The Money Game
Andrew Paterson—01/2003 |
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Few of us understand the money game because
we are generally so focused within its constraints
and on our own financial affairs that we do not
see it for what it is — a game played by
the elite to own and control the world. This may
sound farfetched, but everyone who has delved below
the surface of our money system has been shocked
at what they have found, which is why the system
is deliberately complicated — complication
hides the simplicity and duplicity of the money
game. Following is an outline of the money game
and how we can stop inadvertently playing it. |
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 he money system in a nutshell: |
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| When we need something from someone — a product
or a service — we have to give something in return
of agreed equal value. This is the definition of trade — something
for something. If what we give in return is a different
product or service, then we have bartered. On the other
hand, we can exchange a product or service for a specific
commodity called money whose value is universally recognized,
and which can be used as a medium of exchange. Money
is absolutely essential for the smooth running of any
free society, and is indeed the cornerstone of democracy. |
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| More traditionally, money was in the form of something
that was perceived to be valuable in its own right,
such as coins made of precious metals, tobacco or rum.
This is called commodity money because
it has a value in its own right which makes it much
easier to get widespread acceptance. Commodity money,
due to its intrinsic value, tends to hold more public
confidence during troubled times when confidence in
the money system is low. |
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| The other type of money is called fiat money — its
value is given by decree (or fiat) from the government
or banking authority. It has no intrinsic value (usually
it is worthless paper, base metal or numbers on a computer
screen) but it is still useful to think of it as a
commodity, albeit an abstract commodity. Because this
type of money is free from the constraints of an actual
physical commodity, it can be controlled much more
easily by the banks that issue it. Although fiat money
systems are certainly nothing new, they now completely
dominate the modern world. |
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| For money to be most useful to society there has
to be an optimum amount to facilitate trade. Too little
and you get deflation of the money
supply which leads to a recession — the
economy slows down as there is too little money to
facilitate trade, and this is further compounded by
everyone's natural desire under such circumstances
to horde what they have, taking even more money out
of circulation. A serious recession is called a depression.
All depressions are due to a contraction of the money
supply by those who control it. (It is erroneous, for
example, to believe that the stock market crash of
29 precipitated the terrible US depression in the early
30s when it was, in fact, the deliberate and irresponsible
reduction of money supply by the Federal Reserve Bank.) |
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| Too much money, on the other hand, and you get inflation — the
money system itself devalues as there is so much of
it around, making everything cost more and leading
to wage-price spirals. This further releases more money
into the system as people try to get rid of their saved
money (which will have a diminishing value) by exchanging
it for something that they perceive will hold its value
better such as stocks, property, gold, silver or foreign
currencies. Inflation tends to happen when governments
go on a spending spree which is financed by borrowing
more money from the banks. |
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| Both shortages and excesses in money supply can suffer
from runaway effects, which bring society to its knees,
which is why it is so important to tightly and responsibly
control the money system. In a democracy, this control
must be undertaken by an accountable and public organisation
working in the interests of the people — i.e.
the government. If the balance in money supply is just
right and enough money is issued to facilitate all
trade throughout society (with growth in the money
supply only occurring to match population growth),
then society's wealth is maximised. Under such optimum
conditions, money used wisely like this can very positively
transform society. |
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| If money was solely issued for the benefit of society,
as it should be in any democracy, economies would be
stable, nations would be evenly prosperous (without
a large divide between rich and poor), and that shared
prosperity would bring both national and international
peace. But as is always the case with any commodity,
especially one so desirable, there are those who wish
to control money through their greed and lust for power.
They are the money lenders. |
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| Whenever money is lent to somebody, aside from paying
back the original amount borrowed, there is an additional
charge to cover the risk that the lender might never
be paid and for the lender's loss of use of that money.
This lending fee is called interest as
it represents the self-interest of the lender. When
money is being borrowed from a private individual or
corporation, that interest tends to be much higher
as the lender charges as much as he believes he can
get away with because his self-interest is paramount — unless
of course he is a charity. (So destructive can the
charging of interest be on a community that the Church
classified it as a sin called usury right
up to the end of the Middle Ages, and it still is a
sin for Moslem fundamentalists.) On the other hand,
when money is borrowed from a government or public
organisation, interest tends to be much lower (if anything)
because such organisations have a mandate to act for
the collective interest, which is certainly not to
fleece the citizens they supposedly represent! |
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| One of the key methods used by central banks to
control the money system is by manipulating the different
rates of interest within that system. Raise interest
rates and borrowing becomes expensive so money is left
with the banks and the money supply dwindles. If interest
rates are lowered, however, borrowing is encouraged
and more money is released into circulation. |
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| Who controls the money system? |
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| All today's major money systems have been created
and are maintained by networks of private banks under
the umbrella of central banks (such as the Federal
Reserve Bank, The Bank of England and the European
Central Bank) which hide behind a smokescreen of pseudo
public accountability and responsibility. Part of the
reason it got this way was because of our original
use of commodity money — commodities such as
gold tend to be privately owned as most of the mining
companies are private. When the system changed to fiat
money, these wealthy and powerful money lenders (much
more wealthy than governments) made sure they were
a central part of the new equation by any means at
their disposal. In the words of James Madison, "History
records that the money changers have used every form
of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible
to maintain their control over governments by controlling
money and its issuance." |
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| A classic example of this deceit was the undemocratic
manner in which President Woodrow Wilson railroaded
through the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, bringing America
in line with the European private banking systems.
He was later to write: "I am a most unhappy
man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great
industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit.
Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of
the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in
the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the
worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled
and dominated Governments in the civilized world no
longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government
by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government
by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant
men." |
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| All modern countries now have a system in which private
banks lend to the governments the money they need.
For this service they charge interest. This means that
we have a debt-based money system as all our money
is issued as the nation's debt to these banks. As with
any private lender, the interest is maximised, siphoning
huge amounts of wealth from ordinary citizens into
the hands of a few fabulously rich men and women. After
the interest has been paid, the system is set up to
further squander the nation's wealth in tax-breaks
for and huge subsidies to big business, including the
arms and pharmaceutical industries. Is it any wonder
that most nations, including the United States and
the Third World, have spiraling debt, despite large
increases in productivity over the past few decades?
And this growing national debt, of course, further
increases our tax burden as we are the ones who ultimately
have to foot the bills for the interest. Even with
all the trillions of dollars sloshing around the system,
poverty even in First World countries has been increasing
since the early 1970s, and that the value of wages
has been dropping. We cannot continue as slaves to
credit if we wish to live as free men and women. |
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| To maintain control of the money supply and to further
maximise profits, the banking system allows banks to
lend out up to ten times their actual assets and then
charge interest on this imaginary money. This piece
of deception, called fractional reserve banking,
allows the banking system to royally rip off the people
with the interest it makes from this imaginary money.
So your bank lends you 1000 dollars of which 900 are
just figures on a computer screen. You work hard to
repay the loan plus, say, 200 dollars in interest.
The bank has therefore made 200 dollars out of effectively
just its 100 dollar initial investment. Not a bad return — this
scam is profitable! Fractional reserve banking serves
three functions: as we have seen, it is outrageously
profitable; it allows the private banks to cope with
credit demand using only a tenth of their money, thus
maintaining their position as the official money lenders;
and it makes the money system much easier to manipulate. |
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| Putting private banking institutions at the heart
of today's national and international money systems
is like having the head of the Mafia as the Chief of
Police — there is a massive conflict of interests.
These private banks do everything they can in order
to maximise their own profits, regardless of the morality
or ethics of their actions.The most successful technique
the banks use to increase their assets and their power
is to deliberately expand and contract the money supply.
An increasing money supply encourages loans, and then
by suddenly contracting it, you drive the people into
defaulting on those loans, allowing you to help yourself
to their land, their house and everything they own. |
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| A good example of this is the Great Depression of
the early 1930s in the United States. During the 20s,
the Federal Reserve Bank substantially increased the
money supply to create what has been described as "the
roaring twenties". Using the stock market crash
of 29 as a cover, it then rapidly contracted the money
supply in the early 30s (the very opposite of what
should have been done to remedy the situation). This
forced many poor Americans, including thousands of
small-time farmers, to default on their bank loans,
allowing the banks to help themselves to these people's
hard-earned property. The banks made a killing whilst
the people starved. This was clearly not in the interest
of the people but it was done anyway because private
banks were (and still are) in control. |
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| Thomas Jefferson saw this danger nearly two hundred
years ago when he wrote: "If the American people
ever allow private banks to control the issue of their
currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the
banks…will deprive the people of all property
until their children wake-up homeless on the continent
their fathers conquered." This is exactly
what has happened in throughout the world today and
is the reason why we are all so steeped in debt — especially
the Third World. We are all increasingly enslaved by
the interest on our credit, allowing a few incredibly
wealthy bankers to effectively rule the world, sparking
a war here, a depression or famine over there to maximise
profits. |
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| Stopping The Money Game |
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| The money game, played by the money lenders today,
is the primary reason for the economic turbulence of
the modern era. And in playing it, these banking institutions
continually try to extend their control by unifying
monetary systems such as that which is undemocratically
currently being railroaded through in fascist Europe.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that that Armageddon
will not be fought like a normal battle: it will not
be between Arabs and Jews, or between Americans and
Chinese; rather, it will be between those that wish
to bind us by controlling our money supply and those
that place freedom from such control as a basic requirement
for a life worth living and are therefore prepared
to fight for freedom. If we lose that battle, only
darkness and destruction lay ahead as humanity becomes
increasingly snared in the control of greedy men and
women. |
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| The solution, of course, is not to stop using or
avoid money; as was mentioned in the first paragraph
of this article, money systems are a central component
to freedom and democracy. The solution is to stop playing
the money lenders' game and wrestle back control of
our money system. We need to both understand the money
system and to implement certain practical steps to
immunise ourselves from financial slavery. |
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| Psychologically, it is important that we all, especially
Americans, start thinking of money as a commodity and
NOT a miraculous substance that can be created out
of nothing by hard work and genius (only God and bankers
have that power). This dangerous ideology of spontaneous
creation is especially espoused by New Age and business
motivation circles, and it serves only to blind us
to the money scam that is being played all around us.
We are all interconnected, and what may be wild profits
for some is a loss for others or to society in general.
By retaining a perception of money, fiat money included,
as a commodity, period — one that facilitates
trade by effectively storing value — we become
mindful of money flow in society. Only with that mindfulness
can we become financially ethical. With this outlook,
one is also less likely to be bamboozled by bankers'
complex explanations as to why the average person is
now getting poorer (the peak in standard of living
was reached in 1974 and it has been downhill ever since)
when trade is increasing, and where all our tax dollars
are going. Instead, we start asking whose pocket all
this wealth is ending up in! |
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| Armed with a better understanding of money, we can
then take the practical steps. First and foremost,
we must extract ourselves from debt as best we can.
It is absolutely essential that we minimize the control
that the banks have over our finances. The problem
is that bank loans, taxes (which are also bank loans)
and court fees can only be repaid with the same type
of debt-based money these banks issue, for this is
how these bankers have locked us in to using their
corrupt money system. However, we can reduce this burden
considerably by first reducing our direct debts with
the banks. |
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| This is extremely difficult because of widespread
poverty that locks a large percentage of us in debt,
with no hope of immediate release. And it is compounded
by the bank-controlled media hell-bent on encouraging
us to live above our means by glorifying consumption
and making credit a socially acceptable option. (There
was a time when people only borrowed if it was absolutely
necessary, but today borrowing is seen as the smart
way to get what we want — NOW.) |
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| The second practical thing we need to do is to start
using alternative interest-free money systems (such
as LETS). Traditionally these were the eccentric barter-type
systems used by hippies and radicals, but now they
have developed into sophisticated and extremely efficient
trading systems extensively and successfully used by
ordinary people. Usually they harness the power of
the computer and the internet, allowing for a very
functional and extensive system to operate, and they
suffer from none of the exploitative, socially destructive
and wealth-draining interest problems that debt-based
money systems suffer. Also, they allow us to considerably
reduce our tax burden by giving our productivity and
time directly to other members of our community rather
than to paying our crippling taxes and mortgages. The
result is communities that flourish because so much
more of the people's wealth and industry is recycled.
The system becomes efficient as money siphoning is
reduced; everybody benefits, except the money lenders.
Once a community has tried an alternative money-based
system, there is NO going back to old systems because
of the huge positive effect that occurs within a very
short period. |
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| As these money systems encourage intra-community
trade, this naturally leads to diversification in production
and services. As a result, communities become much
more stable and resilient to economic downturns and
foreign competition — we have all seen the devastation
that is caused by mono-industrial towns and communities
that have hit price falls in that particular industry.
With alternative money, the community itself is being
encouraged to meet as many of its own needs that it
can… it becomes much more self-sufficient. This
is extremely beneficial to local economies and brings
communities together; it also starts to undo the alienation
that the government and the banks have deliberately
fostered to stop these sorts of person-to-person trading
systems which are beyond their control. (It is no coincidence
that social cohesion is at an all time low… only
an alienated people can be ruthlessly exploited in
a democracy.) |
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| As we become part of communities again, we start
caring, not just about each other, but about the environment.
People who use alternative money systems invariably
become more ecologically conscious because these systems
encourage each person to feel a part of a community,
a part of something much bigger — a strand in
the web of life. That perspective brings with it responsibility,
and the cult of excessive individualism and selfishness
is gladly broken. |
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| The Bigger Picture |
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| When our governments see that the people are refusing
to play the money lender's game, are giving to each
other rather than to a foolish government in the hands
of the money lenders, they will be democratically forced
to implement new official money systems (if they are
going to get any more tax out of us!) that will bring
total control of money back into the hands of the people
where it should have been in the first place. |
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| Bill Still points out in his excellent video, The
Money Masters, that this can be achieved very easily
by having the government issue its own currency, which
is of course approved for the payment of tax and court
fees. This immediately breaks the monopoly of the private
banking system. The dishonest practice of fractional
reserve banking can be rapidly phased out by increasing
the new money supply in step with increasing the reserve
requirement until it is 100% - essential for a fair
system. After all, fractional reserve banking is a
fundamental dishonesty, and no democracy can ever thrive
on such a diseased foundation. |
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| By having governments produce and control the money,
we no longer have a debt based system, and the new
economy that results would be far more stable because
it would genuinely be run in the interests of the people.
It would, therefore, not be open to the same manipulation
that besets our current system; there would be far
less opportunity for the few to underhandedly siphon
off money from the masses, and this would reduce the
gap between rich and poor — a prerequisite for
a more peaceful and harmonious society. The tax burden
would be significantly reduced as the whole system
is more efficient, and as there would be less national
and international political manipulation by bankers
for profit (read: less wars), the ridiculous defence
budgets could be slashed and money spent on important
things like stopping ecological destruction and developing
greener technologies. |
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| Some people believe that the solution is to return
to proper commodity money such as gold. Very often
we hear radicals clamouring for the return of the gold
standard. Whilst this has some merit — gold currencies
are more resilient to collapse — we must not
forget that the great depressions of the early 20th
centuries occurred with money backed by the gold standard.
With over three quarters of all the gold in the world
in the hands of the banks (70% alone with the IMF),
any money system based on this precious metal would
still be open to considerable manipulation and control
by these private banks. Just to get enough gold to
set up the system in the first place would mean buying
back gold from the money lenders, and you can be sure
that they would sky-rocket the price when they realize
what is happening, and then, when everything is running
smoothly, collapse the price and reap the rewards of
another depression. We cannot let them play the money
game any longer. |
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| It is much better to start afresh and have the government
issue new fiat money to replace the old banking money. |
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| "The Government should create, issue, and circulate
all the currency and credits needed to satisfy the
spending power of the Government and the buying power
of consumers. By the adoption of these principles,
the taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest.
Money will cease to be master and become the servant
of humanity." |
Abraham Lincoln
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| Further Information |
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| If you are interested in what has
been written, it is essential that you get hold of
a copy of Bill Still's fantastic video called The Money
Masters. I cannot say enough about this video: it was
the inspiration for this article and should be required
viewing in our schools, colleges and community centres.
You can purchase the video online at The
Money Masters website. (Thank you to the makers
of that video and to Shaheen who passed on a copy to
me.) |
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| Alternative Money System
Links |
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| Alternative
Money Systems — Good introduction to some
of the new money systems that are currently used. |
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| Local
And Interest-Free Currencies — You don't
get better than the great list of links on this page. |
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| FAQ
on the LETS system — Twenty answers to
the most common questions asked on this particular
alternative payment system. |
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| LETSystem
Home Page — Everything you need to set
up your own LETS system. |
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| LETS.net — Online
service for Local Exchange Trading Systems worldwide. |
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| LETS Link UK — One of the best UK LETS resource sites. Has some great regional listings. |
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| LETS
in Australia — The centre of online resources
for LETS in Australia |
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| John
Turmel's Site — The Canadian radical who
makes fantastic sense! |
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| Transaction
Net — Alternative payment systems on and
offline. |
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| Global
Currency of World Peace — Home of Guru
Maharishi's alternative currency called the RAAM.
Recently, Holland officially legalized it. |
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| Eco-Village
Resources — Fantastic links for everything
to do with the LETS system and how to set it up,
including software for running it on the internet. |
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| NOFED — New
American currency called Liberty Dollars that is becoming
increasingly popular. Liberty Dollars are 100% backed
by gold and silver make it an inflation-proof currency.
Worth a look if you are in the US. |
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