Hi Lulu and All -<br><br>Just this morning this article by Ellen Brown came out on the Global Research list. Ellen Brown, author of Web of Debt, was one of the sources mentioned by Prof George Crowell on Sat. Almost everything she says about the US situation applies to us as well.<br>
<br>Eleanor<br>______________<br><br><table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" align="left"><div><font size="4">Time for an Economic Bill of Rights</font></div>
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<div>By Ellen Brown</div><br></td>
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<td colspan="2" align="left" nowrap><div>URL of this article: <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz0E_1sV10NFIjIlavzyQ5cmv1uxW8dQrUliHDMga0QXOXHLT9yGKowKYJyhygK3lfbwsWv6a4XqY-tHZ2rsdLJboJzxVwZ2HVm1Cr53j5dHakXtPxl4y5IfrtOBKwouaeFUlozT4dAYGoJpyEYMGS1aYUyStsd9XLI=" target="_blank">www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=27611</a></div>
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<td colspan="2" align="left" nowrap><div><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz2MfSv-rPDYMfmZeSbHdYBobJ1SO1eqXIhgPx3ZL5gSGtMDMNeorkA661dy4094AANCNYU1DKbMsBlP8V2tiayewUdizzbur3-SnCDkV5uRAw==" target="_blank">Global Research</a>, November 11, 2011</div>
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<td colspan="2" align="left" nowrap><div><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz0xA6xcqZVTUPhRtAJ8PJ5TETTbss561--749sgMynApVZlbDGkVbU4Odon_HdghSSEjpNE4QfpEwUi12UzjqV9ozfxGzbbU4M=" target="_blank">Web of Debt</a> - 2011-11-09</div>
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<td colspan="2" align="left"><div style="margin-right: 10px;"><br> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">Henry Ford said, <span><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black;">“It
is well enough that the people of the nation do not understand our
banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a
revolution before tomorrow morning.”</span></span><span style="color: black;"><br><br></span></span></p><span><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"></span></span>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">We are beginning to understand, and Occupy Wall Street looks like the beginning of the revolution.<span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">We are beginning to understand that our money is created, not by the government, but by banks. <span> </span>Many authorities have confirmed this, including the <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz1izu464LPmCTks1ILqWweh8TJt2phHnAyoR1YNtoJ3VFIlgVnxakeKkLdk-MHeOZTZk1Up5pBa1A-F3_ln1smWOfG1-W1m6XUgSkDPhDVxJS8AXFJ9bIlqInWA2OClWakKq_cyKPctug==" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">Federal Reserve itself</font></a>.<span> </span>The only money the government creates today are coins, which compose less than one ten-thousandth of the money supply.<span> </span>Federal
Reserve Notes, or dollar bills, are issued by Federal Reserve Banks,
all twelve of which are owned by the private banks in their district.<span> </span>Most of our money comes into circulation as bank loans, and it comes with an interest charge attached.<span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">According to Margrit Kennedy, a German researcher who has studied this issue extensively, interest now composes <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz2_U9lC7WVupJFLq-6EbB1a7v7XCal-NT6V5daPBIgDN3HNp8J-AHEoyMSl-bYKNdToHR2GhvPr5POkGN5XFlp-NgtECkqLVt5GuNSWVj6an8sS-0yRfdrUMrLvIRpeHsCzPg7l4cFVkxTV8wWC_W6J" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">40% of the cost of everything we buy</font></a>.<span> </span>We don’t see it on the sales slips, but interest is exacted at every stage of production.<span> </span>Suppliers need to take out loans to pay for labor and materials, before they have a product to sell. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">For government projects, Kennedy found that the <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz34mWakujh7rFxbeSLPjNxOhN7jxb03edefFx-lbzcwG2207iAeQu-isOMT9D3nACmfi7FeR0PSrxqrmtQqgb_ilVgeeSYQzkyJKtVbI5b9URCP6yxoPfsy" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">average cost of interest is 50%</font></a>.<span> </span>If the government owned the banks, it could keep the interest and get these projects at half price.<span> </span>That
means governments—state and federal—could double the number of projects
they could afford, without costing the taxpayers a single penny more
than we are paying now.<span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">This opens up exciting possibilities.<span> </span>Federal and state governments could fund all sorts of things we think we can’t afford now, simply by owning their own banks. <span> </span>They could fund something Franklin D. Roosevelt and Martin Luther King dreamt of—an Economic Bill of Rights.<span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><b><span lang="EN-US"><br>A Vision for Tomorrow</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">In
his first inaugural address in 1933, Roosevelt criticized the sort of
near-sighted Wall Street greed that precipitated the Great Depression.<span> </span>He said, “They only know the rules of a generation of self-seekers.<span> </span>They have no vision, and where there is no vision the people perish.”<span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">Roosevelt’s own vision reached its sharpest focus in 1944, when he called for a Second Bill of Rights.<span> </span>He said:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-US">This
Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the
protection of certain inalienable political rights . . . . They were
our rights to life and liberty.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-US">As
our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial
economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us
equality in the pursuit of happiness.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-US">He then enumerated the economic rights he thought needed to be added to the Bill of Rights.<span> </span>They included: </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-US">The right to a job;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-US">The right to earn enough to pay for food and clothing;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-US">The right of businessmen to be free of unfair competition and domination by monopolies;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-US">The right to a decent home;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-US">The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to enjoy good health;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-US">The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-US">The right to a good education.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">Times have changed since the first Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in 1791.<span> </span>When the country was founded, people could stake out some land, build a house on it, farm it, and be self-sufficient.<span> </span>The Great Depression saw people turned out of their homes and living in the streets—a phenomenon we are seeing again today.<span> </span>Few people now own their own homes.<span> </span>Even
if you have signed a mortgage, you will be in debt peonage to the bank
for 30 years or so before you can claim the home as your own.<span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">Health needs have changed too.<span> </span>In 1791, foods were natural and nutrient-rich, and outdoor exercise was built into the lifestyle.<span> </span>Degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease were rare.<span> </span>Today, health insurance for some people can cost as much as rent.<span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"><span> </span>Then there are college loans, which collectively now exceed a trillion dollars, more even than credit card debt.<span> </span>Students are coming out of universities not just without jobs but carrying a debt of $20,000 or so on their backs.<span> </span>For medical students and other post-graduate students, it can be $100,000 or more.<span> </span>Again, that’s as much as a mortgage, with no house to show for it.<span> </span>The
justification for incurring these debts was supposed to be that the
students would get better jobs when they graduated, but now jobs are
scarce.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">After
World War II, the G.I. Bill provided returning servicemen with free
college tuition, as well as cheap home loans and business loans.<span> </span>It was called “the G.I. Bill of Rights.”<span> </span>Studies
have shown that the G.I. Bill paid for itself seven times over and is
one of the most lucrative investments the government ever made.<span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">The government could do that again—without increasing taxes or the federal debt.<span> </span>It
could do it by recovering the power to create money from Wall Street
and the financial services industry, which now claim a whopping 40% of
everything we buy. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><b><span lang="EN-US"><br>An Updated Constitution for a New Millennium</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">Banks
acquired the power to create money by default, when Congress declined
to claim it at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.<span> </span>The Constitution says only that “Congress shall have the power to <i>coin</i> money [and] regulate the power thereof.” <span> </span>The
Founders left out not just paper money but checkbook money, credit card
money, money market funds, and other forms of exchange that make up the
money supply today.<span> </span>All of them are created by private financial institutions, and they all come into the economy as loans with interest attached.<span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">Governments—state and federal—could bypass the interest tab by setting up their own publicly-owned banks. <span> </span>Banking
would become a public utility, a tool for promoting productivity and
trade rather than for extracting wealth from the debtor class. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">Congress could go further: it could reclaim the power to issue money from the banks and fund its budget directly.<span> </span>It could do this, in fact, without changing any laws.<span> </span>Congress is empowered to “coin money,” and the Constitution sets no limit on the face amount of the coins.<span> </span>Congress could issue a few one-trillion dollar coins, deposit them in an account, and start writing checks.<span> </span><span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">The Fed’s own figures show that the money supply has <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz0miD7jPx9eKbQ0DtTTvdrJr79K_Y2Qyf_oaAoMBl0b3z3L9og86TpZtqzGO2PnEEnkji-afRnwi116oMbrO6c0b6Tm4oHQx4T4UAr3fVqvkv9BR8NRT0E_5epryFLEo670CQNK6pt1fc1kSDM09kZNDQy3p8HCSIg=" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">shrunk by $3 trillion</font></a> since 2008.<span> </span>That sum could be spent into the economy without inflating prices.<span> </span>Three
trillion dollars could go a long way toward providing the jobs and
social services necessary to fulfill an Economic Bill of Rights.<span> </span>Guaranteeing
employment to anyone willing and able to work would increase GDP,
allowing the money supply to expand even further without inflating
prices, since supply and demand would increase together.<span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><b><span lang="EN-US"><br>Modernizing the Bill of Rights</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-US">As Bob Dylan said, “The times they are a’changin’.” <span> </span>Revolutionary times call for revolutionary solutions and </span></span><span lang="EN-US">an updated social contract.<span> </span>Apple and Microsoft update their programs every year.<span> </span>We are trying to fit a highly complex modern monetary scheme into a constitutional framework that is 200 years old.<span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">After President Roosevelt died in 1945, his vision for an Economic Bill of Rights was kept alive by Martin Luther King.<span> </span>“True
compassion,” King declared, “is more than flinging a coin to a beggar;
it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs
restructuring.”<span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span lang="EN-US">MLK too has now passed away, but his vision has been carried on by a variety of money reform groups.<span> </span>The
government as “employer of last resort,” guaranteeing a living wage to
anyone who wants to work, is a basic platform of Modern Monetary Theory
(MMT).<span> </span>An <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz2uYXZK98E0fS6tXfc13iH26mWxrflCkiSCSBdkX93LsaUh2fi6_fYICruGE3DUnu85-bWTu-T8Kz4jLC7rl4qg0pwnLn0G9QnwNpdpAENC3Y7f2QdZRBqSpAJdWfC33CE=" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">MMT website</font></a> declares that <span style="color: black;">by “[</span></span><span style="color: black;" lang="EN">e]nding
the enormous unearned profits acquired by the means of the
privatization of our sovereign currency. . . [i]t is possible to have
truly full employment without causing inflation.” </span><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-US"><span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="border-width: medium; border-style: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color windowtext; padding: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black;" lang="EN-US">What was sufficient for a simple agrarian economy does not provide an adequate framework for freedom and democracy today.<span> </span>We need an Economic Bill of Rights, and we need to end the privatization of the national currency.<span> </span>Only
when the privilege of creating the national money supply is returned to
the people can we have a government that is truly of the people, by the
people and for the people. </span></p>
<p style="border-width: medium; border-style: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color windowtext; padding: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;" lang="EN-US"><br>
<br><em><strong>Ellen Brown</strong> is an attorney and president of the Public Banking Institute, </em><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz3REagKw1Z1RD0vzlXB4Tme7fbcvLkkB7vGB7sKFCeYAek9u1hAzpNHSKlCNH4k83CuVS6STErUVE_QxyYLzmYepUb7eM_EXJ8u1Utwl2UepsC1W7KlH8lB" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204);"><em>http://PublicBankingInstitute.org</em></span></a><em>. <span> </span>In Web
of Debt, her latest of eleven books, she shows how a private cartel has
usurped the power to create money from the people themselves, and how
we the people can get it back. <span> </span>Her websites are </em><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz0FWfmcXWEQi3OyZgfNXNB5C1Idzh9GX-KsC_lwIyfxutRU6ZeLrwakSiL3hc0qoWygJ2Bda9KKIdKTH0ujTqsKaveulu2oOvsO4ejttVvXMw==" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff"><em>http://WebofDebt.com</em></font></a><em> and </em><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz0NqR4Cb3l1F8Ab6HeJeGjO0ltfH9tuwjujrq-rxjsoXft62ZD0j9WOVjP45NYotjbECfBchogIKVV8265etfe9tgsXUDQqrkGbvfk1YhbxPw==" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff"><em>http://EllenBrown.com</em></font></a><em>.</em></span></p>
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<td colspan="2" align="left"><span><br></span></td></tr></tbody></table>_________________<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2011/11/14 Louisette Lanteigne <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:butterflybluelu@rogers.com">butterflybluelu@rogers.com</a>></span><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;"><div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
<div><div>Hi folks</div><div><br></div><div>Just finished writing out the minutes of the meeting that I took at the nonviolence festival event: Economic Solutions for the 99% held on Nov.12, 2011. Feel free to use/share the info. I did a spell check but I'm too sleepy to do a proper proof read so if you find typing errors,by all means, feel free to fix. Info is below for your reference.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Lulu :0)</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Notes taken at the public forum: Moving Towards a Peaceful Economy: Solutions for the 99% held on November 12<sup>th</sup>, 2011 as sponsored by the Nonviolence Festival, as taken by Louisette Lanteigne</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Matthew Albright helped open the event with an intro of the
group and reading of the agenda.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Roger Albright showcased economic movies to provide background to our current economic crisis. They can be viewed on YouTube at the following link:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The Essence of Money: A medieval tail. <font color="#000080"><span lang="zxx"><u><a rel="nofollow" href="http://youtu.be/_dwL9lqVBxY" style="color: rgb(35, 71, 134); outline-width: 0px;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/_dwL9lqVBxY</a></u></span></font></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Money as Debt (part 3) <font color="#000080"><span lang="zxx"><u><a rel="nofollow" href="http://youtu.be/kTv1fo6sKmo" style="color: rgb(35, 71, 134); outline-width: 0px;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/kTv1fo6sKmo</a></u></span></font></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Dollars & $ense: Where does money come from? <font color="#000080"><span lang="zxx"><u><a rel="nofollow" href="http://youtu.be/r0jtkwBVG6M" style="color: rgb(35, 71, 134); outline-width: 0px;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/r0jtkwBVG6M</a></u></span></font></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Canada's Greatest Experiment with Bill Abrams (part 2) <font color="#000080"><span lang="zxx"><u><a rel="nofollow" href="http://youtu.be/9yYEFuN2v08" style="color: rgb(35, 71, 134); outline-width: 0px;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/9yYEFuN2v08</a></u></span></font></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Guest speaker Tom Kennedy, a retired school teachers shared his knowledge about the function of Usury aka
Interest.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In the criminal code, section 347-348 it states that it is illegal to charge a usury fee that exceeds 60% of credit advanced. Technically people can literally charge up to 60% interest and get away with it in Canada.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The practice of charging usury fees is prohibited in religious texts including the Old Testament, the Bible and the Koran.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Citizens have the power to create community currency at the local level and with it, one can circumvent the need to pay usury fees. One such example can be found in Ithaca NY called the Ithaca Hours. To read more of this visit here: <font color="#000080"><span lang="zxx"><u><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ithacahours.org/" style="color: rgb(35, 71, 134); outline-width: 0px;" target="_blank">http://www.ithacahours.org/</a></u></span></font></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Recommended Reading: None dare not call it conspiracy by Gary Allen published in 1971.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There is an old saying that interest is theft and money can't have babies.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Many activities are being recorded to review trends, information using even our online browsing history but a good site to use if this is a concern is <a href="http://startpage.com" target="_blank">startpage.com</a>.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In medieval times, a winged lion represented loans without usury fees. Has anyone looked at the logo of the RBC? It's like a lion with it's wings clipped.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Workshop Questions: What have we learned & What do we want to communicate to others?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Group 1</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Canada experienced greater prosperity when the Bank of Canada handled the money.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Other options exist: currency as credit in general stores worked, local currency in hours, bartering etc.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Currently Canada has no policy in place to secure economic resilience.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-People should get political/run for office/vote and participate in movements such as Occupy.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-We need more education/public outreach on the matter.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-We need our economy structured within natural capital
limits</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Group 2</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Money is not circulating as it should</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-US federal reserve is privatized</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-People need to understand how important it is to not buy beyond one's means</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Money = air . (aka most money doesn't physically EXIST)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
-It's up to citizens to create the change.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Team 3</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Occupy needs to be aware of their strategy and beware of those trying to manipulate the movement.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Once people are aware of what's happening, there's no undoing it. We need to wake people up.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Good authors to read:
John Perkins and Steve Keen.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Check out <a href="http://personocraftia.com" target="_blank">personocraftia.com</a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-At times of war or threats of war, question the agenda of attacking nations and national banking set up</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Community Currency for donations are legally recognized by way of the issuance of tax receipts. In that regard, the government has handled it like currency.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Team 4</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-People need information beyond what media is currently providing</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-The crisis is far greater than many people realize</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-We need financial regulation and to expose directive market</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-We need a time to see debts forgiven. A Jubilee year.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
-Quality
of Life and Health indicators should be the new index</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Glass Eagle Bill: November 12, 1999, this bill to introduce banking regulation was abolished. Learn about it and reintroduce.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Team 5</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-absolute Power corrupts absolutely</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-the banks subjugate the public/nations</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-We have many unseen influences in media/credit card and debt activities etc.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-the system we have fosters an isolationist society.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
-the Global power brokers are unseen by the world.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">PART 2 of Forum</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The non violence
festival's website is at <font color="#000080"><span lang="zxx"><u><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nonviolencefestival.com/" style="color: rgb(35, 71, 134); outline-width: 0px;" target="_blank">www.nonviolencefestival.com</a></u></span></font> and they meet at the Queen St. Commons Tuesday nights. Anyone is welcome to attend.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Keynote Speaker: Retired Professor George Crowell BA Th. D.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Violence can be reduced through Economics. It's my ambition to secure the Economic solutions to help create a better world.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The creation of money out of nothing is huge and it should be reserved for those working for the public good, not corporate benefit.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We have coins/cash but the cash only makes less than 5% of today's money. The rest is all through banks who facilitate transactions. Problems arise when they make loans creating money every time it's done. 97% of money in circulation is created by private banks. They create principal but they don't cover the costs of the interest so the loan is not covering the total cost of the money paid back to them. They get more so public debt is created. Many end up borrowing to pay back principal and interest and there simply isn't enough to go around. We compete for the limited cash resources and defaults lead to further debt. When paid back, the money created simply disappears. No actual cash is circulated after the debt is paid.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The consequence of debt money is:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-recession</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-competition in community which is bad</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-banks are in a strong position based on our collateral. They take the interest and when people default they take their collateral including real assets such as homes, properties, belongings etc.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-The current monetary system concentrates money into the hands of the few not the many.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-It promotes growth to exploit our finite planetary resources</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-The Government must borrow from private banks building debt. While bank profits increase citizens face austerity measures, programming cuts etc.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Creating money by government to solve the issue is possible. The monetary policy applicable is the Bank of Canada Act.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-Raising interest to fight
inflation ins perverse. It only benefits the wealthy.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Alternatives Exists ( the work of Will Avery was referenced)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The power to create money out of nothing can be taken away by the Bank of Canada to stop banks form handling it. It can be spent into reality by way of expanding social programs, infrastructure projects and public services. It creates money as it creates jobs for the public creating a public benefit with unlimited possibilities. Interest free loans to build infrastructure means taxpayers only have to pay it off once not two or three times.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Canada pays $60 Billion per year, that's $165 million per day on interest for out debt. Imagine using that money to fund social justice programs, environmental programs etc.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We need to see a Renaissance of the Bank of Canada. Make it an environmental issue, make it an election issue. Visit this website for more details:<font color="#000080"><span lang="zxx"><u><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.comer.org/" style="color: rgb(35, 71, 134); outline-width: 0px;" target="_blank">http://www.comer.org/</a></u></span></font></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">People worry about issues such as counterfeiting when someone gets something for nothing but banks get away with it all the time. All of us can benefit when money creation works through the Bank of Canada because it is spent into existence to create jobs and things people need or it is lent into existence interest free to help pay down debt. We need to take over the power and use it for the public.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Fractional Reserve Banking: We had policy in Canada to mandate bank reserves of 5-20% to be maintained but Harper abolished it in 1991.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Defaults- Bake write offs. When a person goes into bankruptcy for $45,000, that $45,000 is a benefit to the economy because there is no more interest on it.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Rely on local economy. Buy local. Live within your means and lobby for the Renaissance of the Bank of Canada.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Trade and Debt = the enslavement of nations. NAFTA is less than free and more than trade.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Myth buster: Don't believe that if we make more money there will be
inflation because the fact is, Government money is less inflationary than bank made money.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The US needs to use the National Emergency Employment Act to remove the Federal Reserve money to the National Monetary Fund.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Good book and website: Ellen Brown's Web of Debt. For online info visit <font color="#000080"><span lang="zxx"><u><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.webofdebt.com/" style="color: rgb(35, 71, 134); outline-width: 0px;" target="_blank">www.webofdebt.com</a></u></span></font></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Another good site, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives at <font color="#000080"><span lang="zxx"><u><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.policyalternatives.ca/" style="color: rgb(35, 71, 134); outline-width: 0px;" target="_blank">http://www.policyalternatives.ca/</a></u></span></font></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Austerity is unnecessary, (Quote by Jim Stanford CAW)</div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>
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