From: dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM)
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 06:02:41 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: The War on Some Debts
In-Reply-To: <199802031640.KAA18766@wire.insync.net>
Message-ID: <X59Bke2w165w@bwalk.dm.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Eric Cordian <emc@wire.insync.net> writes:

> 
> In a further blatant erosion of Constitutional rights, the California
> Supreme Court has ruled that a person owing child support who fails to
> seek or accept work may be jailed and fined for contempt of court, and
> that this does not violate any Constitutional bans on involuntary
> servitude or imprisonment for debt. 
>  
> This reverses nearly a century of contrary rulings.  Look for this
> "improved" interpretation to be expanded to other kinds of debts and
> judgments as well, as soon as massive public acceptance of it for the
> carefully picked child support issue is engineered. 
>  
> The credit card companies are no doubt carefully analyzing this decision
> as we speak. 

Ah yes; once it's established that a parent owing alimony can be forced
to work "to protect the children", expect similar treatments for taxes
and credit card debt and judgments.
The credit card issues are also lobbying very hard to exempt credit card
debts from bankrucpy.
For most of humanity's history, interest rates on loans to individuals
were around 100-200% per annum; default rate was proportionate; bad
debtors were jailed or enslaved; children inherited debt; etc. 

---

Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps