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Money – Honest and Dishonest

By Claude Bohn

            A few weeks back, frequent JeffersonReview.com commentator, Terry Gray wrote regarding the subject of economy. I found his comments thought provoking, and I considered responding to those comments in an article of my own but, as Jackson Brown sang, I was too busy “struggling for the legal tender”; and, so, I didn’t. At least, that is, until now.

            But this morning I was precluded from going to work due to the whether (I work out of doors) and I was home, surfing the information superhighway, and stumbled across yet another thought provoking piece, by Congressman Ron Paul, which got me thinking about Terry’s comments again. And, since I’ve got a little time on my hands this morning, I decided to fire up the old word processor.

            In his  “Terry’s Tidbits” column for July 21, 2003, under the heading “Economy,” Terry writes:

            “We never had a surplus. We could give the government all we have and that wouldn’t be enough. Who do we owe? Why a deficit? I don’t know, and I’ve thought about it often. I’m not an economist and don’t want to be. I’m an earner and a consumer, and the science of high finance and economics mean little to me…”

            Well, Terry’s correct; we never did have any “surplus”. But, one need not be an economist to figure out why we didn’t; and why we never can - at least, not given our current “money” system. Practically every so-called “dollar” in circulation today has been “borrowed” into existence. It is based on, and backed by, nothing but debt! It would be exceedingly difficult (actually, impossible) to have a surplus given this situation.

            Terry’s not the only one, I’m afraid, who feels overwhelmed, or at least perplexed, concerning this subject; but, he shouldn’t feel too bad about it. In fact, the current “system” was, it seems, designed to confuse and confound – and deceive. As economist, John Maynard Keynes once pointed out:

            “Lenin was certainly right. There is no subtler, no surer means of overthrowing the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction and it does it in a manner that not one man in a million is able to diagnose.” – John Maynard Keynes (British economist and Fabian socialist)

            Debauch, now there’s a good word to describe the situation. Debauch means, “to corrupt or pervert”; I’d say that’s a pretty accurate description of what’s happened to our money!

            Now, rest assured, I don’t claim to be that “one man in a million,” who was able to “diagnose” the problem; like Issac Newton, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants” - giants like, Murray Rothbard [1] and G. Edward Griffin. From men such as these, I have come to understand, what Mr. Griffin terms “The Mandrake Mechanism,” and how it has been used to deceive, control, and rob each and every one of us. What this “Mandrake Mechanism” amounts to is, a legalistic legerdemain (sleight of hand) by which “money” is manufactured out of thin air or, if you will, a “legal” (i.e., State sanctioned) counterfeiting operation!

            The trouble is, what we call “money” really isn’t money, per se; at least, not in the sense of the legal definition. What we refer to, as “dollars,” in reality, are nothing more than paper promises to pay or, if you will, an I.O.U. And, since these Federal Reserve notes actually promise to pay nothing, except another worthless Federal Reserve note, they don’t even qualify as negotiable notes.

            My copy of Black’s Law Dictionary (6^th edition) defines money thusly:

“In usual and ordinary acceptation it means coins and paper currency used as circulating medium of exchange…”

            And you might be thinking to yourself at this point: “Well, my ‘dollars’ certainly fit that description; they are paper currency, used as a medium of exchange – aren’t they?” But wait! Black’s continues:

“…and does not embrace notes, bonds, evidences of debt, or other personal or real estate.”

            Now, let’s check Black’s for the definition of the word “note”. Which, if you will examine those pieces of paper in your wallet – the things you call “dollars” – you will see is exactly what you have, and not “money”!

“Note: An instrument [i.e. – a piece of ornately festooned paper and/or linen cloth, etc.] that is a promise to pay…” [That is, an I.O.U.]

            But what exactly do your Federal Reserve notes promise to pay? Answer? Another Federal Reserve note, nothing more! No wonder the only way people can be convinced to use these frauds is through government coercion - i.e., legal tender laws.

            Terry says: “The dollar means nothing.” Well, a Federal Reserve note certainly means nothing; it is merely a promise to defraud – er, I mean, pay (wink, wink; nod, nod). But the word “dollar” means plenty! The term denotes a weight, or measurement if you will, of gold or silver. As such, the term “dollar” serves the same purpose as do the terms mile, gallon, ounce, inch, etc. [Remember, when the “dollar” was said to be “good as gold”? Probably not.]

            Which brings me to the subject of barter. People have bartered for thousands of years – probably, since the first day the sun rose in the sky; and many, including Terry, continue to do so today. But barter can’t work on a large scale – at least, it never has, which is exactly why money was invented in the first place. Money is merely a tool; it IS “a medium of exchange” [It should also be a store of wealth; that is, a “dollar” should be worth, at least, as many chickens, etc. tomorrow as it is today which, is certainly NOT the case with our Federal Reserve notes!]. And it would be impossible to conceive of any advanced economy functioning in its absence. Goods and services have ALWAYS been exchanged for goods and services – with or without money; money simply facilitates and/or enhances that process. We NEED money; but we need HONEST money – not worthless, debt based pieces of paper!!

            We are ALL “earners and consumers”; and the common denominator between all earning and consuming human beings is, money. Black, white, rich, poor, male, female, we ALL need money. However, if what we call money isn’t really money at all; if what we use as money is in reality dishonest pieces of worthless scrip; if we are exchanging real wealth (goods and services) for paper promises to pay nothing (worthless I.O.U.s), then, it should come as little surprise to anyone that we find ourselves in the current dilemma.

            After all, we are not the first society to “experiment” with fiat “money”; and, sadly, we probably won’t be the last. However, it is enlightening (as well as frightening) to reflect, that, throughout all history, there has NEVER been a fiat money system that has not ended in eventual hyperinflation and ruin. And we will not be fiat money’s first success story either!

            Thomas Jefferson knew a thing or two about the subject as well. During his debate with Hamilton, over the founding of the first central banking scheme in the new Republic, he said:

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

            Now, are you starting to grasp the reason why the banks are always among the largest and nicest buildings in town? And, why most of the rest of us live, and will die in debt? Are you beginning to understand why, no matter who gets elected – Democrat or Republican – things never seem to change? As Baron M.A. Rothschild – the “Godfather” of modern central banking - once said:

“Give me control over a nation’s money and I care not who makes the laws.”

[1] Also, see Murray Rothbard’s “What Has Government Done to Our Money?” and “A History of Money and Banking”.

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