Dominic Frisby is a good name for a stand-up comedian (I guess), but an unlikely name for someone who wishes to be taken seriously as a "fiancial bod" (whatever that is) and "voice of many things". A quick look at his website shows that "many things" includes geopolitics and economics in general, and in particular the debt trap with which the banks enslave individuals and nations alike.
Dominic Frisby thus has joined the ranks of those who, like Walt's buddy Ron McPherson, creator of "Facilitism", believe it's high time the world's financial "system" was reformed, or scrapped altogether!
Thanks to Agent 6 for making us aware of Mr. Frisby, and providing the link to this short but powerful argument that the system has to be changed, if we are to avoid worldwide financial ruin.
Further reading (and viewing) on WWW:
"Book review: 'A Better World for All'"
"VIDEO: Enslaved by our banks: 12-year-old Canuck explains"
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Monday, April 6, 2015
Monday, December 22, 2014
Book review: "A Better World for All"
"A Better World for All" -- great title for the Christmas season, even better as a resolution for the New Year. But how to achieve a better world for all? Is the power of prayer our only hope? NO! says Ron McPherson, the author of a new book (or booklet -- just 64 pages) bearing the aforementioned title.
A Better World for All is the "Reader's Digest version" of Mr. McPherson's first opus, Freedom's Dawning, reviewed by Walt way back in 2010. See "'Facilitism': a better answer?"
What Mr. McPherson articulates in these books is a modern version of the Utopian ideal propounded nearly five centuries ago by St. Thomas More. Mr. McPherson argues that his system, Facilitism, can deliver to us a world without poverty, with far less stress, free healthcare, free education and... wait for it... no taxes! It will be, he tells us, a healthier world, a friendlier world, a happier world.
Skeptical? Sure. But we've tried everything else -- capitalism, socialism, communism and every combination and variant of those "isms" -- and nothing has worked. But, you may say, isn't capitalism working? Even in one of the few remaining Communist countries, China, they're now practising "capitalism with Chinese characteristics". Whereas in the United States it's socialism with Democratic characteristics. How's that working out?
The root of the problem, Mr. McPherson argues -- indeed, the root of all evil -- is money! [Haven't we seen this movie before? Ed.] Yes, others have said that if there were only more money, everyone would be fat and happy. Major C.H. Douglas, the pioneer of the British "Social Credit" economic reform movement, proposed a "National Dividend" to distribute more money (in the form of debt-free credit) equally to all citizens, to help bridge the gap between purchasing power and prices. This would be coupled with a price adjustment mechanism, which he called the "Just Price", which would forestall any possibility of inflation.
Printing more money turned out to be the wrong answer. In 1936, the Social Credit government of the Canadian province of Alberta, printed "prosperity certificates" in an attempt to alleviate the effects of the Great Depression. The federal government took umbrage, saying only it had the right to print (and thus create) money. Canada's Supreme Court agreed and that was that.
But printing money is not Mr. McPherson proposes in A Better World for All. Think about it. Who uses cash money nowadays? The world runs on credit, which is to say, bookkeeping entries made by the banks. The "dollars" created by the Fed, for instance, don't really exist in the form of cash. Can you imagine how many dollar bills it would take to stand for the trillions of dollars in the USA's national debt?
Nor are US dollars back by anything. Once upon a time you could exchange a paper dollar for a silver dollar, or even a (very small) piece of gold. Not any more. It's all credit -- more accurately, debits and credits on bank computers all over the world.
So, Mr. McPherson asks, why don't we just do away with money? It's the kind of question that might provoke a certain amount of skepticism, not to say laughter, but the author thoughtfully provides a methodology for doing just that.
When I say "thoughtfully", I mean that literally. Facilitism is a system that Mr. McPherson has been thinking about and writing about for years. It deserves consideration. Walt recommends that you get A Better World for All -- click here to explore the Facilitism website -- and give it yours.
A Better World for All is the "Reader's Digest version" of Mr. McPherson's first opus, Freedom's Dawning, reviewed by Walt way back in 2010. See "'Facilitism': a better answer?"
What Mr. McPherson articulates in these books is a modern version of the Utopian ideal propounded nearly five centuries ago by St. Thomas More. Mr. McPherson argues that his system, Facilitism, can deliver to us a world without poverty, with far less stress, free healthcare, free education and... wait for it... no taxes! It will be, he tells us, a healthier world, a friendlier world, a happier world.
Skeptical? Sure. But we've tried everything else -- capitalism, socialism, communism and every combination and variant of those "isms" -- and nothing has worked. But, you may say, isn't capitalism working? Even in one of the few remaining Communist countries, China, they're now practising "capitalism with Chinese characteristics". Whereas in the United States it's socialism with Democratic characteristics. How's that working out?
The root of the problem, Mr. McPherson argues -- indeed, the root of all evil -- is money! [Haven't we seen this movie before? Ed.] Yes, others have said that if there were only more money, everyone would be fat and happy. Major C.H. Douglas, the pioneer of the British "Social Credit" economic reform movement, proposed a "National Dividend" to distribute more money (in the form of debt-free credit) equally to all citizens, to help bridge the gap between purchasing power and prices. This would be coupled with a price adjustment mechanism, which he called the "Just Price", which would forestall any possibility of inflation.
Printing more money turned out to be the wrong answer. In 1936, the Social Credit government of the Canadian province of Alberta, printed "prosperity certificates" in an attempt to alleviate the effects of the Great Depression. The federal government took umbrage, saying only it had the right to print (and thus create) money. Canada's Supreme Court agreed and that was that.
But printing money is not Mr. McPherson proposes in A Better World for All. Think about it. Who uses cash money nowadays? The world runs on credit, which is to say, bookkeeping entries made by the banks. The "dollars" created by the Fed, for instance, don't really exist in the form of cash. Can you imagine how many dollar bills it would take to stand for the trillions of dollars in the USA's national debt?
Nor are US dollars back by anything. Once upon a time you could exchange a paper dollar for a silver dollar, or even a (very small) piece of gold. Not any more. It's all credit -- more accurately, debits and credits on bank computers all over the world.
So, Mr. McPherson asks, why don't we just do away with money? It's the kind of question that might provoke a certain amount of skepticism, not to say laughter, but the author thoughtfully provides a methodology for doing just that.
When I say "thoughtfully", I mean that literally. Facilitism is a system that Mr. McPherson has been thinking about and writing about for years. It deserves consideration. Walt recommends that you get A Better World for All -- click here to explore the Facilitism website -- and give it yours.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Bob Edwards' prayer to the one true god
A century ago -- before the Internet, before TV, before radio, before anyone told you what to think -- there was print. Newspapers, magazines, books and pamphlets gave writers the means to express their opinions.
Bob Edwards had opinions -- plenty of them -- which he printed in The Eye Opener, published from 1904 to 1922 in wherever in Alberta Bob happened to be when the effects of the drink wore off. (To be fair, he went on the wagon and came out for temperance in the elections of 1915.)
Mr. Edwards pioneered a new style of journalism, writing irreverently about anything and everything that pleased or displeased him. His columns were chuckled over in bars, brothels and (kinda secretly) respectable homes all over western Canada.
Here is a slightly edited version of Bob Edwards' prayer to the great god that people of all faiths worship.
O ALMIGHTY DOLLAR, without thee in the world we can do nothing, but with thee we can do all things. Be with us, we pray thee, in all thy decimal parts, for thou art the only one altogether lovely, and the chief among ten thousand.
There is no condition in life where thy potent and all-powerful charms are not felt. In thy absence how gloomy is the household, and how desolate the hearthstone; but, in thy presence, how gleefully the beefsteak sings on the gridiron, how genial is the warmth that anthracite coal or tamarack wood diffuses throughout the apartment, and how exuberant the joy swelling in every bosom.
Thou art the joy of our youth and the solace of our old age. Thou canst adorn the gentleman and feed the jackass. Thou art the favourite of the philosopher, and the ideal of the lunkheads when an election is to be carried.
Almighty dollar, thy shining face bespeaks thy wondrous power. In my pocket make thy resting place; I need thee every hour.
And now, almighty dollar, in closing this invocation, we realize and acknowledge that thou art the god our our grandfathers, the twofold god of their children, and the threefold god of their grandchildren. Permit us to possess thee in abundance, is our constant and unwavering prayer.
Amen.
Bob Edwards had opinions -- plenty of them -- which he printed in The Eye Opener, published from 1904 to 1922 in wherever in Alberta Bob happened to be when the effects of the drink wore off. (To be fair, he went on the wagon and came out for temperance in the elections of 1915.)
Mr. Edwards pioneered a new style of journalism, writing irreverently about anything and everything that pleased or displeased him. His columns were chuckled over in bars, brothels and (kinda secretly) respectable homes all over western Canada.
Here is a slightly edited version of Bob Edwards' prayer to the great god that people of all faiths worship.
O ALMIGHTY DOLLAR, without thee in the world we can do nothing, but with thee we can do all things. Be with us, we pray thee, in all thy decimal parts, for thou art the only one altogether lovely, and the chief among ten thousand.
There is no condition in life where thy potent and all-powerful charms are not felt. In thy absence how gloomy is the household, and how desolate the hearthstone; but, in thy presence, how gleefully the beefsteak sings on the gridiron, how genial is the warmth that anthracite coal or tamarack wood diffuses throughout the apartment, and how exuberant the joy swelling in every bosom.
Thou art the joy of our youth and the solace of our old age. Thou canst adorn the gentleman and feed the jackass. Thou art the favourite of the philosopher, and the ideal of the lunkheads when an election is to be carried.
Almighty dollar, thy shining face bespeaks thy wondrous power. In my pocket make thy resting place; I need thee every hour.
And now, almighty dollar, in closing this invocation, we realize and acknowledge that thou art the god our our grandfathers, the twofold god of their children, and the threefold god of their grandchildren. Permit us to possess thee in abundance, is our constant and unwavering prayer.
Amen.
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