Greaber's book on debt was really interesting. The cancellation of debts is from Leviticus 25:
"And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. "
Fascinating issue. Graeber explains that poor farmers would borrow from the landlord, be unable to pay, and would end up sold into slavery. Eventually not enough farmers were available to work the land. An economic crisis would ensue. Hence the bit about returning men to their families (to restore the labour force).
That's part of the symbolism of Jesus. He is the Redeemer because he is freeing people from the debt of sin. The Gospels are using language that would have been very familiar to Jews who followed the law in Leviticus.
Graeber's big point, which he articulates at the books's outset, is that we have been brainwashed into thinking that paying off a debt is a moral obligation. If you step back a bit from that idea, it suddenly seems strange and artificial to mix the concept of a financial obligation with that of a moral obligation. But that's what a lot of people do: they mix those two things together.
A lender always takes a risk that the borrower won't repay the loan. That's why, for example, credit card debt, which is not backed by collateral, has high interest rates: the lender is covering his risk. Lender and borrower are always conscious of the odds that the loan will go bad.
But when morality gets added to the equation, it distorts reality in favour of the lender, who can now appeal to a sense of duty or sin to confuse the debtor, and make him forget that the two parties in the loan are making a coldblooded calculation of the odds that the loan will be repaid.
Graeber's other big point is that debt has, throughout history, been a means of creating slaves. But that's kind of another issue.
"And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. "
Fascinating issue. Graeber explains that poor farmers would borrow from the landlord, be unable to pay, and would end up sold into slavery. Eventually not enough farmers were available to work the land. An economic crisis would ensue. Hence the bit about returning men to their families (to restore the labour force).
That's part of the symbolism of Jesus. He is the Redeemer because he is freeing people from the debt of sin. The Gospels are using language that would have been very familiar to Jews who followed the law in Leviticus.
Graeber's big point, which he articulates at the books's outset, is that we have been brainwashed into thinking that paying off a debt is a moral obligation. If you step back a bit from that idea, it suddenly seems strange and artificial to mix the concept of a financial obligation with that of a moral obligation. But that's what a lot of people do: they mix those two things together.
A lender always takes a risk that the borrower won't repay the loan. That's why, for example, credit card debt, which is not backed by collateral, has high interest rates: the lender is covering his risk. Lender and borrower are always conscious of the odds that the loan will go bad.
But when morality gets added to the equation, it distorts reality in favour of the lender, who can now appeal to a sense of duty or sin to confuse the debtor, and make him forget that the two parties in the loan are making a coldblooded calculation of the odds that the loan will be repaid.
Graeber's other big point is that debt has, throughout history, been a means of creating slaves. But that's kind of another issue.
Great read.