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Mar. 9th, 2005 07:39 amToday's word is usury. Can you say "usury" boys and girls? Good, I knew you could.
Lending at interest is strictly and clearly forbidden in Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam -- because it can so easily become an instrument of oppression, whereby the upper classes are able to hold the lower classes as interest slaves. The technical economic term for routinely getting more from a person than you give them is "exploitation."
There are Muslim countries where usury is still forbidden, even though sticking to that principle puts them at a distinct disadvantage in the world financial market (which on the whole has no problem with exploitation).
Today, credit card interest frequently hovers around 15-20%. Most states have laws defining interest over 10% as usurious -- look it up, I dare you. Credit lenders get around that because the Supreme Court decided in 1977 that credit card issuers can charge interest to people living anywhere in the US which is legal in the state where they are based. That's why all your credit card bills come from North Dakota.
Anyone who thinks that purchasing on credit is a luxury should examine the number of families routinely using credit cards to purchase groceries and other necessities, in order to continue being able to live without employment in Bush's ongoing "economic recovery."
Gee, why is it that the only thing the Democrats and Republicans can agree on, in the present economic climate, is that (falsely so-called) "middle-class" Americans need to be held captive to usury?
Lending at interest is strictly and clearly forbidden in Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam -- because it can so easily become an instrument of oppression, whereby the upper classes are able to hold the lower classes as interest slaves. The technical economic term for routinely getting more from a person than you give them is "exploitation."
There are Muslim countries where usury is still forbidden, even though sticking to that principle puts them at a distinct disadvantage in the world financial market (which on the whole has no problem with exploitation).
Today, credit card interest frequently hovers around 15-20%. Most states have laws defining interest over 10% as usurious -- look it up, I dare you. Credit lenders get around that because the Supreme Court decided in 1977 that credit card issuers can charge interest to people living anywhere in the US which is legal in the state where they are based. That's why all your credit card bills come from North Dakota.
Anyone who thinks that purchasing on credit is a luxury should examine the number of families routinely using credit cards to purchase groceries and other necessities, in order to continue being able to live without employment in Bush's ongoing "economic recovery."
Gee, why is it that the only thing the Democrats and Republicans can agree on, in the present economic climate, is that (falsely so-called) "middle-class" Americans need to be held captive to usury?
