10/10/2014 Portland,
Oregon - Pop in your mints…
For some time we have
followed a group known as Positive Money UK on Twitter. They seem to
be among the few people/groups that have a decent comprehension of the flaws in
what we call the insane debt based monetary system in which the inhabitants of
the earth are either coerced or compelled to live by. They describe themselves as “a movement to
democratise money and banking so it works for society and not against it.”
We were reminded of
this by one of their tweets today:
The alien meme sums up
what we have been driving at for some time now here at The Mint. We tend to focus on the acceleration of the
damage that humankind causes to nature as the nasty side effect of using debt
as money, but it is well noted in other corners that indeed, many of the
distortions in relationships between persons and nations have the concept of
extinguishing debt as their root.
The video which is
linked to in the above Tweet from Positive Money UK is presented as a public
service below, it does a nice job of showing how the only way to create money
in our insane, debt based monetary system, is to go deeper into debt or have
someone else go into debt.
While the video is
spot on in terms of money creation, they present only half of the solution
(which we find is common in many monetary reform circles, namely Bitcoin). The second half that is too often ignored is
that 1) money, as a concept, necessarily will take on many forms in the world
and 2) whatever is used as money by a majority will necessarily require an
associated debt market to successfully operate for any length of time (the lack
of a viable debt market is killing Bitcoin).
This is the great supposed advantage of using debt in the form of
Central Bank notes as money, infinite debt markets = infinite liquidity,
meaning there is always money available.
It is this advantage that any viable monetary reform must include, or
else it is doomed from the start.
On their website,
Positive Money UK points out that “Only 1 in 10 MPs understand that 97% of
money is created by banks.” As the
English are generally cleverer than Americans, we would imagine the ratio in
the governing bodies on the US side of the pond to be even lower. If you need proof of this, just watch the
next Senate Banking Committee session on C-Span.
Nobody seems to get
that today, circa 2014, money and debt are the SAME THING. What passes as money today are nothing more
than liabilities of Central Banks. This
is a worldwide phenomenon, and the effects are profound.
Money is a concept
that attaches itself to certain real world things in various forms. Credit is another concept which attaches
itself to various agreements. They are
the antithesis of each other. Most
people generally understand this and spend a good deal of their time working or
causing others to work in order to attain a reasonable balance between the two
on their ledgers, regardless of the size.
However, as the above
video partially illustrates, most people are wrong, the only way to “make
money” is to “make debt.” This is
causing SEVERE imbalances in the natural world as the activities of mankind
continue with an unconscious disregard for the effects of the real world.
The effects on the
real world are this: There is an
inordinate amount of fallow land left unattended while an increasing share of
mankind passes time in urban settings, with their own productive capacity squarely
aligned, day in, day out, in conflict with the needs of the natural world.
The irony is that many
have taken note of the dire state of affairs of nature (read Climate Change,
etc.) and then misdiagnose the cause.
They clamor for more “money” to solve problems that have come about as
an indirect result of the creation of more “money.”
Humankind was never
meant to live under that shadow of such an overabundance of credit. The removal of limits on credit creation has
effectively removed the natural governor of the activities of man, the need to
create real, free market money, making certain that debts are settled in terms
of real goods which are demanded by a free market economy. The return to this natural governor on human
activity is indispensable if humankind is to even begin to address climate
change and world peace.
The return to this
natural governor will be painful, but it is inevitable, and the more one can
prepare now to operate in a world where money and credit operate in their
appropriate the capacities and take their appropriate places in a balanced
economy, the better.
The world is headed,
kicking and screaming, towards a forced monetary reset, and things will be much
different than they are now.
We applaud the efforts
of Positive Money UK, for they are on the right track. You too can follow them on Twitter or YouTube
and learn more about this fascinating and important subject that, by our own
reckoning, only one in a million comprehend.
Will that one be you?
Stay Fresh!
David Mint
Key Indicators for October
10, 2014
Corn Price per Bushel: $3.34
10 Yr US Treasury Bond: 2.31%
Bitcoin price in US: $360.13
FED Target Rate: 0.08%
Gold Price Per Ounce: $1,223
10 Yr US Treasury Bond: 2.31%
Bitcoin price in US: $360.13
FED Target Rate: 0.08%
Gold Price Per Ounce: $1,223
MINT Perceived Target Rate*: 0.25%
Unemployment Rate: 5.9%
Inflation Rate (CPI): -0.2%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,544
M1 Monetary Base: $2,969,100,000,000
M2 Monetary
Base: $11,407,100,000,000Unemployment Rate: 5.9%
Inflation Rate (CPI): -0.2%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,544
M1 Monetary Base: $2,969,100,000,000