[ExI] Money and Human Nature (was Re: Capitalism, anti capitalism, emotional arousal)

[Kelly Anderson]

On Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 9:04 AM, Tara Maya <tara at taramayastales.com> wrote:
>"Behead the Bankers!" (and yes, I have heard this, seen it on a sign, and
>saw it repeated by a friend on Facebook.) This is just the same old, old,
>old ugly that resulted in pogroms against the Jews, who were hated
>because they were owed money.
>
>It's so much easier to kill your lender than to pay back loans… then as
>now.

The Jews got into this position because all of the Islamic world and
from time to time parts of the Christian world eschewed the charging
of usury (interest) for loans. In addition, the Catholics had an
occasional Jubilee year in which debtors may have been forgiven in
some cases... (though I cannot find a specific reference to this fact
right now). In any case, since the Jews were the only ones that
weren't prohibited religiously from charging interest in many times
and places, they often became the bankers. After all, what interest do
you have in loaning money at par? (pun intended)

And yes, there is nothing new about the hatred of bankers... though
they have invented many new reasons for the people to be pissed off at
the these days...

-Kelly