Against the Hair Shirt approach

Ellen Brown writes a very interesting article, arguing against the austerity measures that our government, inter alia, is intending to impose on us all. Within the game we're playing, austerity seems to make sense, especially considering the wilful profligacy of the last government, which saw massive spending as a means to gerrymander themselves a client population. But there is a bigger question, and that is about the money system, and who controls it. This has been a source of great controversy throughout the modern era, for one thing because the present system leads us to these periodic crises. To throw out two famous quotes which touch upon the subject; first from Andrew Jackson:

"If the people only understood the rank injustice of our Money and Banking system, there would be a revolution before morning."

Secondly, Josiah Stamp, once Director of the Bank of England:

"Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of Bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits."

And one more, for good measure, from Jefferson:

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies...The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the Government, to whom it properly belongs."

I mention these things, because it's important not to be dragged along in the current of fashionable 'thinking', which doesn't take into account the bigger picture, or rather doesn't look outside the game we're in. I do not pretend to be a master of economics, but then neither are most of the people who you will hear discussing this in the mainstream media. Anyway, here's a quote from the Ellen Brown article to get you started:

"Hyperinflation, however, is a bogus threat, and before we reject the stimulus idea, we might ask why these programs have failed. Perhaps because they have been stimulating the wrong sector of the economy, the non-producing financial middlemen who precipitated the crisis in the first place. Governments have tried to “reflate” their flagging economies by throwing budget-crippling sums at the banks, but the banks have not deigned to pass those funds on to businesses and consumers as loans. Instead, they have used the cheap funds to speculate, buy up smaller banks, or buy safe government bonds, collecting a tidy interest from the very taxpayers who provided them with this cheap bailout money. Indeed, banks are required by their business models to pursue those profits over risky loans. Like all private corporations, they are there not to serve the public interest but to make money for their shareholders."

Hat tip: Infowars & Information Clearing House. Ellen Brown's website is here.