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Reviewing Ellen Brown's "Web of Debt:" Part V
By Stephen Lendman (about the author) Page 1 of 4 page(s)
For OpEdNews: Stephen Lendman - Writer
This is the fifth of several articles on Ellen Brown's superb 2007 book titled "Web of Debt," now updated in a December 2008 third edition. It tells "the shocking truth about our money system, (how it) trapped us in debt, and how we can break free." This article focuses on taking back our money power.
Recapturing What's Ours and Turning Scarcity to Abundance
In 1952, Norman Vincent Peale (1898 - 1993) first published his most famous book - "The Power of Positive Thinking." It sold about five million copies and was a New York Times bestseller for 186 consecutive weeks delivering messages like: "Never talk defeat. Use words like hope, belief, faith, victory." FDR struck the same theme in saying: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
In 1900, Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz was first published, conveying "the notion that a life of scarcity could be transformed in an instant into one of universal abundance...." In real life, the secret is by taking back our money power from the private bankers who stole it in 1913, in the middle of the night, two days before Christmas, and kept it ever since.
Today's real cause of scarcity is that "somebody is paying interest on most of the money in the world all of the time," and by so doing enslaves nearly everyone in perpetual debt bondage. Meeting America's huge debt burden requires the money supply to keep expanding, "and for that to happen, borrowers must continually go deeper into debt, merchants must continually raise their prices, and the odd men out in the bankers' game of musical chairs must continue to lose their property to the banks."
The result - inevitable wars, competition, strife, inflation, deflation, recessions, depressions, debt bondage, poverty, and despair, while at the same time bankers get fabulously richer and more powerful. The obvious solution is to stop "parasitic" banks from "feeding on the world's prosperity," but the "Witches of Wall Street" don't yield easily. Dethroning them will take the process Francis Fox Piven explained in her 2006 book, "Challenging Authority." She quoted Thomas Jefferson responding to the repressive 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts saying:
"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles."
Disruptive social actions have done it as Piven explained:
"ordinary people (have) power....when they rise up in anger and hope, defy the rules....disrupt (state) institutions....propel new issues to the center of political debate (and force) political leaders (to) stem voter defections by proferring reforms. These are the conditions that produce" democratic change.
Sidestepping the Debt Web with "Parallel" Currencies
Community currencies, for example, that historically rose "spontaneously when national (ones) were scarce, unobtainable," or in the case of Weimar Germany worthless because of hyperinflation. "Hundreds of communities in the United States, Canada and Europe did the same thing during the Depression" when hard times forced creative solutions. "Like the medieval tally, these currencies were simply credits (letting bearers) trade (them) for an equivalent value in goods and services...."
Today, community currencies "operate legally in more than 35 countries...." and in North America over 30 are available in places like Ithaca, New York where Ithaca HOUR scrip is used, saying on the back:
"This is money (entitling) the bearer to receive one hour of labor or its negotiated value in goods and services. Please accept it, then spend it...."
Another example is corporate credits like airline frequent flyer miles entitling holders to free flights and other benefits like lodging, rental cars, restaurant meals and even groceries.
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