I feel like I should change political parties. My grandfather helped (along with several other men) to start the Democratic Party in Philadelphia, so for close to 100 years, we've been Democrats. Part of being a member of this party means, for me, that it's "the people's party"; this means, traditionally it helped the guy on the street find work, so neighbors could have good lives and so an entire neighborhood economy would be boosted, one secure, civil service job at a time.
I must confess, there is Libertarian blood running through these veins. Not a "Tea Partier", because they're a too emotional and passionate bunch... gets in the way of clear thinking, but I am a Social Libertarian- someone who believes in allowing people to govern themselves with as little involvement from the federal government as is possible. The Fed should be there when we ask for its involvement.
The dollar is devalued and the United Nations wants to dump the dollar as the global reserve currency. Do you know why, America? Because we allowed our dollar to be backed BY NOTHING REAL. It's all imaginary. There is no gold standard, because we have the Federal Reserve Bank. Our money is worthless.
States and municipalities should adopt their own currency. In Germany, there are 60 planned and existing local currencies. The Kingower, a Bavarian currency, has surpassed the Euro in Germany, with more people using the non-government-backed currency to keep their local economy healthy. We should do that here, to keep local business afloat during the economic depression we are in, here, in the U.S. Your local neighborhood bank (not Wells Fargo or Bank of America) would trade your dollars for whatever the local currency is, let's call ours the Pineback, since I live here, in the Pine Barrens. We would go to a locally run bank and for every U.S. dollar we exchanged, one would be entitled to $1.50 Pineback. Since Pineback is only accepted locally, it would force people to buy local while boosting local businesses. We did it during the Great Depression, well, umm... echemm.
I once knew a international financier (retired) who specialized in world currencies and he said to me, "The consolidation of currencies prevents healthy competition in the world. When I see the Euro, it makes me shake my head, because I know it will lead to one world government."
Well, our dollar is worthless and I'm just another disgruntled citizen who has a mortgage worth of educational debt and no job in sight. I might scream if hear that the Obama administration reports "unemployment claims are down for the ______ week in a row." Do you know why they're down? Because for most of us, there is no more unemployment available. We're not getting a dime and we wouldn't qualify for public assistance because we own homes or make too much money under guidelines, or we're just too damned full of pride.
Someone close to me said, "If you're starving, you'll take that $7.00/hr job." Well, why the fuck should I have to? If I take the $7.00/hr job, is the U.S. Dept of Education going to forgive my student loans from the public, State run university I attended, as I was deceived into believing in education and the "American Dream" of doing "better" than those who preceded me?
Can I raise chickens and cattle on my property and turn my lawn into an agricultural masterpiece to supplement my family's inability to afford the cost of inflated food prices without the neighbor association and zoning laws infringing upon my right and ability to feed my family? No.
Buy a gun, arm yourselves, and get to know your neighbors. You're going to need each other.
I could be depressed. It's likely, in fact, I would merely be mirroring my surroundings as we all fall into an economic depression.
Pinebacks, I love it.
ReplyDeleteListen, we already have these local currencies in the US and they are growing in many cities. www.berkshares.org you exchange $.95 cents and get one berkshare at any of 13 local banks/credit union offices. http://theplenty.org/ in NC, $1 for 1 plenty, one local bank office exchanges. http://www.pdxcurrency.org to open in 2011, http://www.ithacahours.org/ no exchange, backed by local labor hours, the UK has about a half dozen good one from the Transition Town movement, Lewes Pound, Totnes Pound these are some good ones from the past several years. See Community Currency Magazine http://ccmag.net
Start one in your town.
Mark
editor@dgcmagazine.com
My local gas station takes 1oz & 1/2oz silver through http://www.delvalleysilver.com/
ReplyDelete