Because, to the bank, if you have money in your account (not in debt) you are a creditor to the bank and they use your money to invest and get money from it. It is a little odd to ask money from someone to access their money that you are making money from.
Obviously if you have $100 in your account the bank isn’t get much from their investment, but they are getting something, and they’re getting a lot more by encouraging hundreds of thousands of people to have that sum, or more, in their accounts.
It’s not like the bank just goes “oh, we have this amount of money. That’s nice.” They invest it. They make money from it.
If you can afford to pay for an X-box for your brother - or just give him your old one when you want the next gen - does that mean you can afford to pay his every living cost?
Even if you combine everything you included - paying a cable bill, taking someone on a cruise and buying them a new X-Box - then it only comes up to the costs of living if you’re talking a really expensive cruise, single cabin, rather than having your sister-in-law along to share a room with your eldest daughter and help out with childcare while not actually paying much more for the SIL to come along because you wanted that cabin size, with the attached bathroom, anyway.
Agreed. It’s not just that financially it’s easier to give someone your old TV rather than pay whatever small amount you could get from selling your TV, it’s that it feels like a gift rather than “oh, you’re so poor.” It makes the giver feel good and it does not oblige them to keep on giving.
I know quite a lot of poor people who struggle with paying rent but have lots of stuff that looks expensive. Last gen i-phones, for example. Last gen X-box. Cable because they’re on a contract and can’t back out without fees - due immediately - matching the term of the contract but without the actual service.
You’d want all those cites to be online too, wouldn’t you?