The Money Lenders

D Vautier
11/2006

While I was in the service, I never did understand how somebody could manage to blow his entire paycheck the same day that he got paid, and then spend the rest of the month borrowing money from the despised money lenders, always at exorbitant interest rates of course.  But I suspect that the habit of fiduciary mismanagement was common in all branches of service, and even today.  But the practice feeds upon itself, and the unfortunate man who starts borrowing, finds it ever more difficult to get out of the loop.

I hated them, the disgusting and reprehensible money lenders, who lurked around pay lines each month like so many vampires and vultures waiting for their victims.  I have seen guys come out of the pay line with three or four money lenders waiting with their markers.  By the time the guy had paid off some of the money lenders, he has nothing left, and there were still some more money lenders waiting.  So sad.

I sometimes loaned money myself to friends, guys I personally knew and who were at least wise enough to stay away from the evil money lenders.  But I never asked for one dime of interest.  Ten bucks was ten bucks until payday--all between friends.  (Well--maybe a beer).

The money lenders usually charged 50% per month, and for a bad risk it was 100% per month.  That comes out to 600% or 1200% annually--not a bad interest rate at all, especially when they know they can collect the following month.  I knew a guy in our platoon that was a big time money lender.  Fortunately he was not in my survey party.  I didn't like the guy at all because of what he did.  He had other money lenders working for him all over post that he would grubstake, then take a cut.  It was said that when he was discharged he had made $150,000 with the nasty business.

The Army knew what was going on.  They used to take steps to eradicate or at least reduce the practice of widespread money lending, but when you have people getting paid in cash, and lots of good beer around, and the free enterprise system hard at work, it is very difficult to stop the tendency to take advantage of others.

Once a sergeant came to me and asked me for a loan of $100 for sports equipment.  He said that the bank was closed and the uniforms wer e arriving that day.  $100 is a lot of money, and why did he need sports equipment on that very day, and couldn’t he write a check or something?

But foolishly, I loaned him the $100.  After all he was a sergeant.  My friends quickly came to my rescue.  “Vautier, don’t you know that sergeant is in debt to his eye-balls all over post to the money lenders?  Get your money back right away, or you will never see it again."  I approached the sergeant and demanded my money.  I said that he had deceived me and borrowed the money under false pretenses.  He said he didn’t have it anymore.  I went to my platoon sergeant, and he reported the incident to the battery commander, who saw to it that I got repaid.  I was not afraid to use the system because I had nothing to hide, and I had been deceived by someone with rank, and should have known better.  It really aggravated me, and I wanted justice.

In this case justice was done--but I never felt good about it.