Well, I worked as Prof. of Law and Economics
I taught Law and Economics for 10 years
So, I taught monetary creation
like all Economics teachers do
And I taught it like it is taught today
i.e. in an absolutely non critical way
You give a description, you say 'This is how it works:
private banks create money
then, they look for refinancing according to their market share
they look for refinancing from the central bank'
and then you skip to another subject, because when you deliver an Economics course,
there are a lot of things to review, uh, not just money. There is unemployment, inflation, lots of other things.
I didn't even think
until 3-4 years ago
I didn't even think
of discussing the system, I mean basically
structurally, fundamentally, I didn't even think of getting revolted.
and... Frederic Lordon, he is a friend of mine, he is someone I really appreciate
with whom I have a lot of discussions and who said to me
when I started telling him about monetary creation
saying 'look, that's incredible, those private banks creating money'
Frederic would tell me: 'but hey, you live on an island or what?
Everybody knows that, you learn it in College'
Well, you indeed learn this in College
but what you don't learn is to get revolted with it
in College, you learn that it is the way it works and that it's fine this way
But it's not the same as if you learned it and then someone said: 'What do you think about it?'
Because, when you see how monetary creation works
you may just as well take to the street and start a fight, make a revolution!
it's absolutely in-cre-dible!
The most striking example is America
In America, before 1913
there was indeed a central bank, but it was still under control of citizens, more or less
and then there was no income tax...
there was NO income tax.
That same year, i.e. 1913, a year the Americans may as well put a black stone on
on that same year, private bankers, 5 of them
succeeded, through a plot which is... well, you should read it
it's incredible, you should really read it
two guys spent their whole life investigating it
and they have depicted it in details, it's incredible
5 bankers obtained
that when the American State needs money
no problem
we, the (private) bankers will give it to them
will... 'lend' it to them...
with a 6% interest rate.
hi hi hi, it's great!
it's great. Since then, well, there was no debt at the time, no debt at all, the United States had NO debt.
And now...
The Federal Reserve, well, they decided they would call themselves the Federal Reserve to avoid
smelling like a private central bank
The Americans did not want a central bank
they did not want to be rulled by Wall Street
they did not want it, they knew it was dangerous, they did not want it
so they had this great idea: they said 'we'll call ourselves the Federal Reserve'
and it worked, it was voted at Christmas late at night
absolute forgery, and then debt started to grow, grow, grow...
And on that same year, they invented the income tax, it's the same President, i.e. Wilson, who organised both
and income tax... listen, I don't know if it was designed that way, but
it looks like it ... it is as if
and that's ... like, like France, eh?
later, but the same in France
It is as if
First: I start with convincing the State to borrow me
I, the banker, start with convincing the State to owe me money
And then, in order to help the State raise that money, I create a new tax that will help with the fund-raising
And finally, I have the Americans work for me, nice, uh?
And I carry on doing... well, nothing, nothing else but buy a Yacht, buy this, buy that
But wait, it works pretty well and finally income tax absorbs ALL the repayment of debt in the United States
that is to say... all, all the monetary assets in the United States
which are debts, obviously
we'll have to try and explain this sometimes
money is debt
debt from the State, or debt from the bank, but debt
The same in France
All what you pay in the form of income tax
100% of what you pay
is not used to run hospitals, schools and utilities
not at all, it ALL goes to servicing debt
that is to say, it goes into the pockets of the rich who have lent to the State
because the state has given up the creation of the money it needs.
The state, it means ... The State, we, in fact, our representatives, FELONS in fact
felons, traitors, have forced the State, have forced us to go into debt with private actors
so people who, by definition, have money, if they can lend us, it means they have money
to become debtors of these people
paying them an interest
and this interest has grown, grown, grown, ever since 1973
and if you look at the deficits ... the deficits for each year
they are equal to debt service, that is to say that if there was no debt
we would have remained well, more or less, we would remained roughly in equilibrium, more or less
that is to say that, in fact, the imbalance is the formation of the debt
and debt service, NOT the refund, the refund is inaccessible, it's too much money
the debt service, just the interests, the State takes the income tax and they give it to the rich.
Gosh, it's just amazing that we accept such a system, it's just incredible that we accept it
it's unbelievable that we may call 'representatives' people who can utterly betray us like that.
When you do the maths and look at what we lack for the social security,
you look at what we need for retirement, you look at what we lack for electricity, gaz, and all the utilities ...
well, evrything is there, EVERYTHING! To know more about Etienne Chouard, please check: http://etienne.chouard.free.fr/Europe