Posted: Jun 07, 2021 10:20 pm
If I might wake up a stale old thread, I have been thinking about usury alone for a while and I am happy to have somewhere to add to a conversation.
First I think we fixate overmuch on loans but should also consider any interest driven exchange of capitol as usury. This would then include stocks.
Furthermore, I think in particular what this conversation seems to miss is the Marxist perspective on it, wherein the value of labor is stolen through interest without adding value produced. I am of course dismissing the value added from the "risk" of lending. This is mitigated by Government protections that naturally tend to favor property owners over the borrower.
In particular I see flaws in contemporary markets, wherein people profit from imperfect information, demanding returns with ignorance to how those returns are gained.
Usury as a philosophy seems to address this, by saying: "Hey, if you loan someone $100 and expect $110 back tomorrow, you aren't doing a social good." Sadly it is muddled with religions whom largely seem to ignore it now anyhow.
First I think we fixate overmuch on loans but should also consider any interest driven exchange of capitol as usury. This would then include stocks.
Furthermore, I think in particular what this conversation seems to miss is the Marxist perspective on it, wherein the value of labor is stolen through interest without adding value produced. I am of course dismissing the value added from the "risk" of lending. This is mitigated by Government protections that naturally tend to favor property owners over the borrower.
In particular I see flaws in contemporary markets, wherein people profit from imperfect information, demanding returns with ignorance to how those returns are gained.
Usury as a philosophy seems to address this, by saying: "Hey, if you loan someone $100 and expect $110 back tomorrow, you aren't doing a social good." Sadly it is muddled with religions whom largely seem to ignore it now anyhow.