Another way to make the big bucks?

Typically, my third period of each day is relatively predictable. It is a given that the Economics teacher is going to drag out lectures about things we've been taught atleast three other times, tell us stories about his assumingly successful brother-in-law, and point out the same articles day after day. But not today. Much to everyone's pleasure, when the class entered the room, we saw a JA representative sitting in the front, smiling and ready to share her knowledge. Maybe it's just me, but I believe she saw the dismay I and my classmates felt towards the everyday routine, and she was ready to break that.
Anyway, she quickly let us know that she wasn't going to talk about anything we'd heard repeatedly (what a relief), and asked us what we wanted to talk about. I think we'd all been drilled on the importance of saving money, life insurance... all that jazz. So, sometime piped up and suggested credit cards. Big, scary credit cards. Honestly, I thought I knew all the basics of the dangers and advantages of owning one, but boy, was I surprised.
The JA representative also happens to be a local business owner, and she enlightened us at another side of using credit cards. I was totally unaware that purchases put onto a credit card would in turn cost money to the business. To me, this seems somewhat shaddy, and just another technique to make money. I was pretty enraged, and somewhat disgusted at the American way to thinking, of getting ahead, no matter what.
Depending on the type of card used, the store can be charged anywhere from 2% to 5 or 6% of the purchase price. This may mean that if a consumer uses a credit card to pay for an item that's not very expensive, the merchant really isn't making much of a profit. This has required some places to implement set amounts at which cards can be used. But as the representative pointed out, often times, stores lose business without having the availibility to use a credit card. And often times, businesses must even pay a large annual fee to even have a credit card machine in-store.
Although frustrated by these facts, I think gaining this knowledge is going to make me more aware of how I purchase things, especially non-expensive items. Yes, I realize these percentages may not effect big businesses too much, but coming from a small town, I can see where the damages could be especially harmful. The whole industry is a sort of Catch-22, I suppose. But I know one thing: I won't be getting any fancy rewards-style let's-fly-all-over-the-world-for-free-from-using-my-credit-card type of contracts in the future.
Okay, so maybe Economics might be good for something?

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