I worked as a farmer in SW Colorado for about four years. One hot summer day out with my shovel to irrigate the fields, I was struck by magnificence of the sun. It is easy to proclaim a Sun God as 'Ra' is literally the source of human life. I pondered that all those who claim ownership (I was a ranch hand, not a rancher) neglect that the Sun has the prior claim.
Another realization was about debt and the Lord's Prayer. An unconventional Christian pastor had done the work to realize that the Council of NIcea had altered Jesus' Sermon on the Mount to reconcile with the new Roman (creditor class) masters. "…and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors…" was altered to "…forgive us our sins…", where Jesus debt was material and sin is spiritual. Forgiving debts cost the creditors money while forgiving sin was a money-maker.
Sorry, I cannot remember the name of the Christian pastor nor her book's title, but my thinking about debt is heavily influenced by Michael Hudson.
Hi, Tedder, thanks for the comment! I'll echo your comment about Dr. Hudson...he's shaped my thinking on these matters (as you can no doubt saw in this essay). Over the next few weeks, I'll be discussing some of the etymology of words like "debt" and "sin", which I got from reading Dr. Hudson's amazing work. You're way ahead of me!
Your comment about the sun strikes me as very similar thinking to the French physiocrats of the 1750s-1770s. These are the guys who coined the phrase “laissez faire, laissez passer”. They were a major influence on Adam Smith. They, too, saw the sun and agriculture as true source of economic productivity.
I learned of the Physiocrats in Hudson's KILLING THE HOST, and having worked in agriculture, I am in accord. Too few economists center on the most basic form of economy, food, without which, nothing is possible. I look forward to 'debt' and 'sin' explication. I remember David Graeber discussed this as well. But Michael is very clear that the Church used 'sin' as a major money maker and means of control.
I am no longer in Colorado. I was injured on the farm and took my disability money to learn computing. I bought and learned to program an Apple Macintosh and went out to California to be part of the Mac Revolution and work for Apple. Eventually, that led me to going back to university to learn about Language Acquisition and jobs as a teacher in Korea and China and then back teaching at the university.
2008 wiped out my university jobs, so I took my money and bought a sailboat in Florida. I am still here!
Though I eventually returned to my home state of Maine, I was a Florida resident for 8 years (Daytona, Orlando).
That's quite an amazing resume you've got there, Tedder! The sailboat life in Florida sounds incredible. Especially in view of the massive winter storm that's just picking as I type this haha. Congratulations!
I don't know the Daytona/Orlando part of Florida. I spent a little time in Orlando and drove through Daytona on Hwy 1. Florida sailing is good, but the exciting times are when the hurricanes hit. We go upriver and hide among the trees, but they are still intense—nice memories, actually.
It is supposed to rain this evening, then get really cold for here, below freezing for the rest of the week. In the boat, I have one inch of fiberglass and foam between me and the Outside, so it can get chilly! But I know cold and how to keep warm.
The practical economics here are wild. Hammurabi wasn't being altruistic with debt forgiveness, he was preventing wealth concentrtion that could threaten his power. Kinda shifts how we think about that torch symbol. I always assumed it was just generic freedom vibes but the debt jubillee angle makes way more sense for agricultural societies dealing with unpredictable weather. The Romans skipping this practice probably accelerted their own instablity.
Thanks for reading! I'm glad you got something out this week's essay.
Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be writing about how the ancient practice of debt forgiveness made its way first into Judaism, and then into Christianity as the notion of "forgiveness". The implications for the economic fate of the Roman Empire are truly astounding!
Also, be sure to check out the amazing work of Dr. Michael Hudson, who is the preeminent authority on these matters!
I worked as a farmer in SW Colorado for about four years. One hot summer day out with my shovel to irrigate the fields, I was struck by magnificence of the sun. It is easy to proclaim a Sun God as 'Ra' is literally the source of human life. I pondered that all those who claim ownership (I was a ranch hand, not a rancher) neglect that the Sun has the prior claim.
Another realization was about debt and the Lord's Prayer. An unconventional Christian pastor had done the work to realize that the Council of NIcea had altered Jesus' Sermon on the Mount to reconcile with the new Roman (creditor class) masters. "…and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors…" was altered to "…forgive us our sins…", where Jesus debt was material and sin is spiritual. Forgiving debts cost the creditors money while forgiving sin was a money-maker.
Sorry, I cannot remember the name of the Christian pastor nor her book's title, but my thinking about debt is heavily influenced by Michael Hudson.
Hi, Tedder, thanks for the comment! I'll echo your comment about Dr. Hudson...he's shaped my thinking on these matters (as you can no doubt saw in this essay). Over the next few weeks, I'll be discussing some of the etymology of words like "debt" and "sin", which I got from reading Dr. Hudson's amazing work. You're way ahead of me!
Your comment about the sun strikes me as very similar thinking to the French physiocrats of the 1750s-1770s. These are the guys who coined the phrase “laissez faire, laissez passer”. They were a major influence on Adam Smith. They, too, saw the sun and agriculture as true source of economic productivity.
Are you still in Colorado these days?
I learned of the Physiocrats in Hudson's KILLING THE HOST, and having worked in agriculture, I am in accord. Too few economists center on the most basic form of economy, food, without which, nothing is possible. I look forward to 'debt' and 'sin' explication. I remember David Graeber discussed this as well. But Michael is very clear that the Church used 'sin' as a major money maker and means of control.
I am no longer in Colorado. I was injured on the farm and took my disability money to learn computing. I bought and learned to program an Apple Macintosh and went out to California to be part of the Mac Revolution and work for Apple. Eventually, that led me to going back to university to learn about Language Acquisition and jobs as a teacher in Korea and China and then back teaching at the university.
2008 wiped out my university jobs, so I took my money and bought a sailboat in Florida. I am still here!
Though I eventually returned to my home state of Maine, I was a Florida resident for 8 years (Daytona, Orlando).
That's quite an amazing resume you've got there, Tedder! The sailboat life in Florida sounds incredible. Especially in view of the massive winter storm that's just picking as I type this haha. Congratulations!
I don't know the Daytona/Orlando part of Florida. I spent a little time in Orlando and drove through Daytona on Hwy 1. Florida sailing is good, but the exciting times are when the hurricanes hit. We go upriver and hide among the trees, but they are still intense—nice memories, actually.
It is supposed to rain this evening, then get really cold for here, below freezing for the rest of the week. In the boat, I have one inch of fiberglass and foam between me and the Outside, so it can get chilly! But I know cold and how to keep warm.
The practical economics here are wild. Hammurabi wasn't being altruistic with debt forgiveness, he was preventing wealth concentrtion that could threaten his power. Kinda shifts how we think about that torch symbol. I always assumed it was just generic freedom vibes but the debt jubillee angle makes way more sense for agricultural societies dealing with unpredictable weather. The Romans skipping this practice probably accelerted their own instablity.
Thanks for reading! I'm glad you got something out this week's essay.
Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be writing about how the ancient practice of debt forgiveness made its way first into Judaism, and then into Christianity as the notion of "forgiveness". The implications for the economic fate of the Roman Empire are truly astounding!
Also, be sure to check out the amazing work of Dr. Michael Hudson, who is the preeminent authority on these matters!