2 ms·
But weren't medieval Christian attitudes towards usury a good thing?
by inigyou 4mo ago
But weren't medieval Christian attitudes towards usury a good thing?
- Rumudiez 4mo agowouldn't treating lock-in as taboo be a good thing?
- selcuka 4mo agoI guess usury is analogous to lock-in in your parent comment, not the Christian attitudes.
- IncreasePosts 4mo agoNo, because who would lend money when they would just get the same amount back later, plus the risk of not getting repaid?
- inigyou 4mo agoPretty sure that's the point.
- Terr_ 4mo agoWell, whether is was good isn't really a yes-or-no answer, especially when it got tied together with religious persecution. I don't think I'd like to reintroduce it exactly as it was, but it's a useful example because: 1. It demonstrates how a strong economic-norm can arise from popular concern that a certain "buyer/borrower beware" arrangement is too prone to abuse. 2. Being unusual to us, it's easier to see and consider, as opposed to existing norms we may take for granted as "just how things are." 3. Since it changed over time (albeit by going away) it indicates that change is possible, and shows those economic rules are socially-constructed.