Editorial Disclaimer:
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by this author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of The Lemon or its official policies.
Equality. Tolerance. Acceptance. Unity. Unless you’re an evil cisgendered white male, these are the only things you truly want in life. Because 2019 marks a new beginning in our collective history, socially terraforming our world into a place where everyone is welcome, where the idea of labeled groups are cast aside, and no-one is expected to answer for their unique and distinct sense of self. Except of course, for evil cisgendered white males…who are collectively evil, cisgendered, white and male.
As a transgendered man, I’ve faced down a wide array of judgment and discrimination in my lifetime. But despite the great strides that we’ve made in terms of normalizing our very existence in the eyes of society, there are still obstacles to overcome. There are still areas where individuals are scrutinized and forced to justify themselves in the eyes of strangers. Regardless of gender, sexuality, race or religion, many of us are still victimized by society based on…our credit scores.
“Credit-worthiness”. That’s the terminology used, to determine whether or not we are deemed ‘worthy’ by the proverbial powers-that-be. Money rules everything, but it’s absurd to think that someone is any less worthy, or should be subject to yet another outdated means of societal judgment, just because they don’t pay their bills in accordance with someone else’s precious schedule.
Now, to be clear, my contesting of credit terminology is not personal in nature. As a responsible adult, diligent in my bill-paying practices, I am quite proud of my 801 credit score. It has earned me the title of ‘Exceptional’ in the all-seeing eyes of FICO. But at the risk of virtue-signaling, one should never allow themselves to grow complacent, or turn a blind eye to systemic oppression. In other words, I should never stop asking myself if there is any real difference between my ‘Exceptional’ self, and someone who a credit bureau deems to be ‘Good’ or even more sadly, ’Poor’ and cant even get a bad credit car loan?
dictionary.com defines ‘Poor’ as “lacking sufficient money to live at a standard considered comfortable or normal in a society.” A secondary definition is “worse than is usual, expected, or desirable; of a low or inferior standard or quality.”
Do we really want to be living in a world where someone’s fiscal instability or blatant irresponsibility is used against them to deprive them of the finer things of life? Have we learned nothing from political visionaries like Karl Marx and Chairman Mao. Why do we allow people to mock the true heroes of today; vocal leaders like Bernie Sanders and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez? Sure, maybe it’s the combination of seemingly nonsensical rambling and crazy eyes, but that’s beside the point.
Bottom-line: we can do better, as a society. And that begins with giving everyone an equal opportunity to live the American Dream. It means casting away the crippling, stereotyping labels which bind our lives with the ignorant assessment of a distant third party. Well, except for me, because, I quite like being ‘Exceptional’.
Editorial Addendum:
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by this author do not AT ALL reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of The Lemon or its official policies. I mean, seriously, is THIS what we’re coming to as a society? We know OP/ED pieces are supposed to provide an open forum for different ideas, but we’re fairly certain that we all lost IQ points reading that – and some of us might even experience the embarrassment of scant bladder control, as a result. We’re sorry. We’re so, so, sorry. And to the author…we have mailed you an award that we call “The Orange of Exceptional Credit”. If you choose to find that offensive, please send us a photo detailing exactly where the orange hurt you.
