The big difference is that business allows the transfer of wealth or value to be based on production, while gambling occurs without production. Sustained productivity creates added value. The system that drives the world in any country seeks to protect this productivity through legal or administrative power. If productivity does not improve, society will deteriorate. Interest represents the added value of the financial industry, serving as the price of time for lending money. Therefore, since interest is an abstract concept agreed upon by society, it does not create new values that did not exist through production activities. If interest leads to the transfer of wealth, someone inevitably experiences a sense of loss. There are two instances in which interest is permitted in the Bible: one is when nature’s productive forces yield fruit that did not previously exist, and the other is when the neighbor’s self-sacrifice is acknowledged. Thus, when interest is recognized as a price for supp...
Steve Jobs died of pancreatic cancer. I have often imagined what the world would be like if he were alive now. But how can we control our deaths? I certainly believe that there are some things that humans cannot intervene in. Whether we call it fate or luck, I think meeting a beloved spouse is also part of this, although we choose the spouse with our intentions. Some people believe that a person has been chosen and loved, but beyond that decision, I ponder whether there is a power with which humans cannot intervene...
- Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
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