No condescension intended, I apologize.
I'll focus specifically on the credit system, since banking has many tools beyond it.

In an ideal world, people spend what they have and do so responsibly, meaning they don't spend more than they earn after savings. Credit, at its core, enables spending beyond your means. That's not inherently bad, but it should function as a last resort, not a default financial tool.

The problem is that the credit system is engineered to be attractive, sometimes even financially sensible; paying bills on a rewards card, taking an auto loan to build your credit score. But that raises the question: why does a credit score matter so much in the first place? Because so many major purchases now require financing due to how expensive they've become, and financing requires a credit history. It's circular by design.

Markets respond to what people buy, not what they can genuinely afford. Credit distorts that signal entirely. An automaker doesn't price a car at $50K because buyers have $50K. They do it because their prior year's $45K model sold via financing. The price ceiling keeps rising because credit props up demand that wouldn't otherwise exist.

I'm not saying I have the answer and people are irresponsible. I have two auto loans I'm actively trying to eliminate. And I'm not arguing for a world without lending. But when companies face no pricing pressure because credit perpetually enables consumer spending to meet shareholder demands, debt becomes the foundation of the economy, not a tool within it. That, to me, is unethical. The lack of government intervention by applying pressure on companies to price products, at least their normal goods, in range that does not require the average person to go into debt to afford, is unjust. To me.