Throughout the Middle Ages, the practice of lending money at interest (usury) was held to be against natural law because money was considered naturally unproductive. The wealth of the church was almost entirely in land, as Bertrand Russell points out, and landowners are borrowers rather than lenders. But when Protestantism arose, its support--especially that of Calvinism--came chiefly from the rich middle class, who were lenders rather than borrowers. Accordingly, first Calvin, then other Protestants, and finally the Roman Catholic Church, decided that charging interest under proper restrictions was not a violation of natural law after all--although usury in the sense of exorbitant interest still is.

That was written in 1960; the sense "exorbitant" has probably changed a bit since then.

by Richard Bartholomew on Thu Aug 24, 2006 at 06:05:19 AM EST

However, they should try to live without a home or a car... the banks really have people at a disadvantage and they know it.  There is NO true informed concent for most cases.

I've seen firsthand the greed and wickedness of the banks and credit-card companies.  They prey on the poor, and have started on the middle class in more recent times (last 20 years?).

by ArchaeoBob on Thu Aug 24, 2006 at 10:22:52 PM EST