3 ms·
You can't really discuss usury in a modern context without taking into account, the entirely modern notion of what money is. I.e. the instrument of today's nati
by johnyzee 6y ago
You can't really discuss usury in a modern context without taking into account, the entirely modern notion of what money is. I.e. the instrument of today's national currencies are entirely detached from what used to be considered money, which was what the concept of usury applied to.
More specifically, when the government openly inflates the money supply by a certain percentage every year, then investing your cash into T-bills could suddenly be seen as merely a defensive move, to protect your holdings, rather than a usurious transaction with you as the benefactor.
I am not arguing that point or another, but this is just one example out of many where the issue gets confused by the complications of the modern financial system. It could well be argued (and many do) that large swathes of the financial system is incompatible with Islamic principles, and that the only acceptable option is a radical reimagining of these structures. In that, they would agree with a growing secular movement who are increasingly discovering that the monetary and financial system is stacked against them, and enriches the few at the expense of the many.
I guess what I'm saying is that it makes little sense to rail against 'usury' while ignoring the realities of the 'modern' nature of money.
- gher-shyu3i 6y ago> I.e. the instrument of today's national currencies are entirely detached from what used to be considered money, which was what the concept of usury applied to. True. Which is another core problem. We should go back to proper money, not what we have today. Let's take a step back. Why did the governments decide to detach money from gold and other metals? It's because they want to be able to print money at will to cover their ever increasing debts, due to interest. What effect does this have on the average person? They work hard to save money, only to have their savings devalued because of someone else's greed and incompetence. This is not sustainable.