Well, its nice to know I'm appreciated, Trond. Part of the
problem is that I really don't have enough time to point out the
ridiculousness of your arguments, but considering the fact that you
seem to misunderstand or ignore anyone else who politely points out
the gaping holes in your "argument" (if you can call it that), naybe
its just as well.
Yes, Aristotle, et al, in TRADITIONAL society opposed usury,
NOT because of a lack of surplus but because surplus was directly
extracted from the producer through slave or tributary relations
rather than economic relations. GET IT? Or is that a little too
confusing for you? See, this is why those people you think "knew"
more than we did were opposed to usury--it undercut their direct
interests as slaveowners and feudal lords, etc. etc. etc. OF COURSE
Aristotle though making money from money unnatural--for him the
NATURAL thing was to make money (or to subsist) off the labor of his
SLAVES.
Aristotle and all those TRADITRIONAL philosophers have nothing
much to tell us because they are WRONG today. GET IT? You see, in
Aristotle's time money making money did seem absurd, but today it is
PART OF NATURE. Because the nature of today is CAPITALISM. Maybe you
heard that term somewhere. Capitalism is a system of production in
which MONEY BEGATS MONEY. How can this be so? Isn't money an inanimate
thing? Are you asking yourself this? WELL, LOOK AT YOUR MARX! Money is
NOT an inannimate object, it is an illusion, and there is nothing at
all in this universe that can prevent an illusion from producing more
illusions.
LET ME PUT IT EVEN SIMPLER FOR YOU, TROND, BECAUSE YOU SEEM TO
HAVE A REAL PROBLEM WITH THIS.
Money is POWER--that is, the way that power is manifested in modern
society. ITS A BIT MORE COMPLEX THAN THAT, BUT I'LL SAVE YOU THE DETAILS.
AND POWER BEGATS POWER. This explains why the rich get richer and
the poor get poorer.
Now, you don't have to worry too much about me. As soon as I
can figure it out I am getting off this infantile discussion list. It
seems that anyone with half a brain should have been able to slap you
down by now.
john cross
