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A significant debate is underway in Russia since imposition of western financial sanctions on Russian banks and corporations in 2014. It's about a proposal presented by the Moscow Patriarchate of the Orthodox Church. The proposal, which resembles Islamic interest-free banking models in many respects, was first unveiled in December 2014 at the depth of the Ruble crisis and oil price free-fall. This August, the idea received a huge boost from the endorsement of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It could change history for the better depending on what is done and where it further leads.Engdahl notes that the financial sanctions launched by the US Treasury in 2014 have forced a critical rethinking among Russian intellectuals and officials. Like China, Russia has developed an internal Russian version of SWIFT Interbank payments; and it is now considering a plan to restructure Russia's banking system. Engdahl writes:
Much as with Islamic banking models that ban usury, the Orthodox Financial System would not allow interest charges on loans. Participants of the system share risks, profits and losses. Speculative behavior is prohibited . . . . There would be a new low-risk bank or credit organization that controls all transactions, and investment funds or companies that source investors and mediate project financing. . . . Priority would be ensuring financing of the real sector of the economy . . . .
Comment: One could successfully argue that there is a more direct way to address the problems outlined in the last paragraph of the article. At its core, capitalism is just a nicer word for fascism in many Western countries today. And those individuals who have sustained and make a living propagating the illusion of free markets, just wars, humanitarian interventions, etc. are either themselves psychopaths in positions of power or so deeply corrupted by psychopathic thinking that they might as well be psychopaths - for all the suffering and destruction they inflict on others. Unless and until people come to recognize this very big problem for what it is, humanity as a whole will continue to be subject to this despicable sickness.
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