Debt Slavery

Debt Slavery is nothing new. Many historical books, including the bible, will talk about debt slavery or debt bondage. Debt slavery is defined as a situation when a person provides a loan to another and uses his or her labor or services to repay the debt. The problem with debt slavery is when the value of the work, as reasonably assessed, is not applied towards the liquidation of the debt, the situation becomes one of debt bondage.

According to the Anti-Slavery Society:

Pawnage or pawn slavery is a form of servitude akin to bonded labor under which the debtor provides another human being as security or collateral for the debt. Until the debt (including interest on it) is paid off, the creditor has the use of the labor of the pawn.

The United Nations has defined debt bondage as a “modern day slavery”. The focus of the UN and other governments is towards the abuses and atrocities committed against families in under and developing countries. However, today in the United States we have debt bondage. Many people do not agree with me, but the truth is that we do. In simple terms, debt is bad because it restricts your freedom. Debt is bad even if you’re borrowing to put yourself in a better position long term, because you’re still restricted by having that debt load hanging over you and your life. One of the most frequent exhortations from Scripture is the warning against debt can be found in Proverbs, the reader is warned that the "borrower is servant to the lender." And in Paul's letter to the church at Rome, he tells them flatly: "Owe no man anything." (Romans 13:8).

We can make an argument that leveraging the acquisition of a piece of land or real estate is a good use of debt. It is possibly true, if the repayment of that loan does not enslave you into the servitutde to the financial institutions for the rest of your lives.

Many families sell their souls to companies for a job which they, in reality detest, do perform just for the pay so they can stay afloat. This is the typical debt bondage we have in our society today even in most developed countries. Therefore, we become slaves to those who pay us to perform a specific task and most times against our values. Being in control of your spending and finances liberates you, in a nutshell, it is financial freedom.


What is financial freedom?
Many families work so hard and give so much of their lives to provide a better life to their families. They want financial freedom. However, what is financial freedom? It can simply be defined as “the freedom to make choices in your life without having to worry about the day to day financial implications”. You have the freedom to chose the place where to work, regardless of the pay. When you find a career that you’re passionate about, you’ll truly enjoy what you’re doing and the money will follow.

What can be done now?
The best thing that all families of WBN can do is to develop financial plans to liberate themselves from debt. Transform their focus to own and invest. Focus on a financial plan address your debt balance and focus on debt reduction and then towards financial freedom. Trust me that you will breath better after you become financially free.