mortgage payments have significantly increased; but once again, they start making friends with their ?plastic? they kept in their possession, with the idea of ?for emergencies only?; well their emergency happened.

There have been emergencies in nearly all American?s households. Let?s list some of them:

1. Loss of employment (one or both ?breadwinners?).

2. Unexpected healthcare issues, not covered by insurance.

3. Healthcare costs raising above ability to afford it.

4. Severe increase in Gasoline prices.

5. The cost of needs like food and regular household supplies, skyrocketing.

6. The tipping point when they no longer are able to stay afloat and file for bankruptcy.

7. Since the new bankruptcy laws were instituted, they are no longer able to keep their home.

8. The cost of rent is increasing as more and more homes are foreclosed on because there is a shortage of rentals

9. If they had a 401K or an IRA or any form of fixed and secure retirement fund it is slowly depleting.

10. Due to all of the above, they are now suffering from any number of psychological issues ranging from, situational anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation, or even worsening of disorders they may already have.

LATER is now here. It?s rather easy to see the domino effect of the introduction of ?plastic.? As people are no longer able to pay their mortgage, they lose their home to the lender. The lender now has an asset that depreciated because there is such an influx of foreclosures and they are not collecting any currency to continue operations of their respective institutions. Once the flow of currency is constricted, other businesses are affected. This sets in motion increased unemployment, which reduces the collection of taxes, and increases the National debt. The ?plastic? conspiracy is more transparent as we watch the volatile financial market around the world spiral down to unbelievable lows; even though our government intervened to ?bail out? the financial institutions that were part of the origin of the ?plastic? conspiracy. The conspiracy has been exposed and now it is the ones who ?dreamed up? such a scheme are the ones falling like a set of tipping Dominos.

Much has been discussed about the ?War on middle the class? in response to our ?plastic? economy. However, is it really a war; or is it a pervasive ?plastic? plague that had its beginnings a half of a century ago? ?Plastic? from its early beginnings, encouraged instant gratification purchases and the thoughts about a financial future began to seep into the economy; one ?plastic? at a time. Now, fifty years later, ?plastic? has crossed the line of credit and has tipped over the money bucket spilling what was left of real currency into the spiraling down markets, causing a crash of humongous proportions. The ultimate ?plastic? conspiracy is that not only the possessors of ?plastic,? but all Americans, will be carrying the burden of the concept introduced a half a Century ago known as the closed-loop system; far into the futures of many generations.

The ?plastic? conspiracy needs to be thoroughly investigated if there is any chance of preventing this conspiracy from happening again.