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[Tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>]

Toni Hawryluk wrote:

> Gene typed :
> > I think of it as the same character as once was exemplified by a simple
> handshake between two honorable persons.
>  
> Giving "credit where credit is due" - seems like
> literacy has paved the way to financial hell for
> a lotta people .... while those who cannot read
> but deal *with each other* still can depend
> on a handshake.
>  
> Toni

tvoivozhd---as one who lived in the handshake ere, let me clarify it a 
little.  The handshake contract was honored within a very small 
radius---basically next door neighbors who had to maintain their 
reputation locally or be singled out by their neighbors for complete 
ostracism----literally a death sentence for people dependent on mutual 
help for harvesting.  No courts were ever involved or necessary in 
enforcing contracts between neighbors.  Times change, so do neighbor 
relationships.  There is now  no essential exchange of labor between 
farmers, reputation and ostracism alike are weak to meaningless and  now 
the common means of enforcing the few contracts between farm neighbors 
is in court..  Today, any time-contract should be written with the  
courthouse door in mind as the only guarantee of enforcement---and not a 
complete guarantee either, it depends upon the amount of money 
involved.  I had a neighbor who lives a mile away, and who works as a 
mechanic for a heavy equipment company, repair the brakes on my big 
Massey Ferguson 175---he didn't put in the retaining springs properly 
and the brake cavity filled with  oil, making them totally inoperasble 
in a couple weeks.  He refused to honor his warranty.  I could have sued 
and collected from him in small claims court, but  my time was worth 
more than the $300 I would have recovered.