Abstaining from USURY

[iron]

Hello everyone

 

I know stefan emphasizes a lot on making practical approaches to freedom...

 

and peaceful parenting is what he pays attention to, and I fully appreaciate his work

 

My suggestion is that to approach the issue another way that includes other individuals who aren't parents

 

and that is to encourage others not to participate in financial transactions that are invovled with usury...

 

How many of you are actively using credit cards, or taking student loans, have a mortgage, car loan, business loan ...etc?

 

By encouraging society in a direction where they agree that usury-based transactions are immoral

 

then we wouldn't have the usury-bearing IOU debt known as the dollar as the currency of choice in trade.

 

If people want to lend money with one another, it should be in done with a financial instrument that doesn't devalue, and further should be like an investment.  That is, the money you are lending, is really acquiring a portion of ownership of whatever business endevour the borrower is pursueing.  The risk is shared among both parties.

[masonman]

By encouraging society in a direction where they agree that usury-based transactions are immoral

However, who defines usury? The problem with usury is it is a purely arbitrary distinction, that once certain terms are at some arbitary level, suddenly a voluntary exchange becomes immoral. So, how do you define usury?I agree totally though that people should really think of living within their means instead of feeling like they NEED to live in a house in the suburbs, even when they will have to take out a 30 year mortgage to do so.

[MrCapitalism]

Been a long time since we had a 'debt is usury, the dollar is an IOU' post....

 

Are you proposing that we should make loans in gold or other monetary instruments? (not a bad idea at all really)

[Dylan Lawrence Moore]

Quick pop in: I've recently learned that in the real estate area, it's very common and quite profitable to find private lenders instead of dealing with the magical-mayhem-world known as banking. It's called "hard money" or "private money" (there's a big difference) and obviously one wouldn't have to go through the bureaucratic rigamarole to raise capital for a project (like renovating a house).

 

Anyway, just saying, with the screwed up money system we have now, people are still figuring how to get around the "usury" problem.

 

-Dylan

[Existing Alternatives]

Borrowing money to maintain one’s lifestyle is never a good idea. It does not matter whether your debt is in government IOUs or gold or bitcoins. Living below one’s means has always been a mantra for many financial planners.

 

At the same time, entering into debt relationship is purely voluntary (at least in the most parts of the world). If the borrower feels that the rates are usurious, they can simply stay away. It’s really not that big of a deal.

 

As an aside – borrowing a quickly devaluing instrument could actually be a savvy strategy, since the borrower would have to repay ever decreasing value.  

[FreedomPhilosophy]

 

As an aside – borrowing a quickly devaluing instrument could actually be a savvy strategy, since the borrower would have to repay ever decreasing value.  

if the interest rate isn't increased