The predatory capitalist system that we live under seems to never runs out of ways to prey on those most vulnerable in the population. The credit score system is perhaps the most insidious.

Growing up, we always hear about how important it is to build and maintain a good credit score. There are TV shows about it, people foolishly use it as a qualifier for dating or not dating someone, and for a lot of people in this system, it can be a matter of life and death. Especially when you consider that a recent study has shown that more than 40% of American adults cannot cover a $400 emergency due to a lack of access to readily available credit.

As someone who used to obsess about my credit score, I learned everything there was to know about the credit scoring, reporting and monitoring system, simply so I can be a resource to anyone around me who needed it. As I became more and more disconnected from capitalism, I eventually decided that I don’t care about credit anymore, and let my credit score drop after over a decade of a perfect score.

Here is what I learned as a result of my unintentional social economic experiment. Having a lower credit score has no impact on the lives of higher income individuals. How is that possible you ask? With a lower credit score, I have been able to finance cars without predatory interest rates; Rent apartments with no issues and no guarantors, in NYC; Pass multiple background checks for new employment; Keep my low car insurance rates; Get new credit cards; All while carrying a ton of consumer debt and a credit score in the low 600s.

Meanwhile, there are many people who can’t even get a cell phone line with a mobile carrier without paying a deposit because of a lower credit score. Credit scores are used in America to put a financial stronghold on the lives of the already impoverished. It justifies denying credit to those who need it the most, or providing it at super high predatory interest rates, while extending 0 percent interest rates to those who can afford to pay. And just like everything else in this predatory economic system, it probably always will.