Reading Peter Maurin"s Easy Essays

I find myself agreeing with a lot of what Maurin wrote...I find myself not practicing a lot of what he practiced.


CHURCH AND STATE

Modern society believes
in separation
of Church and State.
But the Jews
did not believe in it,
the Greeks
did not believe in it,
the Medievalists
did not believe in it,
the Puritans
did not believe in it.
Modern society
has separated
the Church from the State,
but it has not separated
the State from business.
Modern society
does not believe
in a Church’s State;
it believes
in a business man’s State.
“And it is the first time
in the history of the world
that the State is controlled
by business men,”
says James Truslow Adams.


IS INFLATION INEVITABLE?

Usurers Not Gentlemen

The Prophets of Israel
and the Fathers of the Church
forbid lending money at interest.
Lending money at interest
is called usury
by the Prophets of Israel
and the Fathers of the Church.
Usurers were not considered
to be Gentlemen
when people used to listen
to the Prophets of Israel
and the Fathers of the Church.
When people used to listen
to the Prophets of Israel
and the Fathers of the Church
They could not see anything gentle
in trying to live
on the sweat of somebody else’s brow
by lending money at interest.

Wealth-Producing Maniacs

When John Calvin
legalized moneylending
at interest
he made the bank account
the standard of values.
When the bank account
became the standard of values,
people ceased
to produce for use
and began
to produce for profits.
When people began
to produce for profits
they became
wealth-producing maniacs.
When people became
wealth-producing maniacs
they produced
too much wealth.
When people found out
that they had produced
too much wealth
they went on an orgy
of wealth destruction
and destroyed
ten million lives besides.
And fifteen years after
a world-wide orgy
of wealth and life
destruction
millions of people
find themselves victims
of a world-wide depression
brought about
by a world gone mad
on mass-production
and mass-distribution.

Legalized Usury

Because John Calvin legalized
money-lending at interest,
the State has legalized
money-lending at interest.
Because the State has legalized
money-lending at interest,
home-owners have mortgaged their homes.
Because the State has legalized
money-lending at interest,
farmers have mortgaged their farms.
Because the State has legalized
money-lending at interest,
institutions have mortgaged
their buildings.
Because the State has legalized
money-lending at interest,
congregations have
mortgaged their churches.
Because the State has legalized
money-lending at interest,
cities, counties, States,
and the Federal Government
have mortgaged their budgets.
So people find themselves
in all kinds of financial difficulties because
the State has legalized
money-lending at interest.

The Fallacy of Saving

When people save money,
they invest that money.
Money invested
increases production.
Increased production
brings a surplus
in production.
A surplus in production
brings unemployment.
Unemployment brings a slump
in business.
A slump in business
brings more unemployment.
More unemployment
brings a depression.
A depression
brings more depression.
More depression
brings red agitation.
Red agitation
brings red revolution.

Avoiding Inflation

Some say
that inflation
is desirable.
Some say
that inflation
is deplorable.
Some say
that inflation
is deplorable but inevitable.
The way
to avoid inflation
is to lighten the burden
of the money borrowers
without robbing
the money lenders.
And the way
to lighten the burden
of the money borrowers
without robbing
the money lenders
is to pass two laws,
one law
making immediately illegal
all interest
on money lent
and another law
obliging the money borrowers
to pay one per cent
of their debt
every year
during a period of a hundred years.