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If you REALLY WANT TO FIX THINGS...
The answer is simple. It could happen tomorrow, in one day.
This post on ZH (yes, THAT ZH) got me thinking about something that I have mulled over for a long time, but not had the guts to write. I am afraid to write it. It's an idea, and ideas are really powerful. They can move the earth, they can bring any power to it's knees. But, in order to do that, it has to be a collective idea. A vision and a purpose we all want to share and work towards. A vision that is fair and just, and one that values ALL HUMAN LIFE as equally as we value our own lives and those of our children.
Here is the post. My comments are in RED below. Read it if you dare.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/and...80%A6%E2%80%A6
And So, My Fellow Americans: Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You ………
Submitted by Cognitive Dissonance on 04/05/2010 11:00 -0500
And So, My Fellow Americans: Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You ………
For a few months now, I've been sensing a shifting vibration in the comment section of ZH and it’s something I wanted to talk about. There’s a growing undercurrent of inevitable defeat and resignation in the air and if nothing else, we need to be aware of and acknowledge it. I suspect some of it has to do with the very nature of Zero Hedge, which has a single minded focus; to expose the ugly underbelly of the beast and its various assorted minions, lackeys, stooges and front men. So the range of comments that are "on topic" will obviously be narrower (and a bit more negative) than a standard financial news blog or a general interest news site. This is to be expected. Tyler, Marla and the rest of the crew set the beat and we dance to the tune.
In addition, the invited contributors are guests of Zero Hedge and pretty much stay within the Zero Hedge theme, though poor Leo gets beat up for being realistic (some would say optimistic) in his assessment that the rocket fueled market rise isn’t over. I can't speak for the others but my sense of social grace demands that I not burden or embarrass my host by singing off key. After Tyler invited me to contribute and Marla showed me the house, my primary question was "What were the house rules"? Marla said that other than the obvious, meaning no loud parties, keep my feet of the coffee table and use a coaster under my glass, there really were no rules. The ultimate judge of whether an article is off base would be the reception it receives on ZH. She wouldn't need to run me out of town if I bombed or went off the reservation because the ZH community would do it for her. Fair enough. But this is a financial blog and I’ve often wondered where the line is between inbounds and out.
With that in mind and with sufficient rope in hand to hang myself, I’d like to start a new dialogue. There seems to be a growing survivor’s vibe on ZH that has ballooned as the stock market rise has continued in defiance of all known laws of gravity. There’s quite a bit of anticipation that the bubble’s going to blow soon and it's going to be ugly when it does. And while everyone doesn’t subscribe to this perspective, in my view we seem to be developing a herd mentality that is narrowing our focus and tolerance for contrary views. Considering this is a contrary blog, we’re becoming somewhat intolerant of contrary views. In my humble opinion these are warning signs, and this was the reason I decided to post my "How To Start A Populist Movement In Under Three Minutes" article. My intent was to break up the music mix and spin some new tunes. And as always, I wanted to spark discussion and debate.
The response was great, with many jumping in and providing intelligent and thoughtful feedback, proving once again that the real value and hidden treasure of ZH is in the comments section. In fact, there appears to be a movement growing already, with many discussing the idea of a one page synopsis of the top issues we're facing that can be quickly distributed to friends and community. This was an excellent example of proactive thinking rather than reactive, of positive instead of negative; a sign of healthy community discourse. In fact, there was an wonderful comment posted by "Bob" that I would like to (in part) repost because it deserves closer attention. He (assuming Bob is a he) brings up a valid point and something I was hoping to see. Bob said....
"I'm pleased to see this question addressed. My perception of the ZH commenter community's evolution from the beginning to now is that the herd here has developed ever more sophisticated rationales, analyses, arguments and proofs, excuses, etc., for fatalistic surrender to impotence in the face of the criminal mass clusterfuck by the banksters and their minions. This strikes me lately as the perfect soil for a non-movement . . . a potential crop that just never germinated. If I were a NSA psy-ops guy, I can see that clever passivity would be a great thing to cultivate as cool enlightenment. I would indeed like to see something different here, however."
Further down, in response to some back and forth commenting, Bob makes another valid point. He says……
“I do understand the math, B9K9, but I don't understand sitting back. That posture may be good for the individual, but the larger community (it seems to me) deserves more from the people who are most knowledgeable--meaning much of the ZH readership--than for us to circle our wagons and simply await the fireworks together. I understand the odds of it making any difference, but it strikes me as throwing in the towel. Do I have an active alternative to offer? Not in cyberspace, I'm afraid.”
The focus of my articles and comments, particularly since I was invited to be a contributor, has been to see the bigger picture, to look within the mind as well as over the hill, to see beyond the single minded perspective of “the one” and gain the perspective of the many. If we were to dogmatically follow a path of strict self interest in our thinking and actions, the community as a whole, whether in cyberspace or in earth space, would rapidly disintegrate into a narcissistic naval gazing self centered hell hole.
In my view, Bob quite eloquently challenged us to see not only that we need to move beyond the self, the ego, but that we must do so, that it is our obligation as members of this community to reach out to others and return far more than we consume. He’s talking about the selfless impulse of community service in whatever form it may take. Bob is challenging us to put our money where our mouth is and do something rather than just talk about it. His comments certainly hit home with me. While my message has been consistent, I’ve been timid and hesitant, reluctant to push any harder than to drop ideas and concepts here and there and see what germinates. As I said earlier, some of that has to do with my position as a guest. But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t do more.
So are we just sitting around, waiting for Armageddon to arrive to prove us correct in our assessment? Are we endlessly discussing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin while congratulating each other on how refined our analysis is? I don't mean to be harsh or critical. ZH is by far the best blog I've ever seen, with an active community of dedicated contributors and posters of obvious high intelligence, open mindedness and tolerance for contrary views and opinions. The community is the icing on the cake Tyler, Marla and company serve up piping hot on a daily basis. Hands down, we have a great community.
But where are we going and what will our contribution be to the community outside of ZH if we’re correct and the world is headed for a very painful awakening? What if it doesn’t? We talk all the time about the sleepwalking masses. I published two articles titled "End of Empire" which obviously speaks to where I think things are headed, though I expect the unwinding to be agonizingly slow as the vampire powers extract every last ounce of blood from the body, eventually killing it’s energy source. But what am I doing about it? How am I preparing myself and my community for what I see coming? If you think this thing through, if the veins and arteries of this nation become clogged, not only will the nation as a whole suffer greatly but the communities where we live will be impacted as well.
I found myself thinking the other day that my America, the one I grew up with and took for granted, was missing in action, AWOL, gone and seemingly never to return. And I wondered what had happened. Why wasn’t someone doing something about this? Where were the responsible people? Where did “we” go wrong? How could we have let these bastards steal that which is most important to each and everyone one of us, our identity, our national soul, our presence. It feels like someone snuck in during the night and took the very essence of America. Then I realized that this essence isn’t static or stationary, that it can’t be formed into a box or tin can which is then placed on a shelf for easy retrieval when needed. It’s much more than that.
My body is not the same “body” I possessed a month ago. Most of my cells have been replaced or repaired and technically I’m not the same person I was. But obviously I am the same. This seamless transition occurs because my essence (some would say my soul) is passed from one cell to the next, with both old and new cells acting in concert to maintain and possibly improve the whole, the entity of which each cell is a part of. The continuity provided by my consciousness ensures that my essence isn’t lost as my component parts are repaired and replaced.
Thinking this through to its logical conclusion, a deep sadness fell over me as I recognized that at some point I had failed to pass on America’s essence to the next person, the next citizen, that I was in fact AWOL, not America. America is exactly what you would expect her to be after decades of neglect and disinterest, of constant use without renewal. I looked into the belly of the beast and that beast was me. If I had been upholding my end of the bargain, these bastards would not have been able to do as much damage as they’ve done. I’m not shouldering all of the blame, only my fair share of this mess. I’m not asking us to walk a self destructive path of endless guilt and despair, only that we do an honest self assessment of our own responsibilities and (in) action and then move the ball forward.
America isn’t a land mass located in the Northern Hemisphere between the Pacific and Atlantic. America isn’t 350 million people who live within its boundaries nor is it a government drifting dangerously close to a rocky shoal in uncharted waters. America is none of these things. America is an idea, a concept, a state of mind, the cumulative product of the collective consciousness of not only its inhabitants, but of the 6.6 billion humans who live outside its borders. Which means America can renew and rebuild as quickly as we wish, for the reality of this renewal can materialize as quickly as our imagination can create it. We can change everything in an instant if that is our wish.
For example, I can instantly decide I no longer wish to be angry with my son for some silliness he may be guilty of. It’s me, and me only, who can decide at this very moment that I would rather love and hold him tight than spend another minute angry about something of no consequence. This conscious decision, not anything my son did or didn’t do, is the spark that creates the change that then effortlessly materializes. No one “makes” me angry, sad, glad or frustrated. It’s always my choice, my decision, what my reaction or perspective will be, regardless of outside influences. I decide what state of mind I possess and what will be presented to the world from one moment to the next. To blame anything or anyone else for my state of mind is nothing more than blame shifting and the ultimate in self deception. The same applies to all of us; to that state of mind we call America. This is our center, our energy source, where our true power originates. It can never be taken from us, only given away because we’re either ignorant that we posses it or tricked into believing it doesn’t exist at all.
The American renewal could begin in an instant if only we make the conscious decision. When done, it would quickly be followed by the fleeing sorcerers and magicians. It’s so deceptively simple that it remains incomprehensible. The powers-that-be have tricked us to believe that only they possess the power to change what we see. So while fully armed but convinced we are defeated, we hand over our power and turn back to our bleating. The powers may appear to be supremely arrogant, but they’re also aware that the time bomb is ticking. They’re more frightened of us than we are of them and the evidence of this is in their preparations for the end.
While there are always a thousand and one reasons not to do something and sometimes just one or two in favor, the consensus roadblock to change is awareness and self-actualization, brought about through organization. Here is a brief excerpt from the book “Here Comes Everybody: The Power Of Organizing Without Organizations” by Clay Shirky.
“For most of modern life, our strong talents and desires for group effort have been filtered through relatively rigid institutional structures because of the complexity of managing groups. We haven’t had all the groups we’ve wanted, we’ve simply had the groups we could afford. The old limits of what unmanaged and unpaid groups can do are no longer in operation. The difficulties that keep self assembled groups from working together are shrinking, meaning that the number and kinds of things groups can get done without financial motivation or managerial oversight are growing. The current change in one sentence is this. Most of the barriers to group action have collapsed and without these barriers we are free to explore new ways of gathering together and getting things done.”
For thousands of years, each successive generation of the powerful have perfected the techniques and methods used to distract, deflect or destroy populist movements that have a dynamic leader. And the belief is that movements cannot exist without a leader. The failed populist movements of the past 50 years of American history are perfect examples of this. The labor, anti-war and minority movements of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s were subverted from within or by execution. The same can be said with the political assassinations by the state of JFK, RFK and MLK, to name just a few. To think that such overwhelming forces could be subverted by a leader of a nascent movement is pure folly. You do not attempt to meet head on any forces that are overwhelming. But, what keeps the powerful up at night is precisely the opposite, a leaderless movement that can’t be appeased, divided or decapitated. And since the mechanisms of communication for leaderless organizations are now a central part of the economies of the world, the tools we can use to create this movement can’t be taken from us without crippling the powerful as well. Power to the people now has a new and more powerful context in which to germinate and bloom.
A very famous line from John F Kennedy's Inaugural Address of January 20, 1061 has been rattling around in my head for weeks. Kennedy was attempting to tap into the soul and creative spirit of America with his signature speech, and he continued this theme during his tragically short presidency. JFK was not only trying to wake a sleeping giant, he was doing something far more dangerous to the entrenched powers-that-be. He was attempting to transfer power back to Americans by inspiring Americans. He was showing us that we can, that we should, that we are in fact obligated and responsible as citizens of this nation to give more than we receive. Most importantly, he was telling us with actions and words that by doing so; we grow stronger both individually and collectively. This is a concept we take for granted when dealing with our families, but we’ve forgotten it’s also our responsibility and reward as citizens of this nation and our community. We complain that we’re called consumers rather than citizens. Do we deserve to consider ourselves citizens? Do we honor the concept of citizenship with little more than our rhetoric?
So with apologies to Tyler and Marla if I'm breaking the house rules and in the spirit of the season of spring renewal, I’d like to ask the ZH community what we think each of us might do to move the ball forward. Short of moving into an underground bunker with a stash of dehydrated food and emergency supplies of Playboy magazine (or Playgirl for our female contingent) if or when the breakdown comes, we'll still be living in our community and thus we'll need to make do with what's in place at that time. What can we do on a local, regional or national level that will improve our lot in life as a community and as a nation, now or later? How can we organize without leaders? As far as I’m concerned, anything goes and no comment should be shouted down as silly because quite frankly, we really have no idea how this will play out.
As inspiration, below please find Kennedy's inaugural speech in its entirety. Ready.....Set......Go!
Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens, we observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom—symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning—signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
This much we pledge—and more.
To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do—for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
To those new States whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom—and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.
To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required—not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge—to convert our good words into good deeds—in a new alliance for progress—to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.
To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support—to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective—to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak—and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.
Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.
We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.
But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course—both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.
So let us begin anew—remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.
Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms—and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.
Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.
Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah—to "undo the heavy burdens ... and to let the oppressed go free."
And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.
All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.
Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"—a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.
So what is this wonderful solution? The one that singly, no one could succeed with, but collectively, would be unstoppable.
Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. You see it is no good proposing solutions if you don't know what the problem is.
So what is it then, our problem. Not the SYMPTOMS, but the true and real cause, the ROOT CAUSE, as it were?
Well if you've read up on the history of monetary inflation in the French Republic, I think you'll find your answer.
In it, you will find all of the symptoms that our failing society displays today.
If you doubt my claim, please read this short work and TELL ME, what symptoms do we have now that did not exist then? I would argue, NONE. Our society is exhibiting ALL of the problems, ALL of the fears that brought down that once new, once great creation of men's minds, the republic.
http://books.google.com/books?id=jSt...age&q=&f=false
If the symptoms are the SAME, what was the proximate cause?
Can you guess?
Yes, Inflation.
I will let you find the proof of this in your own comparison of the symptoms then versus our symptoms now. What is illuminating however is the fact that the author goes to great lengths to establish the cause of these symptoms.
What I advocate is what I like to call "The Trading Places" strategy.
Not this
[media][/media]
THIS
[media][/media]
Everybody lives, nobody dies (Randolph is okay in the end) no shots get fired.
How to accomplish this wonderful feat? Simple, it's just a variation on the old Alchemists dream. Instead of Lead, we just turn PAPER into physical gold and silver, that's all. (All of it, into all of it). No stocks, no bonds, no futures, no cash. All of your savings, all of your investments, aside from what you need to survive on. That's all. It's that simple. Fix the root cause of the money disease and the symptoms disappear. And they go away FOREVER, and it can be done in a DAY.
The corruption machine dies it's proper death, and we get to start again, the way it was supposed to be. A real economy for real people limited by productive capacity and not subject to that which is well-intended but ultimately fails due to man's unquenched thirst for avarice. A linear system bounded by linear resources, not an exponential system that is rushing head-long into a finite-resource wall that emperils us all. We either fight to the death over the worlds remaining resources, or we scale back, and find a new way forward that allows us to progress at a linear pace.
The money system is the key. Without it, the abuses and corruption that we have now would not be possible. The TBTF's, TARPS, EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION, WARS, they all go away. Starve the beast is the essence, but let's make sure of what we WANT to starve.
It is the things that degrade, divide and destroy our society. Not the things that provide comfort to the afflicted. Not things that make our society grow and prosper and provide opportunity, compassion, and happiness.
The speech below by Francisco D'Anconia in Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" says all that needs to be said. We are, right now, living in the world described below. Together we posses the power to put and end to this horrible mutation called a financial system. But ONLY together can we accomplish this task.
I've read the book, and there is only on flaw in her logic that I can detect and that is on the subject of the individual. You see, she argues (and I bought, for a time) that we are each individually responsible for everything in our own lives. We determine our own success or failure. This is true except for one CRITICAL POINT. What determines each of us? She implies that we are each the sum total of what we were born with. She is incorrect. We are each a product of all of those that made an IMPACT in our lives. Their COLLECTIVE ACTION molds who we are. It can be positive, allowing us to achieve our full God given potential. Or it can be negative, holding back our development to the lowest subsistence level existence or worse, MUCH worse. It can turn us into animals that feel no human grace, empathy or emotion. This happens not because of the people that we are, but because we were prevented from developing into the people we were SUPPOSED to be.
I'm well and truly blessed. All my bumps and knocks were ALL in the right direction. I don't know how or why it happened that way, only that it did.
So I would ask you to make an active choice and decide what kind of world you truly want to live in. And, to understand that choices have consequences. Failing to ACTIVELY Choose one, will lead DIRECTLY TO THE OTHER.
That is our CHOICE. Choose, or it will be chosen for you. Chose well, however. Because you only get to make this choice once. An opportunity exists to allow you the leisure of time, but time doesn't last for ever.
So choose, and I hope you chose with me. Tomorrow is another day but there might not be another tomorrow.
(Oh, and here is why it only takes a day)
[media][/media]
"So you think that money is the root of all evil?" said Francisco d'Anconia. "Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?
"When you accept money in payment for your effort, you do so only on the conviction that you will exchange it for the product of the effort of others. It is not the moochers or the looters who give value to money. Not an ocean of tears not all the guns in the world can transform those pieces of paper in your wallet into the bread you will need to survive tomorrow. Those pieces of paper, which should have been gold, are a token of honor--your claim upon the energy of the men who produce. Your wallet is your statement of hope that somewhere in the world around you there are men who will not default on that moral principle which is the root of money, Is this what you consider evil?
"Have you ever looked for the root of production? Take a look at an electric generator and dare tell yourself that it was created by the muscular effort of unthinking brutes. Try to grow a seed of wheat without the knowledge left to you by men who had to discover it for the first time. Try to obtain your food by means of nothing but physical motions--and you'll learn that man's mind is the root of all the goods produced and of all the wealth that has ever existed on earth.
"But you say that money is made by the strong at the expense of the weak? What strength do you mean? It is not the strength of guns or muscles. Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think. Then is money made by the man who invents a motor at the expense of those who did not invent it? Is money made by the intelligent at the expense of the fools? By the able at the expense of the incompetent? By the ambitious at the expense of the lazy? Money is made--before it can be looted or mooched--made by the effort of every honest man, each to the extent of his ability. An honest man is one who knows that he can't consume more than he has produced.'
"To trade by means of money is the code of the men of good will. Money rests on the axiom that every man is the owner of his mind and his effort. Money allows no power to prescribe the value of your effort except the voluntary choice of the man who is willing to trade you his effort in return. Money permits you to obtain for your goods and your labor that which they are worth to the men who buy them, but no more. Money permits no deals except those to mutual benefit by the unforced judgment of the traders. Money demands of you the recognition that men must work for their own benefit, not for their own injury, for their gain, not their loss--the recognition that they are not beasts of burden, born to carry the weight of your misery--that you must offer them values, not wounds--that the common bond among men is not the exchange of suffering, but the exchange of goods. Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men's stupidity, but your talent to their reason; it demands that you buy, not the shoddiest they offer, but the best that your money can find. And when men live by trade--with reason, not force, as their final arbiter--it is the best product that wins, the best performance, the man of best judgment and highest ability--and the degree of a man's productiveness is the degree of his reward. This is the code of existence whose tool and symbol is money. Is this what you consider evil?
"But money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. It will give you the means for the satisfaction of your desires, but it will not provide you with desires. Money is the scourge of the men who attempt to reverse the law of causality--the men who seek to replace the mind by seizing the products of the mind.
"Money will not purchase happiness for the man who has no concept of what he wants: money will not give him a code of values, if he's evaded the knowledge of what to value, and it will not provide him with a purpose, if he's evaded the choice of what to seek. Money will not buy intelligence for the fool, or admiration for the coward, or respect for the incompetent. The man who attempts to purchase the brains of his superiors to serve him, with his money replacing his judgment, ends up by becoming the victim of his inferiors. The men of intelligence desert him, but the cheats and the frauds come flocking to him, drawn by a law which he has not discovered: that no man may be smaller than his money. Is this the reason why you call it evil?
"Only the man who does not need it, is fit to inherit wealth--the man who would make his own fortune no matter where he started. If an heir is equal to his money, it serves him; if not, it destroys him. But you look on and you cry that money corrupted him. Did it? Or did he corrupt his money? Do not envy a worthless heir; his wealth is not yours and you would have done no better with it. Do not think that it should have been distributed among you; loading the world with fifty parasites instead of one, would not bring back the dead virtue which was the fortune. Money is a living power that dies without its root. Money will not serve the mind that cannot match it. Is this the reason why you call it evil?
"Money is your means of survival. The verdict you pronounce upon the source of your livelihood is the verdict you pronounce upon your life. If the source is corrupt, you have damned your own existence. Did you get your money by fraud? By pandering to men's vices or men's stupidity? By catering to fools, in the hope of getting more than your ability deserves? By lowering your standards? By doing work you despise for purchasers you scorn? If so, then your money will not give you a moment's or a penny's worth of joy. Then all the things you buy will become, not a tribute to you, but a reproach; not an achievement, but a reminder of shame. Then you'll scream that money is evil. Evil, because it would not pinch-hit for your self-respect? Evil, because it would not let you enjoy your depravity? Is this the root of your hatred of money?
"Money will always remain an effect and refuse to replace you as the cause. Money is the product of virtue, but it will not give you virtue and it will not redeem your vices. Money will not give you the unearned, neither in matter nor in spirit. Is this the root of your hatred of money?
"Or did you say it's the love of money that's the root of all evil? To love a thing is to know and love its nature. To love money is to know and love the fact that money is the creation of the best power within you, and your passkey to trade your effort for the effort of the best among men. It's the person who would sell his soul for a nickel, who is loudest in proclaiming his hatred of money--and he has good reason to hate it. The lovers of money are willing to work for it. They know they are able to deserve it.
"Let me give you a tip on a clue to men's characters: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it.
"Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper's bell of an approaching looter. So long as men live together on earth and need means to deal with one another--their only substitute, if they abandon money, is the muzzle of a gun.
"But money demands of you the highest virtues, if you wish to make it or to keep it. Men who have no courage, pride or self-esteem, men who have no moral sense of their right to their money and are not willing to defend it as they defend their life, men who apologize for being rich--will not remain rich for long. They are the natural bait for the swarms of looters that stay under rocks for centuries, but come crawling out at the first smell of a man who begs to be forgiven for the guilt of owning wealth. They will hasten to relieve him of the guilt--and of his life, as he deserves.
"Then you will see the rise of the men of the double standard--the men who live by force, yet count on those who live by trade to create the value of their looted money--the men who are the hitchhikers of virtue. In a moral society, these are the criminals, and the statutes are written to protect you against them. But when a society establishes criminals-by-right and looters-by-law--men who use force to seize the wealth of disarmed victims--then money becomes its creators' avenger. Such looters believe it safe to rob defenseless men, once they've passed a law to disarm them. But their loot becomes the magnet for other looters, who get it from them as they got it. Then the race goes, not to the ablest at production, but to those most ruthless at brutality. When force is the standard, the murderer wins over the pickpocket. And then that society vanishes, in a spread of ruins and slaughter.
"Do you wish to know whether that day is coming? Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society's virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion--when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing--when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors--when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you--when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice--you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that is does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot.
"Whenever destroyers appear among men, they start by destroying money, for money is men's protection and the base of a moral existence. Destroyers seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of paper. This kills all objective standards and delivers men into the arbitrary power of an arbitrary setter of values. Gold was an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Paper is a check drawn by legal looters upon an account which is not theirs: upon the virtue of the victims. Watch for the day when it bounces, marked, 'Account overdrawn.'
"When you have made evil the means of survival, do not expect men to remain good. Do not expect them to stay moral and lose their lives for the purpose of becoming the fodder of the immoral. Do not expect them to produce, when production is punished and looting rewarded. Do not ask, 'Who is destroying the world? You are.
"You stand in the midst of the greatest achievements of the greatest productive civilization and you wonder why it's crumbling around you, while you're damning its life-blood--money. You look upon money as the savages did before you, and you wonder why the jungle is creeping back to the edge of your cities. Throughout men's history, money was always seized by looters of one brand or another, whose names changed, but whose method remained the same: to seize wealth by force and to keep the producers bound, demeaned, defamed, deprived of honor. That phrase about the evil of money, which you mouth with such righteous recklessness, comes from a time when wealth was produced by the labor of slaves--slaves who repeated the motions once discovered by somebody's mind and left unimproved for centuries. So long as production was ruled by force, and wealth was obtained by conquest, there was little to conquer, Yet through all the centuries of stagnation and starvation, men exalted the looters, as aristocrats of the sword, as aristocrats of birth, as aristocrats of the bureau, and despised the producers, as slaves, as traders, as shopkeepers--as industrialists.
"To the glory of mankind, there was, for the first and only time in history, a country of money--and I have no higher, more reverent tribute to pay to America, for this means: a country of reason, justice, freedom, production, achievement. For the first time, man's mind and money were set free, and there were no fortunes-by-conquest, but only fortunes-by-work, and instead of swordsmen and slaves, there appeared the real maker of wealth, the greatest worker, the highest type of human being--the self-made man--the American industrialist.
"If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose--because it contains all the others--the fact that they were the people who created the phrase 'to make money.' No other language or nation had ever used these words before; men had always thought of wealth as a static quantity--to be seized, begged, inherited, shared, looted or obtained as a favor. Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created. The words 'to make money' hold the essence of human morality.
"Yet these were the words for which Americans were denounced by the rotted cultures of the looters' continents. Now the looters' credo has brought you to regard your proudest achievements as a hallmark of shame, your prosperity as guilt, your greatest men, the industrialists, as blackguards, and your magnificent factories as the product and property of muscular labor, the labor of whip-driven slaves, like the pyramids of Egypt. The rotter who simpers that he sees no difference between the power of the dollar and the power of the whip, ought to learn the difference on his own hide-- as, I think, he will.
"Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to be the tool by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of men. Blood, whips and guns--or dollars. Take your choice--there is no other--and your time is running out."
The answer is simple. It could happen tomorrow, in one day.
This post on ZH (yes, THAT ZH) got me thinking about something that I have mulled over for a long time, but not had the guts to write. I am afraid to write it. It's an idea, and ideas are really powerful. They can move the earth, they can bring any power to it's knees. But, in order to do that, it has to be a collective idea. A vision and a purpose we all want to share and work towards. A vision that is fair and just, and one that values ALL HUMAN LIFE as equally as we value our own lives and those of our children.
Here is the post. My comments are in RED below. Read it if you dare.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/and...80%A6%E2%80%A6
And So, My Fellow Americans: Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You ………
Submitted by Cognitive Dissonance on 04/05/2010 11:00 -0500
And So, My Fellow Americans: Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You ………
For a few months now, I've been sensing a shifting vibration in the comment section of ZH and it’s something I wanted to talk about. There’s a growing undercurrent of inevitable defeat and resignation in the air and if nothing else, we need to be aware of and acknowledge it. I suspect some of it has to do with the very nature of Zero Hedge, which has a single minded focus; to expose the ugly underbelly of the beast and its various assorted minions, lackeys, stooges and front men. So the range of comments that are "on topic" will obviously be narrower (and a bit more negative) than a standard financial news blog or a general interest news site. This is to be expected. Tyler, Marla and the rest of the crew set the beat and we dance to the tune.
In addition, the invited contributors are guests of Zero Hedge and pretty much stay within the Zero Hedge theme, though poor Leo gets beat up for being realistic (some would say optimistic) in his assessment that the rocket fueled market rise isn’t over. I can't speak for the others but my sense of social grace demands that I not burden or embarrass my host by singing off key. After Tyler invited me to contribute and Marla showed me the house, my primary question was "What were the house rules"? Marla said that other than the obvious, meaning no loud parties, keep my feet of the coffee table and use a coaster under my glass, there really were no rules. The ultimate judge of whether an article is off base would be the reception it receives on ZH. She wouldn't need to run me out of town if I bombed or went off the reservation because the ZH community would do it for her. Fair enough. But this is a financial blog and I’ve often wondered where the line is between inbounds and out.
With that in mind and with sufficient rope in hand to hang myself, I’d like to start a new dialogue. There seems to be a growing survivor’s vibe on ZH that has ballooned as the stock market rise has continued in defiance of all known laws of gravity. There’s quite a bit of anticipation that the bubble’s going to blow soon and it's going to be ugly when it does. And while everyone doesn’t subscribe to this perspective, in my view we seem to be developing a herd mentality that is narrowing our focus and tolerance for contrary views. Considering this is a contrary blog, we’re becoming somewhat intolerant of contrary views. In my humble opinion these are warning signs, and this was the reason I decided to post my "How To Start A Populist Movement In Under Three Minutes" article. My intent was to break up the music mix and spin some new tunes. And as always, I wanted to spark discussion and debate.
The response was great, with many jumping in and providing intelligent and thoughtful feedback, proving once again that the real value and hidden treasure of ZH is in the comments section. In fact, there appears to be a movement growing already, with many discussing the idea of a one page synopsis of the top issues we're facing that can be quickly distributed to friends and community. This was an excellent example of proactive thinking rather than reactive, of positive instead of negative; a sign of healthy community discourse. In fact, there was an wonderful comment posted by "Bob" that I would like to (in part) repost because it deserves closer attention. He (assuming Bob is a he) brings up a valid point and something I was hoping to see. Bob said....
"I'm pleased to see this question addressed. My perception of the ZH commenter community's evolution from the beginning to now is that the herd here has developed ever more sophisticated rationales, analyses, arguments and proofs, excuses, etc., for fatalistic surrender to impotence in the face of the criminal mass clusterfuck by the banksters and their minions. This strikes me lately as the perfect soil for a non-movement . . . a potential crop that just never germinated. If I were a NSA psy-ops guy, I can see that clever passivity would be a great thing to cultivate as cool enlightenment. I would indeed like to see something different here, however."
Further down, in response to some back and forth commenting, Bob makes another valid point. He says……
“I do understand the math, B9K9, but I don't understand sitting back. That posture may be good for the individual, but the larger community (it seems to me) deserves more from the people who are most knowledgeable--meaning much of the ZH readership--than for us to circle our wagons and simply await the fireworks together. I understand the odds of it making any difference, but it strikes me as throwing in the towel. Do I have an active alternative to offer? Not in cyberspace, I'm afraid.”
The focus of my articles and comments, particularly since I was invited to be a contributor, has been to see the bigger picture, to look within the mind as well as over the hill, to see beyond the single minded perspective of “the one” and gain the perspective of the many. If we were to dogmatically follow a path of strict self interest in our thinking and actions, the community as a whole, whether in cyberspace or in earth space, would rapidly disintegrate into a narcissistic naval gazing self centered hell hole.
In my view, Bob quite eloquently challenged us to see not only that we need to move beyond the self, the ego, but that we must do so, that it is our obligation as members of this community to reach out to others and return far more than we consume. He’s talking about the selfless impulse of community service in whatever form it may take. Bob is challenging us to put our money where our mouth is and do something rather than just talk about it. His comments certainly hit home with me. While my message has been consistent, I’ve been timid and hesitant, reluctant to push any harder than to drop ideas and concepts here and there and see what germinates. As I said earlier, some of that has to do with my position as a guest. But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t do more.
So are we just sitting around, waiting for Armageddon to arrive to prove us correct in our assessment? Are we endlessly discussing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin while congratulating each other on how refined our analysis is? I don't mean to be harsh or critical. ZH is by far the best blog I've ever seen, with an active community of dedicated contributors and posters of obvious high intelligence, open mindedness and tolerance for contrary views and opinions. The community is the icing on the cake Tyler, Marla and company serve up piping hot on a daily basis. Hands down, we have a great community.
But where are we going and what will our contribution be to the community outside of ZH if we’re correct and the world is headed for a very painful awakening? What if it doesn’t? We talk all the time about the sleepwalking masses. I published two articles titled "End of Empire" which obviously speaks to where I think things are headed, though I expect the unwinding to be agonizingly slow as the vampire powers extract every last ounce of blood from the body, eventually killing it’s energy source. But what am I doing about it? How am I preparing myself and my community for what I see coming? If you think this thing through, if the veins and arteries of this nation become clogged, not only will the nation as a whole suffer greatly but the communities where we live will be impacted as well.
I found myself thinking the other day that my America, the one I grew up with and took for granted, was missing in action, AWOL, gone and seemingly never to return. And I wondered what had happened. Why wasn’t someone doing something about this? Where were the responsible people? Where did “we” go wrong? How could we have let these bastards steal that which is most important to each and everyone one of us, our identity, our national soul, our presence. It feels like someone snuck in during the night and took the very essence of America. Then I realized that this essence isn’t static or stationary, that it can’t be formed into a box or tin can which is then placed on a shelf for easy retrieval when needed. It’s much more than that.
My body is not the same “body” I possessed a month ago. Most of my cells have been replaced or repaired and technically I’m not the same person I was. But obviously I am the same. This seamless transition occurs because my essence (some would say my soul) is passed from one cell to the next, with both old and new cells acting in concert to maintain and possibly improve the whole, the entity of which each cell is a part of. The continuity provided by my consciousness ensures that my essence isn’t lost as my component parts are repaired and replaced.
Thinking this through to its logical conclusion, a deep sadness fell over me as I recognized that at some point I had failed to pass on America’s essence to the next person, the next citizen, that I was in fact AWOL, not America. America is exactly what you would expect her to be after decades of neglect and disinterest, of constant use without renewal. I looked into the belly of the beast and that beast was me. If I had been upholding my end of the bargain, these bastards would not have been able to do as much damage as they’ve done. I’m not shouldering all of the blame, only my fair share of this mess. I’m not asking us to walk a self destructive path of endless guilt and despair, only that we do an honest self assessment of our own responsibilities and (in) action and then move the ball forward.
America isn’t a land mass located in the Northern Hemisphere between the Pacific and Atlantic. America isn’t 350 million people who live within its boundaries nor is it a government drifting dangerously close to a rocky shoal in uncharted waters. America is none of these things. America is an idea, a concept, a state of mind, the cumulative product of the collective consciousness of not only its inhabitants, but of the 6.6 billion humans who live outside its borders. Which means America can renew and rebuild as quickly as we wish, for the reality of this renewal can materialize as quickly as our imagination can create it. We can change everything in an instant if that is our wish.
For example, I can instantly decide I no longer wish to be angry with my son for some silliness he may be guilty of. It’s me, and me only, who can decide at this very moment that I would rather love and hold him tight than spend another minute angry about something of no consequence. This conscious decision, not anything my son did or didn’t do, is the spark that creates the change that then effortlessly materializes. No one “makes” me angry, sad, glad or frustrated. It’s always my choice, my decision, what my reaction or perspective will be, regardless of outside influences. I decide what state of mind I possess and what will be presented to the world from one moment to the next. To blame anything or anyone else for my state of mind is nothing more than blame shifting and the ultimate in self deception. The same applies to all of us; to that state of mind we call America. This is our center, our energy source, where our true power originates. It can never be taken from us, only given away because we’re either ignorant that we posses it or tricked into believing it doesn’t exist at all.
The American renewal could begin in an instant if only we make the conscious decision. When done, it would quickly be followed by the fleeing sorcerers and magicians. It’s so deceptively simple that it remains incomprehensible. The powers-that-be have tricked us to believe that only they possess the power to change what we see. So while fully armed but convinced we are defeated, we hand over our power and turn back to our bleating. The powers may appear to be supremely arrogant, but they’re also aware that the time bomb is ticking. They’re more frightened of us than we are of them and the evidence of this is in their preparations for the end.
While there are always a thousand and one reasons not to do something and sometimes just one or two in favor, the consensus roadblock to change is awareness and self-actualization, brought about through organization. Here is a brief excerpt from the book “Here Comes Everybody: The Power Of Organizing Without Organizations” by Clay Shirky.
“For most of modern life, our strong talents and desires for group effort have been filtered through relatively rigid institutional structures because of the complexity of managing groups. We haven’t had all the groups we’ve wanted, we’ve simply had the groups we could afford. The old limits of what unmanaged and unpaid groups can do are no longer in operation. The difficulties that keep self assembled groups from working together are shrinking, meaning that the number and kinds of things groups can get done without financial motivation or managerial oversight are growing. The current change in one sentence is this. Most of the barriers to group action have collapsed and without these barriers we are free to explore new ways of gathering together and getting things done.”
For thousands of years, each successive generation of the powerful have perfected the techniques and methods used to distract, deflect or destroy populist movements that have a dynamic leader. And the belief is that movements cannot exist without a leader. The failed populist movements of the past 50 years of American history are perfect examples of this. The labor, anti-war and minority movements of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s were subverted from within or by execution. The same can be said with the political assassinations by the state of JFK, RFK and MLK, to name just a few. To think that such overwhelming forces could be subverted by a leader of a nascent movement is pure folly. You do not attempt to meet head on any forces that are overwhelming. But, what keeps the powerful up at night is precisely the opposite, a leaderless movement that can’t be appeased, divided or decapitated. And since the mechanisms of communication for leaderless organizations are now a central part of the economies of the world, the tools we can use to create this movement can’t be taken from us without crippling the powerful as well. Power to the people now has a new and more powerful context in which to germinate and bloom.
A very famous line from John F Kennedy's Inaugural Address of January 20, 1061 has been rattling around in my head for weeks. Kennedy was attempting to tap into the soul and creative spirit of America with his signature speech, and he continued this theme during his tragically short presidency. JFK was not only trying to wake a sleeping giant, he was doing something far more dangerous to the entrenched powers-that-be. He was attempting to transfer power back to Americans by inspiring Americans. He was showing us that we can, that we should, that we are in fact obligated and responsible as citizens of this nation to give more than we receive. Most importantly, he was telling us with actions and words that by doing so; we grow stronger both individually and collectively. This is a concept we take for granted when dealing with our families, but we’ve forgotten it’s also our responsibility and reward as citizens of this nation and our community. We complain that we’re called consumers rather than citizens. Do we deserve to consider ourselves citizens? Do we honor the concept of citizenship with little more than our rhetoric?
So with apologies to Tyler and Marla if I'm breaking the house rules and in the spirit of the season of spring renewal, I’d like to ask the ZH community what we think each of us might do to move the ball forward. Short of moving into an underground bunker with a stash of dehydrated food and emergency supplies of Playboy magazine (or Playgirl for our female contingent) if or when the breakdown comes, we'll still be living in our community and thus we'll need to make do with what's in place at that time. What can we do on a local, regional or national level that will improve our lot in life as a community and as a nation, now or later? How can we organize without leaders? As far as I’m concerned, anything goes and no comment should be shouted down as silly because quite frankly, we really have no idea how this will play out.
As inspiration, below please find Kennedy's inaugural speech in its entirety. Ready.....Set......Go!
Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens, we observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom—symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning—signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
This much we pledge—and more.
To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do—for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
To those new States whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom—and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.
To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required—not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge—to convert our good words into good deeds—in a new alliance for progress—to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.
To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support—to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective—to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak—and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.
Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.
We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.
But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course—both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.
So let us begin anew—remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.
Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms—and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.
Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.
Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah—to "undo the heavy burdens ... and to let the oppressed go free."
And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.
All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.
Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"—a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.
So what is this wonderful solution? The one that singly, no one could succeed with, but collectively, would be unstoppable.
Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. You see it is no good proposing solutions if you don't know what the problem is.
So what is it then, our problem. Not the SYMPTOMS, but the true and real cause, the ROOT CAUSE, as it were?
Well if you've read up on the history of monetary inflation in the French Republic, I think you'll find your answer.
In it, you will find all of the symptoms that our failing society displays today.
If you doubt my claim, please read this short work and TELL ME, what symptoms do we have now that did not exist then? I would argue, NONE. Our society is exhibiting ALL of the problems, ALL of the fears that brought down that once new, once great creation of men's minds, the republic.
http://books.google.com/books?id=jSt...age&q=&f=false
If the symptoms are the SAME, what was the proximate cause?
Can you guess?
Yes, Inflation.
I will let you find the proof of this in your own comparison of the symptoms then versus our symptoms now. What is illuminating however is the fact that the author goes to great lengths to establish the cause of these symptoms.
What I advocate is what I like to call "The Trading Places" strategy.
Not this
[media][/media]
THIS
[media][/media]
Everybody lives, nobody dies (Randolph is okay in the end) no shots get fired.
How to accomplish this wonderful feat? Simple, it's just a variation on the old Alchemists dream. Instead of Lead, we just turn PAPER into physical gold and silver, that's all. (All of it, into all of it). No stocks, no bonds, no futures, no cash. All of your savings, all of your investments, aside from what you need to survive on. That's all. It's that simple. Fix the root cause of the money disease and the symptoms disappear. And they go away FOREVER, and it can be done in a DAY.
The corruption machine dies it's proper death, and we get to start again, the way it was supposed to be. A real economy for real people limited by productive capacity and not subject to that which is well-intended but ultimately fails due to man's unquenched thirst for avarice. A linear system bounded by linear resources, not an exponential system that is rushing head-long into a finite-resource wall that emperils us all. We either fight to the death over the worlds remaining resources, or we scale back, and find a new way forward that allows us to progress at a linear pace.
The money system is the key. Without it, the abuses and corruption that we have now would not be possible. The TBTF's, TARPS, EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION, WARS, they all go away. Starve the beast is the essence, but let's make sure of what we WANT to starve.
It is the things that degrade, divide and destroy our society. Not the things that provide comfort to the afflicted. Not things that make our society grow and prosper and provide opportunity, compassion, and happiness.
The speech below by Francisco D'Anconia in Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" says all that needs to be said. We are, right now, living in the world described below. Together we posses the power to put and end to this horrible mutation called a financial system. But ONLY together can we accomplish this task.
I've read the book, and there is only on flaw in her logic that I can detect and that is on the subject of the individual. You see, she argues (and I bought, for a time) that we are each individually responsible for everything in our own lives. We determine our own success or failure. This is true except for one CRITICAL POINT. What determines each of us? She implies that we are each the sum total of what we were born with. She is incorrect. We are each a product of all of those that made an IMPACT in our lives. Their COLLECTIVE ACTION molds who we are. It can be positive, allowing us to achieve our full God given potential. Or it can be negative, holding back our development to the lowest subsistence level existence or worse, MUCH worse. It can turn us into animals that feel no human grace, empathy or emotion. This happens not because of the people that we are, but because we were prevented from developing into the people we were SUPPOSED to be.
I'm well and truly blessed. All my bumps and knocks were ALL in the right direction. I don't know how or why it happened that way, only that it did.
So I would ask you to make an active choice and decide what kind of world you truly want to live in. And, to understand that choices have consequences. Failing to ACTIVELY Choose one, will lead DIRECTLY TO THE OTHER.
That is our CHOICE. Choose, or it will be chosen for you. Chose well, however. Because you only get to make this choice once. An opportunity exists to allow you the leisure of time, but time doesn't last for ever.
So choose, and I hope you chose with me. Tomorrow is another day but there might not be another tomorrow.
(Oh, and here is why it only takes a day)
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"So you think that money is the root of all evil?" said Francisco d'Anconia. "Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?
"When you accept money in payment for your effort, you do so only on the conviction that you will exchange it for the product of the effort of others. It is not the moochers or the looters who give value to money. Not an ocean of tears not all the guns in the world can transform those pieces of paper in your wallet into the bread you will need to survive tomorrow. Those pieces of paper, which should have been gold, are a token of honor--your claim upon the energy of the men who produce. Your wallet is your statement of hope that somewhere in the world around you there are men who will not default on that moral principle which is the root of money, Is this what you consider evil?
"Have you ever looked for the root of production? Take a look at an electric generator and dare tell yourself that it was created by the muscular effort of unthinking brutes. Try to grow a seed of wheat without the knowledge left to you by men who had to discover it for the first time. Try to obtain your food by means of nothing but physical motions--and you'll learn that man's mind is the root of all the goods produced and of all the wealth that has ever existed on earth.
"But you say that money is made by the strong at the expense of the weak? What strength do you mean? It is not the strength of guns or muscles. Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think. Then is money made by the man who invents a motor at the expense of those who did not invent it? Is money made by the intelligent at the expense of the fools? By the able at the expense of the incompetent? By the ambitious at the expense of the lazy? Money is made--before it can be looted or mooched--made by the effort of every honest man, each to the extent of his ability. An honest man is one who knows that he can't consume more than he has produced.'
"To trade by means of money is the code of the men of good will. Money rests on the axiom that every man is the owner of his mind and his effort. Money allows no power to prescribe the value of your effort except the voluntary choice of the man who is willing to trade you his effort in return. Money permits you to obtain for your goods and your labor that which they are worth to the men who buy them, but no more. Money permits no deals except those to mutual benefit by the unforced judgment of the traders. Money demands of you the recognition that men must work for their own benefit, not for their own injury, for their gain, not their loss--the recognition that they are not beasts of burden, born to carry the weight of your misery--that you must offer them values, not wounds--that the common bond among men is not the exchange of suffering, but the exchange of goods. Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men's stupidity, but your talent to their reason; it demands that you buy, not the shoddiest they offer, but the best that your money can find. And when men live by trade--with reason, not force, as their final arbiter--it is the best product that wins, the best performance, the man of best judgment and highest ability--and the degree of a man's productiveness is the degree of his reward. This is the code of existence whose tool and symbol is money. Is this what you consider evil?
"But money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. It will give you the means for the satisfaction of your desires, but it will not provide you with desires. Money is the scourge of the men who attempt to reverse the law of causality--the men who seek to replace the mind by seizing the products of the mind.
"Money will not purchase happiness for the man who has no concept of what he wants: money will not give him a code of values, if he's evaded the knowledge of what to value, and it will not provide him with a purpose, if he's evaded the choice of what to seek. Money will not buy intelligence for the fool, or admiration for the coward, or respect for the incompetent. The man who attempts to purchase the brains of his superiors to serve him, with his money replacing his judgment, ends up by becoming the victim of his inferiors. The men of intelligence desert him, but the cheats and the frauds come flocking to him, drawn by a law which he has not discovered: that no man may be smaller than his money. Is this the reason why you call it evil?
"Only the man who does not need it, is fit to inherit wealth--the man who would make his own fortune no matter where he started. If an heir is equal to his money, it serves him; if not, it destroys him. But you look on and you cry that money corrupted him. Did it? Or did he corrupt his money? Do not envy a worthless heir; his wealth is not yours and you would have done no better with it. Do not think that it should have been distributed among you; loading the world with fifty parasites instead of one, would not bring back the dead virtue which was the fortune. Money is a living power that dies without its root. Money will not serve the mind that cannot match it. Is this the reason why you call it evil?
"Money is your means of survival. The verdict you pronounce upon the source of your livelihood is the verdict you pronounce upon your life. If the source is corrupt, you have damned your own existence. Did you get your money by fraud? By pandering to men's vices or men's stupidity? By catering to fools, in the hope of getting more than your ability deserves? By lowering your standards? By doing work you despise for purchasers you scorn? If so, then your money will not give you a moment's or a penny's worth of joy. Then all the things you buy will become, not a tribute to you, but a reproach; not an achievement, but a reminder of shame. Then you'll scream that money is evil. Evil, because it would not pinch-hit for your self-respect? Evil, because it would not let you enjoy your depravity? Is this the root of your hatred of money?
"Money will always remain an effect and refuse to replace you as the cause. Money is the product of virtue, but it will not give you virtue and it will not redeem your vices. Money will not give you the unearned, neither in matter nor in spirit. Is this the root of your hatred of money?
"Or did you say it's the love of money that's the root of all evil? To love a thing is to know and love its nature. To love money is to know and love the fact that money is the creation of the best power within you, and your passkey to trade your effort for the effort of the best among men. It's the person who would sell his soul for a nickel, who is loudest in proclaiming his hatred of money--and he has good reason to hate it. The lovers of money are willing to work for it. They know they are able to deserve it.
"Let me give you a tip on a clue to men's characters: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it.
"Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper's bell of an approaching looter. So long as men live together on earth and need means to deal with one another--their only substitute, if they abandon money, is the muzzle of a gun.
"But money demands of you the highest virtues, if you wish to make it or to keep it. Men who have no courage, pride or self-esteem, men who have no moral sense of their right to their money and are not willing to defend it as they defend their life, men who apologize for being rich--will not remain rich for long. They are the natural bait for the swarms of looters that stay under rocks for centuries, but come crawling out at the first smell of a man who begs to be forgiven for the guilt of owning wealth. They will hasten to relieve him of the guilt--and of his life, as he deserves.
"Then you will see the rise of the men of the double standard--the men who live by force, yet count on those who live by trade to create the value of their looted money--the men who are the hitchhikers of virtue. In a moral society, these are the criminals, and the statutes are written to protect you against them. But when a society establishes criminals-by-right and looters-by-law--men who use force to seize the wealth of disarmed victims--then money becomes its creators' avenger. Such looters believe it safe to rob defenseless men, once they've passed a law to disarm them. But their loot becomes the magnet for other looters, who get it from them as they got it. Then the race goes, not to the ablest at production, but to those most ruthless at brutality. When force is the standard, the murderer wins over the pickpocket. And then that society vanishes, in a spread of ruins and slaughter.
"Do you wish to know whether that day is coming? Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society's virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion--when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing--when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors--when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you--when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice--you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that is does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot.
"Whenever destroyers appear among men, they start by destroying money, for money is men's protection and the base of a moral existence. Destroyers seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of paper. This kills all objective standards and delivers men into the arbitrary power of an arbitrary setter of values. Gold was an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Paper is a check drawn by legal looters upon an account which is not theirs: upon the virtue of the victims. Watch for the day when it bounces, marked, 'Account overdrawn.'
"When you have made evil the means of survival, do not expect men to remain good. Do not expect them to stay moral and lose their lives for the purpose of becoming the fodder of the immoral. Do not expect them to produce, when production is punished and looting rewarded. Do not ask, 'Who is destroying the world? You are.
"You stand in the midst of the greatest achievements of the greatest productive civilization and you wonder why it's crumbling around you, while you're damning its life-blood--money. You look upon money as the savages did before you, and you wonder why the jungle is creeping back to the edge of your cities. Throughout men's history, money was always seized by looters of one brand or another, whose names changed, but whose method remained the same: to seize wealth by force and to keep the producers bound, demeaned, defamed, deprived of honor. That phrase about the evil of money, which you mouth with such righteous recklessness, comes from a time when wealth was produced by the labor of slaves--slaves who repeated the motions once discovered by somebody's mind and left unimproved for centuries. So long as production was ruled by force, and wealth was obtained by conquest, there was little to conquer, Yet through all the centuries of stagnation and starvation, men exalted the looters, as aristocrats of the sword, as aristocrats of birth, as aristocrats of the bureau, and despised the producers, as slaves, as traders, as shopkeepers--as industrialists.
"To the glory of mankind, there was, for the first and only time in history, a country of money--and I have no higher, more reverent tribute to pay to America, for this means: a country of reason, justice, freedom, production, achievement. For the first time, man's mind and money were set free, and there were no fortunes-by-conquest, but only fortunes-by-work, and instead of swordsmen and slaves, there appeared the real maker of wealth, the greatest worker, the highest type of human being--the self-made man--the American industrialist.
"If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose--because it contains all the others--the fact that they were the people who created the phrase 'to make money.' No other language or nation had ever used these words before; men had always thought of wealth as a static quantity--to be seized, begged, inherited, shared, looted or obtained as a favor. Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created. The words 'to make money' hold the essence of human morality.
"Yet these were the words for which Americans were denounced by the rotted cultures of the looters' continents. Now the looters' credo has brought you to regard your proudest achievements as a hallmark of shame, your prosperity as guilt, your greatest men, the industrialists, as blackguards, and your magnificent factories as the product and property of muscular labor, the labor of whip-driven slaves, like the pyramids of Egypt. The rotter who simpers that he sees no difference between the power of the dollar and the power of the whip, ought to learn the difference on his own hide-- as, I think, he will.
"Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to be the tool by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of men. Blood, whips and guns--or dollars. Take your choice--there is no other--and your time is running out."
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