Usury Law ... Hypocrisy in Spades

 

Usury Law … Hypocrisy in Spades

 

Ever since people have had to borrow money, this kicked in the day after money was invented (likely by a money-lender) – it became apparent that it created the conditions where gross abuse was not only possible, but likely.

Before money was invented, barter was the only means of exchange. If someone had something you wanted you gave them something they wanted for it. This was pretty inefficient as it could take some time, and luck, for two people who each had something the other needed to meet up. It worked better for services; you could make something you were good at making in exchange for something they were good at making. You could also spend a day helping them with a chore in exchange for them spending a day helping you with a chore.

Goods and services of different values could also be handled; helping someone with a very difficult, hard, chore could be repaid by, say, two days of very easy chores. A very well made hunting knife could be exchanged for, say, two or three pairs of simple shoes.

I am sure that then, as now, there were greedy people who took advantage of others, but it would have been pretty difficult as basic goods and services have obvious relative values, and they are real values. If someone needed a pair of shoes it would be pretty hard to pass them off with a pair of ear-muffs.

The most significant difference between an economy based on barter and one based on the use of money was that barter put a lid on greed, that quality which destroys whatever economy it infects. If what you wanted required a great amount of work you had to be prepared to return an equally great amount of work to get it. You could not promise two different people a week’s work in return for them giving you a week’s work within the same week.

In those days the saying was, ‘… a fair days work for a fair days work.” – and then someone invented money and that phrase became, ‘… a fair days wages for a fair days work’. From that day on smart, greedy, people have had a field day and the phenomenon known as Corporate Law came into existence to explain what the word ‘fair’ means when applied to the concept of ‘wages’. It is held by a certain school of sociologists that this was the dawning of civilization.

By then usury was a common part of commerce; usury being the practice of charging exorbitant interest. This continues; in the case of some Credit Card Companies the word ‘exorbitant’, here, being milked for every ounce its worth and then some.

But, fear not – this is America. They have laws against that sort of thing, don’t they? Yes.

If you borrow ten bucks from the guy next door and he then demands that you repay him sixteen or seventeen bucks you can have him hung, drawn and quartered thanks to that law.

Of course, being a law, it has a loop-hole. (“… you don’t say? I can hear you cynics mutter)

The problem here is that the language available to explain it is, or seems to be, inadequate. The impression the phrase, ‘loop-hole’, gives you is that it is a small entity and, by implication, inconsequential. To describe the loop-hole in the law against usury as ‘a loop-hole’ is like describing the Grand Canyon as ‘a crack’ in a big rock, or saying, ‘compared to Danny Deveto the EmpireStateBuilding is pretty tall.’

What is the loop-hole? It does not apply to Banks or business’s which loan money!!!!!

 

I have more to add to this hub.