Easy Credit and Public Confidence

Here we may see how Mammon has taken the place of God in our national life. We have chosen to base our society on a web of economic ties rather than a common faith, as if a mountain of promissory notes could be the salvation of the state. When cash is dross, credit is an empty word. Public credulity does not take the place of a sound dollar. The techniques of faith -- the arts of the confidence man, the power of positive thinking -- must not be mistaken for the reality. The substitution of credit for faith and applied science for religion threatens a return to the "house of bondage."