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73-423: A loan shark is an individual who loans money at high interest. Loan shark and Loanshark may also refer to: Loan shark Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot use the legal system to collect such debts, thus they often resort to enforcing repayment by terms of blackmail and threats of violence. Historically, many moneylenders skirted between legal and criminal activity . In

146-562: A gang culture, where they might be used as territorial markers. More serious forms of vandalism that may take place during public unrest such as rioting can involve the willful destruction of public and private property . Vandalism per se is sometimes considered one of the less serious common crimes, but it can become quite serious and distressing when committed extensively, violently, or as an expression of hatred and intimidation. In response, local governments have adopted various legal measures to prevent vandalism, but research has shown that

219-424: A "payday advance", effectively a short-term (no more than one or two weeks) loan for which charges may run 3–5% of the principal amount. By claiming to be charging for the "service" of cashing a paycheck, instead of merely charging interest for a short-term loan, laws that strictly regulate moneylending costs can be effectively bypassed. Licensed payday advance businesses, which lend money at high rates of interest on

292-455: A criminal organization made the loan shark's threat of violence more credible. Although the reform law was intended to starve the loan sharks into extinction, this species of predatory lender thrived and evolved. After high-rate salary lending was outlawed, some bootleg vendors recast the product as "salary buying". They claimed they were not making loans but were purchasing future wages at a discount. This form of loansharking proliferated through

365-765: A culture respecting history, archeology : Nietzsche spoke of monumental history . As destruction of monumental history, vandalism was assured a long life (as Herostratus proved): Performance art could make such a claim, as well as Hakim Bey 's poetic terrorism or Destroy 2000 Years of Culture from Atari Teenage Riot . Gustave Courbet's declaration stated: Attendu que la colonne Vendôme est un monument dénué de toute valeur artistique, tendant à perpétuer par son expression les idées de guerre et de conquête qui étaient dans la dynastie impériale, mais que réprouve le sentiment d'une nation républicaine, [le citoyen Courbet] émet le vœu que le gouvernement de la Défense nationale veuille bien l'autoriser à déboulonner cette colonne. ('As

438-468: A customer. These licensing laws made it impossible for usurious lenders to pass themselves off as legal. Small loans also started becoming more socially acceptable, and banks and other larger institutions started offering them as well. In the 1920s and 1930s, American prosecutors began to notice the emergence of a new breed of illegal lender that used violence to enforce debts. The new small lender laws had made it almost impossible to intimidate customers with

511-836: A different locale. Regulation of moneylenders is typically much looser than that of banks. In Japan, the Moneylending Control Law requires only registration in each prefecture . In Japan, as the decades-long depression lingers, banks are reluctant to loan money and regulation has become tighter, illegal moneylending has become a social issue . Illegal moneylenders typically charge interest of 30 or 50% in 10 days (in Japanese, these are called "to-san" ('to' meaning ten and 'san' meaning three, or 10-3) or "to-go" ('to' meaning ten and 'go' meaning five, or 10-5), which correspond to effective interest rates of about 1.442 million % and 267.5 million % per annum respectively. This

584-496: A form of creativity and artistry. An example of this was when the Cheltenham paint festival was cancelled due to COVID-19 , and artists still proceeded to celebrate their artistry virtually. Defacement is a type of vandalism that involves damaging the appearance or surface of something. The object of damage may be architecture, books, paintings, sculpture, or other forms of art. Examples of defacement include: Iconoclasm led to

657-700: A full value of 250% or more. Loan sharks in Vietnam are very common, especially in high population density areas and industrial park surroundings. They focus on poor workers and gamblers, advertising their services on walls and electric poles as well as online platforms such as Google and Facebook. Their operations vary from pawn shops to online operations via illegal applications. These operations are not usually controlled by Vietnamese, but rather Vietnamese people living in Cambodia or Chinese operators. Many of these sharks offer very high loan rates at 20% to 1000% per month. When

730-453: A house by clogging a sink and leaving the water running, and pulling up plants from the roots without permission. In elections, opposing candidates' supporters may engage in "political vandalism"⁠—the act of defacing opponents' political posters, bumper stickers , billboards, and other street marketing material. Although the nature of this material is temporary, its effect can be long-lasting as it may reflect both negatively and positively on

803-441: A legal loan at 36% or 42% a year could secure a cash advance from a mobster at the going rate of 10% or 20% a week for small loans. Since the mob loans were not usually secured with legal instruments, debtors pledged their bodies as collateral. In its early phase, a large fraction of mob loansharking consisted of payday lending . Many of the customers were office clerks and factory hands. The loan fund for these operations came from

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876-514: A legal loan. Violent loansharking was typically run by criminal syndicates, such as the Mafia and Irish Mob . Many of these were former bootleggers who needed a new line of work after the end of alcohol prohibition . Towards the 1960s, loan sharks grew ever more coordinated, and could pool information on borrowers to better size up risks and ensure a borrower did not try to pay off one loan by borrowing from another loan shark. The fearsome reputation of

949-484: A lower rate of unpaid loans. The absence of taxes further reduces the cost of lending in this case. Mark H. Haller; John V. Alviti (April 1977). "Loansharking in American Cities: Historical Analysis of a Marginal Enterprise". The American Journal of Legal History . 21 (2). Oxford University Press: 125–156. doi : 10.2307/845211 . JSTOR   845211 . Vandalism Vandalism

1022-414: A much smaller form, such as making small crayon drawings on walls. Criminological research into vandalism has found that it serves many purposes for those who engage in it and stems from a variety of motives. Sociologist Stanley Cohen describes seven different types of vandalism: In view of its incivility, punishment for vandalism can be particularly severe in some countries. In Singapore, for example,

1095-541: A neighbourhood, thus vandalising public property, as authorities must remove such advertisements. They charge high interest rates (generally about 40% per month/fortnight) according to Anti-Crime, Drug and Social Development Voluntary Organisation and frequently threaten violence (and administer it) towards those who fail to pay on time. When a person fails to pay on time, the Ah Long will set on fire, spray paint, lock up gates, splash, or write threats in paint or markers on

1168-655: A person who attempts to cause or commits an act of vandalism may be liable to imprisonment for up to three years and may also be punished with caning . Vandalism in the UK is construed as an environmental crime and may be punished with an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order). In the 1990s, former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani cracked down on "quality of life crimes", including graffiti. NY Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern described graffiti as "a metaphor for urban decay perhaps best shown in ' A Clockwork Orange '" adding that "New York City will not be like that". Cybervandalism

1241-527: A result of their sack of Rome under King Genseric in 455. During the Enlightenment , Rome was idealized, while the Goths and Vandals were blamed for its destruction. The Vandals may not have been any more destructive than other invaders of ancient times, but they did inspire English poet John Dryden to write, Till Goths, and Vandals, a rude Northern race, Did all the matchless Monuments deface (1694). However,

1314-462: A steady and respectable job, a regular income and a reputation to protect. This made them less likely to leave the area before they paid their debt and more likely to have a legitimate reason for borrowing money. Gamblers, criminals, and others who were disreputable or likely to be unreliable were avoided. They made the borrower fill out and sign seemingly legitimate contracts. Though these contracts were not legally enforceable, they at least were proof of

1387-530: A veneer of legality, and many customers were less vulnerable to shaming because they were either self-employed or already disreputable. Thus, violence was an important tool, though not their only one. These loan sharks operated more informally than salary lenders, which meant more discretion for the lender and less paperwork and bureaucracy for the customer. They were also willing to serve high-risk borrowers that legal lenders would not touch. Threats of violence were rarely followed through, however. One possible reason

1460-423: Is against the law that sets the maximum interest rate at 20%. These lenders usually do business with those who cannot get more money from banks, legitimate consumer loans, or credit cards. The Central Bank of Ireland were criticized for doing nothing to protect those with low incomes, the vulnerable or those who have low levels of financial literacy, from loan sharks, when it emerged in 2015 that up to 100,000 of

1533-403: Is decorating buildings of no architectural merit. Defacing could also be one of the techniques that many graphic designers use, by applying their own hand writing on a graphic itself. Sometimes the use of this technique might be mistaken as vandalism to the original work, as exemplified by the work of Stefan Sagmeister , including his Lou Reed CD cover. A unique use of the defacement technique

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1606-629: Is legally registered, pays taxes and contributions, and can reclaim remittance if taking the case to adjudication; likewise there is no threat of harm to the debtor). In the late 19th-century US, the low legal interest rates made small loans unprofitable, and small-time lending was viewed as irresponsible by society. Banks and other major financial institutions thus stayed away from small-time lending. There were, however, plenty of small lenders offering loans at profitable but illegally high interest rates. They presented themselves as legitimate and operated openly out of offices. They only sought customers who had

1679-444: Is necessary to those achievements, leading to the creation of exploited people who then fight against culture. In this case, culture cannot be legitimised by art achievements, and Nietzsche writes: "I {also} know what it means: fighting against culture". After quoting him, Klossowski writes: "The criminal fight against culture is only the reverse side of a criminal culture". As destruction of monument, vandalism can only have sense in

1752-461: Is sometimes referred to as eco-terrorism by opponents). Vandalism is also a common tactic of black blocs . Actions of this kind can be ascribed to anger or envy, or to spontaneous, opportunistic behaviour, possibly for peer acceptance or bravado in gang cultures, or disgruntlement with the target (victim) person or society. Another common motive is to seek attention , and for personal gain. Opportunistic vandalism of this nature may also be filmed,

1825-428: Is that injuring a borrower could have meant he could not work and thus could never pay off his debt. Many regular borrowers realized the threats were mostly bluffs and that they could get away with delinquent payments. A more certain consequence was that the delinquent borrower would be cut off from future loans, which was serious for those who regularly relied on loan sharks. One important market for violent loan sharks

1898-671: Is that lenders alleged to be engaged in the latter practice are expected to stay within the law when making and collecting loans , and thus the debate into such practices often focuses on whether they are ethical as opposed to whether they are legal. However, laws regulating lending practices vary so widely between jurisdictions (even in the same country, particularly between states in the United States ) that particular practices that might be technically legal (if arguably unethical) "predatory lending" in one jurisdiction might be considered illegal "loan sharking" if attempted in an identical manner in

1971-520: Is the CD cover for A.P.C. by Jean Touitou , where the designer wrote the title, volume number, and date with her own hand writing on the pre-print blank CD. Creative vandalism of this sort is not limited to writing and sketching. For example, the spraying on the KPIST album Golden coat for MNW Records by Sweden graphic uses gold spray, which may be considered an act of vandalism, but the customer may also appreciate

2044-526: Is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage , such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term finds its roots in an Enlightenment view that the Germanic Vandals were a uniquely destructive people as they sacked Rome in 455 AD. The Vandals , an ancient Germanic people , are associated with senseless destruction as

2117-507: Is vandalism on the internet. For example, vandalism on Misplaced Pages involves adding questionable content, removing content, or changing content in order to make it questionable, generally with the objective of harming Misplaced Pages's reputation. Forms of online vandalism have been recorded, the most common of which is website defacement . Vandalism on web maps has been called "cartographic vandalism". Certain kinds of malware without financial intent also count. Cybervandalism could be said to be

2190-515: The Chicago Outfit organized crime syndicate and payday lenders in California revealed that, depending on when a payday loan was paid back by a borrower (generally 1–14 days), the interest rate charged for a payday loan could be considerably higher than the interest rate of a similar loan made by the organized crime syndicate. However the violent collection practices of the organized crime can ensure

2263-1059: The informal sector or who are deemed to be too risky even by the check-cashing creditors. Some beat delinquents while others seize assets instead. Their rates run from 10% to 20% a week, as was common with the mob in the past. In the United States, there are lenders licensed to serve borrowers who cannot qualify for standard loans from mainstream sources. These smaller, non-standard lenders often operate in cash, whereas mainstream lenders increasingly operate only electronically and will not serve borrowers who do not have bank accounts. Terms such as sub-prime lending , "non-standard consumer credit" , and payday loans are often used in connection with this type of consumer finance . The availability of these services has made illegal, exploitative loan sharks rarer, but these legal lenders have also been accused of behaving in an exploitative manner. For example, payday loan operations have come under fire for charging inflated "service charges" for their services of cashing

Loan shark (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2336-471: The 1920s and into the 1930s until a new draft of the Uniform Small Loan Law closed the loophole through which the salary buyers had slipped. Salary-buying loan sharks continued to operate in some southern states after World War II because the usury rate was set so low that licensed personal finance companies could not do business there. Organized crime began to enter the cash advance business in

2409-593: The 1930s, after high-rate lending was criminalized by the Uniform Small Loan Law. The first reports of mob loansharking surfaced in New York City in 1935, and for 15 years, underworld money lending apparently did not expand beyond that city. There is no record of syndicate " juice " operations in Chicago, for instance, until the 1950s. In the beginning, underworld loansharking was a small loan business, catering to

2482-405: The 1960s, the preferred clientele was small and medium-sized businesses. Business customers had the advantage of possessing assets that could be seized in case of default, or used to engage in fraud or to launder money. Gamblers were another lucrative market, as were other criminals who needed financing for their operations. By the 1970s, mob salary lending operations seemed to have withered away in

2555-533: The 360,000 loans given by the moneylenders violated the law. Loansharking is one of the main activities of the Israeli mafia . The National Bank of Kazakhstan has been consistently fighting loan sharks since 2018. Thus, the maximum interest rate on a loan was limited to no more than 100% of the loan amount. In 2020, a financial market regulation agency was separated from the National Bank of Kazakhstan to monitor

2628-423: The United States. At its height in the 1960s, underworld loansharking was estimated to be the second most lucrative franchise of organized crime in the United States after illegal gambling . Newspapers in the 1960s were filled with sensational stories of debtors beaten, harassed, and sometimes murdered by mob loan sharks. Yet careful studies of the business have raised doubts about the frequency with which violence

2701-546: The Vandals did intentionally damage statues, which may be why their name is associated with the vandalism of art . The term Vandalisme was coined in 1794 by Henri Grégoire , bishop of Blois , to describe the destruction of artwork following the French Revolution . The term was quickly adopted across Europe. This new use of the term was important in colouring the perception of the Vandals from later Late Antiquity, popularizing

2774-513: The Vendôme column is a monument devoid of any artistic value, whose expression tends to perpetuate the ideas of war and conquest from the imperial dynasty, but that reject the sentiment of a republican nation, citizen Courbet declares that the government of National Defense should allow him to dismantle this column.) Hence, painter Courbet justified the dismantlement of the Vendôme column on political grounds, downgrading its artistic value. Vandalism poses

2847-626: The amount loaned to borrowers. In addition, compound interest on high interest loans were banned while fees for defaulting on payments were capped. By June 2024, figures released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment showed that no customers had been granted high-cost loans in 2023. Several organizations regulate the loan market in Russia: In 2024, the Central Bank plans to impose higher requirements on loan loss provisions for loans with

2920-484: The borrower (e.g. imposing late fees). Because salary lending was a disreputable trade, the owners of these firms often hid from public view, hiring managers to run their offices indirectly. To further avoid attracting attention, when expanding his trade to other cities, an owner would often found new firms with different names rather than increasing the visibility and recognizability of his existing firm. The penalties for being an illegal lender were mild. Illegal lending

2993-445: The borrower is unable to pay their debt, the sharks will force the borrower to take out further loans. If the borrower is unable to pay those on time, the sharks will use intimidation tactics such as sending threatening messages to the borrower and their family and friends. Additionally, some resort to vandalism and kidnapping. Most borrowers only loan relatively small amounts of money, below 10 million VNĐ, but due to compound rates,

Loan shark (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3066-441: The borrower will ultimately have to pay much more than they would have with official credit service suppliers. There are a lot of cases reported and most are solved by the police, but many remain unsolved. In recent years, the government has tried to stop these loaners from operating and encouraged people not to borrow money from them. The victims are largely under-educated people with limited financial knowledge. The research by

3139-561: The candidate whose material is being vandalized as well as on the presumed candidate whose supporters are engaging in the vandalism. In addition, activists may use the tactic of property destruction as means of protest, e.g. by smashing the windows of banks, shops and government institutions and setting fire to cars. This often takes place during riots but can also happen as a stand-alone event, e.g. by animal rights activists destroying property owned by farmers, hunters, biotech companies, and research facilities and setting free animals (which

3212-399: The conventional strategies employed by the government in response to at least unapproved graffiti are not the most effective. Examples of vandalism include salting lawns, cutting trees without permission, egg throwing , breaking windows, arson, spraying paint on others' properties, tagging , placing glue into locks, tire slashing, keying (scratching) paint, ransacking a property, flooding

3285-442: The corporate logos . Many skateparks and similar youth-oriented venues are decorated with commissioned graffiti-style artwork, and in many others patrons are welcome to leave their own. There is still, however, a fine line between vandalism as an artform, as a political statement , and as a crime. Bristol -born guerrilla artist Banksy 's claim is that official vandalism is far worse than that perpetrated by individuals, and that he

3358-481: The creation of two new international crimes (delicta juris gentium ): the crime of barbarity, consisting in the extermination of racial, religious, or social collectivities, and the crime of vandalism, consisting in the destruction of cultural and artistic works of these groups. The proposal was not accepted. A figurative accusation of vandalism was applied towards the theology of Marcion of Sinope . Private citizens commit vandalism when they willfully damage or deface

3431-449: The defacement of many religious artworks. Though vandalism in itself is illegal, it is often also an integral part of modern popular culture. French painter Gustave Courbet 's attempt to disassemble the Vendôme column during the 1871 Paris Commune was probably one of the first artistic acts of vandalism, celebrated at least since Dada performances during World War I . The Vendôme column

3504-588: The early COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the New Zealand Government launched a crackdown against loan sharks to ease economic hardship. Commerce Minister Kris Faafoi announced that the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Act 2020 would come into force on 1 May 2020 rather than 1 June 2020. Under the new law, high-interest lenders charging interest at 50% or more would not be allowed to charge interest as well as fees over 100% of

3577-459: The expenses. In 1974, Norman Mailer glorified the art of vandalism in his essay "The Faith of Graffiti", which likened tagging in New York City to the work of Giotto and Rauschenberg . New York Authorities responded by coating subway walls with Teflon paint, jailing taggers and requiring hardware stores to keep spray paint under lock and key. Tags , designs, and styles of writing are commonplace on clothing, and are an influence on many of

3650-463: The government and other agencies estimates that 165,000 to 200,000 people are indebted to loan sharks in the United Kingdom. Illicit loan sharking is treated as a high-level crime by law enforcement, due to its links to organized crime and the serious violence involved. Payday loans with high interest rates are legal in many cases, and have been described as "legal loan sharking" (in that the creditor

3723-449: The jurisdiction of organized crime, charging usurious rates of interest for cash advances. These informal networks of credit rarely came to the attention of the authorities but flourished in populations not served by licensed lenders. Even today, after the rise of corporate payday lending in the United States, unlicensed loan sharks continue to operate in immigrant enclaves and low-income neighborhoods. They lend money to people who work in

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3796-436: The loan and the repayment plan were often tailored to suit the borrower's means. The smaller the loan, the higher the interest rate was, as the costs ( overhead ) of tracking and pursuing a defaulter did not depend on the size of the loan. The attitudes of lenders to defaulters also varied: some were lenient and reasonable, readily granting extensions and slow to harass, while others unscrupulously tried to milk all they could from

3869-418: The loan sharks could not blackmail their debtors ("pay up or we'll tell your boss that you're a deadbeat and you'll be fired"). Charities provided legal support to troubled borrowers. This fight culminated in the drafting of the Uniform Small Loan Law, which brought into existence a new class of licensed lender. The law was enacted, first in several states in 1917, and was adopted by all but a handful of states by

3942-499: The loan, which the lender could use to blackmail a defaulter . To force a defaulter into paying, the lender might threaten legal action. This was a bluff, since the loan was illegal. The lender preyed on the borrower's ignorance of the law. Alternatively, the lender resorted to public shaming , exploiting the social stigma of being in debt to a loan shark. They were able to complain to the defaulter's employer, because many employers would fire employees who were mired in debt, because of

4015-466: The mentality of which can be akin to happy slapping . The large-scale prevalence of gang graffiti in some inner cities has almost made it acceptable to the societies based there, so much so that it may go unnoticed, or not be removed, possibly because it may be a fruitless endeavour, to be graffitied on once again. Greed can motivate vandalism as can some political ideologies , wish to draw attention to problems, frustration , even playfulness. Youngsters,

4088-404: The middle of the 20th century. The model statute mandated consumer protections and capped the interest rate on loans of $ 300 or less at 3.5% a month (51% a year), a profitable level for small loans. Lenders had to give the customer copies of all signed documents. Additional charges such as late fees were banned. The lender could no longer receive power of attorney or confession of judgment over

4161-476: The most common vandals, frequently experience low status and boredom . Vandalism enables powerless people to attack those above them, take control and frighten others. Unpunished vandalism can provide relief which reinforces the behaviour. Vandalism by one person can lead to imitation. Teenage boys and men in their 20s are most likely to vandalize, but older adults and females are also known to sometimes vandalize, with young children occasionally vandalizing, but in

4234-442: The pre-existing idea that they were a barbaric group with a taste for destruction. Historically, vandalism has been justified by painter Gustave Courbet as destruction of monuments symbolizing "war and conquest". Therefore, it is often done as an expression of contempt, creativity, or both. Courbet's attempt, during the 1871 Paris Commune , to dismantle the Vendôme column , a symbol of the past Napoleon III authoritarian Empire,

4307-528: The problem of the value of art compared to life's hardships: Courbet thought that the political values transmitted by this work of art neutralized its artistic value. His project was not followed; however, on 12 April 1871, the Commune voted to dismantle the imperial symbol, and the column was taken down on 8 May. After the assault on the Paris Commune by Adolphe Thiers , Gustave Courbet was condemned to pay part of

4380-481: The proceeds of the numbers racket and was distributed by the top bosses to the lower echelon loan sharks at the rate of 1% or 2% a week. The 1952 B movie Loan Shark , starring George Raft , offers a glimpse of mob payday lending. The waterfront in Brooklyn was another site of extensive underworld payday advance operations around mid-century. Over time, mob loan sharks moved away from such labor intensive rackets. By

4453-442: The property of others or the commons . Some vandalism may qualify as culture jamming or sniggling : it is thought by some to be artistic in nature even though carried out illegally or without the property owner's permission. Examples include at least some graffiti art, billboard "liberation", and possibly crop circles . Criminal vandalism takes many forms. Graffiti on public property is common in many inner cities as part of

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4526-466: The recent western world, loan sharks have been a prominent feature of the criminal underworld . Loan sharking is not to be confused with predatory lending with extremely high interest rates such as payday or title loans , which is sometimes considered to be "loan sharking" (or, at least, unfavorably compared to loan sharking by critics) regardless of whether it is legal. A key difference between "traditional" loan sharking and predatory lending

4599-706: The rights and legitimate interests of borrowers, to identify and eliminate systemic problems of the financial sector of the economy. A unified state register of microfinance organizations was introduced to legalize lenders. Ah Long (derived from the Cantonese phrase '大耳窿' ('big ear hole')) is a colloquial term for illegal loan sharks in Malaysia and Singapore . They lend money to people who are unable to obtain loans from banks or other legal sources, mostly targeting habitual gamblers. Often, they discreetly advertise by sticking notices, mostly on lamp posts and utility boxes around

4672-519: The risk of them stealing from the employer to repay debts. They were able to send agents to stand outside the defaulter's home, loudly denouncing him, perhaps vandalizing his home with graffiti or notices. Whether out of gullibility or embarrassment, the borrower usually succumbed and paid. Many customers were employees of large firms, such as railways or public works. Larger organizations were more likely to fire employees for being in debt, as their rules were more impersonal, which made blackmail easier. It

4745-413: The same populations served by the salary lenders and buyers. Those who turned to the bootleg lenders could not get credit at the licensed companies because their incomes were too low or they were deemed poor risks. The firms operating within the usury cap turned away roughly half of all applicants and tended to make larger loans to married men with steady jobs and decent incomes. Those who could not get

4818-444: The security of a postdated check, are often described as loan sharks by their critics due to high interest rates that trap debtors, stopping short of illegal lending and violent collection practices. Today's payday loan is a close cousin of the early 20th century salary loan, the product to which the "shark" epithet was originally applied, but they are now legalised in some states. A 2001 comparison of short-term lending rates charged by

4891-469: The walls of the property of that person as a threat of violence and to scare, and perhaps shame, the borrower into repaying the loan. A common use of painting includes the characters "O$ P$ " meaning "owe money, pay money", as well as the debtors' unit number. According to local police authorities, there have been cases where borrowers and their family members were beaten or had their property damaged or destroyed, and some victims have committed suicide. During

4964-404: Was a misdemeanor , and the penalty was forfeiture of the interest and perhaps the principal as well. But these were only ever imposed if the borrower sued, which he typically could not afford to do. Opposition to salary lenders was spearheaded by social elites, such as businessmen and charity organizations. Businessmen were encouraged not to fire employees who were indebted to loan sharks so that

5037-505: Was considered a symbol of the recently deposed Second Empire of Napoleon III , and dismantled as such. After the burning of the Tuileries Palace on 23 May 1871, Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche himself meditated about the "fight against culture", wondering what could justify culture if it were to be destroyed in such a "senseless" manner (the arguments are: culture is justified by works of art and scientific achievements; exploitation

5110-464: Was easier for lenders to learn which large organizations did this as opposed to collecting information on the multitude of smaller firms. Larger firms had more job security and the greater possibility of promotion, so employees sacrificed more to ensure they were not fired. The loan shark could also bribe a large firm's paymaster to provide information on its many employees. Regular salaries and paydays made negotiating repayment plans simpler. The size of

5183-429: Was employed in practice. Relations between creditor and debtor could be amicable, even when the " vig " or "juice" was exorbitant, because each needed the other. FBI agents in one city interviewed 115 customers of a mob loan business but turned up only one debtor who had been threatened. None had been beaten. Organized crime has never had a monopoly on black market lending. Plenty of vest-pocket lenders operated outside

5256-465: Was illegal gambling operators, who could not expose themselves to the law to collect debts legally. They cooperated with loan sharks to supply credit and collect payments from their punters. Thieves and other criminals, whose fortunes were frequently in flux, were also served, and these connections also allowed the loan sharks to operate as fences. Another type of high-risk customer was the small businessman in dire financial straits who could not qualify for

5329-596: Was one of the most celebrated events of vandalism. Nietzsche himself would meditate after the Commune on the "fight against culture", taking as example the intentional burning of the Tuileries Palace on 23 May 1871. "The criminal fight against culture is only the reverse side of a criminal culture" wrote Klossowski after quoting Nietzsche. In a proposal to the International Conference for Unification of Criminal Law held in Madrid in 1933, Raphael Lemkin envisaged

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