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INTRODUCTION
Ignorance and Money
In Charles Dickens Christmas Carol, recall that powerful scene in which The Ghost of Christmas Future reveals two starving children concealed at his feet. The Ghost admonishes the willfully ignorant Ebenezer Scrooge, The boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom. More specifically to the relationship between Ignorance and Money, John Adams, in a 1787 letter to Thomas Jefferson, observed, All the perplexities, confusion, and distress in America arise, not from want of honor or virtue, but from the downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation. Adams also warned, There are two ways to enslave a country. One is by sword. The other is by debt. Ignorance is not to be confused with stupidity. A genius in a given field of human endeavor can be ignorant of many other subjects. The math wizard might be utterly clueless when it comes to changing a flat tire. The world class brain surgeon may be lacking in any sense of creativity. The artistic or musical genius may struggle with basic algebra. Unless youre Leonardo DaVinci, you typically dont achieve expertise in multiple fields. So, you cultivate only those areas which are of direct interest to you. When it comes to matters of money and debt, one would think that we would all strive to achieve some level of mastery of these subjects. After all, money is of enormous importance to all of us, is it not? And yet, if there is any subject about which even the most intelligent people are often ignorant about, it is the predatory nature of the modern monetary system. This becomes all the more astonishing when we come to realize that the subject really isnt that complicated after all! Why is it that with all of the advancements of modern technology, communication, transportation, and commerce, that, in the year 2013, nearly 20% of the American workforce remains unemployed, discouraged, or underemployed? And lets not even discuss Europe! Why cant so many college grads find suitable work? Why are so many people losing their homes to foreclosure? Why must we rely on perpetual debt just to pay for lifes necessities? How is it possible that modern man, who has mastered space flight, conquered the atom, miniaturized computer technology, solved the riddle of the DNA code, and built robotic insectdrones that actually fly and conduct surveillance, still hasnt figured out a way to solve unemployment, manage the dollar, balance a budget, and keep hard working families out of perpetual debt?
The controversial (yet accurate) premise of Bankers Island is that the predatory debt based monetary system exists for the benefit of a mega-wealthy ruling class. The system is kept in place by corrupted political, academic and media infrastructure whose purpose is to impose ignorance of the predatory system. This is not about class warfare. There is an important distinction to be made between those deserving Titans who achieve wealth in the process of providing really cool stuff for the rest of us mere mortals to enjoy (think Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs etc.), versus those nondeserving Money Junkies who prey upon humanity by market rigging and the collection of perpetual interest, on perpetual debt, perpetually created out of thin air! This is not about political ideology. Whether one considers his or herself a liberal who favors a strong government that can directly intervene in the marketplace, or a conservative who believes it is not the states role to redistribute wealth, we can all unite and agree on one thing a monetary system based on perpetual debt bondage oppresses all of us! This is not about conspiracy theory as much as it is the natural course of human behavior. The fraternal twins of power and wealth have ever had, and will always have, a natural tendency to consolidate themselves into fewer and fewer hands. The grip of those mighty hands tends to get tighter and tighter. Again, Adams warns us, The jaws of power are always open to devour. As smart as we are, we humans are really messed up in the head like that. Bankers Island is by no means the first work to expose the debt based monetary system. If you have got the time, attention span, and patience to digest some really boring economic texts, then go for it! Just understand that if the public ignorance that the aforementioned sages warned us about is to be overcome, a zillion-page, dust collecting snooze-a-thon isnt going to cut it! Nor is Bankers Island the first and only illustrated allegory about a primitive economy starting from scratch. What makes Bankers Island so unique is that it directly links the allegorical elements to real world events and concepts, in a manner that anyone can quickly understand. Similar to a movie script that flashes back and forth between past and present, Bankers Island contains breaks which briefly take you away from the island, to the real world, and then back to the island. It is in these well timed Ah-Ha moments that the readers mind will be blown. The High Priests of Economic Media and Academia will argue that the cartoonish allegorical tale of Bankers Island is too simplistic, too superficial, and far from a perfect analogy. To which, this author pleads guilty. Admittedly, Bankers Island is not perfectly analogous to our economics and history. But its pretty darn close! Close enough to make the High Priests of the religion of Predatory Debt and Official American History very uncomfortable. And thats good enough for me, and you. Lets start the show shall we? Enjoy.
SCENE # 31 Nelson Rich Presents Rockburgs Plan To The Island Council Shortly after the Island Council convened for its emergency session, Council Member Nelson Rich took to the floor. Rich was received by a mixture of polite applause and subdued boos. With great passion, Rich presented the plan hatched by Morgan D Rockburg at the secret Jerk Island meeting. Distinguished gentlemen of the Bastiat Island Council, noble and wise Captain Tedrow, it is with great concern, and deep love, for the people of this great island that I come before you today with a proposal of historic significance. My friends, the solution to bank runs and panics is very clear. The people need a modern monetary system with a Central Island Bank to lend all currency into circulation. The barbaric, interest-free Sea Shell currency system served the needs of primitive commerce very well. But our economy has since evolved into a complex system. If Bastiats Island is to prosper, a lender of last resort is needed to insure that the island has a sufficient and elastic supply of monetary liquidity. My plan The Rich Plan - establishes an Island Central Bank to issue the islands money supply. Never again will our islanders have to worry about bank runs. Under my plan, any bank that runs out of money will be able to borrow all the money it needs from the Island Central Bank, - at interest of course. And our Island Council can borrow whatever money we needs by selling bonds, both directly and indirectly, to the Central Bank - at interest of course. At years end, the Island Central Bank will return a portion of all interest collected back to the Island Council Treasury. Brilliant! Council Member Rich, you sir are a monetary genius! declared the new Island Captain. Here! Here! shouted Captain Tedrows hand-clapping Council flunkies.
SCENE # 32 Tempers Flare As The Rich Plan Is Killed Council Member Lindy Pop however, objected to The Rich Plan, An Island Central Bank? Are you flippin kidding me?! This is madness! Lindy Pop declared. He continued, Council Member Rich, you know darn well that Morgan D. Rockburg will own the shares of this Central Bank. You serve his interests, not the islands! Rockburg is the cause of the crisis, not the solution! Give him power to lend out currency created out of thin air, and he becomes Master of Bastiat Island! Through cycles of inflation and deflation, he can ruin us, or build us up, at his pleasure. Dear Council Members! Captain Bastiat would turn over in his grave over this! said Lindy Pop. Captain Tedrow then spoke up, Captain Bastiat was as a man of high ideals. May he rest in peace, and may his assassin rot in the fiery bowels of Hell for all eternity. Here! Here! chimed in the flunkies. I loved the good Captain as a devoted son loves a father. But in our modern economy, high ideals without business sense will ruin this island. The charter that Bastiat left us should be interpreted as a living document, subject to interpretive fine tuning for such a time as this. said Tedrow. Oh thats fine coming from you Tedrow, considering how you started giving orders - or should I say relaying orders before the Captains body was even cold! Lindy Pop shot back. Order! Order! yelled Nelson Rich as he banged his fist on the lectern. Councilman Lindy Pop! That is totally uncalled for! he shouted. Many Council Members were suspicious of The Rich Plan. In private, they often referred to Rich as Morgan D. Rockburgs Messenger Boy. The Rich Plan was put to a vote, and narrowly defeated. It was a stinging defeat for Rockburg, Tedrow, & Rich. But the setback would only be temporary.
PLEASE!
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