Is usury an virtuous form of money attainment?

Question

I guess I was just talking about interest. I thought usury was just the money off of interest, but after looking at the definition it has illegal connotations.

Answer 1

Seems like that's the definition of "usury" - it's bad news - loan shark - Usurious - nasty/ugly!

Answer 2

No.... bankers do no produce anything for the economy... money should be lent interest-free, PERIOD... then the bankers and financieers would have to get jobs producing something for their fellow man.

Answer 3

Great question. In one sense, if you are lending (usury has bad connotations, so let's say lending) money to make money, you are not really doing any work to improve society. You are just taking a cut of the profit of those doing work. You are a leech.

However, suppose you have a great idea to make a product that would make the world a little bit of a better place. Unfortunately, you don't have the money to start this operation. Suppose you found someone who had the money to give you. They have a resource to help you start your business. But what benefit is it to them to lend the money without interest? Especially since if your business fails, they may not ever get the money back. So in a sense they are offering the service of absorbing some of the risk, and therefore should get a little of the reward as profit.

So I tend to think it's okay. I'm still bothered a little by the fact that they aren't doing any of the useful service. But maybe it has more to do with why this guy has so much more money than you to start with. That's another question entirely.

Answer 4

Do you mean Luxury???

Answer 5

Well usury hasn't always had illegal connotations.  If you are asking for my opinion, I think that interest, within reason, allows for people to borrow money from lenders who would not otherwise lend.  It makes the economy work.

However, this has not been the view throughout history.  Scholars from Aristotle's time generally agreed that lending money for the purpose of making money was unethical and did not lead to desirable outcomes.  St. Thomas Aquinas expanded this view and put the force of the Catholic church behind it.  Even Karl Marx, who wrote in the mid-1800s, agreed that money for money's sake was unsavory.  So you could start with these (especially Aquinas) to learn more about this history of usury.