The network of small personal loans is intricate and far reaching. By the end of my year in Sakaltutan, I had many small loans out in the village, all of which were honourably settled. When a special need arises, a man meets it by calling in loans or by contracting a number of new ones, or both. Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul is common. These loans are personal favours, and do not carry interest. But they do of course count as services rendered in the network of village reciprocity. Often such loans are contracted with kin or friends in other villages, since this arrangement limits communication between creditors, and also general gossip.
The incurring of debt is a privilege of wealth. Those who have no visible resources cannot borrow, either from the State or from their neighbours. It is the haves, not the have-nots, who borrow. The largest loan from the Credit Co-operative in Elbashï was taken by one of the most prosperous men in the village. A man in Sakaltutan who announced publicly and unprompted that he had a T.L. 1,000 of debts was boasting, like the man in England who talks about his overdraft. All households can make use of credit. Even if they have no desperate needs in the way of houses, animals or wives, they can always, for example, buy animals to sell at a later date at a higher price. Debt carries no stigma. Most people are or have been in debt, and it is nothing to be ashamed of.
Yet, as I have said, many people do not take up all the credit they can get, and I had the decided impression that most of the households in Elbashï were less in debt than those of Sakaltutan