Kołakowski: Debt as an Ontological Structure of Being
Debt is not merely an entry in a banking system, but objectified time suspended between a promise and its fulfillment. Leszek Kołakowski viewed it as an ontological structure of being—a contract in which the present takes the future hostage. Civilization relies on credit; without trust and faith in tomorrow's profit, supply chains and pension systems would collapse. Understanding debt requires looking beyond the spreadsheet to see it as the fundamental architecture of value circulation in society.
The Prohibition of Usury and the Jubilee Year: Ethical Foundations of Credit
Great religious traditions have defined the ethical boundaries of debt for centuries. Islam categorically prohibits riba (usury), promoting partnership and risk-sharing instead of "selling time." Judaism and the biblical tradition introduced a brilliant social safety valve: the Jubilee Year. This was a cyclical debt reset that freed people from the shackles of compound interest every 50 years, preventing hereditary debt bondage. Christianity, following Thomas Aquinas, long considered money to be sterile, while Orthodoxy continues to emphasize the primacy of the person over market mechanics.
Approaches to obligations vary culturally: Europe has institutionalized debt, the US has turned it into a myth of social mobility, and East Asia bases it on a Confucian ethos of duty and reputation. In Buddhism, the debt of gratitude toward ancestors and teachers is key—an obligation that cannot be repaid with money, yet binds the social fabric more tightly than law.
Financialization and the Minsky Hypothesis: Modern Traps
Contemporary financialization seeks to create the "indebted man," who defines his dignity through creditworthiness. Sociologist Guy Standing points out that the precariat lives in permanent uncertainty, using debt as a band-aid for instability. Meanwhile, the Minsky hypothesis warns that economies have an inherent tendency toward instability: prolonged periods of calm encourage risk-taking, which inevitably leads from safe investments to speculative financial pyramids.
In this context, debt restricts freedom when it becomes a tool of dominance. It is crucial to distinguish productive debt, which is an investment in the future (health, education, climate), from populist debt, which consumes the capital of future generations for short-term political gain. Without systemic "safety valves," it is not just capital that grows, but social desperation as well.
A Debt Constitution and the SROI Index: Frameworks of Responsibility
To protect future generations, the state must adopt a debt constitution. Its pillars include the primacy of dignity over profit, a rigid debt limit (3/5 of GDP), and the principle of budgetary unity, ending "parallel budgets." Every bond issue should include an SROI (Social Return on Investment) metric. This tool allows for an assessment of whether a borrowed dollar will translate into measurable outcomes, such as shorter oncology diagnostic times or smog reduction.
Civil society organizations, such as the Good State Foundation, play a key role in this process by demanding transparency and questioning the purpose of expenditures. Budgetary transparency is not a decoration but a safety brake. A modern state also needs the institution of a "secular jubilee"—predictable debt-relief mechanisms that recognize the human being as more important than an infinite financial claim.
Summary
Debt is a powerful civilizational tool that requires constant ethical oversight. Can we create a system where credit serves to strengthen bonds rather than generate inequality? While paying off financial debts, we must not forget our debt to humanity. As Kołakowski wrote: civilization stands on credit, but man stands on gratitude. It is this gratitude, alongside rigorous SROI mathematics, that should guide the development of a modern society.
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