Life's Inanities and Ironies

Reprinted From The Economic Collapse The vast majority of Americans, including many of those who believe that they are "educated" about the Federal Reserve, do not really understand how the Federal Reserve really makes money for the international banking elite. Many of those opposed to the Federal Reserve will point to the record $80.9 billion in profits that the Federal Reserve made last year as evidence that they are robbing the American people blind. But then those defending the Federal Reserve will point out that the Fed returned $78.4 billion to the U.S. Treasury. As a result, the Fed only made a couple billion dollars last year. Pretty harmless, eh? Well, actually no. You see, the money that the Federal Reserve directly makes is not the issue. Rather, the "magic" of the Federal Reserve system is that it took the power of money creation away from the U.S. government and gave it to the bankers. Now, the only way that the U.S. government can inject more m...

You know, there's a Chinese proverb that says that there are three curses, each one worse than the previous. The first of these curses is: "May you live in interesting times." Well, the times we live in are certainly interesting. We stand here today at a trans-formative moment in American history -- at the front lines of what can only be called a revolution in thought. We are here today, like hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans -- in cities all across the country -- to exercise our basic right as citizens, as a free people in a democratic republic. We stand here today, peaceably assembled, petitioning our government for redress of our grievances. And we are here to tell our government one thing: We stand here today with a crisis of creativity in our country. We look around and see problem after problem: Poverty. Millions unable to get health care. People out of work. It's easy for all of us, no matter what our political views may be, to agree on what the pro...

Not a day goes by without talk of the Federal Reserve, whether by the organization itself or by its opponents. An incessant cheerleader of his organization, Chairman Ben Bernanke will be the first to tell you that the Federal Reserve is an utmost necessity to the smooth operation of the U.S. financial system. Some would disagree. And while ongoing events can be difficult to objectively examine, hindsight is usually much more prescient. Let's set aside what The Fed says for a moment and examine what it actually does. * From 1776 to 1912 (136 years), the value of the dollar, relative to the Consumer Price Index, increased by 11%. A dollar could buy 11% more goods in 1912 than in 1776. Thus, if in 1776, you sat on your savings pile of $1,000,000 for 136 years, it would then be worth $1,110,000 in purchasing power (it will have appreciated in value by 11%). A loaf of bread for Thomas Jefferson cost the same as a loaf of bread for Lincoln 50 years later and again the same for J.P. M...