Bankruptcy. Forms And Methods. Historical Facts. Part I
This article will try to take you back to the history to show you the birth of such notions as creditor and debtor.
The concept of a financial debt has arisen, possibly, in the first days of existence of human civilization. Since then creditors always found not only new ways of lending money, but also new ways of their withdrawal from the unlucky debtor.
In the fourth millennium BC in Mesopotamia debtors, who have not returned in time to the creditors money or the goods (including, the foodstuffs), became creditors’ servant . They could be practically use on any — including, and the most dangerous — works. Working off the debt could continue long time and even for life. However debtors-slaves were forbidden to be re-sold to other owners.
In Ancient India the debtors were punished more in an original way: the creditor could nail up the door of the house of the person who did not return him his debt. This procedure has been called to punish the debtor by means of public opinion and to force him to return the debt. If the creditor died, without having waited for the debt to be returned, the indignant neighbors could beat the debtor and even to beat him to death.
In Ancient Egypt, religious rituals were widespread which should have guaranteed the quiet pass of the soul of the dead person to the Kingdom of Death. As pledge, debtors could offer a tomb of recently died relative: if the debtor could not pay the debt, the creditor had the right to withdraw a mummy of the relative from a tomb and to close it, not to admit new burial places. The debtor found himself in an awful situation: the finding of a mummy out of a tomb led to that the soul of his dead relative could not find the rest.
Monotheistic religions like — Judaism, Islam and Christianity — in this or that form limited practice of giving the credits. There is a following phrase In an Old testament: «Rich dominates over the poor, and the debtor becomes the slave to the creditor». According to the canons of Judaism fixed in Torah, each 50th year debts between Jews were annulled, and the debt slaves received freedom. And Islam forbids to raise the loan percent until now.
The debt slavery in various forms existed in various cultures and continues to exist until nowadays. On American continent it is known under the name « peonage ». For example, in Peru in 19 century — the beginnings of 20 century the debtor-peasant (peon) should work for the creditor (as a rule, the land owner), at least, three days in a week, receiving for it a symbolical payment. He had no right to leave the village without the special permission.
Practically all of us remember the times when it was possible to buy something even if one had not enough money. Credit was a simple way out. It is little wonder that today many of those who applied for a credit, are searching for how to avoid bankruptcy.
Those people who managed to get into the condition when they owe more money than they have, definitely should look for ways to avoid bankruptcy.
If facing such difficulties it is smart to use any means to get over it. Use such great chance as the Internet technologies. Using them at full capacity might give great results. Working with search engines, forums, social networks,web sites one can discover many tips to avoid bankruptcy and a great deal of other respective info. Also signing up for RSS feed on this blog will assist to keep abreast of new publications and tips on the topic.
