Aphorism Case

Aphorism

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be" refers to the idea that it is best to not lend anything to another person and also to not borrow anything from another person. The premise of Polonius' statement in Hamlet is that those involved in the act of lending and borrowing risk the loss of something more important than the item that was lent or borrowed. The lender and the borrower risk losing the friendship or the trust of the other person involved in the transaction.

From an early age children are taught to share what they have with others. Squabbles breakout on a daily basis on playgrounds all over the world as a result of the negative effects of sharing. Suzie graciously shares her toy with Johnny with the expectation that Johnny will return the toy. Johnny however decides he loves Suzie's toy so much he wants to keep it and refuses to return the toy. A fight breaks out on the playground between the friends, feelings are hurt and both children are punished. The adults anticipate that both children will learn a lesson from this experience. In fact, Suzie does. She learns that in order to insure that her toy remains hers she must not lend her toys to anyone. It is expected that Johnny has learned that when you borrow you must return the item to the lender or risk penalties.

Often the lesson for Johnny is not realized. Johnny continues to borrow toys from other friends, sometimes returning them without incidence and other times opting to keep the beloved item. As he grows older Johnny covets consumer goods that require more money than he has in his bank account. In order to purchase the item he can't live without, Johnny takes out a loan from his local bank. Of course the bank charges a fee for the money in the way of interest, insists that Johnny sign a contract which states the penalties if the contract is not followed and provides a schedule for returning the borrowed money. If the contract is followed Johnny and the bank remain "friends." If Johnny opts to continue with his past action of not "returning" what was borrowed, the bank severs the friendship and reports to its own "friends" at the credit bureau that Johnny has defaulted on his loan. Johnny has lost more than one friend as a result of not following Polinius' advice.

I find Polinius' statement useful advice that is most definitely difficult to follow especially in an economic system like capitalism. In a society built upon borrowing and lending in order to "grow" the economy the advice of Polinius is left unheeded by many. Debt unfortunately has become the drug of choice in the capitalistic system. Banks thrive upon the need of the consumer to satisfy their own self-imposed requirement to keep up with the Joneses and the Smiths. Lenders have become the enabler to a society in need of its next fix by way of a new