Richard C. Cook on Monetary Reform and Economic Democracy

Maailman rahauudistusliikkeen suurin jokavuotinen tapahtuma on American Monetary Institute´n syyskuinen konferenssi Chicagossa, USA:ssa. Kokous kerää laajan asiantuntijakaartin ja satamäärin kiinnostuneita ympäri maailmaa.

Tässä Richard C. Cook´in viesti kokoukselle ja lukijoilleen.

The world’s most important gathering of monetary reformers takes place each year in Chicago at the American Monetary Institute’s annual conference. This year’s event takes place September 24-27 at Roosevelt University.

Chairing the conference is Stephen Zarlenga, AMI director and author of the landmark book “The Lost Science of Money.” For information and the list of speakers, including monetary economist Michael Hudson, see the AMI website at http://www.monetary.org/2009schedule.html.

Muutama poiminta tekstistä, ja osa poiminnoista suomeksi käännettyinä:

It is not difficult to come up with methods to solve today’s economic crisis through monetary reform. Many of us are doing it. The key, as I have been writing for the past several years, is to treat credit as a public utility, not the private property of the world’s financial elite.

Ei ole lainkaan vaikeata keksiä erilaisia menetelmiä joilla tämän päivän talouskriisi päihitetään rahauudistuspoliittisin keinoin. Moni meistä pohtii näitä ratkaisuja juuri nyt. Avain kaikkeen, kuten olen kirjoittanut useita jo vuosia, on pankkiluoton tarkastelu yhteiskunnallisena peruspalveluna kuten sähkö, vesi, viemäröinti, jätehuolto - eikä minkään finanssieliitin yksityisenä omaisuutena.

If we truly adhered to this concept, we would be able to see that a debt-based monetary system, where money only comes into existence through bank lending, can succeed only in isolated circumstances when a growth bubble outpaces the ability of the public to pay interest charges for the privilege of having money to spend and thereby to survive.

Jos todellakin seuraisimme näitä linjoja, kykenisimme huomaamaan että velkaperusteinen rahajärjestelmä, missä raha vain syntyy pankkien lainana, toimii vain eristetyissä olosuhteissa missä kasvukuplan kasvuvauhti tuottaa enemmän kuin mitä yleisö maksaa korkoina siitä että saavat rahaa kulutaakseen ja näin ollen selviämään hengissä.

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So, in the face of the current world horror, what chance do monetary reformers have to be heard?

The answer, I believe, is that we are being heard. My mind goes back to 2003, only six years ago, when Stephen Zarlenga came to my office at the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., where I had booked him to give a presentation based on his book, The Lost Science of Money. Later I worked with Steve on his first draft of the American Monetary Act. The time came when Steve and I began to meet with Congressman Dennis Kucinich, briefing him and others in Washington on monetary ideas.

So much has happened since then. So many more people have become aware of the evils of the debt-based monetary system. We have seen Congressman Ron Paul ignite a national wave of revulsion against the Federal Reserve System. There is now even hope that the American Monetary Act might be introduced on the floor of Congress.

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Without monetary reform there can never be economic democracy. But with it perhaps the chief cause of war can be eliminated: the unjust distribution of wealth among people and nations, where some get far too much and many get nothing.

Ilman rahauudistusta emme voi saavuttaa taloudellista demokratiaakaan. Mutta näiden yhteisvaikutuksella voitaneen jopa hyökkäyssodan päasiallinen syy eliminoida.

I strongly support the American Monetary Act, the movement for a basic income guarantee, and proposals supporting citizens’ dividends such as those of the Social Credit movement or the ones already in place through programs like the Alaska Permanent Fund. But even if such measures are not immediately implemented, the effort to promote them serves the purpose of educating millions of people.

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Our present responsibility is getting the word out that there is indeed a far better way to do things and that real change is possible. That money and credit can empower people, not just enslave them. That debt is unnecessary when credit is viewed as a public utility. That technology when properly distributed can free people for higher intellectual and spiritual pursuits, not just eliminate jobs and force millions of people into bankruptcy and starvation.

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I believe in the family of man and the responsibility of man to be a good steward of the earth and the environment. I believe financial tyranny has done its best to destroy these values. But I see an upsurge of desire and commitment among people for a new day, a truly democratic society, and a life on earth that is organized and conducted sanely, compassionately, and wisely.

Those who attend such events as the American Monetary Institute’s 2009 conference understand all this. Together we will continue to work toward our ideals, no matter what disasters may intervene. It will take time and hard work, but we and those who come after us will prevail.

© 2009 by Richard C. Cook