Need a Loan? Usury for Beginners

Great article about Prosper.com, the writer creates an account and explores the site, which is all about lending money, being neighborly and taking financial risks.
WSJ
By JONATHAN V. LAST
Of all the wonders that the Internet has brought us, none is as special as Web 2.0. The next generation of Internet empowers you, me -- some might say We, the People -- to click our way to self-actualization. We're an Army of Davids, taking the world back from the corporate Goliaths, one Web site at a time. The new Internet lets us be who we've always wanted to be.

Yes, we all have lofty goals, like helping the infirm, reaching out to shut-ins or starting a catering service. But what we've always wanted to be may seem, to some, a bit less commendable. For instance, I've always wanted to be a loan shark. There's something luridly poetic about outlaw lending: Getting the juice ticking at 30% on some hard-luck mope; making profits off of the backs of the union guy who lost it all at the race track or the stock broker with the expensive drug habit; sending minions like "Bobby Bats" out to do collections. It's like being a banker, only cooler.

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