Forum Post: The root of evil

The evil nature of usury (aka interest).

It is not surprising that up until the last century usury was looked down upon as something immoral and disruptive to the society (http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/articles/1998_usury.htm). The three monotheistic religions - Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all condemn usury. Only when the European royalty have started wasting money left and right and going bankrupt did the "usurers" get their titles and have grown from the despised cast into who they are today - the white collar elite.

The past decade has shown what the usury is really all about. The economy based on usury can not be sustained, however, in their corporate greed, the 1% don't understand that it will take them down as well.

Here is why usury is evil.

Usury discourages saving and encourages consumerism - expensive things are just few dollars a month. The outcome is that people spend beyond their capacity and end up with debt on their neck that can drag throughout their life. The usury via compound interest makes it almost impossible to pay off the debt, which enslaves people to the lenders.

The consumerism born out of usury also makes the prices go up due to the increased demand. As a result the economy based on the interest makes it impossible for people to obtain any goods or services (housing and education are prime examples) without borrowing money.

The debt slavery produces economic disparity which pushes the middle class down and the upper class up, giving it power over the government and the rest of the people.

The link is clear: usury -> poverty -> disparity -> government takeover by elite

If OWS movement can demand one thing IMHO it should be that the government once again ban the interest. While hard to imagine, given the "global" nature of the economy, it is still not impossible if WE the people want it.