The moral framework

The most subtle aspect of this debt-morality connection is how it prevents us from questioning the legitimacy of the debt itself. Once we accept the axiom that “good people pay their debts,” we stop asking whether the terms were fair, whether the interest is exploitative, or whether the lender engaged in predatory practices by taking advantage of someone in desperation. Religious traditions that once had strict prohibitions against usury—exploitative lending—now find their adherents defending the moral right of banks to charge whatever interest rates the market will bear. The moral weight of debt becomes yet another tool of systemic oppression, adding psychological burden to financial exploitation. The economic question of whether a debt should be repaid has completely overshadowed the more important question of whether it is moral for the debt to exist at all.