Yep it’s not a mystery at all if you care enough to read about it. All these “capitalist dystopia” complainers sound like what I probably thought about credit scores when I was in my early 20s and had terrible credit from being irresponsible with credit cards. My credit score is 800 now because I simply pay my bills on time and have an established history of doing so.
Yeah, it’s not a perfect system and I would welcome increased federal oversight and greater transparency because it does have the potential for abuse.
That said, it’s not numbers made up to keep the little guy down. Lenders want to lend money because they make money off it. The whole point is to determine whether or not you’re a safe investment.
We could have a discussion on the merits of modern usury, which can be deeply predatory and abusive. It’s not the credit score that’s the problem.