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Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?[W:461]

Is there a moral obligation to repay money you borrow?


  • Total voters
    98
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

It all depends on what the agreement was in the first place. If I agreed to repay a loan from mom or a sibling or whomever in the family, IMO I am morally obligated to repay the loan in cash unless the agreement is renegotiated. If the money was given no strings attached, then I feel obligated to repay the kindness somehow though it doesn't necessarily have to be in money.
If money is loaned you should plan on repaying with money, strings or not. Alternate repayment methods are only acceptable with the agreement of the lender... though I think it is rude to suggest alternate methods unless you simply have no other choice. A family member will often agree so as to not cause any drama but will still secretly resent not being repaid in like kind.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

If money is loaned you should plan on repaying with money, strings or not. Alternate repayment methods are only acceptable with the agreement of the lender... though I think it is rude to suggest alternate methods unless you simply have no other choice. A family member will often agree so as to not cause any drama but will still secretly resent not being repaid in like kind.

I agree, though some money to help folks out really is given no string attached. But that should be made very clear at the time the money is given and should not be assumed by the one receiving the money even if nothing is said about repayment. Many years ago when my husband and I were really struggling in the early years of marriage, a cousin came through town. Short of cash he borrowed $20 which was a huge sum to us at that time. He said he would send it right back as soon as he arrived home. That was the last time we ever heard from him even though he went on to prosper. It wasn't the $20 that made that memory a sore spot, but it was the betrayal of a promise.

To honor our word and keep our promises in all things is a mark of character. Those with character will honor their word and keep their promises to the very best of their ability even if they don't have to.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

You want to pretend like morality is clear as spring water. Well, it's not. Take any college-level ethics class and you will quickly learn that the world is not as simple as you would naively like to think it is. You had a problem with my statement that morality is not so black & white that dishonesty is always a bad thing. So I attempted (that being the key word here) to make you see that such moral issues are complex and rely entirely on context.

Actually you're reading waay to much into it. The OP is about repaying a loan, and if you need a " college level ethics class" to know the correct answer to this question it sounds as if your parents failed quite miserably??
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

I have a hard time trusting a lot of that info. Everyone has a profit motive. Even ratings agencies. Remember, those bad loans that crashed our market in 08'? They were given top ratings...

The ratings agencies most definitely have a profit motive, but I don't know that I would say everybody is motivated by profit. There are a lot of people who choose much less profitable endeavors because they feel that they're doing something useful for the world.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Are people who pay back loans suckers?
Personally, I don't think they are. They are engaging in business. It is generally good that loans are repaid (unless the loans are predatory or the result of people exploiting the financial ignorance of another) because our society currently needs this economic system.
 
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Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

The ratings agencies most definitely have a profit motive, but I don't know that I would say everybody is motivated by profit. There are a lot of people who choose much less profitable endeavors because they feel that they're doing something useful for the world.

There may be a LOT of them, but they are a minority, I would wager. Money talks, bull**** walks.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Wow. I see why this country is in the sad state of affairs it's in and going downhill quickly. I think I'm going to have to give up reading political discussion forums because hearing what makes people tick these days is making me lose all faith in humanity.

What did you exactly mean by that? I'm now re-reading it and it is meaning something different than it did before. Are you suggesting you should stop reading political discussion forums because of how I "tick?" I'm only semi-summarizing a document that you can read yourself. But I'm not sure what you meant.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

What did you exactly mean by that? I'm now re-reading it and it is meaning something different than it did before. Are you suggesting you should stop reading political discussion forums because of how I "tick?" I'm only semi-summarizing a document that you can read yourself. But I'm not sure what you meant.

Your quote.

I have no problem not paying back a bank. It is our money that is putting us in servitude.

The fact that I've seen so much of this kind of rationalizing such unethical, irresponsible, immoral and self-serving drivel just lowers my opinion of people, in general. I realize many have no honor or integrity and feel no moral compunction to hold up their end of their own agreements. It's sad. America used to be better than this.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Your quote.



The fact that I've seen so much of this kind of rationalizing such unethical, irresponsible, immoral and self-serving drivel just lowers my opinion of people, in general. I realize many have no honor or integrity and feel no moral compunction to hold up their end of their own agreements. It's sad. America used to be better than this.

But it isn't the bank's money that they are using to issue out loans! It's their customer's.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Your quote.



The fact that I've seen so much of this kind of rationalizing such unethical, irresponsible, immoral and self-serving drivel just lowers my opinion of people, in general. I realize many have no honor or integrity and feel no moral compunction to hold up their end of their own agreements. It's sad. America used to be better than this.

Morality just doesn't deal with these kinds of questions. Morality is about helping the less fortunate, countering bigotry, etc., not about petty financial stuff between you and corporations. From my perspective, you're trying to cheapen the huge, important concept of morality into something trivial. Somebody can't go around saying they are a moral person just because they pay their bills, never leave the empty milk carton in the fridge and always say please and thank you. To be moral, you need to do something to make the world better.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Morality just doesn't deal with these kinds of questions. Morality is about helping the less fortunate, countering bigotry, etc., not about petty financial stuff between you and corporations. From my perspective, you're trying to cheapen the huge, important concept of morality into something trivial. Somebody can't go around saying they are a moral person just because they pay their bills, never leave the empty milk carton in the fridge and always say please and thank you. To be moral, you need to do something to make the world better.

There is the problem. You don't get morality at all. What you do cannot make you moral. What you do can make you immoral, though. Morality isn't an action. Morality is the state of your character.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

There is the problem. You don't get morality at all. What you do cannot make you moral. What you do can make you immoral, though. Morality isn't an action. Morality is the state of your character.

What a strange view... How would "the state of your characters" matter in any way other than how it translates into action? Is this view you're expressing a religion thing?
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Well, if there's one thing that I've learned from this thread, it's that liberals are dicks.

I wouldn't say that (at all) but there is a clear partisan divide in the answers and it's really interesting to watch.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

What kind of a hack thinks that repaying a personal debt is contingent on whether one is liberal or conservative?

Seriously, take a look at this thread. If all you had to go on we're the answers given in this thread, who would you most likely and comfortably loan money to?
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

You're right there is the difference between the leans. Righties would see no reason to admit they walked away and would most likely rail against it anyway. Just like those pro-lifers who run right out and get an abortion for their daughter when she get's "caught". Conservatives have high "principles" but never let them get in the way of doing what's best for them.

Really? I've paid my student loans back early because I felt an obligation to pay it so put that in your juice box and suck on it.
 
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Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

There is the problem. You don't get morality at all. What you do cannot make you moral. What you do can make you immoral, though. Morality isn't an action. Morality is the state of your character.
*cough*bull****
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

I wouldn't say that (at all) but there is a clear partisan divide in the answers and it's really interesting to watch.

I haven't seen any non-liberals saying they have no obligation to pay back loans though. Certainly not all self-identified liberals are dicks, but there sure seem to be a lot of them around here.
 
No more than those who "do not take out a loan." We're a nation of deadbeats, $17 trillion or whatever in debt. Every single citizen owes some $56,000 and has no intention of repaying it.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Really? I've paid my student loans back early because I felt an obligation to pay it so put that in your juice box and suck on it.

With the added benefit of not accumulating more interest, if i understand right. It's probably not so simple either. If you went to a public college, you got a subsidized education. If you went to a college with an endowment in billions, or high school in kalamazoo, you don't need loans at all. It should be one of the earliest lessons that supposed egalitarian policies are in fact beyond our control.

Student loans are mostly given by the fed, which makes enormous profit off saddling with debt for seeking an education that often never proves worth the expense. The same fed is itself a deadbeat borrower - some $17 trillion and ever increasing.

How can a senator who does nothing but suck off the public tit demand 17-18 year olds pay off loans they simply do not have the means for, rather than vote for refinancing? How can any middle aged adult who owes (on average) $56,000 from various fed programs (military etc), or the 53% who pay *no* fed income taxes, chastise a broke college kid?
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Your quote.



The fact that I've seen so much of this kind of rationalizing such unethical, irresponsible, immoral and self-serving drivel just lowers my opinion of people, in general. I realize many have no honor or integrity and feel no moral compunction to hold up their end of their own agreements. It's sad. America used to be better than this.

No it didn't. It's just that college didn't use to cost $40,000 whether you benefited from it or not
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

Seriously, take a look at this thread. If all you had to go on we're the answers given in this thread, who would you most likely and comfortably loan money to?

It is a self selected non-scientific poll. You cannot draw those kind of conclusions from such a poll.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

It is a self selected non-scientific poll. You cannot draw those kind of conclusions from such a poll.

I agree with that, but just speaking of the people involved in this thread, I know who I'd be willing to loan money to and who I wouldn't.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

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The real question should be is the lender morally obligated to show forbearance, mercy and charity towards the borrower?
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

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The real question should be is the lender morally obligated to show forbearance, mercy and charity towards the borrower?
No. That would be another question for another thread.
 
Re: Are you morally obligated to repay a loan that you take?

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The real question should be is the lender morally obligated to show forbearance, mercy and charity towards the borrower?

It is a good question.

The problem comes with the moral hazard. Loan forgiveness can quickly become an incentive to dive deeper into debt, or at least not to change ones' habits and circumstances.
 
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