Credit Card Cash Back

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Mathematics.
I’m not a genius, so MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) did not have to worry about my application for admission, when I was a university student.
Banks know that math is my weak point.  That is why they try to sell me credit cards with the ‘cash back’ option.  Now let’s see how it works. 
Cash or credit?
I don’t have any cash on me, so I use a credit card.  Translation: I’m broke, so I will live on credit until payday, or until somebody buys my book Sweetness.
There’s always a catch, or punishment.  Credit is not free like the sun and moon.  There are interest charges.  Now this is where I get stuck.  Where is the cash back coming from? 
Is the cash back the same amount as the interest on the credit card balance? If the interest is, let’s say 23%, will the cash back be the same percentage?  No, delete question because I think the cash back is based on buying. 
I must keep buying on credit to increase the chances of cash back.  How about the interest?  I can see it sitting quietly behind the door licking its fingers.
I can never understand banks’ philosophy that the more I use credit (since I don’t have any cash), the more I save. 

I know how to outsmart them though.  I will use cash instead.  There is no ‘cash back’ option if I’m using straight cash. 
Mama will be so proud that what she taught me is finally sinking in.
It is dangerous to spend other people’s money or I could be like the Russian Dmitry Argarkov and write my own terms: no interest charges on my credit card and no limit.


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