This article originally appeared on Ignite Liberty by Dr. Eric Snyder.
Growing up in Southwestern Pennsylvania, I distinctly remember hearing about and seeing the remnants of a once-bustling industrial area. The recreational athletics field that I spent many evenings playing on, was lined with old coke ovens. Behind the field, was “glass mountain”, which was really a hill that the old glass factories (Bryce Brothers, Lenox, and L.E. Smith) of the region would use to dispose of product errors. Yes, many sports balls were flattened when kicked or thrown over the goals and fencing in the area. Perhaps, Wilson or Adidas should have located their ball factory near this complex as we certainly were repeating customers.
On Wednesday evenings, throughout middle school and high school, a group of fathers would “attempt” to play soccer on the fields. The truth was these men were really looking forward to the event at Sub and Pub after playing, a small, family-owned establishment (Sub n Pub was a small, family owned restaurant/bar). Upon arrival, the dads would buy us “kids” chicken wings and food, while they downed a beer and talked about current events. It was around these tables that I was educated on political issues, local government, and the talk of the town. This was also the location I remember hearing the old adage that “cash is king” for the first time.
When in middle school and high school, I was naive enough to believe much of what I was told. At that time, I certainly lacked the skills necessary to conduct research into the commentary of my teachers and community members. Unfortunately, it took me another decade to begin to question the “value” of cash, and how our monetary system worked in the United States and the world. What I have found to be true resulted in a paradigm shift for me as I realized how little I knew. I never really delved into the history of money and its impact on our lives until I started reading books on silver and gold. If you want an excellent lesson, and enjoy video much more than reading, I would encourage individuals to watch “Mike Maloney’s- "The Hidden Secrets of Money" as these short films provide basic monetary education that you will not learn in Keynesian business schools at universities in the United States.
Given the importance of this topic, I would also encourage readers to visit and join Reddit-Wallstreetsilver
Subsequently, the goal of this article is to shed light on what has taken me years to read and think about as the United States’ ever-expanding currency has impacted so many of my friends, family members, and work colleagues without them realizing the game. Please note the information provided in this essay is not financial advice, but rather educational.
Purchase Power, Debt, Financial Literacy, and Monetary Backing
Since 1913, the U.S Federal Reserve Note has lost an incredible amount of purchasing power as shown in Figure 1. Are your dollars paying for fewer items at the grocery store lately? On January 18th, 2022 a gallon of Vitamin D Organic Horizon Milk at Walmart in Oklahoma cost $8.02 after tax. In Oklahoma, our minimum wage is sitting at $7.25 hr?
What about gas prices, electricity, the car market, or the inflated housing market which results in inflated homeowners’ insurance, taxes, and a continued ripple effect? Regardless of the political party, it is clear the competency of our “elected” officials is either woefully ignorant or purposefully sinister as most do not realize how the expansion of currency supply can result in a lack of purchasing power. But shouldn’t this be clear to anyone living in Oklahoma given our academic state standards for grades 7-12 requires Oklahomans to learn about “personal financial literacy?”
You see, this is where the definition of education blurs with indoctrination. It is important to me that it is on record that only one of our “personal financial literacy” state standards includes the word “money”:
PFL.7: The student will identify the procedures and analyze the responsibilities of borrowing money.
Yes, you read that correctly. The standard is not about learning what money is or what money has been historically? and Why? It is instead important that your children learn about how one would borrow money and the responsibilities associated with these sources of credit. Is it any wonder that U.S. FAFSA student loan debt is above 1.6 trillion with 42 million Americans having some form of a federal student loan? Does this not concern everyone? Especially because this debt is not forgiven in bankruptcy court.
To make matters worse, how many of the students who are taking out federal student loans, realize the dollars they borrow have already been loaned to U.S. citizens? Don’t believe me? Take a dollar out of your pocket and read the words FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE. A NOTE is a loan, not an interest-free gift from your generous family member or the U.S. treasury through our elected officials and taxpayer funds. The complexity associated with how the money is printed, allocated and dispersed warrants an entire book but if Americans knew the process, I do not believe they would willingly participate.
Is it crazy to think our ever-expanding government would not want school children or the populace to know the definition of money and how it works? What about the distinction between money and currency? Would it not be advantageous to educate our children on the history of fiat currencies? Should the people in this country know who controls the currency supply in the United States? Is our currency backed by hard assets? Do our elected officials control the printing press? These questions are critical to know as their answers dictate how our society functions and whether we as citizens agree to play by the monetary rules that have been manifested upon us.
Why is it that Oklahoma students are literally required to learn about the “benefits of bankruptcy” and the “types of insurance” available to manage risk? But not one standard requires the students to learn the benefit of becoming their “own” bank and owning physical silver and gold. It is as if every single item within the state standards is written to enslave the population through debt and subsequent boom and bust cycles.
Did you know the derivation of the word mortgage is from Latin roots to mean "death-pledge"? I wonder if Governor Stitt is aware of the origin of the word as he seems to love underwriting death pledges to individuals. Couple that with his handling (or lack thereof) of Covid-19 in Oklahoma and election integrity and one would wonder if Governor Stitt really understands how Oklahomans live and the values they espouse. The majority of people in Oklahoma are pro-life which is why they wouldn’t cower to the pro-business crowd who puppeteer our elected officials through the Chamber of Commerce into silence. We should rename these entities to clarify what they really are, The Chambers of Control. All of this is disgusting at this point, and Oklahomans deserve so much better. This is the only reason I am writing this essay as I want to see Oklahomans thrive.
These government bureaucrats, who are controlled by bankers and the elite, will blame unions, farmers, non-union workers, our native population, technocrats, teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers, truck drivers, private business owners, and others for price increases because they simply do not understand money or currency. They will pit our population against each other with rules for thee but not for me as what they tell others to do never applies to them. Imagine the popularity of an inverted Robin Hood movie where Robin steals from the poor and gives to the rich. Given the garbage we all are told to watch on television today, this Robin Hood movie would probably win an Academy Award. Goodness, I hope my diatribe is not falling on deaf ears.
But the truth is, stealing from the poor and giving to the rich is what our government in conjunction with the federal reserve and central banks does when they print paper dollars and “inflate” us with bad news. Milton Friedman explains inflation and its consequences in this excellent video. After watching Mr. Friedman, you will better understand why one of the most popular games in board game history, Monopoly, creates a reality where it is not possible for the bank to run out of money.
What is unfortunate, is the reality that a few of our large real-life banks seem to follow the same rules that apply in Monopoly. The result is the taxpayers of our country continuing to foot the bill, while the wealthy become wealthier. Did you see this article on wallstreetonparade.com that revealed the 4.5 trillion in 2019 loans to four large banks for reverse repo’s? As if that wasn’t problematic, a fire was ignited when I discovered that Wall Street Banks actually own the New York Fed?
What does this mean for our children? The United States now has numbers and accounts, not tangible assets, wealth, and industry like that of the past. Case in point, since January of 2020, the world’s 10 richest men doubled their wealth from $700 billion to 1.5 trillion. How many teachers received a raise? Do world leaders not realize that consciousness to structural inequality thresholds is essential in order to prevent total devastation within our societies? There is a point when the inequality threshold supersedes any political alignment as household expenses for food reach about 30-40% of take-home pay. This rule applies regardless of the governmental system (democracy, republic, dictatorship, etc.) in place as the populace will revolt and reset society. But maybe resetting society is really what these past two years has been about?
Let’s be honest, our leaders do understand, they know exactly what destabilizes our societies and how to divide us. This is exactly why Abraham Lincoln in conjunction with southern leaders, were heroes for their effort to reunite our nation after the Civil War. I realize these individuals were not perfect, but they knew our unity was strength, much like our family units. They also knew what real money was, as America’s founding fathers allowed the monetary system to be managed by the people with hard assets like gold and silver being used in commerce. This is why the following was adopted on June 21, 1778, when New Hampshire ratified and made legal our U.S. Constitution:
Article I Section 10, Clause 1:
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility (emphasis added)
The genius of these men is apparent, they knew it was essential that we had a monetary system that was fungible and controlled by the people. They also knew that wars required nations to rebuild infrastructure which required financing in the face of inflation. Who the financier is matters because those individuals then wield tremendous power, especially when every dollar printed results in an interest payment? After the Revolutionary and the Civil Wars, we know that inflation hit anywhere from 15-25% in the United States which continued the debate on how we would anchor our monetary system. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1890 book, not film) provided context for this debate as the yellow brick road was gold, the slippers were silver, and the Emerald City was the greenbacks. Oh, wouldn’t it be great to know who was behind the curtain pulling the strings at that time? I think many of us have an idea!
But back to the banks. Let us be clear that banks do run out of money and have run out of money many times historically. Remember the federal bailouts of 2008 that saved them? How about the bust in the 1980s in Oklahoma? Did banks close their doors?
The question is could this happen today as we enter into a super-inflationary period with hyperinflation forthcoming (30-40%)? It is not only possible, it is probably that we will experience hyperinflation much like that in Venezuela, Lebanon, and most recently Turkey. What makes the U.S dollar more susceptible to the perils of hyperinflation was the disconnection of the dollar from the gold standard in 1971 and the subsequent listing of gold and silver on the COMEX. At that point, an unlimited option to print was granted to the Federal Reserve.
Just last week, a family member sent me the image below of recent bank communication:
What if temporary branch closures result in a permanent closure and confiscation of your finances? Are you aware of federal bail-in laws that were put in place post in 2012? If not, ask the citizens of Cyprus about their experience with bail-ins! Our FDIC, visited with the Bank of England in a joint conference to discuss bail-in procedures should banks go insolvent or if there was a sovereign debt default due to a financial collapse. What does this mean for us common folk? Well, in short, the FDIC can now drain some of your account without having to compensate you as they were required to with the passage of Dodd-Frank. Yes, it is ridiculous.
The bankers know closing physical offices and virtually managing the banks protect them from “bank runs” for cash as they no longer become an option. Instead, central bank digital currencies (CBDC’s) can be implemented through the current system and eventually through blockchain technology to keep Americans happy with monthly stimulus checks. Do you really think this is not possible? To expand your thinking even more, do some research into Bitcoin, Craig Wright, Evergrande, MIT, Epstein, and Tether. It is amazing how they have convinced millions of individuals that cryptocurrency is decentralized and the way of the future. Once you realize the players involved, you will probably not want to own crypto anymore.
For those that have made a ton of money from crypto, I am genuinely happy for you and hope you make a positive change in the world with the funds! The technology that has evolved is incredible, but the original idea has been confiscated by wall street and the banks. For those who remain in the exchange, you should be aware that Russia’s Central Bank recently announced (1/20/2022) it may prohibit all cryptocurrencies in the country:
The status of the Russian ruble, which is not a reserve currency, does not allow Russia to take a soft approach or ignore the growing risks” from cryptocurrencies.”
China has also announced crackdowns along with the UK, Spain, and Singapore announcing limitations to advertising in the exchange. Do you believe world governments, be they totalitarian or not, will not regulate competing currencies? Of course they will.
So why do all of these facts being presented matter? Well, there have always been two metals that humans have utilize to stabilize our monetary systems. We know this from over 5000 years of documented history, including the revaluation of gold by the U.S. government in the 1944 Bretton Woods agreement. Is it not interesting how they asked American’s to turn in their gold years earlier and the subsequently reevaluated its worth to $35 an ounce to back all of the paper money? Could this happen again in order to back our U.S. dollar as the world reserve?
Gold and Silver are from the earth, they are hard assets with a finite supply (meaning you can’t print them to infinity). While CNBC, FINRA financial advisors, and bankers continue to tell you to invest in the stock market, mutual funds and money markets the question becomes what are they doing with their money? We know that answer as nations and central banks all over the world continue to buy gold and silver at rates we haven’t seen for decades! Do they know the suppression of their value through the Comex is coming to an end? Will the wallstreetsilver reddit group help change the course of monetary history like the Hunt Brothers attempted to do in the 1980’s?
These two commodities are already the world currency. Gold and silver maintain value regardless of where you are on earth. If I fly to Cambodia tomorrow with a U.S. Gold Eagle, I can exchange the ounce for roughly the same amount of fiat dollars as I would in the United States. This is why I know if “Cash is King” like the soccer dads told me, our founding fathers knew that Bonds were the Queen, but more importantly they knew, without question, that the Emperor is Gold, and the Emperor’s Queen is Silver. These two metals have withstood the test of time and their use in the future is essential to the stabilization of the USA and our monetary system.
So, what is your homework?
- Watch the Hidden Secrets of Money by Mike Maloney and consider buying his book.
- Join Reddit-Wallstreetsilver and learn about real money and silver squeeze. The silver squeeze one-year anniversary is January 29th, 2022. Buy an ounce and support the movement! Warning–it can be addictive.
- The U.S. dollars purchasing power has been obliterated since 1913 loosing 90%+
- Start following wallstreetparade.com
as I believe they are the best investigative journalist in the financial industry. - Oklahoma State Standards for personal financial literacy do nothing to teach our children or community what money actually is and how to become financially independent.
- Few U.S. Business schools teach Austrian Economics and instead focus on Keynesian. The result is boom and bust, rinse and repeat.
- U.S. Student Loan Debt is one of the multiple bubbles ready to pop in the next boom and bust cycle. The forthcoming everything bubble will require a currency reset (housing, student loan debt, credit card debt, etc)
- Much like the game of Monopoly, our banks seem to have an endless supply of money. At some point, this will end.
- To protect yourself from inflation and the devaluation of the currency, purchase gold and silver.
- The U.S. Constitution Article 1 Section 10 Clause 1 defines legal tender as gold and silver. Central banks and nations states continue to deal in gold and silver which is why the new Basel III rules are important.
- Encourage your legislature to support recent bills by Rep. Sean Roberts, HB 3681, and Senator Dahm SB 1480 as these bills can help protect Oklahomans.
- Be aware of the crypto market news as the tides are turning. When monetary and stock market collapses occur, you can’t catch up!
