Bank Slavery and the American Dream

 What is the most important statistic in your life? Your weight? Your income? The number of twitter followers? How about your credit score? Isn't the ability to achieve the American Dream based on this number above all others? The purchase of the home on the cul-de-sac, the nice car with driver assist and leather seats, the credit card with cash back and airline miles with no blackout dates are all on the list of must haves for the average American. The ability to get almost anything these days is tied to one's credit score because so much of life's stuff is bought with credit. That means the banking industry is indispensable to modern life and has become the richest and most powerful force in our lives.

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” Proverbs 22:7

“A vast accession of strength from their younger recruits, who, having nothing in them of the feelings or principles of ’76, now look to a single and splendid government of an aristocracy, founded on banking institutions, and monied incorporations under the guise and cloak of their favored branches of manufactures, commerce and navigation, riding and ruling over the plundered ploughman and beggared yeomanry.” Thomas Jefferson

     We have allowed a bank to determine our quality of life by determining our purchasing power; how much we can borrow. It determines the house you can afford or what car you can buy. But the influence on our lives goes so much deeper. Bankers have used the wealth they accumulate from all that interest and from their positions in the corporate world into political power to protect and further their interests They and their corporate debtors have sought to open markets around the world to increase their wealth. Those markets are often in countries that have not always been stable or accommodating and the United States has gone to war on many occasions not because American interests were threatened, but the banker's interests. Bankers have used their wealth to buy politicians and a revolving door of government appointments ensure their voice is heard loud and clear. They have used their power and influence to steer policy, both foreign and domestic, to protect their assets, profits and to secure their indispensability to the nation and as many people as possible.

     Banks, since their development in the last millennia, have always exerted power in a cozy relationship with the state. Big banks have financed wars and other ambitions of monarchs.. They lent to the state knowing the state would always be able to tax the people for repayment until, of course, they became overextended and the wars stopped paying dividends, or were lost. This led to state bankruptcy and they bankrupted quite a few; some, like the king of Spain, more than once. In the young United States, thrift, small government, abhorrence of debt and a dislike for foreign wars and empire kept this trend at bay for the first hundred years. A national, central bank was tried twice and failed. Banking remained small, decentralized and did not play much of a part of the everyday life of Americans.

     Credit started to become accepted and widespread with the advent of the modern world. It started with, of all things, the Singer sewing machine. Singer realized that if they sold the machines on credit, what was known as “installment” buying, they would sell a lot more because few people had enough cash on hand to purchase them. By the early 1900's radios, refrigerators and all kinds of new consumer items were bought with installment plans. These were not loans offered by banks, banks avoided consumer lending, it was credit offered by the manufacturer. This meant credit remained decentralized among all the companies offering it.

     Big banking grew in America in the late 1800's, J.P. Morgan usually being the face of this development. These banks loaned to corporations and big businesses. They were very careful and often demanded a seat on the board of the debtor to assure the business remained profitable and would repay the loan. If not, the bank would sometimes take over the business and run the company itself. They grew rich and powerful and used that power to utilize the apparatus of government to protect their profits. For example, in the decades surrounding the turn of the century (1900) America embraced a number of foreign adventures. Not because the Philippines, Cuba, Haiti, China, Panama or Nicaragua were threats, or part of the vital interests of the United States as a whole, but because corporate-banking interests were either threatened, or their growth was being hindered, by a recalcitrant government. This culminated in the United States entering World War One to secure allied victory and the repayment of the massive amounts of money lent to France and Britain. After the war those same banks lent money to Germany so they could pay reparations and the Allies would continue to repay their loans. What could possibly go wrong?

“The real truth of the matter is, and you and I know, that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government of the U.S. since the days of Andrew Jackson.” Franklin Roosevelt

     Morgan and his friends were large enough to actually bail out the US Government in the mid 1890's during one of the periodic economic downturns, the “Panic” of 1893. This was reminiscent of the private banks putting the crown in their debt in the Old World. So how was this power removed from these bankers? The US Government put their stamp of approval on a plan run by these same bankers to form a private central bank to do the same thing.

     In 1913 J. P. Morgan, Rockefeller and other big banking players created a money empire, a monolithic edifice whose dark shadow fell over everything, destroying the very foundations of the republic and making the free citizens of the United States into slaves for the banking cartel. Hyperbole? No, unfortunately not. If one controls the money, one has all the power. Before 1913, money in America was controlled by the people or the people's representatives. Money was real, gold and silver, or it was backed by those historically valuable metals. No longer. Now money was controlled by the Federal Reserve Bank, a private bank created and run by the banking interests. These banks would now control national interest rates, loan money they created out of thin air to their members at low rates who in turn, lent it to others at higher rates. Before the Fed, banks had to be very cautious about lending because they were on the hook for everything; and a lot of banks failed, mainly because they mixed deposit and investment functions. With the Fed acting as lender of last resort, and later FDIC, FHA and other government programs acting as insurers (putting taxpayers on the hook), standards fell. Printing volumes of notes to manipulate the money supply has lead to a 95% drop in the value of the dollar. Inflation destroys savings, benefits banks and Wall Street and confiscates the wealth of the citizens. They lend money they create out of thin air to the government to be paid back with the real earnings of you and I. The government uses that money to finance wars and expensive and expansive social programs.

“Without big banks, socialism would be impossible.” Vladimir Lenin

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” Thomas Jefferson

     However, the evils of the Fed are a topic for another time. I want to talk about our slavery to the private banks and how they have made the American dream attainable only through themselves and their credit system. Fed caused inflation is part of what makes prices go up. But it is not the only thing. By making financing a normal part of buying an item, the question before a purchase is not “How much does it cost” but “What monthly payment can you afford?” If a long term, low monthly payment can be arranged, it doesn't matter that you will pay two, three or four times the value of an item, it only matters that you can have it now. With payment amount being the deciding factor, price can be adjusted upward to fit the payment-and it is.

Consider the difference in price increases in items that are financed and those that are not. As a base percentage we can use the median wage. In 1913 average yearly income was around $1300. In 2008 it was $37,300, an increase of 2,885%. The price of milk, bread, eggs and gasoline increased 1,250%, 2,246%, 710% and 1250% respectively, all less than wage increases which means they actually cost less than they did, as a percentage of income, in 1913. Productivity increases from technology and science have brought down costs for many consumer items.

     Now, look at the increases for cars and homes. From 1913 to 2008 they increased 5673% and 6074% respectively. What do these things have in common? Its not that they are technological innovations; the price of televisions and computers have come down over the decades. The purchase of a home or car assumes financing by the banks. The home or car you can afford is not based on the price you can pay but the monthly payment you can afford. A monthly payment that includes interest that will usually result in you paying two to three times the purchase price. The expectation is that we will be making these payments for our whole lives. We will always buy another car and finance it, buy a bigger house with a bigger loan, buy furniture and other things on credit so the interest is always being paid. All that money goes into the coffers of the banking cartels who buy more power and influence. Of course the government could not let the banks have all these obscene profits. With the creation of Fannie Mae and Freddi Mac along with the takeover of the lucrative student loan industry, they too can reap the profits. This really ends up being a 70%+ consumption tax. Everyone gets rich except you and I.

     With all this lending going on, the net worth of most Americans has dropped to very low levels. An economic downturn or a price collapse and repayment becomes a problem for so many who live paycheck to paycheck, or close to it. The banks have the Fed and the U.S. government to bail them out. However, all that government bailout money needs to come from somewhere and those loans are still outstanding. One way or another, that money needs to be repaid to the banks, the government or the Fed. They can't really trust you or I to continue as willing participants in this scheme for power and money. Therefore, you and your assets need to be accessible so they can take what they need to ensure the financial health of the banking cartels and a steady stream of government revenue. They want their theft to be easy and unhindered.

The ultimate way to achieve this is in a cashless society. A society in which the movement, storage and use of money is completely under the watchful eye of the government and banking interests. Government will always be able to get tax revenue and the banks will always be able to get their loan payments. No only that, but they will be able to see every purchase, every payment. They will know what you eat, what you wear, the medicines you purchase, your entertainment choices; there will be no secrets, no privacy. This also means banks and government will have the power to discriminate against certain activities and businesses, refusing to lend or process transactions, just as some banks are currently doing with firearm manufacturers and retailers. The power to control the use of money is to control life itself. To deny purchasers the right to buy what they need and desire is the ultimate power, rationing without calling it rationing, steering people to or away from activities or consumption by denying them the ability to spend. Once government is completely responsible for heath care it will truly be life and death. They may deny treatment based on purchase history; too many 'big gulps', deny certain care care; can't pay for 'alternative' (unlicensed) medicine, or refuse to pay for treatment for 'undesirables' who may be categorized as mentally unstable for the crime of expressing a non-government approved opinion.

     What can we do? We all have a choice as to whether we become a slave to the banks or not. We have a choice on whether we live as free people or tributary slaves. Unlike health insurance, we are not forced by threat of government penalty to borrow money. We choose to do so, or not. What if we all stopped financing cars, only paying cash for what we could actually afford. No payments, no interest. Sure, most of us would have to buy used but what would happen to the price of new cars if people would only pay what they could afford in cash? Would a new car cost a years income or more or would it cost a third of that as it did in 1913?

     Housing is a little more difficult but we've done it before. The modern mortgage had its start with the Roosevelt's FHA, less that one hundred years ago. Before that people borrowed only half or less of a home's value for five to seven years, often from an insurance company that was hoping for a default so they could add properties to their balance sheet. But by opening home ownership up to many more people by lowering the down payment and lengthening the term, a home became more than simply a roof over our heads, it was an investment; which meant banks had a stake in it. Longer terms increase the amount of interest paid. But we could make the sacrifice for the smaller home that would require shorter terms and less interest. We could rent. We could build with our own two hands, paying as we go. We could try community or family based financing. There are options, free people will come up with them, they always do.

     What about our savings and investments? Our digital transaction world? Drop out. What if we all took our money out of the banks, bought big safes and big guns to keep our property secure from the digital criminals and the criminals in government. What if we paid cash for everything instead of leaving a digital trail for Google to manipulate and the NSA to use? What if we started using real money like gold and silver or even cryptocurrency instead of the worthless paper notes the Federal Reserve has saddled us with? We would be free, our lives would be private, and our property would not be at the mercy of dark forces.

     But eroding public confidence and encouraging non-participation would collapse the system! A system of theft and manipulation? Good riddance. But some fear decentralization, innovation and personal responsibility. These will be the ones calling instead for more government regulation-what a joke! Isn't it obvious to all that the bankers have bought and paid for most politicians, that the endless parade of bankers in and out of government “service” means that regulation is nothing more than regulated theft? By claiming government oversight of their activities the banks create the illusion of trustworthiness, all the while continuing their corrupt practices under the umbrella of the law. No, I would like to see complete deregulation where banks need to stand on their own reputations with no hope for government bailouts or assistance. Complete transparency will reveal the corruption and the true thieves and con artists will be prosecuted. I would like to see trust in banks destroyed, only to be very slowly rebuilt under the watchful eye of a free and wary public.

     The banking cartels have used and manipulated us for their own benefit. They have encouraged our base instincts; our greed, envy and desire, encouraging us to seek that which we cannot afford without their help, help that makes us slaves. They have used the wealth they accumulate from our weakness to take the reins of government and use it to further their interests, even when those interests are at odds with the safety, health, reputation and ideals upon which this nation was founded. That has often resulted in real blood being shed, in addition to the figurative blood they squeeze out of us every day. It is time to get out from under their tyranny. This is one form of slavery that is very much under our control if we are willing to make the small sacrifices necessary to become free of their oppression and manipulation. It will be better for you and I as individuals, our country, and the world, if their power is broken.