I apologize to my readers in advance for this article as I am going to take a slight left turn to my usual opinion. While I remain a staunch advocate of free markets and a voluntary society, I accept that there is a need to acknowledge the reality that exists. While I believe that the current power structure needs a major overhaul, I understand that change needs to come about gradually and peacefully, otherwise the violence inherent in the system perpetuates itself. When it comes time to examine these issues and consider solutions to existing problems, one should try to consider how to make changes that will impact the common folk in the least painful way.
I don't normally like to suggest solutions involving government. I feel it is more important to minimize government involvement and empower the common folk to take control and responsibility for their own lives. That's what independence is about, to be independent of government intrusion instead of dependent upon it. But the current economic situation is so dire that it becomes nearly impossible to imagine a solution that won't drastically affect common folk without involving the monopolistic power of force that government wields.
I think that whatever solutions are implemented, they will involve pain. The question is, who's going to feel the pain? I believe that the moneyed elite, the very people who engineered this system, should be the ones to feel the greatest amount of pain, not the common folk who simply used the system they were born into, the one they were trained from birth to use, for they could hardly imagine living outside this system and were led to believe they had no power to change it.
The first step in implementing a solution, in my opinion, is to stop living in denial. We as a society need to acknowledge that there is a problem, and we need to recognize where the problem stems from and who is to blame for the problem. The economic problems we face today, in my opinion, stem from the monopolistic, centralized fiat currency systems set up in nations across the world. These central banks have the ability to issue currency to their respective governments and to indebt that nation's populace with little or no risk to themselves. Such absolute power should be abhorrent to people who wish to remain free and independent, for the lack of accountability in such systems allows for corruption to creep in and corrupt absolutely. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
The problem is debt. It's not just debt, it's the way it's created. Because of the fractional reserve nature of modern debt, money is created to be lent but the money needed to pay for the interest on the debt is never created. Debt just keeps growing, much like government. It is so pervasive, that I think it is safe to say that the vast majority of nations are as good as insolvent. While you or I can manage debt by producing and earning money to pay it back, governments don't know how to legitimately produce and have to depend on stealing from the private sector in the form of taxation, levies, fines, tariffs or some other questionable means in order to pay their debt. Sooner or later, the bust part of the boom/bust cycle has to occur. It's inevitable in such an unstable system as a fiat, debt driven system is.
There's a man out there named Webster Tarpley who has his own ideas about the best way to run an economy. While there is much he advocates which I disagree with, he does advocate one idea I very much agree with. He believes there should be a debt moratorium instituted. I can see that. I think it should be taken a step further. It seems to me that, at least in this nation, the system of central banking that was created is fraudulent and illegal. There are many legal and moral arguments to support this position, most of which have been perverted by a justice system in this nation that has been compromised by the same corporate interests that stood to gain when the Federal Reserve system was adopted. This fraud and corruption needs to be investigated, exposed and explained and those responsible for its implementation and continuation need to be held to account.
While the economy seems entangled and complicated, one thing seems certain, debt is out of control and it seems almost everything is actually owned by a few large banks. It is these banks that should shoulder the burden of the collapsing economy, not the common folk who are currently paying for the mistakes of the moneyed elite. Foreclosures are occurring in ever increasing numbers and unemployment continues to soar while the richest among us seem to profit from the misery of the masses. Money is flowing to the top of the pyramid while the base wilts in a drought of epic proportions. This tendency needs to be reversed.
I think it is time for government to work for the masses, rather than against them. It is time for government to show they are not just puppets for the big corporate banking establishment. I think it is time for them to help clear up the mess they helped to create. It can start by sorting out this foreclosure/derivative mess. Perhaps in the course of implementing a debt moratorium we can find the political will to help those who have dutifully followed the rules and yet find themselves now getting screwed. Perhaps some rules could be set up, something like anyone who has paid more than twice the amount of the principal for a mortgage now owns the title to the home, free and clear. Perhaps something similar could be done to those who have paid a certain percentage more than the principal borrowed on credit cards or other lines of credit, but still find themselves deep in debt due to the high interest rates charged. After all, it certainly wasn't the borrowers' fault that the profits made by the big banks were squandered. Sure, the banks and those who invested in their fraudulent schemes might take a beating, but that would certainly be one way to funnel the "stimulus" money to those people it was supposed to help.
The establishment politicians said a couple years ago that bailouts were necessary, that the corporate banks who needed the help of middle class Americans in order to survive were too big to fail. I think they were wrong. I think the corporate banks had already failed. If they hadn't been bailed out, someone who knew better what they were doing would have stepped in to take their place. Sure, many at the top of the heap may have found themselves knocked down a few notches, but the bad debt would hopefully have been cleansed from the system and the economic downturn would now be naught but a bad memory. Instead, the politicians stepped in, bailed out their rich elite buddies, and made sure to drag out the economic crisis so that our great-great grandchildren will still be paying.
Auditing the fed is but a necessary step. After that is done and the obvious theft and corruption is exposed, arrests need to be made. Not just any arrests, arrests of the very richest banking elites. These people need to be held accountable, and they need to be made to forfeit their vast wealth for the illegal nature in which it was obtained. If one wishes to talk about a redistribution of wealth, then the elite players who have used the government monopoly on force to stifle and destroy competition for far too long should be the number one targets. After that, the fed should be eliminated and the currency they created should be replaced by some kind of commodity based currency or a competitive currency marketplace.
I'm all for eliminating as much government power as possible, especially when it comes to centralized federal power. I'm all for governing through a free market, voting with one's dollar and one's feet, and with maximizing individual liberty, but the reality is that a police state is descending on this nation, if it hasn't already, and the politicians are protecting the elite while cracking down on the common folk. That apparatus needs to be turned around. The United States federal government was supposed to be set up to protect the common folk from super powerful interests, not the other way around. It's time government and its various arms lived up to their responsibility.
The banking system has failed, or is failing. Our government has failed time and again. There is a better way. I believe we can achieve a voluntary society, one which would be much fairer and more equitable by providing opportunity for all who are willing to work hard. Realistically, however, I don't believe this can be done in the blink of an eye. Since it will take some time to achieve such a freer society, we might as well try to use what exists to prosecute the fraud that was created by the elite few for their benefit. They want all the world's wealth delivered into the hands of a few elite. Government, so long has it exists, should help keep that from happening by providing an environment conducive to rewarding honesty and hard work.
My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.
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