Money as Debt

The creation of money is not what we traditionally understood as the source of money.

It is using mortgage and fractal lending policies with a promise to repay where financial debt becomes money. Money becomes a tangible visualization of morality. The assessment of debt evolves into an accepted degree of a culture's morality. Objectification of debt can be directly related to a sense of moral superiority.

We owe, so that places the lender on a superior plane.

We assign this nearly virtual monetary system as a substitute for morality, arising out of emotional convenience. It is easier for an individual to replace money for morality. Once a culture agrees with this concept, then we take our moral compass out of the equation.

Isn't an easier emotional path to assess a monetary value than a subjective internal value, where we are only accountable to ourselves (and our "God").

With a simple financial value to which all parties can agree, or at least have the courts force us to agree, value judgments can be assessed in hard and fast terms. Contracts become solid, with unquestionable terms. This is the concept we now call "money."

Monetary systems by their nature are intuitive, even though most people do not realize where "money" comes from. We fail to realize why money becomes important. Something must be better since it has a higher price tag. We accept that without question.

Why do we assess value to money, which is based on a non tangible promise from unseen persons?

Why should we give faith that somebody - anybody - banks or government, will do the "right" thing?

What is a promise anyway?

Debt becomes a method the individual can assert their will upon others. We want to do right and believe that others will do right to us. That is the core of any promise.

It is where we can assert superiority over another, by having faith that they will repay with interest. We give faith to the debtor, which is in direct conflict with other, less tangible, forms of faith. Such has been the historic basis of religion. Why else would most world religions take a stern position against lending with interest? We abdicate authority previously reserved for the clergy and confer it to banks and other financial institutions.

Christianity has been relegated to a competitive role with money. There have been countless sermons about how God does not want us to be in debt. It is competition and weakens the pulpit's hold on the faithful.

Many cannot afford to tithe to God's church.

Why should they?

You can have happiness on earth, as long as you can shoulder some debt. Wall Street has become the new temple, and we all must contribute when it falters.

The federal bailout is our tithe to the altar of debt.

We got off easy with a paltry 700 billion.

Fear as a method of control

argumentum in terrorem

"Save us, Superman."

9/11. As a mantra for the 21^st century, nothing can hold a candle to the visceral impact of September 11, 2001. It was one of those rare “where were you when?” moments, burned into the collective consciousness. Of that there is no doubt.

The attack on the twin towers became a surface of the specter of fear. What is fear? Wikipedia defines fear as “an emotional response to threats and danger.” Can we asses a need to feel fear? The need for comfort, the homeostatic nature of human kind, the need to feel safe in their homes and in their lives. It was intensified as the towers came down.

Then a strange thing happened...

Instead of finding answers, and understanding where this sense of fear originated, we became even more fearful. We knew less than before, and our leaders, instead of taking substantive steps to calm the world, began to be beat war drums.

With no discernible change in our day to day lives, we have become a nation at war with unnamed entities we call “terrorists.” It can be argued the odds of a single American falling victim to an act of terrorism (or what passes for terrorism) was only infinitesimally affected by the events of 9/11. My assertion is that we are no more safer now than we were prior to the event. But we are more fearful.

Fear is the mother of morality - Nietzsche.

People who aim to control society will use the easiest method possible. The promotion of fear is an simple path to control the populous. Fear can be an intricate part of social structure. But what of the opposite? Basic human nature encompasses the struggle to alleviate fear. Physical manifestations of fear are well documented, couldn't it be said fear is the basic need for relief? Fear, and the alleviation of fear becom powerful emotions, which can give rise for enterprising parties to seize an opportunity for control. The search for a savior is at the foundation of both religion and politics. We need a representative to keep us from harm, to keep us safe and to bring us to some version of the “promised land.”

A correlation can be made between the relief of fear and the establishment of debt. Both fill some sort of need. Both have a component of relationship between people providing a degree of comfort, with a promise of reciprocation. The debtor and the faithful owe their debt, in either financial or emotional terms. The relief of debt becomes a literal term, focusing on the word relief.

My question is - how safe are we? There is a disconnect between the illusion of security and the reality of safety. We cannot walk out of our homes without the assessment of risk. Why do we proceed, and why should we proceed? We allow ourselves to be safe, but we fail to realize that safety is something that is given, and can be easily taken away.

As the events of September 11 unfolded the usefulness as fear as a tool, and the power of the savior, became apparent. Fear became a tangible commodity, which can be traded. Writer Hunter S. Thompson remarked:

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We are turning into a nation of whimpering slaves to Fear — fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, fear of getting down-sized or fired because of the plunging economy, fear of getting evicted for bad debts, or suddenly getting locked up in a military detention camp on vague charges of being a Terrorist sympathizer. "Extreme behavior in Aspen" (2003-02-03)

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The promise of repayment gives the loaner a measure of power just as the savior has over the saved. The feeling of gratitude is a price one pays to the superior, and the participants are willing, with no idea that any manipulation is taking place. We are eager to live the proscribed life with the promise of a nirvana or heaven, and the fear of hell.

An industry of security has developed from the promotion of fear of an unknown entity. Any Google search of “security” bring thousands of results for companies that offer the promise of comfort, the ability to surf the internet, to conduct business and live our lives free from the specter of despair. We are taking comfort to be something that a value can assigned. How much are you willing to spend to be safe? To feel safe has no physical parameters. We cannot hold safety in our hands. As I sit in my living room, what makes me feel safe, and why should I feel that way? The government has created an illusion and we can continue to feel that way, as long as our social structure stays in place. We walk down the street without fear of molestation because the police, a government entity, is hard at work. We do not ask, or simply forget, the price.

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We're likely to experience more restrictions on our personal freedom than has ever been the case in our country - Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

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We are going to have to change the balance between freedom and security - House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt

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Our leaders have garnered support for a war whose antagonists are phantoms. The war on terror is impossible to define since terror is an emotion, intangible and unquantifiable. Terror is fear, and fear is what will keep us in line. How do we win a war? Is it something that a flag can be placed by a victorious army?