Nobody is disputing that a large percent of the population has financial management problems. But isn’t is our society’s job to help them?
[/quote]
No, it’s not. And I don’t think people want to be helped. They just want the to know what the minimum payment amount is for that BMW or other bling…They just want a job to pay for the bling, or a job so they can leverage the paycheck to get bling they can’t afford.
[quote]
If someone has only $1 in the bank, and overdraws the account by mistake at McDonald’s, how is it to our society’s benefit to allow the bank to charge them $20 overdraft fee? Simply decline the transaction and be done with it.
[/quote]
Well, that’s definitely a choice. Whether someone wants overdraft protection or not, but that’s a personal choice. You can’t say that because people cannot make intelligent choices to outlaw overdraft protection. If so, why don’t we just outlaw credit cards completely? Afterall most folks in this country have demostrated they can’t handle buying on credit too…
[quote]
To me, free basic banking is the same as free over-the-air broadcast and universal lifeline telephone. It wouldn’t be necessary if employers were required to pay in cash if the employees so chose.
When check payments are obligatory, banks get an automatic stream of customers which they prey upon.
[/quote]
Banking for the most part IS free if you want basic banking… Why are we arguing that free banking doesn’t exist?