I think we're conflating two different things here: there's a desire amongst the very poor to spend money on nonessential sources of digital entertainment which isn't necessarily that irrational. You'll find that holds in places where people earn far less than the US minimum wage and would never in their wildest dreams expect to own a sofa, a TV more than 17" across or even a trailer with actual glass in the windows; they're still very proud of their almost-smartphone and spend a lot of time glued to their CRT TV screen.
There are also people with relatively limited education and intelligence and relatively high stress levels binging on furniture every time they walk into the store to make payments on the last item because they're extremely susceptible to the marketing messages that "normal" American families replace their sofas on a regular basis, and deferred payments are easier to keep up with.
There are also people with relatively limited education and intelligence and relatively high stress levels binging on furniture every time they walk into the store to make payments on the last item because they're extremely susceptible to the marketing messages that "normal" American families replace their sofas on a regular basis, and deferred payments are easier to keep up with.