美国国家公共电台 NPR--America's debt culture is a complicated journey for some immigrants

America's debt culture is a complicated journey for some immigrants

Transcript¹

Each swipe of a credit card is a small loan. But what if you were taught to never be in debt? For immigrants, America's reliance on credit scores often means a jarring and oddly complicated journey.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Each time you swipe your credit card, you're technically² taking out a small loan from your bank. Now, what if you were taught to never be in debt? For people new to this country, America's debt culture is often a Catch-22. NPR's Tirzah Christopher and Alina Selyukh share their story.

TIRZAH CHRISTOPHER, BYLINE³: So I'm in the application. They're asking for my personal info, my first and last...

ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE: Should we say what we're doing, Tirzah?

CHRISTOPHER: I am applying for my very first credit card. And Alina, you're my support crew.

SELYUKH: As a fellow immigrant who's honestly still kind of weirded out paying, like, for groceries with a microloan from my credit card.

CHRISTOPHER: Okay. Submit. OK, I'm clicking.

SELYUKH: What if they just approve you on the spot?

CHRISTOPHER: It says, thanks for your request. Unfortunately, we couldn't approve your application. We'll provide more detailed⁴ information explaining our decision by U.S. mail in seven to 10 days.

SELYUKH: They just instantly rejected you?

CHRISTOPHER: Oh, no.

SELYUKH: Why?

ADINA APPELBAUM: Yeah, I see that all the time.

CHRISTOPHER: Adina Appelbaum is a financial counselor⁵ and lawyer who works with immigrants.

APPELBAUM: A lot of folks are facing similar issues.

CHRISTOPHER: Well, at least I'm not the only one, Alina.

SELYUKH: I did not want to scare you, but the same thing happened to me 10 years ago. I had a debit⁶ card, regular paychecks, and my bank denied my credit card application because I had no credit history in the U.S.

CHRISTOPHER: And I'm not even sure I really want a credit card, which Appelbaum says is also common.

APPELBAUM: It's such a cultural shift because in many countries they don't have this culture of debt and things are paid for in cash, and there can actually be shame around having debt or a credit card, whereas here it can be pretty difficult to go throughout life without a credit card.

CHRISTOPHER: So America kind of runs on credit.

SELYUKH: Not just credit cards, but mortgages, car loans, student loans. Put together, American household debt is $17 trillion.

CHRISTOPHER: And I looked this up - to compare, the European Union has more households, but less than half that amount of debt. Or compared to India where I was born, the U.S. only has a quarter of the population but nearly 40 times more debt.

SELYUKH: The U.S. economy counts on you to borrow money. It's the main thing that feeds your credit score.

BARBARA KIVIAT: There's sort of this new rendering⁷ of what is financially responsible, which is borrow and repay.

CHRISTOPHER: Barbara Kiviat is an economic sociologist⁸ at Stanford.

KIVIAT: But another way to be really financially responsible is just don't borrow in the first place.

SELYUKH: This was a huge culture shock for me. Somehow being on top of my debt is now better than not having debt at all, because my credit score is shorthand for how financially trustworthy people think I am.

CHRISTOPHER: It's really scary. Well, because growing up for me, we were always cautioned, the one thing you don't do is borrow money. And it's not even money, just in general. If you borrowed something, you always immediately return it back. So I came into the U.S. and I was like, I have my debit card, I have my money and you know, I don't need credit. The first time I'm in D.C., I'm working full time, and I need to get an apartment and everyone's denying me. And I'm like...

SELYUKH: No.

CHRISTOPHER: ...What did I do? And then it was either denials, or they were saying, you got to pay, like, three months' rent, you know, like $3,000.

SELYUKH: But so - and the reason they were doing this is because...

CHRISTOPHER: I have no credit history.

YAZMIN LOPEZ: When I had my second baby, we had a problem with not being able to secure an apartment.

SELYUKH: That's Yazmin Lopez from Wisconsin, who also had trouble renting without a good credit score. She grew up in Mexico, moved to the U.S. as a teenager, and she remembers one day at Goodwill⁹, she found a personal finance book by Suze Orman.

LOPEZ: She was talking about how you can have a credit card when you're in college and how your parents can sign you up. But I was like, well, my parents don't have a credit card, so that's not going to work. Like, my dad - he has all his money under the mattress¹⁰.

CHRISTOPHER: Under the mattress seems like a safe place, honestly.

SELYUKH: She, like me, also used to assume that you have to have a Social Security number to apply for a credit card, but actually you can apply with a tax ID. Long story short, after many years, Yazmin Lopez is finally that very parent she'd read about. She's building credit histories for her kids. They're 8 and 14, both on her credit card.

LOPEZ: I'm glad that I can teach my kids that, hey, you can learn how to play the game (laughter).

CHRISTOPHER: All right. This is my second letter of rejection¹¹. It says we unfortunately could not approve your request due to the following - no opened bank revolving¹² trades.

SELYUKH: So no credit history - and they don't want to be the first ones to take a risk on you.

CHRISTOPHER: Honestly, all I want to do is just be able to rent an apartment or maybe buy a car one day. But I've learned that everyone checks your credit score now - landlords, car dealerships, even some employers.

SELYUKH: And the surprising thing is that all of this is pretty new. Modern credit cards are just about 50 years old, and it's only in the last 20 years or so that people have been able to know their own credit scores. Now, the score has become such a focus that credit card debt can feel like it serves a higher purpose.

CHRISTOPHER: Kiviat also called out wages. They stagnated¹³ for decades, even though prices kept growing, and so credit cards became an easy way to afford stuff between paychecks.

SELYUKH: And there's a big ideological¹⁴ backdrop - America as a land of individual responsibility. So instead of big government subsidies¹⁵ or social benefits, we have personal borrowing.

CHRISTOPHER: And for people with no credit histories, some banks are starting to go after them with new types of credit cards.

(SOUNDBITE OF PAPER CRINKLING)

CHRISTOPHER: I'm going to open it. Oh, my God. The credit card. Oh, my gosh. OK.

SELYUKH: You finally qualified¹⁶.

CHRISTOPHER: I did. I finally applied¹⁷ for this card called a secured credit card. Basically, I had to deposit $200 of my own money.

I'm in debt with myself.

But if I pay my bills on time for seven months, I graduate to a regular credit card.

SELYUKH: I think let's go build you some credit history.

CHRISTOPHER: Nice.

(SOUNDBITE OF ELECTRONIC BEEP)

AUTOMATED¹⁸ VOICE: Your total is seven...

CHRISTOPHER: Credit.

SELYUKH: Congrats.

CHRISTOPHER: Oh, my God. Yes. It worked (laughter).

SELYUKH: You're so surprised.

CHRISTOPHER: My first credit purchase...

(SOUNDBITE OF MECHANICAL SQUEAK)

CHRISTOPHER: My first thought is I have to go back to the office and pay for that.

(LAUGHTER)

CHRISTOPHER: It is my first payment. I don't want to be in debt (laughter).

SELYUKH: That's the whole point.

CHRISTOPHER: With my new credit line, I'm Tirzah Christopher.

SELYUKH: And I'm Alina Selyukh, NPR News.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

5 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

6 debit   

n.借方，借项，记人借方的款项

参考例句：

• To whom shall I debit this sum?此款应记入谁的账户的借方？
• We undercharge Mr.Smith and have to send him a debit note for the extra amount.我们少收了史密斯先生的钱，只得给他寄去一张借条所要欠款。

7 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

8 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

9 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

10 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

11 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

12 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。

13 stagnated   

v.停滞，不流动，不发展( stagnate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句
• His mind has stagnated since his retirement. 他退休后头脑迟钝了。 来自辞典例句

14 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

15 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

17 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

18 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。