I really, really don't like to be conspiratorial, but I think the only explanation of why there isn't some sort of "negotiating large purchases" class in school is because our economy needs some amount of suckers at some level.
I mean, it's hard to argue with the common refrain "when am I ever going to use calculus?" that you often hear from high school kids, but then nearly everyone in the US buys a car at some point and there is no simple guidance or courses for that. Why can't schools have a short class that teaches:
1. Never sign something without reading it first. It's scary to me how many sales situations (e.g. a gym membership, house closing, etc.) give you stacks of paper with the implicit (or not so implicit) understanding that "nobody actually reads all this".
2. Understanding who is on your side and who isn't, legally.
3. Understanding common negotiating and pressure tactics.
etc.
Seems like a course in these important life skills could be done in a couple hours at most yet most of us only learn these lessons if we have family members who teach them to us.
I have an hour on my lunch break and I just want a gym membership. Am I supposed to take it home and spend 2 hours reading through fine-print legalese that I won't be able to parse the subtlety of anyway? Or find and hire a lawyer to review the document? You can say "find another gym" but what about when they all do that?
There are tons of stories of people who were basically tricked into signing long term gym memberships that were basically impossible to get out of without outrageous fees. And while they are long and dense, it's not like it's that hard to understand a gym membership.
I mean, it's hard to argue with the common refrain "when am I ever going to use calculus?" that you often hear from high school kids, but then nearly everyone in the US buys a car at some point and there is no simple guidance or courses for that. Why can't schools have a short class that teaches:
1. Never sign something without reading it first. It's scary to me how many sales situations (e.g. a gym membership, house closing, etc.) give you stacks of paper with the implicit (or not so implicit) understanding that "nobody actually reads all this".
2. Understanding who is on your side and who isn't, legally.
3. Understanding common negotiating and pressure tactics.
etc.
Seems like a course in these important life skills could be done in a couple hours at most yet most of us only learn these lessons if we have family members who teach them to us.