Predatory Gambling

    Just wanted to get some thoughts down whilst I was in the midst of them. I've never quite understood the whole concept of "predatory" lending. Someone who has poor credit and cannot qualify for a loan from a bank for instance should expect to pay a higher interest rate for whatever loan they may find as the lender will be taking a much higher risk lending to them than to someone with a good credit record. Additionally, these loans tend to be fairly short-term loans and for lesser amounts of money. If I'm going to loan a high-risk individual 1000.00 for 2 months at 5%, my profit will be approximately 50.00 if things go well for me. If not I go to the back of the line of institutions who are owed money by this person and wait for who knows how long to collect some portion of my principal or interest. Not a good business decision. To make the decision look a little more doable from the loaner's standpoint he asks for a much higher interest rate to offset the risk he is taking. It all seems pretty understandable to me and if the word predatory is to be applied I would say it should be shared between the loaner and the person who has earned such a bad credit rating by preying upon unsuspecting loaning institutions. Or how about this. Don't borrow money at all. This would preclude any lending, predatory or otherwise. 
    How about applying the word predatory to the casino industry. You have to pay back a loan, but hitting the jackpot at the casino doesn't involve paying off any loans and therefore no interest either. Think about it. The less I have, the more attractive a jackpot looks. At least a loan has some built-in unattractive parts to it. You have to pay back more than you are borrowing, for instance. Hitting the jackpot has no such unsightly side effects and it's fun to gamble, besides. I'm sure the argument is that people are free to choose whether to gamble or not but the same is true with borrowing money. If we are going to suggest the loan industry "preys" on the vulnerable then we must apply this to the lottery and the casinos as well. The poor are far more vulnerable to the draw of easy money than are those who already have a sufficient income.
    I understand that there are those in society who will take advantage of people who are vulnerable in various situations. These situations are as numerous as the sands of the sea and as varied as the human face. So I am not arguing that someone might try to lend someone some money who doesn't need it or try to charge them an unduly high rate of interest. My problem is with the terminology and with the fact that so many other, more egregious and common infractions are absolutely ignored in this discussion. Besides, maybe the loaning institutions are just trying to even the score after the government forced them to make so many bad loans under the guise of fairness. Talk about someone taking advantage of the vulnerable. Make a study of the U.S. government's entitlement programs sometime. You may conclude we have a predatory government.