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  • From: Tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] The Usury Business, How To Avoid Going To Jail
  • Date: Sat, 04 Sep 2004 09:20:11 -0700

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.







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