Has anyone suggested creating a debt forgiveness credit system? Might be somewhat more Christian than the status quo. Not that we're a Christian nation or anything.
"Forgive and you will be forgiven. But if you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven." The big monotheisms all specifically mention debt forgiveness in their holy books, and the perils of driving people into debt and subjecting them to recurring penalties for getting stuck. For all the superstition, prejudice and violence in the Bible and the Quran, there were probably very valid reasons for prophets to make debt a moral issue, with God's wrath reserved for the greedy and unjust, along with the polytheists, atheists, gays, adulteresses and persecutors of the flogged, crucified or beheaded faithful flock.
Credits would give legitimacy to forgiveness by making it possible to cash in credits to wipe out debt, create chains or networks to collapse debt and perhaps discover added value in relationship as a side effect. How many untried configurations might reduce frustration and stress throughout the culture, if those who owe and those who are owed were arranged less inside a hierarchical pyramid and more in an evolving network of mutual benefit? If money can be created out of nothing, why not make debt disappear into nothing? If I were an economist, I might be able to knock down that idea, but I'm not.
My own view on debt (not having any), is that near-poverty without stress is much more enjoyable than the freedom to buy what you want as soon as you want it, when it comes with strings of obligation, deadlines or penalties.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment