'if the country were run by its population, the vast majority of whom aren't wealthy, they'd abolish debts, redistribute land'. A crass assumption if I may say so.
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When the vast majority of farmers who work the land are generally held in debt they consider unfair, yeah, they're going to do that.
You're forgetting that the Free Silver movement was about exactly this - farmers trapped in debt due to a deflationary gold-backed dollar were agitating for the silver dollar which would be inflationary and thus allow them to escape it. Deny them that, and they're going to switch to something else - like taking a long hard look at what's considered "fair".
You might also note that the modern US has exactly this concept - bankruptcy. It has consequences, but debt can in fact just disappear.