As most Americans with half a brain cell know, the United States’ modern-day banking and financial system is not what the founders envisioned—far from it. There are many truthful arguments to make. In a way, usury is the nucleus of its operation.
Usury is the loaning of money, usually at high interest rates. In fact, General George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams, in my opinion, warned the most, at that time, against the dangers of central banks controlling the money system; an oligarchy of bankers was the most dangerous form of tyranny, perhaps worse than a monarchy.
Many of our founders were avid scholars in Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Maxims of Law, Natural Law, etc. believed in and understood the Bible very well using the language and meaning of words at the time of their writings. They feared the power of God and understood the importance of applying its principles not just in theory but living it out daily as well as discerning what type of government to establish.
Opposition to usury has Biblical roots. It is my belief many of the founders warned of the dangers of banking oligarchies because of their knowledge of the Bible and understanding how usury applied to various models of past government (which many also spent summers studying), which is always tied to how money is used for government purposes and its intended impact on the people.
Some examples from the King James Version on the evils of usury:
Exodus 22:25 If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.
Leviticus 25:36 – Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.
Ezekiel 22:12 – In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.
A handful of other verses, especially in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, touch on usury.
Another verse that sticks out is Proverbs 22:7: The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Though I suspect this verse can be interpreted in different ways, I believe understanding the whole of chapter 22 is relevant to grasping the deeper context of the verse. I find that it acknowledges economic inequality exists (whether it is good or not is hard to tell) but this can potentially mean both, depending on how governments and rulers attain wealth and allow debt to be incurred. Economic inequality is not bad if it is a result of equality of opportunity and/or just rules. Though people are responsible for their own decisions, a government can exploit the ignorance of the common people in how to avoid making bad decisions and to make corrections to past behavior to become financially stable or free. A modern-day example is how big pharma and the WHO kept scientific information from being communicated about the experiments of the COVID-19 vaccines and alternative therapies such as HCQ and Ivermectin.
The founders realized the nature of man was fallen and thus needed a government. Hence, Madison’s quote in Federalist Paper 51, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” If this very same government were to compose of the same fallen man, there must be limits and restraints on that very same government. This is where the Laws of Nature come in. The Laws of Nature are never to be violated. If governments are not protecting them, they must be restrained or put in check by the same people who gave consent to the establishment of such a government.
Madison’s statement about men not being angels in Federalist Paper 51 has a parallel to the general truths of Proverbs 22 because it discusses in many ways the balance between rule and servant. In an analogous way, Federalist Paper 51 balances government versus the consent of the people. If men were such angels, and there was no sinful nature of men, there would be no evils to warn against, nor would the Bible warn against usury, nor would there need to be the need for a government and internal/external controls on that same government. This is not to say being rich is evil nor is it to say servitude is wrong. Some people work harder than others, are more ambitious, make wiser decisions than others, have more skills, etc. This is why the founders studied natural rights. From the founder’s eyes, the adherence to natural rights is a balance that must be preserved between a struggle for a just government and a right to alter and change the government via Constitutional measures. Whether poor or rich, we are all common under the fact we have inalienable rights, inherent with intelligent design.
Usury’s modern-day evil use is evident with the Department of Education’s system of loaning high-interest rate loans, deceptive and bureaucratic strings attached grant money to state budgets, predatory credit card practices, subprime mortgage lending to high-risk borrowers through faulty credit ratings, national debt created by creation of money supply from recurring cycles of illegally regurgitated debt, an IRS collection agency with no constitutional authority, now the emergence of many of these powers with the World Economic Forum and its subsidiary affiliates. Though people are responsible for paying back what they borrow, it is also the government’s job to not economically, psychologically, and morally take advantage of the same people they are supposed to serve through deceptive, uninformed consent and willful ignorance of the masses.
Just as Proverbs 22:7 mentions the rich ruling over the servants, the verses before and after hint at meaningful insights into wealth and poverty. In the same capacity, the founders believed in a just government that would protect virtue and punish evil. The struggle between good and evil has always existed. Right now, in my opinion, besides elections, understanding the nature of usury, the history of our banking system, and knowing what our natural rights are and tying them together are the most important things Americans can learn right now, besides their faith and the Bible.
