Why Is Debt Slavery Wrong

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PART 1- Debt slavery was a big issue in Rome. If someone (usually a person of the lower class) owed someone else (usually someone in higher class) money and could not pay it off they would have to work for that person. Every year the money they owed increased by 80%, even if the person who owed money was in the Roman army. Debt slavery mostly benefitted the patricians and upper-class plebians. It hurt the middle to lower-class plebians. For them, it was a cycle. The moment they got themselves into debt slavery they could never get out. They had no way of earning money so they could never get out of it. Even when they were in the army they did not get compensation. Debt slavery was also passed down through generations, so when one person in …show more content…

They choose to take out a loan and they are paying the price of asking for it. However, it is unfair that they have no way out of the problem. The solution should have been only a fifty percent interest rate, the person/people who are in debt slavery should be able to work another job while in debt slavery and when they are in the army their interest rate is only twenty-five percent with a small pay. They made a mistake by getting themselves into the mess, but not giving them a chance to get out is unjust. They must have had a really good reason to borrow the money such as food for their family or a mortgage on their house or they would not have borrowed the …show more content…

The crisis is occurring solely because the patricians are trying to protect themselves from losing people to work in their fields from debt slavery. The are patricians making up fake wars because they know we will put a pin in our problems to fight for our Patria. The patricians are trying to make us believe that these armies are the issue at hand whereas the real is that once someone gets in it there is no way out. Unless the tribune happens to be in your vicinity at the time and chooses to make you invincible from debt slavery. Even then there is a good chance that you will not make enough money to free yourself from debt slavery. What the Patria should have done is to make only a five percent interest rate for those involved in debt slavery. They should be able to work another job while in debt slavery. When they are in the army they should get as much pay as they did if they war was not happening. They should get a medium sized portion of their labor. Lastly, their debt will not be able to continue for more than two