Tuesday 19 January 2010

Why force people to pay back their debts?

Debts are illegitimate for the reason that it is supposed that the good of Society is in contradiction to that of the individual. If someone doesn't want to repay a debt, they should not be forced. To incarcerate a debtor is to initiate violence.

If something has been loaned, then it is acceptable to remove them from the property at the end of the lease, but this is different from coercing them into paying off a debt.

We should not be forced to pay back debts; contracts (of this kind) are invalid. If we do not want to pay we should not be forced.

We might say that since the two sides of any transaction are not instantaneous, there is a debt here but that is not the same. The aim and intention in any trade is to make it simultaneous, and we can rely on a third party to adjudicate.

We are not entitled to enforce debts because to do nothing is never criminal; the creditor is not owed. It is not to the advantage of the creditor to incarcerate another person so what use is it to enforce the debt? Since a person never wants to get into debt, the creditor must have exploited them in some way... If the debtor cannot afford something important like food, should they be allowed to go hungry? If they can't afford something expensive like a new house should they be allowed to take on the debt?
“The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.” - Napoleon Bonaparte
How can we prove that a debt is owed? Is debt a good idea?

Is to enforce debt a good thing? Should people be forced to pay back their debts? Why not allow the repayment of debts to be voluntary?

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