Two financial topics in a row? I promise I’m not going to only talk about money in all of my future articles, but debt and the banking world are weighing heavily on my mind at the moment, and I have significant things to share about them.

Mary Poppins’ Most Important Message

Mary Poppins is a great movie that includes many great messages:

• Have fun while getting work done.
• Pay attention to the poor and downtrodden in society.
• Childhood doesn’t last forever.
• Fathers are crucial to their children’s development.
• And strong banks are not the foundation of a strong society.

That last one is the most important message in Mary Poppins. It also begs the question: what is the foundation of a strong society? We will get to that soon enough. Spit spot.

Going to the Bank

I love the scene where Mr. Banks takes his children to the bank where he works. He wants his son Michael to open an account, starting with the bare-minimum amount, tuppence, which is equivalent to just two pennies. However, Michael has other plans for his money. He wants to use it to help a poor old woman feed the birds in London.

The owners of the bank literally give him a song and dance about the many reasons why he should put his money in the bank. Money in the bank has the power to grow and empower all sorts of operations of the British Empire.

At one point, the main owner of the bank, an ancient man who is stoop-shouldered and can barely navigate a couple of steps, claims that as stand the banks of England, England stands. And when the banks of England fall, England falls. And, ironically, he nearly falls over as he makes those statements.

Not only was he foreshadowing the weakness of England’s banks, but he gets proven wrong about his lofty claims in a dramatic way shortly after. The foundation of an entire country is not the soundness of its banking. That is merely an effect, not the cause of a country’s success or downfall.

This is demonstrated when the head of the bank grabs Michael’s tuppence, and Michael immediately fights back. He loudly demands that his money be returned to him, and one of the patrons doing business with a teller overhears him. She believes that something is wrong with the bank, so she demands her money, too. This causes a cascade where everyone else in the bank starts asking for their money, to the point where the bank effectively shuts down.

And what was this all over? You might say it was just two pennies. But it’s something even deeper than that. It’s what that tuppence represents.

What Makes a Strong Country

Michael had his own idea for how to spend his money, which his father strongly opposed. Of course, Mr. Banks is much older and wiser than Michael. But the trouble at the bank started because he refused to listen to his son and reason with him in a way that his son could actually understand.

Railways in Africa, dams across the Nile, and self-amortizing canals don’t mean anything to a little boy. But feeding the birds does. And so does a father who cares.

What happened at Mr. Banks’ bank was the culmination of a disaster that had been brewing in his home for a long time. Mr. Banks and the owners of the bank failed to recognize that their bank is just a paper tiger. No bank has enough money to cover all of its deposits, which is what makes a run on the bank both possible and devastating.

When you boil it down to the very core, the strength of England, and every other country, is not its banks but its families. Mr. Banks thinks he has a strong family, but it’s a façade, just like how he thinks that his bank is strong, but it falls apart over the most insignificant amount of money being demanded by a child.

Mr. Banks’ children are unhappy, and he’s not being the best father he could be to them. That’s why Mary Poppins came to them. Her mission is to straighten him out and repair the damage to his family. Why? Because as stand the families of England, England stands. And as fall the families of England, England falls.

It’s that simple.

Where a Strong Society Begins

When there is a father and mother, happily married, raising children in their home (multiplied millions of times), society is strong. Unfortunately, we see more and more unrest at home. Divorce, out-of-wedlock births, neglect, abuse, and other tragedies are signs that a country is on the verge of collapse. Much more than poor banking or monetary policies.

A strong society begins at home. That is why, when Mr. Banks is fired for his hand in creating the bank run, he pulls out the tuppence (which Michael had given him by means of apology) and hands it to the owner of the bank. He is symbolically giving up the source of tension between himself and his children.

He thought he was in control of his life because he had money and a good job, but now that he no longer has a good job, he might as well get rid of the only money he has in his pocket and instead focus on putting his family right. By putting his family first, he is actually able to make a comfortable living for them because his small action leads to a huge result. The bank owner dies laughing at Mr. Banks’ joke (which he heard Michael tell), and this opens a leadership position for Mr. Banks to slip into.

Not every solution will come so neatly as this for us in real life. But plenty of miracles happen every day that allow us to accomplish the seemingly impossible, usually by an accumulation of small acts.

Having the Right Priorities

If we have weak banks and worthless currency, that’s a telltale sign that we are a weak people with decimated families. Money is important. It plays a critical role in how parents take care of their children. But we should not lose sight of our true strength. Money is just a tool that enables us to do things. What we do with money is much more valuable than the money itself.

Let us remember to strengthen our family relationships. If you are raising children, make sure they feel loved so that they will be able to one day make their own way in the world with confidence.

We could definitely use a little heavenly help, like Mary Poppins. But even if we’re not practically perfect in every way, we can make a big difference by simply trying our best and having the right priorities. Family first.

This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.

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