I ran across this document on freenet tonight, and ended up reading through the whole insane thing. Conveniently it also happens to have a home on the ordinary old fashioned world wide web. The Money Changers. Or, Fun with Economics, as I might call it.

Though one might be tempted to write it off as looney conspiracy theory material (it does posses that tone), what I do know from other confirmed sources is consistent with the information presented there. It also explains a LOT about How Things Work, especially in light of current events, as this country runs up deficits in the hundreds of billions of dollars. (Must.... resist.... urge... to... deride... president....)

(Although oddly, it almost seems to be written by a conservative; the only hint being that one Limbaugh-esque derogatory comment is made about liberals.)

Unfortunately, besides being highly informative, said document only seems to exacerbate my cynical tendances regarding matters of which I have little or no power to affect.

OTOH, the knowledge of history gained therein might help serve to predict the future a bit. So here's what will happen during the next few years, thanks in no small part to our deficit-financed war.

I foresee 1 of 3 outcomes:

Taxes will go up. Maybe not now, but within a few years. The money changers will be paid, one way or another. The public might not like that. Too bad.

OR... Inflation will go through the roof. Really a disguised tax hike, without really appearing to be one. Politicians might be able to save face that way. But the relative worth of people's savings accounts becomes just as worthless as if the government had dipped in and taken an extra few percentage points.

OR... The economy will plummet to new lows, making the current recession look like a happy picnic in comparison. This because the banks (i.e. Federal Reserve and multinationals) would eventually start to tighten the leash on the U.S. government, lower its "credit rating" so to speak, thus making it neigh impossible to continue deficit spending (except at the higher interest rates).

Lovely set of choices, eh?

Well, there is a 4th possibility, but I consider it so unlikely that it's barely worth mentioning. Just for completeness, sake, though...

OR someone in Congress / White House gets really gutsy, and the government yanks control of the currency supply away from the Federal Reserve, exercising its power to issue currency without going into debt. (But not too much of it; see the inflation problem.) This would only happen if there was a MASSIVE outcry on the part of the public. (Which could theoretically happen if the economy got horribly bad, but even then most people are probably still too ignorant.)

Lest readers get the wrong idea, I don't necessarily support this 4th option. As appealing as it sounds to "stick it to the man", and "vive la revolution!" the repercussions would likely be highly unpleasant. Maybe that's unavoidable anyway, though.

For the long term, it would be wise to consider the political possibility of living in a state that is not only debt and deficit free, but also where democratically elected representatives maintain some measure of genuine control over the currency supply itself.

However, I would be against letting congress do that directly, as it would be too open to abuse by political opportunists; perhaps a system similar to that of the supreme court, where a commission nominated by the representative government is put in charge, but remains mostly immune to the tossing winds of the current political flavor of the day.

But that's all theory anyway.

For now, what's the moral of the story? Don't go into debt, kids. But we already knew that.

Also, for the sake of both individual and collective self-interest, it might be worthwhile to give more serious consideration to lifestyle alternatives that minimize dependence on the inherently unstable (by intentional design) system of debt-based exchange. Instead, join community co-ops. Use locally issued currencies. (Theoretically prone to the similar types of problems and abuses, but not nearly as large in scale.) Barter with your neighbors.

On another note, Limewire also rules. (Thank both scottgalvin.com and a former coworker mentioned a couple of ramblings ago for inspiring me to that one.) Suck that, RIAA. (Says he who will probably be running out to buy the Queensryche album in a matter of hours, as well as attending the concert tomorrow.)

But anyway, that's enough from me for tonight. Peace out, goodnight.