If the Bible said "love of Disco is the root of all evil" I could relate to that. Those were some very fun times, some wicked things were done, and it was a lot of fun. I loved it. But that is not what the Bible says. The Bible says "love of money is the root of all evil."
I guess if you have the gift of ADD/ADHD, making money is never a problem, and if something is never a problem, you don't worry about it. Certainly people around me worry about me and money, just not me.
But that love of money quote got me thinking, the ban on usury provided a negative hint, and how usury concentrates power in ever fewer hands to the point it takes extremely few people to "call the shots" is clear.
When world problems come to mind, they can all be understood as love of money at the root, and usury as the means to the present end. Iraq, Ferguson, the coming stock market crash, any and all problems can be traced to too much power in too few hands, effected by usury. Do I believe usury (taking or giving interest on a loan) should be outlawed? No! Just make it unenforceable in law. End of that regime.
I've been reading much on this, and this week can across a book online on the topic... S C Mooney, Usury, Destroyer of Nations. Mooney does yeoman work carefully taking down every religious and social argument pro-usury. Very good stuff. I cite Dr. Gary North here often, since his stuff is good, but North is pro-usury, with which I obviously disagree. North has made a lifelong concerted effort to critique the entire Bible for economic wisdom, and it is good stuff, but he gets something central, usury, wrong. This blindness put him on the losing side of an argument with Mish on hyperinflation, North and Mish being of the same school of economics, the Austrian, and Mish gets it right. Mish just yesterday returned to the topic and this is a good summary of the right side of the debate. His foil this time is a Forbes writer, it is sad to see Forbes go so downhill so fast. Ironic, a magazine that promoted usury sells out due to usury. (Forbes sold out to a Hong Kong outfit.) One point Mooney concedes is there will never be business loans at no interest. (I'll say it again, all loans are charitable events, if you have money with which to make more money, invest as a co-owner, not take a (relatively) sure thing from someone taking a risk. )
Looking around the world where USA is failing to a degree it cannot be blamed on Obama (no one can do this much damage) it looks pretty grim.
So I was astonished to see, unbidden, with no particular impetus, business loans at no interest, crowdfunded by Kiva. Now, when Kiva first came out, it was micro-finance at interest crowdsourced. So I could see it was the evil Grameen Bank Mohammed Yunis look-alike bringing micro-evil to Islam, the last bastion of usury-free business. But Kiva-zip is crowdsourced loans at no interest! I (and other on this list) jumped in to make small loans at no interest, and the borrower picked up $10,000 total well within the timeline. I am very keen to find out the metrics... do no-usury loans subscribe faster better? What is the average loan size? What was the impetus for this effort? And so on and so on.
Now, this new thing is immediately contrary to patterns and practices of this corporation we call the USA. You cannot make charitable loans in USA to businesses without someone imputing interest and paying taxes on the imputed income. So either the giver or the beneficiary will be in trouble with the IRS. That is just how capitalism works, and the USA as a corporation has over the centuries taken on patterns and practices of capitalism, which is "love of money" above all else.
Good on Kiva for offering this... the people making the loans will have to fork over more money to the IRS for having done so, or more likely, the beneficiaries will become targets of the IRS, but either way, we are now designed to crush good things before they get started. In capitalism, the IRS works for the bankers, and to the degree no-usury loans displease some banker, business loans at no interest will be crushed.
But started it did. When the market gets wiped out in the next couple of months, just recall in the chaos there are good systems we can adopt. ( http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/08/david-stockman/does-the-wall-street-casino-seem-dangerous/ This too... http://armstrongeconomics.com/2014/08/19/crisis-collapse-in-world-capital-flows/ Remember, just like last time, 2008, and every time before, the powers that be will tell you "no one saw this coming." Plenty of people saw it coming. Just no one will do the right thing.)
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
I guess if you have the gift of ADD/ADHD, making money is never a problem, and if something is never a problem, you don't worry about it. Certainly people around me worry about me and money, just not me.
But that love of money quote got me thinking, the ban on usury provided a negative hint, and how usury concentrates power in ever fewer hands to the point it takes extremely few people to "call the shots" is clear.
When world problems come to mind, they can all be understood as love of money at the root, and usury as the means to the present end. Iraq, Ferguson, the coming stock market crash, any and all problems can be traced to too much power in too few hands, effected by usury. Do I believe usury (taking or giving interest on a loan) should be outlawed? No! Just make it unenforceable in law. End of that regime.
I've been reading much on this, and this week can across a book online on the topic... S C Mooney, Usury, Destroyer of Nations. Mooney does yeoman work carefully taking down every religious and social argument pro-usury. Very good stuff. I cite Dr. Gary North here often, since his stuff is good, but North is pro-usury, with which I obviously disagree. North has made a lifelong concerted effort to critique the entire Bible for economic wisdom, and it is good stuff, but he gets something central, usury, wrong. This blindness put him on the losing side of an argument with Mish on hyperinflation, North and Mish being of the same school of economics, the Austrian, and Mish gets it right. Mish just yesterday returned to the topic and this is a good summary of the right side of the debate. His foil this time is a Forbes writer, it is sad to see Forbes go so downhill so fast. Ironic, a magazine that promoted usury sells out due to usury. (Forbes sold out to a Hong Kong outfit.) One point Mooney concedes is there will never be business loans at no interest. (I'll say it again, all loans are charitable events, if you have money with which to make more money, invest as a co-owner, not take a (relatively) sure thing from someone taking a risk. )
Looking around the world where USA is failing to a degree it cannot be blamed on Obama (no one can do this much damage) it looks pretty grim.
So I was astonished to see, unbidden, with no particular impetus, business loans at no interest, crowdfunded by Kiva. Now, when Kiva first came out, it was micro-finance at interest crowdsourced. So I could see it was the evil Grameen Bank Mohammed Yunis look-alike bringing micro-evil to Islam, the last bastion of usury-free business. But Kiva-zip is crowdsourced loans at no interest! I (and other on this list) jumped in to make small loans at no interest, and the borrower picked up $10,000 total well within the timeline. I am very keen to find out the metrics... do no-usury loans subscribe faster better? What is the average loan size? What was the impetus for this effort? And so on and so on.
Now, this new thing is immediately contrary to patterns and practices of this corporation we call the USA. You cannot make charitable loans in USA to businesses without someone imputing interest and paying taxes on the imputed income. So either the giver or the beneficiary will be in trouble with the IRS. That is just how capitalism works, and the USA as a corporation has over the centuries taken on patterns and practices of capitalism, which is "love of money" above all else.
Good on Kiva for offering this... the people making the loans will have to fork over more money to the IRS for having done so, or more likely, the beneficiaries will become targets of the IRS, but either way, we are now designed to crush good things before they get started. In capitalism, the IRS works for the bankers, and to the degree no-usury loans displease some banker, business loans at no interest will be crushed.
But started it did. When the market gets wiped out in the next couple of months, just recall in the chaos there are good systems we can adopt. ( http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/08/david-stockman/does-the-wall-street-casino-seem-dangerous/ This too... http://armstrongeconomics.com/2014/08/19/crisis-collapse-in-world-capital-flows/ Remember, just like last time, 2008, and every time before, the powers that be will tell you "no one saw this coming." Plenty of people saw it coming. Just no one will do the right thing.)
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
6 comments:
Note: The love of money is not the root of 'all' evil, but all 'kinds' of evil. Just a nuance that is understood from the greek text that was not translated articulately in the KJV but is in many modern translations. the ESV which uses the same greek manuscripts brings that nuance out.
Question: I am not really greatly astute in terms of the global outlook on economy etc... So I won't pretend to read everything you are relating and understand it so greatly to interact with you on your points, however you mentioned 'the market getting wiped out in the next few months.' Could you elaborate on this for a novice like me in terms of how you see that coming as well as how one might prepare other than taking your export course (cause I already am...which btw is fantastic people - you need to take it!) thanks, Steve
The same people who said the last few times "it's coming" are saying so now...
David Stockman http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/08/david-stockman/does-the-wall-street-casino-seem-dangerous/
Mish Shedlock Mish won't predict, be he does say it is inevitable...
Marc Faber http://www.cnbc.com/id/10000347
There is no preparing, because there are no rules... just have something real to trade...
"You cannot make charitable loans in USA to businesses without someone imputing interest and paying taxes on the imputed income. So either the giver or the beneficiary will be in trouble with the IRS."
If Kiva gets in trouble with the IRS, they could just set their interest rate at a teensy-tiny amount, like 0.00001% or something like that. Just a thought to battle against The Man (like an economic, non-violent civil disobedience).
They IRS imputes a market figure like 5%, so they would just look at the difference and object. I think this would have to be a conscientious objection thing, get the Amish, Hutterites, and a few others to force a case through and get an exception. The Amish are exempt from the Social Security gig and truancy laws.
As to the "all" or "all kinds" biblegateway goes both ways with many translations... the commentary on the original Greek is obscure, so i am having a scholar who owes me look at it... more later...
John
The Greek Scholar consulted with associates and comes up with this:
The literal translation is "a root of all evils". taken from the greek of that passage in the most serious academic version of the greek new testament (Jo has some fancy program that compares all bible versions and editions in every language ever). http://www.nestle-aland.com/en/home/
cheers
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