[Fyron]

Banks in our current society are a necessity, but what ever happened to the extended family, people working together, etc. Before banks existed in their current form, people survived (as did the economies) quite well!

Yes, centuries ago before banks were around, people survived just fine (although just barely, and more often than not did not survive). Not that banks allowed people to survive, mind you. The economies of the ancient world were extremely simplistic, and people did not need to borrow money, because they lived, worked and died in the same spot all their lives, and just barely managed to eke out a living. You can not maintain a more complex economy with out a banking system, period. I for one will not be joining you in your effort to return to a primitive society of farmers with no basic luxuries at all (things like hostpitals, cars, canned food, supermarkets, etc.). Social and economic progress is when less people have to spend their entire lives working to grow enough food to feed themselves, and so more and more people can work in other areas, developing arts, technologies, whatever. I for one would not want to return to an agrarian society.

[ February 14, 2003, 21:56: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]