As bitcoin has proven, pre conceived notions can sometimes be turned on their heads!
Precisely!
I've been pondering for a while this question about the need for a national debt or not. Still undecided, but there seems to be an element of 'we should do it this way, because that's what we've always done'.
My personal opinion is NO, National Debt is an obsure invention that allows Bond Rentiers to collect interest for doing nothing productive. Plus people don't understand the function of national debt within Society, and makes it harder for the general public to grasp the underlying mechanics of their economy.
The notion of National Debt should be removed. Instead, their should be a popular body that decides how much money should be created/destroyed each year/month. This money is added to the Treasury Account, and spent by the Government into the economy. There would then need to be another body responsible for managing the 'Credit Money' supply, similar to the function of the current FED(Reserve Bank). However, interest-rate policy is implemented by paying interest only on Cash Deposits, as opposed to using Repos. This makes the Monetary System easier to understand and more straightforward.