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What is interesting to me is that it is a Biblical principle to have jubilee years and in my experience some of the most ardent opponents of debt forgiveness ar

by skh 8y ago

What is interesting to me is that it is a Biblical principle to have jubilee years and in my experience some of the most ardent opponents of debt forgiveness are right wing Christians. The fact is that we all subsidize each other. Poor people in major cities tend to use public transportation more than others and thus their taxes subsidize road building. I don't have children and subsidize k-12 education for those that do. The broader question is what sort of society do we collectively want?

ianmcgowan 8y ago
Personally, I want a Star Trek or Culture type of society, not Blade Runner or Neuromancer. I don't get the collective fury that some undeserving person might, gasp, be getting something for free. A rising tide lifts all boats, so let's fund that fusion, AI and nanotech research and really get that tide moving up...
humanrebar 8y ago
> ...it is a Biblical principle to have jubilee years... That part of the Bible also establishes a government funded priesthood consisting of only men that routinely perform ritual animal sacrifice. Point being, the jubilee year stuff was specific instructions on how to govern a particular people in a particular place at a particular time in history. Now, I would consider guaranteed loan forgiveness after, say, seven years, but that would probably just reconfigure how loans are structured. I figure people would get smaller mortgages, having to buy smaller houses with larger down payments. I'm not sure that's better for the poor than what we have now. Maybe it would be? The adjustment would certainly strain the economy while the housing sector sorted itself out.
- skh 8y ago
  I’m an atheist and don’t necessarily care much for Biblical principles. However, right wing Christians I know quote par6s of the Old Testament as evidence for some of their moral beliefs. They do tend to ignore those portions that contradict their preconceived ideas.
  - humanrebar 8y ago
    That's a pretty broad brush to paint with. The Old Testament is a collection of books of different genres. Some parts are a legal framework for governing. Others are moral instructions. Most are historical record. The commandment against murder clearly doesn't have the same context as the instructions for how to dress temple priests. It's not selective reading to consider the text in context. It doesn't require a deist belief either.

by skh 8y ago

ianmcgowan 8y ago

Personally, I want a Star Trek or Culture type of society, not Blade Runner or Neuromancer. I don't get the collective fury that some undeserving person might, gasp, be getting something for free. A rising tide lifts all boats, so let's fund that fusion, AI and nanotech research and really get that tide moving up...

humanrebar 8y ago

> ...it is a Biblical principle to have jubilee years... That part of the Bible also establishes a government funded priesthood consisting of only men that routinely perform ritual animal sacrifice. Point being, the jubilee year stuff was specific instructions on how to govern a particular people in a particular place at a particular time in history. Now, I would consider guaranteed loan forgiveness after, say, seven years, but that would probably just reconfigure how loans are structured. I figure people would get smaller mortgages, having to buy smaller houses with larger down payments. I'm not sure that's better for the poor than what we have now. Maybe it would be? The adjustment would certainly strain the economy while the housing sector sorted itself out.

skh 8y ago
I’m an atheist and don’t necessarily care much for Biblical principles. However, right wing Christians I know quote par6s of the Old Testament as evidence for some of their moral beliefs. They do tend to ignore those portions that contradict their preconceived ideas.
- humanrebar 8y ago
  That's a pretty broad brush to paint with. The Old Testament is a collection of books of different genres. Some parts are a legal framework for governing. Others are moral instructions. Most are historical record. The commandment against murder clearly doesn't have the same context as the instructions for how to dress temple priests. It's not selective reading to consider the text in context. It doesn't require a deist belief either.