4 Comments for this entry

1. John M. says:

   November 18, 2008 at 6:13 AM

   First of all, let me expose a bit of the e-mail response I sent to this article.[1]
   

   … Your allusions to class warfare and especially debt peonage recalled a theme I’ve been thinking about through recent months. The 14th Amendment not only created the Corporation as a (monstrous) person, it had the unfortunate side-effect of abolishing slavery.

   When you consider at bottom, agency debt is literally a certificate of debt peonage against the flow of future payments of one of those waiters who took out a speculative mortgage on a condo in Florida’s Treasure Coast. The stuff only works as real money if we somehow attach Joe’s grandchildren to the project of paying down that obligation. This cannot work. (I was constantly amazed that Frank Raines of all people seemed to be dedicated to reinstituting slavery in America.)

   Now I’m going to stand back and let somebody a bit weightier [2] comment on this:
   

   “… slavery should never be tolerated regardless of any economic benefit, just as systemic fraud should not be tolerated.”

   Rep. Paul is referring to taxpayers here, but the same applies to volunteers.

   ———
   [1]: “Take a Load Off Fannie: Bailout or Nationalization for the Mortgage Giants?”, by Ellen Brown, OpEd News, September 5, 2008.

   [2]: “Are some of us too big to fail?”, by Rep. Ron Paul, Victoria (TX) Advocate, October 20, 2008.
2. diogenes says:

   November 18, 2008 at 8:06 AM

   John M., you left out marriage in that slavery thing. The only difference is that in the US you don’t have any rights if you have a Y chromosome somewhere. Unlike salvery in the old south, you can’t even get out in death as the judge can require you to pay for your own life insurance and someone else profits from you even in death. A mortgage looks pretty good after that.
3. toysarefun says:

   November 18, 2008 at 10:42 AM

   She has her children, and her house, life is good, no mention of where Dad is anymore.

   Yes, the Y-chomosome theory is alive and well.

   http://happybachelors.proboards102.com/index.cgi?board=divorce&action=display&thread=1289
4. arizonaslim says:

   November 18, 2008 at 11:40 AM

   Hmmm, let’s see here. Second job. Even longer mortgage terms. I predict that this arrangement will lead to even more walk-aways.

   Igor says he’s concerned. So am I.

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