How Our Fiat Currency is Destroying Our Economy and What You Can Do
Posted: Wednesday, September 23, 2009
by Jim Anderson
Weddings That Last
Money is anything that is accepted as a means of exchange. It can be a commodity, a receipt, a fiat (by order or decree), or fractional money. Throughout history we have seen monetary systems start as commodity money and move to receipts. In the U.S. we used gold. But when the gold got too cumbersome to use, we deposited it in a bank and carried a receipt instead. That receipt could be used as money because the holder could claim the gold in the bank that backed it. Banks got an idea. Since the receipts were rarely redeemed, they started issuing multiple receipts on the same gold deposits, allowing them to make loans with money they didn't really have. This is fractional money. The problem was that when too many people decided to claim their gold, there wasn't enough to cover the demands. So the system caused instability in the economy because of the lack of confidence that the money was actually backed by gold deposits. So the solution was to have the government decree that the receipts were to be accepted as money backed by the government (fiat currency). The government would hold gold reserves to back their claim. Today, our currency is no longer backed by gold reserves.
If you were to write your congressman today and question them on this issue, they would respond with a letter that cites a Supreme Court case from 1884, Julliard vs. Greenman, where the decision gave the Federal government justification to create a fiat currency. Since the decision went unchallenged for so many years, it is considered settled law, despite the fact that it is in direct conflict with the intent of the Constitution. This decision effectively made new constitutional law. If you tried to challenge the constitutionality of this law in your own case today, your case would be dismissed as frivolous. George Bancroft declared this a flagrant violation of the constitution in his book. Bancroft is a credible source because he personally knew Andrew Jackson, Polk, and every president since Monroe during his lifetime. He had discussions with James Madison, John Adams, and LaFayette. He was intimately familiar with the original intent of the constitution. So it is clear that our government has subscribed to the fraudulent practices that our founders considered a crime of treason.
As a result, we have created an unstable economy that is prone to exaggerated swings of boom and bust that are ever increasing as we become more deeply involved in the fraud. Eventually, this system will no longer be able to be sustained by clever manipulations of the market. This puts the citizens of the U.S. in an uncomfortable position. Either we put a stop to it, or we prepare as individuals for the coming total collapse of our economy. The best way to do this is to be completely debt free, and to keep a large portion of your net worth in hard assets that are relatively stable in price and preserve buying power, even if those assets are not readily liquid now, and certainly not liquid in a collapse. Once the monetary system is reformed, those assets will return to previous liquidity and value.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)Hi Jim, great article, well documented. All I have to say is that the dollar is key to our continuing success to borrow money from the world so that we can keep intact our lofty lifestyle - a lifestyle that is completely unjustified from a realistic, economic point of view. As people in other countries buy our dollars at cheap rates (since we have printed so much of them lately in the bailout), and invests them at a higher rate, they get rich! While we get poorer.
Of course, according to real economics, that’s how it should go. No longer the industrial base we once were and with employers saddled with high health care costs, our standard of living will drop like a rock in the near future, and has already begun . I’m afraid that we are following in the footsteps pf Japan who was forced to keep interest rates at zero, or close to zero, for a decade or more. Recession, or worse, is going to become a way of life, so we may as well get used to it.
Wall Street, with it’s betting schemes coming back already will do well as a new bubble is formed but this time the bubble will burst a lot sooner, and the long feared depression will finally take hold. The bailouts and financial shenanigans won’t save us this time. Our lifestyle, built on credit, that we have been living for the past thirty years has been a fairytale supported by wealthy people with narrow interests engineered by people such as Ronald Reagan. Unobstructed, everything goes capitalism - -with Wall Street being turned into a Las Vegas.
I spoke with a daytrader recently and asked how she was doing. “It’s just like playing Blackjack,” she responded.
Playing Blackjack. This is what our great Democracy has come down to. And who is to blame? While the vast majority of us have been working hard and trying to make it, others have been taking our money and gambling with it. Think of where your hard earned money goes. Think of where all your social security contributions have gone that was supposed to be put in an account for us. Again, a looting of the middle class engineered by an anti-socialistic Reagan.
Do you gamble with your own earnings now, under the illusion that you are investing for your future? Wake up. We have been scammed. If you can’t see the handwriting on the wall for yourself, then read. Read everything that you can get your hands on, but be careful of the stuff put out by those who want to preserve this system that is falling apart as we speak. They are the manipulators who have sold you a bill of goods, and have sold you off.
It used to be that the only evil we had to be very careful with was car dealerships, whom we knew would lie to us, but we were ready for them, or most of us were. We could counteract all their illusions, i.e. the “Business Manager” who was just another glorified salesman trying to sell us a $5.00 pinstripe for $200.00, and every other conceivable worthless piece of paper that we would fall for. (Again, be careful what you buy. Can you touch it? Or is it smoke and mirrors? )
Insurance companies, not only health care insurance companies, but all insurance companies such as life, auto, property -- they are all looking for the slightest loophole not to pay you. But you don’t know this yet, and won’t until you make a claim. It’s all a scam, based on ponzi scheme, i.e. - “We never have any intention of paying off. We just take in the dough so that we can gamble with it.” Investigate any hurricane aftermath, and you will see the cutting edge of corruption from insurance companies.
Hey, maybe I'll make an article out of this comment! Best......e
Please log in to respond to this comment.Wow. Your comment could be an article in itself. You're quite a writer!My response to what you've written would be this... simply pay attention to all the facts. We have a lot of misinformation out there claiming that facts are misinformation. It gets confusing which is what I believe those currently in power intend. Power concentrated in the government creates tyranny and corruption of government. Concentrated power in a few large corporations creates corruption of the legislative system and our laws. There is no perfect system because they are run by imperfect people. So in this whole mess, don't get swayed by what you hear in the media, look for the facts with an open mind to fact that may conflict with your point of view, and make your own assessment. Realize there are facts being hidden, that you need to dig for. These are the most significant and revealing facts of all. As for me, my research has led me to believe there is only one way to rise above all this, and that is to put my faith in my Creator over my government.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Goodness is what works. Many will just laugh at goodness, but I submit that the laughter will be short lived. Goodness, or the things that Jesus, the Buddha and all legitimate religions hold sacred, is what eventually works - evil doesn’t. Evil (greed, hatred and delusion) may work for a few for awhile, but eventually good overtakes evil, and this is what is playing out right now. And it will be tough for anyone depending upon evil in order to get more than their share, regardless of the justification or rationalizations. Goodness is looking out for yourself and looking out for others equally. This is truly the great freedom, and the great happiness. And contentment is the greatest wealth. Look at the materially wealthy, then look at the spiritually wealthy and see what road each followed to get them where they are. “Do not think lightly of goodness saying, ‘I can not be like that.’ A drop at a time is the water pot filled and likewise little by little do the wise fill themselves with good. (Dhammapada 122)"
But remember to think for yourself. As Lincoln said about the opposing forces in the Civil War: “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other."Please log in to respond to this comment.I respect your beliefs, but I also have to respectfully disagree. I believe "goodness" is not achievable. We all have evil in us, it is in our nature. Here is what Paul wrote in the New Testament, which I believe is Holy Scripture:Rom 7:15-2015 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. NIVI do see that your point of view acknowledges the diversity and sincerity of different religious faiths. Each follows it's own path. But a weakness in the idea that all religions have the same goal is that it glosses over their contradictions and alters the claims of their key figures.There may be a better way to think of how multiple religions work. For example, the most famous maze in the world is located in the gardens of Hampton Court near London. The maze, which consists of 8 foot hedges was planted in 1702. It is a third of an acre, with winding paths more than a half mile long. When you enter the maze you are confronted with a choice. Which path should you take? The goal is to reach the center of the maze, though all paths don't lead there. Some routes quickly dead end, and others will go quite a distance before ending. The challenge is to find the one that leads you to the final destination.The question is, in the maze of religion. how do you know the guide you have will make the right choices to get you to your goal? Your destination? What evidence do you have to support your faith in that guide?Please log in to respond to this comment.
Hi Jim, regarding religion, for most people it is an emotional attachment, and most minds aren't changed easlily. So, its best to believe what makes you feel comfortable. If you ever have any doubts, which the majority of people never have, then look into the evidence. The internet has all kinds of information on all of the religions, based on historical facts.Best........ePlease log in to respond to this comment.You are right, people don't change their minds easily on what they believe, and that is a good thing. Though I'd be more inclined to say most people have doubts at some time or another, and that is healthy. It does a person good to be challenged periodically by a skeptic of their chosen faith and engage in a dialog. It leads to better understanding of others and your own faith. Thanks for your input.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Great honest history. Powerful indeed. I would like to ask you what you think our outcome will be. Your story sounds great. Admire your efforts.Please log in to respond to this comment.
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