When Did It Change?

While I was working in the garden today and pondering the ways of the world, it suddenly came to me to ask, when did it all change? What was the trigger or event? Can we point to a calendar and say then?

When did your banker become your enemy? He used to be your friend. If you had some money to save, he would keep it safe and actually give you a little interest. He would take your money and that of others and loan it to others on fair terms when he had checked and felt sure that they were good to pay it back. For that he charged a little interest and all in all made a decent living facilitating commerce in the community. No one resented his profit and actually appreciated the service he provided the community. He was one of the "pillars" of the town.

Now your bank is your enemy. They will take your savings but pay niggardly interest. They'll service your financial needs but it will come at a steep price with fees and surcharges for everything. It has become, somehow, an adversarial relationship. You resent your bank and you just know they merely tolerate you and spend a good part of their day figuring out how to screw you out of a little more of your money. They're evil.

We need to figure out when, where and why things changed and get back there. I am getting real tired of feeling like I have no choice but to put my money in the pockets of someone who, if they really don't hate me, just tolerate me as a necessary evil.