Well, most of them anyway

I feel this post needs a disclaimer. So here goes:
Free market capitalism is evil. The primary role of any corporation is to make profits, as enshrined in law. So considerations such as social and environmental damage and the welfare of its employees are defined, in law, as being subservient to the profit motive.

The example Michael Moore uses is that of relocating overseas. He apparently likes to ask free-market envangelists "If a factory is the sole emplyer in a town (ie Flint), and can save money by relocating to Mexico and laying off all its US employees, does it have a right to do this?" It sounds a little like a straw man argument, but to be fair, in law the company does have more than a right to do this, it has a duty, in spite of how many people will have their lives wrecked by it. Although companies may seem greedy and, yes, evil in their relentless pursuit of profits, that's just the system that's been created, ever since governments lost the right to withdraw charters if a company was not acting in the interests of the country.

But whilst the system is evil, the people caught up in it are just swimming with the tide and trying to exist in this cruel and harsh world. So until we recognise that it's the system we've created that breeds evil and selfishness, we have to enjoy seeing the good where it lies.

There we are, I feel better for that. So now I can safely say I had a nice chat with a man from my bank yesterday. He was calling up to offer me a Gold credit card, his job being to encourage me to get further into debt, which I will resist. On the other hand, I want to get my own place, so at some point I need to borrow enough money to buy a boat and a strip of land (and a solar panel, but more about that later).

The great thing is, he said that didn't seem impossible. Not only that, he was very positive about the whole living on the river idea- he told me a friend lives round that way, and wouldn't live anywhere else. He said he'd look into it.

I like that- I was talking to someone I've spoken to before (rare for my bank), he wasn't a machine, and he was very encouraging. He even said it makes good financial sense as well (no-one ever tells me that). And not only that, someone from a bank made me feel as if my hippy living on a canal writing books fantasy could be more than just a dream. I feel good about that.
Somehow, the kindness and friendliness of my personal banker almost makes me feel better about the years HSBC didn't care that I starved.

Of course, it's the profit motive moving behind all this again. But he seemed genuine.

And he's going to send me the application for a gold card.