While there may be merit in the idea that consumer debt makes people happier or even is in their best interests, I’m not sure that “the evidence of their own ac

While there may be merit in the idea that consumer debt makes people happier or even is in their best interests, I’m not sure that “the evidence of their own actions” is sufficient to persuade me. Not far from where I live I can find people selling themselves to starngers for crack money. I observe people smoking cigarettes. People do things that are I believe are harmful to their own interests, and I stop short of embarcing an amorality where aiding and abetting them for my own gain is right since they have free will and make their own choices. The do believe they are better off. I think I understand their values. I do not ignore their priorities. But that doesn’t mean I always agree with them. Crack addicts and smokers, that is. I don’t have as rigid a belief about credit card debt, I’m just pointing out that “Evidence of their own actions, values, and priorities” does not persuade me in and of itself.