I respect that position, and you're right that not everyone is smart enough to make good choices for themselves. I don't carry a balance on my credit cards, which makes me somewhat smart, but I also don't follow all the subreddits about maximixing credit card points, moving balances from here to there, etc. Some people might look down on me for "leaving money on the table" in that regard. I could probably make a thousand dollars a year if I were more informed/aggressive.

I don't want to look down my nose at people who make decisions that I wouldn't make. They also face very different circumstances. What if someone needs to pay for an unexpected medical bill (which they cannot BNPL) and needs to choose between that and rent? What might look like a dumb choice from the outside might be an exercise in constrained optimization.

I've said that I'm open to BNPL being unavailable for certain transaction types, but I wonder if someone with your opinions would rather have them outlawed entirely?

I see both sides of this argument and am really not sure which side I land on. But I wonder if this fits into things like driving, where hey - done recklessly this is dangerous to yourself and others around you, so we require some level of targeted education (e.g. a license). Then if you choose to be reckless anyway its a bit easier to say "it was your own fault".

I bet you credit providers would even front the cost of such a course, since at the end of the day they're still likely to make that money back no matter what.

I think the part that I struggle with is the hard reality that we are largely _not_ teaching people these practical skills in our education system and then expecting them to not get screwed.