Back in my dark days in Big Box Retail, a common phenomemon I encountered among people who were lifetime store employees was a reliance on places like Fingerhut and "Rent to Own".
It would go something like this.
"You rent to own a computer?"
"Yes, it's only $20 every two weeks."
"So $40 or $60 a month, or $520 a year. And how long before you own it?"
"Just two years!"
"You realize that the same laptop you just told me about is on the shelf in our store for $420. You can buy it with a ten percent discount and pay about three hundred eighty. You could literally pay just over a third of what that item actually costs if you didn't rent to own."
The typical response is yeah but my credit cards are all maxed out...
And it would break down from there. You can't get the point across that they're getting a bad deal because these people are not operating on logic once their lives have gotten this corrupted.
I mean I'm not better than those people, I used to do fuzzy "math" to justify my own stupidity too so I understand the psycological motivation to lie to yourself and not delay gratification, etc.
But when the situation is that everything you have in life is "acquired" this way it's beyond pitiful and has crossed into bile fascination.
I'm very libertarian in outlook, I don't think anyone should "stop" these people from transacting business as they see fit, but I do wish the people who provide these "services" would stop and think about what they are doing to a human being who has been conditioned to accept what is essentially abuse. But then places like Fingerhut would probably close down completely.
All I can do is resolve to never profit from the emotional and financial turmoil of others.