Welcome to Part 17 of the Poverty Story

In part 10 we introduced “Cost-of-Living” as one of 3 areas that are closely guarded by the “System that Profits from Poverty”.

In this case, for everyday services from banking to bus passes the system escalates costs and adds fees for the people who can least afford it.

We all recognize that if you have more to spend you get better treatment.

This is another one of those “that’s just the way it is” situations, but if we examine these experiences more closely, we quickly see that there is little justification aside from making more profit from people who have very little power to object.

Yes – as I’ve heard Rodney say, “The people who mind don’t matter, and the people who matter don’t mind”.

As we’ve done before, let’s overview the barriers that people experience in managing their “cost-of-living” expenses.

Yes – here are some of the barriers that people with limited resources experience every week:

1. Being charged more for the same services.

2. Receiving inferior products or services while paying the same.

3. Absence of discounts.

4. No reimbursements offered.

5. No or limited availability and/or limited options in almost every instance.

6. Rapidly and automatically escalating negative consequences of late or missing payments.

These are discriminatory practices that are seen as “this all makes sense”, when in fact it doesn’t.

So we are talking about obstacles like needing a valid credit or debit card, which if you don’t have one also rules out most internet purchasing – a convenience that we all take for granted.

Correct and this potentially adds transit costs to make a purchase.

These 6 barriers are also practices that almost every company engages in or takes advantage of, often without even realizing that they’re doing it.

This is true even for companies genuinely committed to public benefit and social responsibility.

In general terms how does the Level UP Fair Marketplace App work?

The Fair Marketplace App leverages consumer power by functioning as a marketplace for products that have been designed to benefit the working-class market, not to exploit it.

Product offerings would be designed to serve diverse and disadvantaged groups without taking advantage of them.

So the commitment you’re looking for from companies is to make things simpler and to not take advantage of the already disadvantaged.

Yes.

The App would define a set of criteria that companies would meet in order to sell their products to our growing community, including products that:

• Are high-quality and affordable

• Are fairly priced. They don’t charge more in poor neighborhoods or zip codes, charge the poor more for comparable products and services, or charge them the same for inferior products and services

• Are credit-non-contingent and non- credit-reporting

• Have a payment structure that works for working-class people like pay-over-time options for larger items

• Reward the loyalty of customers who stand by us by providing annual rebates comparable to what wealthier customers saved by buying in bulk or paying in advance.
  
  In addition, we want the company to:
  

• Respect privacy.

• Share economic benefits, for example, dividends and/or equity, with people customers who loyally stand by them.

• Provide customer service that makes everyone feel valued

• Give customers a voice.

• Abolish contracts that bar customers from leaving or taking legal action against the company. Instead, give them reasons to stay, and give them viable options for redress.

How would this situation be better for participating businesses?

Well first, just like affordable housing customers, this is a readily available and growing sector of willing buyers.

So - there are advantages of early entry into the market.

Yes, and more.
This kind of community would allow buyers to aggregate power in a number of ways, including product reviews and ratings from members of the community.

As more goods and services are offered, they strengthen and expand the vitality of the marketplace for both customers and companies alike.

A key strength is that as Level UP grows, we will have both built-in supply through the companies who are using our other apps and demand through our growing community.