The Natural Congregation of Yahweh is what the secular world, modern traditional 'Christians',

and the modern 'Jews', would phrase as, "The Natural Church of God"

THE MONEY MYTH EXPLODED

The financial enigma resolved. A debt money system: 

1. Shipwreck survivors

An explosion had blown their ship apart. Each one grasped the first bit of wreckage that came to hand, And when it was over there were five left, five huddled on a raft which the waves carried along at their will, As for the other victims of the disaster, there was no sign of them.

Hour after long hour their eyes searched the horizon. Would some passing ship sight them? Would their makeshift raft find its way to some friendly shore?

Suddenly a cry rang out: "Land! Look! Over there in the direction the waves are carrying us!"

The vague silhouette proved itself to be, in fact, the outline of a shore, the figures on the raft danced with joy.

They were five, five Canadians. There was Jonathon, a farmer. It was he who had first cried, "Land!" Then Peter, a prospector and a mineralogist. You can see him on his knees, one hand against the floor, the other gripping the mast of the raft. Next Jim, an animal breeder; he's the one in the striped pants, kneeling and gazing in the direction of land. Then there is Harry, an agriculturist, a little on the stout side, seated on a trunk salvaged from the wreck. And finally Frank, the carpenter, big and energetic; he is the merry fellow standing in the rear with his hand on the carpenter's shoulder.

2. A Providential island

To our five men, setting foot on land was like returning to life from the grave. When they had dried and warmed themselves their first impulse was to explore this little island on to which they had been cast, far from civilization.

A quick survey was sufficient to raise their spirit. The island was not a barren rock. True enough, they were the only men on it at the moment. But judging from the herds of semi-domesticated animals they encountered, there must have been men here at some time before them. Jim, the animal breeder, was sure he could completely domesticate them and put them to good service.

Jonathon found the island's soil, for the most part, to be quite suitable for cultivation. Harry discovered some fruit trees which, if properly tended, would give good harvests. Most important were the large stands of timber embracing many types of wood. Frank, without too much difficulty, would be able to build houses for the little community. As Peter, the prospector, well, the rock formations of the island showed signs of rich mineral deposits, Lacking the tools, Peter still felt his ingenuity and initiative could produce metals from the ores.

So each could serve the common good with his special talent. All agreed to call the place Salvation Island. All gave thanks to Providence for the reasonably happy ending to what could have been stark tragedy.
3. True wealth

Here are the men at work. The carpenter builds houses and makes furniture. At first they find their food where they can. But soon the fields are tilled and seeded, and the farmer has his crops. As season followed season this island, this heritage of the five men, Salvation Island, became richer and richer. Its wealth was not that of gold or of paper bank notes, but one of true value; a wealth of food and clothing and shelter, of all the things to meet human needs.

Each man worked at his own trade. Whatever surpluses he might have of his own produce, he exchanged for the surplus products of the others.

Life wasn't always as smooth and complete as they could have wished it to be. They lacked many of the things to which they had been accustomed in civilization. But their lot could have been a great deal worse.

Besides, all had experienced the depression in Canada. They still remembered the empty bellies side by side with stores crammed with food. At least, on Salvation Island, they weren't forced to see the things they needed rot before their eyes. Taxes were unknown here. Nor did they go in constant fear for seizure by the bailiff. They worked hard but at least they could enjoy the fruits of their toil. So they developed the island, thanking God and hoping for the day of reunion with their families still in possession of life and health, those two greatest of blessings.

4. A serious inconvenience     

 Our men often got together to talk over their affairs. Under the simple economic system which had developed, one thing was beginning to bother them more and more; they had no form of money. Barter, the direct exchange of goods for goods, still had its drawbacks. The products to be exchanged were not always at hand when a trade was discussed. For example, wood delivered to the farmer in winter could not be paid for in potatoes until six months later.

Sometimes one man might have an article of considerable size which he wished to exchange for a number of smaller articles produced by different men at different times.

All this complicated business and laid a heavy burden on the memory. With a monetary system, however, each one could sell his products to the others for money. With this money he could buy from the others the things he wanted, when he wished and when they were available.

It was agreed that a system of money would indeed be very convenient. But none of them knew how to set up such a system. They knew how to produce true wealth - goods. But how to produce money; the symbol of this wealth, was something quite beyond them. They were ignorant of the origin of money, and needing it they didn't know how to produce it. Certainly, many men of education would have been in the same boat; all our governments were in that predicament during the ten years prior to the war. The only thing the country lacked at that time was money, and the governments apparently didn't know what to do to get it.
5. Arrival of a refugee

One evening when our boys were sitting on the beach going over their problem for the hundredth time, they suddenly saw approaching, a small boat with a solitary man at the oars. They learned that he was the only survivor of a wreck. His name was Rothschild.

Delighted to have a new companion they provided him with the best they had and took him on an inspection tour of the colony.

"Even though we're lost and cut off from the rest of the world," they told him, "we haven't too much to complain about. The earth and the forest are good to us. We lack only one think - money. That would make it easier for us to exchange our products."

"Well, you can thank Providence," replied Rothschild, "because I am a banker and in no time at all I'll set up a system of money guaranteed to satisfy you. Then you'll have everything that people in civilization have."

A banker!... A BANKER!... An angel coming down out of the clouds couldn't have inspired more reverence and respect in our men. For, after all, are we not accustomed, we people in civilization, to genuflect before bankers, those men who control the life-blood of finance?
6. Civilization's god

"Mr. Rothschild, as our banker, your only occupation on this island will be to look after our money; no manual labour."

"I shall, like every other banker, carry out to complete satisfaction my task of forging the community's prosperity."

"Mr. Rothschild, we're going to build you a house that will be in keeping with your dignity as a banker. But in the meantime, do you mind if we lodge you in the building we use for our get-togethers?

"That will suit me, my friends. But first of all, unload the boat. There's paper, and a printing press, complete with ink and type; and there's a little barrel which I exhort you to treat with the greatest care."

They unloaded everything. The small barrel aroused intense curiosity in our good fellows.

"This barrel," Rothschild announced, "contains treasure beyond dreams. It is full of... gold!"

Full of gold! The five all but swooned. The god of civilization here on Salvation Island! The yellow god, always hidden, yet terrible in its power; whose presence or absence or slightest caprice could decide the very fate of all the civilized nations!

"Gold!  Mr. Rothschild, you are indeed a great banker!"

"Oh august majesty! Oh honourable Rothschild! Great high priest of the god, gold! Accept our humble homage and receive our oaths of fealty!"

"Yes, my friends, gold enough for a continent. But gold is not for circulation. Gold must be hidden. Gold is the soul of healthy money, and the soul is always invisible. But I'll explain all that when you receive your first supply of money."
7. The secret burial

Before they went their separate ways for the night, Rothschild asked them one last question.

"How much money will you need to begin with in order to facilitate trading?"

They looked at one another then deferentially towards the banker. After a bit of calculation and with the advice of the kindly financier, they decided that $200 each would do.

The men parted, exchanging enthusiastic comments. And in spite of the late hour, they spent most of the night lying awake, their imaginations excited by the picture of gold. It was morning before they slept.

As for Rothschild, he wasted not a moment. Fatigue was forgotten in the interests of his future as a banker. By dawn's first light he dug a pit into which he rolled the barrel. He then filled it in, transplanting a small shrub to the spot about which he carefully arranged sod. It was well hidden.

Then he went to work with his little press to turn out a thousand $1 bills. Watching the clean new bank notes come from his press, the refugee turned banker, thought to himself:

"My! how simple it is to make money. All its value comes from the products it will buy. Without produce these bills are worthless. My five naive customers don't realize that. They actually think that this new money derives its value from gold! Their very ignorance makes me their master."

And as evening drew on, the five came to Rothschild -- on the run.
8. Who owns the new money?

 Five bundles of new bank notes were sitting on the table.

"Before distributing the money," said the banker, "I would like your attention.

"Now, the basis of all money is gold. And the gold stored away in the vault of my bank is my gold. Consequently, the money is my money. Oh! don't look so discouraged. I'm going to use it as you see fit. However, you'll have to pay interest. Considering that money is scarce here, I don't think 8% is unreasonable."

"Oh, that's quite reasonable, Mr. Rothschild."

"One last point, my friends. Business is business, even between pals. Before you get the money, each of you is going to sign a paper. By it you will bind yourselves to pay both interest and capital under penalty of confiscation of property by me. Oh! this is a mere formality. Your property is of no interest to me. I'm satisfied with money. And I feel sure I'll get my money and that you'll keep your property."

"That makes sense, Mr. Rothschild. We're going to work harder than ever in order to pay you back."

"That's the spirit. And any time you have a problem, come and see me. Your banker is your best friend. Now, here's two hundred dollars for each of you."

And our five brave fellows went away, their hands full of dollar bills, their heads swimming with the ecstasy of having money.
9. A problem in arithmetic

And so Rothschild's money went into circulation on the island. Trade, simplified by money, doubled. Everybody was happy.

And the banker was always greeted with unfailing respect and gratitude.

But now, let's see... Why does Jonathon, the farmer, look so grave as he sits busily figuring with a pencil and paper? It is because Jonathon, like the others, has signed an agreement to repay Rothschild, in one year's time, the $200 plus $16 interest. But Jonathon has only a few dollars in his pocket and the date of payment is near.

For a long time he wrestled with the problem from his own personal point of view, without success. Finally he looked at it from the angle of the little community as a whole.

"Taking into consideration everyone on the island, as a whole, he thought, "are we capable of meeting our obligations? Rothschild turned out a total of $1000. He's asking in return $1080. But even if we bring him every dollar bill on the island we'll still be $80 short. Nobody made the extra $80. We turn out produce, not dollar bills. So Rothschild can take over the entire island since all the inhabitants together can't pay him back the total amount of capital and interest.

"Even if a few, without any thought for the others, were able to do so, those others would fall. And the turn of the first spared would come eventually. The banker will have everything. We'd better hold a meeting right away and decide what to do about it."

Jonathon with his figures in his hand, had no difficulty in proving the situation. All agreed they had been duped by the kindly banker. They decided upon a meeting at Rothschild's.
10. The benevolent banker

Rothschild guessed what was on their minds but put up his best front. While he listened, the impetuous Frank stated the case for the group.

"How can we pay you $1080 when there is only $1000 on the entire island?"

"That's the interest, my friends. Hasn't your rate of production increased?"

Sure, but the money hasn't. And it's money you're asking for, not our products. You are the only one who can make money. You've made only $1000 and yet you ask $1080. That's an impossibility!"

"Now listen, fellows. Bankers, for the greater good of the community, always adapt themselves to the conditions of the times. I'm going to require only the interest. Only $80. You will go on holding the capital." "Bless you, Mr. Rothschild! Are you going to cancel the $200 each of us owes you?"

"Oh no! I'm sorry, but a banker never cancels a debt. You still owe me all the money you borrowed. But you'll pay me, each year, only the interest. If you meet the interest payments faithfully each year I won't push you for the capital. Maybe some won't be able to repay even the interest because of the money changing hands among you. Well, organize yourselves like a nation. Set up a system of money contributions, what we call taxes. Those who have more money will be taxed more: the poor will pay less. See to it that you bring me in one lump sum, the total of the amount of interest and I'll be satisfied. And your little nation will thrive."

So our boys left, somewhat pacified but still dubious.  

11. Rothschild exults

Rothschild is alone. He is deep in reflection. His thoughts run thus:

"Business is good. These boys are good workers, but stupid. Their ignorance and naivety is my strength. They ask for money and I give them the chains of bondage. They give me orchids and I pick their pockets.

"True enough, they could mutiny and throw me into the sea. But pshaw! I have their signatures. They're honest, hardworking people were put into this world to serve the financiers.

"Oh great Mammon! I feel your banking genius coursing through my entire being! Oh, illustrious master! how right you were when you said: "Give me control of a nation's money and I won't mind who makes its laws." I am the master of Salvation Island because I control its money.

"My souls is drunk with enthusiasm and ambition. I feel I could rule the universe. What I, Rothschild, have done here, I can do throughout the entire world. Oh! if only I could get off this island! I know how I could govern the world without wearing a crown.

"My supreme delight would be to install my philosophy in the minds of those who lead society: bankers, industrialists, politicians, reformers, teachers, journalists, -- all would be my servants. The masses are content to live in slavery when the elite from among them are constituted their overseers."
12. The cost of living unbearable

Meanwhile things went from bad to worse on Salvation Island. Production was up, bartering had dropped to a minimum. Rothschild collected his interest regularly. The others had to think of setting money aside for him. Thus, money tended to clot instead of circulating freely.

Those who paid the most in taxes complained against those who paid less. They raised the prices of their goods to compensate for this loss. The unfortunate poor who paid no taxes lamented the high cost of living and bought less.

Morale was low. The joy went out of living. No one took an interest in his work. Why should he? Produce sold poorly. When they made a sale they had to pay taxes to Rothschild. They went without things. It was a real crisis. And they accused one another of wanting in charity and of being the cause of the high cost of living.

One day, Harry, sitting in his orchard, pondered over the situation. He finally arrived at the conclusion that this "progress", born of a refugee's monetary system, had spoiled everything on the island. Unquestionably all five had their faults; but Rothschild's system seemed to have been specifically designed to bring out the worst in human nature.

Harry decided to demonstrate this to his friends and to unite them for action. He started with Jim, who was not hard to convince. "I'm no genius", he said, "but for a long time now there's been a bad smell about this banker's system."

One by one they came to the same conclusion and ended by deciding upon another conference with Rothschild.
13. Interview with the enshackler

A veritable tempest burst about the ears of the banker.

"Money's scarce on the island, fellow, because you take it away from us! We pay you and pay you and still owe you as much as at the beginning. We work our heads off! We've the finest land possible and yet we're worse off than before the day of your arrival. Debts! Debts! up to our necks in debts!"

"Oh! now boys, be reasonable! Your affairs are booming and it's thanks to me. A good banking system is a country's best asset. But if it is to work beneficially you must have faith in the banker. Come to me as you would to a father... is it more money you want? Very well. My barrel of gold is good for many thousands of dollars more. See, I'm going to mortgage your latest acquisitions and lend you another thousand dollars right now."

"So! Now our debt goes up to $2000! We are going to have twice as much interest to pay for the rest of our lives!"

"Well, yes -- but I'll lend you more whenever the value of your property increases. And you'll never pay anything but the interest. You'll lump all your debts into one -- what we call a consolidated debt. And you can add to the debt year after year."

"And raise the taxes year after year?"

"Obviously. But your revenues also increase every year."

"So then, the more the country develops each year because of our labour, the more the public debt increases!"

"Why, of course! Just as in your Canada -- or in any other part of the civilized world for that matter. The degree of a country's civilization is always gauged by the size of its debt to the bankers".
14. The wolf devours the lambs

"And that's a healthy monetary system, Mr. Rothschild?"

"Gentlemen, all sound money is based on gold and it comes from the banks in the form of debts. The national debt is a good thing. It keeps men from becoming too satisfied. It subjugates governments to the supreme and ultimate wisdom, that which is incarnate in bankers. As a banker, I am the torch of civilization here on your little island. I will dictate your politics and regulate your standard of living."

"Mr. Rothschild, we're simple uneducated folks, but we don't want that kind of civilization here. We'll not borrow another cent off you. Sound money or not, we don't want any further transactions with you."

"Gentlemen, I deeply regret this very ill-advised decision of yours. But if you break with me, remember, I have your signatures. Repay me everything at once -- capital and interest."

"But that's impossible, sir. Even if we give you all the money on the island we still won't be square with you."

"I can't help that. Did you or did you not sign? Yes? Very well. By virtue of the sanctity of contracts I hereby seize your mortgaged property which was what you agreed to at the time you were so happy to have my help. If you don't want to serve willingly the supreme authority of money then you'll obey by force. You'll continue to exploit the island, but in my interests and under my conditions. Now, get out! You'll get your orders from me tomorrow."
15. Control of the press

Rothschild knew that whoever controlled the nation's money, controlled the nation. But he knew also that to maintain that control it was necessary to keep the people in a state of ignorance and to distract them by a variety of means.

Rothschild had observed that of the five islanders, two were conservatives and three were liberals. That much had evolved from their evening conversations, especially after they had fallen into slavery. And between the conservatives and those who were liberals, there was constant friction.

On occasions, Harry, the most neutral of the five, considering that all had the same needs and aspirations, had suggested the union of the people to put pressure on the authorities. Such a union, Rothschild could not tolerate; it would mean the end of his rule. No dictator, financial or otherwise, could stand before a people united and educated.

Consequently, Rothschild set himself to foment, as much as possible, political strife between them.

The refugee put his press to work turning out two weekly newspapers, "The Sun" for the liberals and "The Star" for the conservatives.

The general tenor of "The Sun" was: "If you are no longer master, it is because of those traitorous conservatives who have sold out to big business".

That of "The Star": "The ruinous state of business and the national debt can be traced directly to the political responsibility of those unmentionable liberals".

And the two factions wrangled ferociously, forgetting the one who had forged their chains, that money master, the banker Rothschild.
16. A priceless bit of flotsam

One day, Jonathon, the farmer on a small beach hidden by tall grass at one end of the island, spotted a lifeboat, empty except for a trunk in good condition lying in the bottom of it. He opened the trunk. Among the articles within, a sort of album caught his eye: "TNS Barter and Trade Exchange". Between the covers he found the first training manual for self-administered electronically facilitated Barter published by the Canadian pioneers of modern Barter, The Neighborhood Store. Curious, Jonathon sat down and began to read the volume. His interest grew; his face lit up.

"Well just look at this!" he cried out loud. "This is something we should have known a long time ago. Money gets its value, not from gold, but from the products which that money or Credit buys.

Simply put, money should be a sort of record keeping of ROX passing from one account to another according to purchases and sales. The sum total of production.

"Each time production increases there is a corresponding increase in the amount of ROX. Never at any time should interest be paid on new Credit. Progress is marked, not by an increase in the public debt, but by the issuance of an equal dividend to each individual from excess production... Prices are adjusted to the general purchasing power by a coefficient of prices. Modern Barter..."

But Jonathon could no longer contain himself. He got up and set off at a run, the book in his hands, to share this glorious discovery with his four comrades.
17. Money-- elementary accounting

So Jonathon became the teacher. He taught the others what he had learned from that God-sent TNS publication.

"This", he said, "is what we can do without waiting for a banker and his keg of gold or without underwriting a debt.

"I open an account in the name of each of you. In good faith we will each start out with 200 units representing our future exchanges, called "ROX", which is short for record of exchange. These are secured by your promises to exchange at least that much to any of the others whenever they want or need it.

"Frank exchanges some goods from Peter for 10 ROX. I deduct 10ROX from Frank leaving him 190 ROX. I add 10 ROX to Peter and he now has 210 ROX.

"Jim exchanges from Peter to the amount of 8 ROX. I deduct from Jim 8 ROX leaving him 192 ROX. Peter now has 218 ROX.

"Peter exchanges wood from Frank for 15 ROX. I deduct 15 ROX from Peter leaving 203 ROX. I add 15 ROX to Frank's account and it goes back to 205 ROX.

And so we continue; from one electronically administered account to another in the same fashion as paper bank notes go from one man's pocket to another's.

"If someone needs an advance of ROX to expand production, we issue him the necessary amount. Once he has produced and exchanged his products he offsets the advanced amount with his equivalent production. The same with public works; paid for by new ROX.

"Likewise, each one's account is periodically increased from excess production beyond the requirements for public works but without taking ROX from anyone, in order that all may benefit from the progress society makes. That's the national dividend. In this fashion ROX becomes an instrument of service."
18. The banker's despair

Everyone understood. The members of this little community became TNS Barter Members. The following day, Rothschild, the banker, received a letter signed by the five:

"Dear sir' without the slightest necessity you have plunged us into debt and exploited us. We don't need you anymore to run our money system. From now on we'll have all the money we need without gold, debts or thieves. We are establishing, at once, the modern system of Barter on the island. The national dividend is going to replace the national debt.

"If you insist on being repaid, we can repay you all the money you gave us. But not a cent more. You cannot lay claim to that which you have not made."

Rothschild was in despair. His empire was crumbling. His dreams shattered. What could he do? Arguments would be futile. The five were now Barter Members: money and credit were now not more mysterious to them than they were to Rothschild.

"Oh!", said Rothschild, "these men have been won back to the age-old system of Barter. Their doctrine will spread far more quickly than mine. Should I beg forgiveness? become one of them? I, a financier and a banker? Never! Rather, I shall try and put as much distance between them and me as I can!"
19. Fraud unmasked

To protect themselves against any future claim by Rothschild, our five men decided to make him sign a document attesting that he again possessed all he had when he first arrived on the island.

An inventory was taken; the boat, the oars, the little press and the famous barrel of gold.

Rothschild had to reveal where he had hidden the gold. Our boys hoisted it from the hole with considerably less respect than the day they had unloaded it from the boat. Barter and good old common sense had taught them to despise gold.

The prospector, who was helping to lift the barrel, found it surprisingly light for gold. If the barrel was full, he told the others, there was something in it besides gold.

The impetuous Frank didn't waste a moment; a blow of the axe and the contents of the barrel were exposed.

Gold? Not so much as a grain of it! Just rocks -- plain, worthless rocks! Our men couldn't get over the shock.

"Don't tell us he could bamboozle us to this extent!"

"Were we such muttonheads as to go into raptures over the mere mention of gold?"

"Did we mortgage all our possessions for a few pieces of paper based on a few pounds of rocks? It's robbery compounded by lies!" But when you think of it, what’s the difference if the rocks were gold or granite – nothing, absolutely nothing!!!

"To think that we sulked and almost hated one another all because of such a fraud! That devil!"

Furious, Frank raised his axe. But already the banker had taken to his legs in full flight toward the forest.
20. Farewell to Salvation Island

After the opening of the barrel and the revelation of his duplicity, nothing further was heard of Rothschild. Shortly after, a ship, cruising off the normal navigation rout, noticed signs of life on this uncharted island and cast anchor a short distance offshore. The men learned that the ship was en route to America. So they decided to take with them what they could carry and return to Canada. Above all, they made sure to take back with them the album "The Neighborhood Store Barter and Trade Exchange" which had proven to be their salvation from the hands of the financier, Rothschild, and which had illumined their minds with an inextinguishable light.

All five solemnly engaged to get in touch with the management of this paper, once back in Canada, and to become devoted and zealous apostles of the cause of Barter in Canada and United States.
21. From Parable to reality

The debt money system introduced by Rothschild into Salvation Island made the little community sink into financial debt in proportion to the value of it’s production as it developed and enriched the island by its own hard work.

This is exactly what happens in our civilized countries today – and sadly this is with the support of a great percentage of the people, is it not?

The countries of Canada and United States of today are certainly richer in real wealth, than they were 50 or 100 years ago, or in the pioneers' age. The Canadian and American people themselves have produced this enrichment by their own labour and their own know-how. But compare their national debts, the sum of all public debts of today with this same sum 50 or 100 years ago, or even three centuries ago!

Why should they be collectively indebted for an amount equal to their own productivity, when in fact the parties they are indebted to produced absolutely “nothing” of any real value and called it “money”?     TOP ^
 

Banking vs. Barter

“Alternative or Complementary Currencies” - Recent Buzzwords!!!

 Over the years you may have noticed an ever-changing series of “buzzwords” associated with “money”. Without dwelling on the extent of the list, or it’s oft absurdity, let’s just look at a few simple definitions that evidence it is indeed, very odd! Webster’s dictionary defines ‘money’ as; “stamped pieces of metal, or any paper notes, authorized by a government as a medium of exchange”. Webster’s also provides a number of definitions for the word ‘medium’, only one of which can be applied to money, that being; “an intervening thing through which a force acts”. Curiously, this brings us to look at which “force” might be applicable to “money”. In modern terms, money has become synonymous with the word “currency”, which Webster’s also defines as; “the money in circulation in any country”. ‘Currency’ in English usage, is derived from its root word; ‘current’, which Webster’s defines as; “a flow of something [air, water or other substantive thing] in a definite direction”.

 Here we have a series of simple definitions for common words which are now summarized in the following phrase: “Money is a medium of exchange used to force the flow of some substantive thing in a definite direction”. Let’s now “skip to the chase” as the expression goes – to that substantive thing that is being forced in a definite direction. The substantive thing is no less than our collective productivity. The definite direction is into the hands of the creators of money. Now I wonder why the proverbial “they” continually propagate such reverse nonsense as; “more money equals more success”, or “more success is measured by more money”? Perhaps for example, the more money you make the more successful the creators of the money are!

Okay, so most of that is old hat, as another expression goes. So what do we do about it? Simple! If we stop using “money”, which means money of any form, we stop the flow of our productivity into the hands of other. In short, then we truly begin to enjoy the fruits of our labours. Considering the simplicity of conducting commerce without “money”, perhaps it is indeed quite evident that the seemingly senseless confusion over money was a deliberation on the part of those that wish to control the flow of ‘currency’ – some substantive thing in a definite direction! 

What about so-called “alternative” currencies, or allegedly “non-usurious” currencies, or the equally erroneous concept of “complementary” currencies spoken of by our many “alternative money gurus”? Simple! The truth is our productivity is ours and ours alone. Does it matter the name of the “money”, or the amount of interest charged if any for the money? Absolutely not! Money by definition is a means to force the fruits of our labours into the hands of the money creators. If you are being robbed does it matter if you are being robbed by conventional money hustlers or is the blow softened if you are merely robbed by some new-aged alternative or complementary money guru? 

Get a grip on reality! Money is not necessary to conduct commerce, it has never been necessary and it never will be necessary, in spite of its proponent’s most noble efforts to dissuade otherwise. Even alternative, non-usurious or complementary currencies are just another series of buzzwords crafted by people that simply do not have the intellect to fully comprehend the inherent costs of money or how to avoid its pitfalls. 

Conventional money has proven to be a tool to humble a people and ultimately break nations. Take an objective look at recent history in Argentina, Turkey and Venezuela which have been crushed by bankers as “test” cases in preparation for the rest of us, and read our simple article on The Myth of Money if the truth still evades you. Like Christians that erroneously believe grace has done away with basic law, alternative money gurus mistakenly believe that there is no money because it has been legally eliminated, or worse, that if they create a new, non-usurious form of money, that they will somehow eliminate all of money’s “evil”. Both groups would do well to actually read the works from which they purport to quote! As to basic law and Israelite faith, that is a topic for another discussion, but in terms of there being no money, or as to no-interest money being a viable solution, let’s have at it! 

First, anyone that can read AND actually does read the oft quoted section of law allegedly eliminating money, soon understands that the words actually say something quite different. Money was not eliminated or made illegal, rather only its definition in terms of payment methodology was changed. It still remains the tool of currency that forces our productivity in a definite direction. By de-valuing” the alleged “no-money”, the banks effectively caused the collapse of the economies in the above mentioned nations. How do you de-value that which does not exist? And why or how does a non-existent thing cause an economy to collapse? Obviously, money does exist because “it” was de-valued and “it” did cause economic failure to occur when “it” was devalued.  

Backing money by gold, silver or moon-dust would not change this in the slightest. All it means is that somewhere sits a very pretty pile of metal that provides an illusion as to substance being the force that is still causing all of your productivity to be directed into the hands of the creators of the money.

 Let’s print up a pile of real pretty counterfeit-proof paper notes and call them “complementary” money. Ask yourself how does this complementary money get into circulation. Well, its proponents will argue that because there is no interest, that is good. Is it then “loaned” into circulation interest free? If so, against what security? Perhaps against the security of your productivity – the future fruits of your labours? What happens if you fail to repay your interest free loan – will the creators of this interest free money rob you of your production to maintain balance? Or will they simply forgive your loan thereby making their currency valueless? Or to avoid this, will they simply “give” it out as gifts in the first place, and if so who decides to who and how much? Oh, but then again, it would be worthless.  Or if it is not just given out, is it “earned” or “purchased”, and if so with what? Oh, with your production – the fruits of your labours, you say. I thought that is what we were trying to avoid!!

 “Barter” is perhaps our oldest buzzword related to commerce. It is an ageless and timeless tradition, not requiring justification and it works without any excuses, apologies or ethereal explanations. “Trade Exchange” is perhaps a more recent buzzword, but it also requires no justification. A Trade Exchange is simply a modern tool to facilitate a more diverse and open forum of barter for everyone. Let your local barter company help you get back into the world’s oldest and most respected form of business.    TOP ^

What is Money:

The following are excerpts quoted from a ruling in the Supreme Court of Canada [1978] 1 S.C.R. 1148 , so ruled on in 1977: January 27 / 1977: June 14.

The matters involved were contingent upon: Bills and notes - Currency and legal tender - Bank of Canada bank-notes (pre-1967 form) - Whether promissory notes - Obligation of Bank of Canada to replace destroyed bank-note - Bills of Exchange Act, R.S.C. 1970, c. B-5, ss. 10, 156, 157, 176.

 QUOTE: s. 7 of the Currency, Mint and Exchange Fund Act, R.S.C. 1952, c. 315, the notes of the Bank of Canada were declared to be legal tender in Canada for the payment of any amount…[They are money in the strict and every sense of the word.]

 The definition of a promissory note in s. 176(1) of the Bills of Exchange Act makes an internal distinction between a promissory note and money. This definition contemplates something which is distinguishable from the note which it discharges. Something which is money cannot be a promise to pay in money within the meaning of s. 176(1) of the Bills of Exchange Act. Bank-notes issued by the Bank of Canada; (assuming that gold is money): Notes of the Bank of Canada cannot and could never have been paid in gold and, since such notes are and were the only legal tender, they could not be discharged by the payment of anything which is different from themselves.

 A bank note is a promissory note issued by a bank payable on demand. The English note contains the promise on the face. Section 22(3) of the Act, quoted above, demonstrates … that the Bank of Canada is responsible for the redemption of all notes issued and outstanding on and after the day the Bank is authorized to commence business.

 Moreover, several other provisions of the Act gave legal and economic substance to the rights which the holder of a Bank of Canada note could enforce should the Bank fail to honor the promise which appeared (or is implied) on the face of its notes. Thus, s. 21(5) quoted above referred to certain specific issues of notes but implied that each and every note "is a valid and binding obligation of the Bank"; s. 21(1) provided that the notes "shall be a first charge upon the assets of the Bank"; s. 36 was as follows:

 No statute relating to the insolvency or winding up of any corporation applies to the Bank and in no case shall the affairs of the Bank be wound up unless Parliament so provides, but if provision is made for winding-up the Bank the notes of the Bank outstanding shall be the first charge upon the assets.

 It would appear that the Bank of Canada does have assets, apart from its use of the printing press. Under s. 30 of the Act, it must report these assets weekly to the Minister of Finance, together with its liabilities, in the form of Schedule B. Not only did Schedule B mention "notes in circulation" among the liabilities of the Bank but it also gave some idea of the assets upon which the notes of the Bank were a first charge, such for instance as bullion, foreign exchange and bank premises; many other assets, it is true, are themselves debts of governments in the form of treasury bills, advances to the Government of Canada, etc. But one would like to think that the latter are not devoid of substance, being backed as they are by the resources of the country and the industry of its people. :END QUOTE.

 Clearly, actual possession of real money; bank notes, has the very real value, cumulatively of every and all assets of the bank, including, but not limited to the gold held by the banks, the real estate assets held by the banks, as well as the debt held by the banks, which debt is as stated above, to the CREDIT of the nation’s people; their collective productivity and the nation’s resources. That is what real money is and that is what real value is; literally everything inherent!

 So you figure out which you would rather have - the real money in the form of bank notes, commonly “debt money”, or would you rather have the fiction money in the form of gold with extremely limited utilitarian value, or the even more fictional cheque-book money that is limited in value to the insurance coverage available from time to time. The only real equity is in the potential “industry of the people” as quoted; in their productivity. In the event of financial collapse, real or fabricated, this human productivity is all that can potentially be eaten, slept in, worn, or exchanged for something that could be eaten, slept in, or worn, and your only claim to it lies with possession of real debt money. (Perhaps the “entertainment” value of gazing at the pretty gold bars excites some!)

 All of this, begs these questions: “Why in recent years, has it become virtually illegal as well as virtually impossible for ordinary parties to possess large amounts of those very real and very valuable actual ‘cash’ dollars? Could it be that the banks do not want us to have evidence in our hand of our rightful ‘first charge upon the bank’s assets’ - those assets that our labor has paid for and they hold as security for credit? Or could it be that the banks do not want us to be able to claim first place, but rather hope we will forfeit it (due to not possessing any actual bank notes - ‘cash money’) to their allegedly arm’s length international banking partners such as the IMF, who have coincidentally “created” a second charge against the nation’s assets by issuing no-cost credit to our domestic (central) banks in order to ensure that all of “our” assets can be cleanly swept up by them? I suspect both possibilities are very real probabilities.

 And did you know that banks routinely issue their private “bank notes” in custom denominations to some of their more “preferred” customers? Nothing in law prohibits a bank from so doing. In fact sections of the Act provide specifically for banks (central or domestic) to issue their private, custom denominated “bank notes” or bank obligations. Very wealthy and influential parties know that these bank notes are the only “safe” currency (not subject to limited insurance coverage), and thus they arrange to have all of their valuable “money” in such form, as opposed to conventional “cash” or “cheque-book” (electronic) money on deposit.

 These bank notes can be designed as payable to the bearer on demand in any denomination, usually in very large amounts (multiple millions), and are typically held by the issuing bank in what is called their “safekeeping” department, on “Re-posit” evidenced by a “Safe-Keeping Receipt”. Often the banks will invite these preferred customers to participate in their private capital pool of the bank with this real money on a joint venture profit sharing basis, ostensibly sharing the wealth (equity) stolen from the rest of us.

 Such a bank note held in the hands of a private party, is evidence of that party’s first charge against the bank’s (nation’s) assets, just like the “cash” form of bank-note-money would be, if it were not so difficult to possess. These wealthy and sophisticated clients, also know better than to put their REAL money on deposit, which by definition, “gives” it back to the bank, rather they only put their REAL money (custom issued bank notes) on Re-posit, either with the “private” aspect of banks or other private vaults (as opposed to retail, or “public” banking de-posit accounts.)    TOP ^

A History of Money?

 There seems these days to be a very strong sense with many that money is somehow not of any value unless it is either “backed” by gold, or in actual gold form. But what is money really? And more importantly, what is this idea of “value” that everyone is so concerned with?

 Let’s start with value. Value is defined by Black’s Law Dictionary as “the utility of an object in satisfying, directly, or indirectly the needs or desires of human beings . . . or its worth, consisting in the power of purchasing other objects, called ‘value in exchange’”. So basically, for an object to have “value”, the object must have “utility”, or it must be “useful” to the extent that it may be exchanged for some other object of utility. Utility in terms of human beings might well be summed up as food, shelter, clothing, transportation and entertainment.

 In times past, prior to “money”, everyone merely “exchanged” their excess goods and or services of value for some other goods and or services of value that they desired. Natural surpluses and deficiencies were the driving force behind the exchanges, and in the end, most people were able to obtain a reasonable quantity of a variety of those objects of value necessary to survive and to enjoy their life.

 As people progressed and cultures diversified, it became increasingly desirable to conduct a wider variation of styles and types of “exchanges” to enhance one’s lifestyle. Concurrently it became increasingly more difficult for individuals to conduct these exchanges directly. Enter “money”. The first money was actually in the form of paper!  No, not gold, but flat pieces of wood or papyrus with carvings or inscriptions of the “trade” recorded on them. One man would for example, trade a sheep to another who did not have anything that the first party immediately wanted in exchange, so they would simply “record” the transaction, each placing their personal “mark” on the “document”; the money. This money could then be used to collect from the second party at a later time when he did have something the first party wanted, or the document could be “exchanged” to an unrelated party for some desired object of value. The unrelated party would then claim his object of value from either the original “issuer” or pass it on to another unrelated party and so on. Sounds a lot like certain aspects of our current credit system, doesn’t it!  

Then came human nature into the equation. Greed, avarice and licentiousness, resulted in many “counterfeits” of the original variations of personally created “money”. After all, how would everyone be expected to “know” what every other man’s “mark” actually looked like? Then, a wise and enterprising “king” (who was merely the chief or leader in a community) came upon a brilliant idea. The gold, silver and copper that they had been using for jewellery and ornaments was in very limited supply which could be controlled even more and the metals could be fashioned by the king’s own trusted men into particular “tokens” that would not be subject to counterfeiting. So, he had all of his followers turn much of the local gold, silver and copper into his custody and he set about to “mint” the first coins. These coins or tokens were then freely distributed to everyone based on some formula that ended up with each man having coinage equal to their anticipated “productivity” over a given period, probably one full “season” or year.

 The sole purpose for having originally introduced the coins was to stop counterfeiting of the paper currency. The metal coins; the tokens, were not considered to be of any utility value in and of themselves, they were simply a “record”, based solely on possession, of a transaction having been completed. When in your possession, they were available to “trade” to another party that had some object of value that you desired.

 Then again, came human nature into the equation. Rather than actually “producing” some object(s) with utility value to exchange for the coin/tokens, greed, avarice and licentiousness, resulted in many non-productive members of the community using deceit, trickery and outright theft to obtain them.

 Whatever went wrong with either system of money had nothing to do with the “purpose” behind the original introduction of it. It; the “money” was purely and solely for the purpose of “record keeping”. If human nature could have been kept out of it, the money was an otherwise progressive method to deal with the needs of people trying to make the most of a diverse and growing “economy”. 

 Subsequently, societies progressed and technologies advanced and people became intelligently capable of manufacturing paper money in such a manner so as to eliminate, or at least minimize the occurrence of counterfeiting. The sensible re-introduction to the paper system also made for much needed efficiencies. It was very difficult carrying around all of that heavy gold and silver coinage; very hard to conceal it from would-be thieves and very difficult to store it all. “Paper” was the sensible answer and even allowed for the personal creation of made to order amounts of money in the form of cheques. Because money is really only a “record-keeping” device, new electronic advances are making it even more secure, faster and simpler to use.

 Most paper money was originally “backed” artificially with some form of gold or other precious metal. This was an attempt to hold onto the artificial “value” of all of the gold that had been mined and minted over the many years of metal token commerce. It seemed to make some sort of sense at the time, but it was grossly misunderstood by most. The real value in any of the money had always been in the productivity of the people, and it had absolutely nothing to do with whether the money was made of gold or paper. It was soon discovered by rational thinking people that if the value of the paper money was linked to the limited value of the limited quantity of gold, then productivity would also have to be equally artificially limited. After a relatively short period of this artificial backing by gold, the true value of money, the productivity of the people backing it, was allowed to take its course. Gold as a currency standard was dropped and the former precious metals are now priced based solely upon their limited utility value in electronics, jewellery, etc.

 So now let’s get back to the question of whether money has any “value”? Well of course money has no direct value in utility. Whether paper, gold or electronic, its all the same and it always has been - in terms of direct utility, it is worthless. You cannot live in it, eat it, clothe yourself with it or be entertained by it - it just “sits” there! But, money in the real sense does have very real INDIRECT value in utility. It is a very convenient way to administer our economic participation. It helps us to keep track of our productivity and subsequent buying power. 

 If we look objectively at the original gold, silver and copper money tokens, we will find that the only value they had was their INDIRECT value in utility - they were really only a record-keeping device, just like paper, and they were really backed by the REAL VALUE OF THE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE PEOPLE, JUST LIKE PAPER. So without productivity, which is the only real value in any money supply system, no form of money including solid 24 karat gold, has any value in utility. It’s simply pretty to look at, nothing more, nothing less! So all in all, we should be thankful that we are intelligent enough to have progressed past the archaic gold tokens; past the archaic gold-backed paper and into the real value backed paper of today, where nothing limits our productivity but our attitude!

 Am I saying that the current “money system” is perfect? No I am not! It is far from it. You guessed it! Once again, came human nature into the equation. Rather than actually “producing” some object(s) with utility value to exchange for the new paper/electronic money, greed, avarice and licentiousness, resulted in many non-productive members of the community using deceit, trickery and outright theft to obtain it.

 The biggest and best examples of efficient thieves are our current chartered banks. For you see, they are stealing from us every time we use their “services”. The current paper/electronic money on its own has the extreme positive value equal to the productivity of the nation. We are blessed in this nation with over 11% of the world’s natural valuable (in utility) resources. What these clever thieves have done is that they have crafted a system of “loaning” OUR own money to us at interest! How much of OUR own money have we “borrowed”? An amount of money equal to 100% of OUR cumulative productivity has been “loaned” to us at interest. What is worse is that for decades they have duped us into believing we are obligated to paying it back to them! This is why our artificial “debt” to these bankers is equal to the running total of OUR gross national product. We are in the absurd position of “owing” an amount equal to what we have produced, plus interest thereon! Knocks the wind right out of any incentive to be productive!

 What we need to do is to stop acting like the banks are justified in their thievery. So long as we continue to behave like it is just fine to be robbed, they will continue to rob us. All we have to do to stop the robbery is to simply start acting like we know the difference. Theft from their point of view is relatively simple, especially when we all continue to act like the stupid victims they have made us out to be. By the millions, Canadians willingly pay these notorious thieves their hard earned, very valuable money - the fruits of their labours; their productivity every single day of the year! Soon we will have GIVEN our entire heritage away to these robber barons!

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It’s All Interest

 A typical human is about 70% water by bodyweight, yet does not look anything like water. Likewise, the retail selling price of most goods and services is in substance comprised almost entirely of interest charges, while appearing not to be interest at all.

 We live in an economy largely defined by the concept of value added. Manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, Boeing, etc., are in the essential business of assembling parts and combining sub-assemblies that have themselves been subcontracted to other, more specialized, manufacturers. Transportation systems are utilized, first to bring the raw materials to the most-primary of value-added processors, on up the line to the final assembly plants, and then to move the finished hardware to the dealerships, airlines, etc. and ultimately to the final users or consumers.

 At each step along the way there is a component of interest that first augments and is then compounded with respect to the previous step. Take the wiring harness sub-assemblies on an automobile, for example. We are probably missing a number of steps but at the very least you need oil, pumped from the ground somewhere and transported to a primary refining facility. From there the raw distillate is transported (usually by rail) to large chemical specialists (such as DOW CHEMICAL, etc.) that create the polymer chemicals (plastics) needed for the wiring jackets (the plastic around the metal wires) and the plastic brackets that support the finished wires. The metal in the wiring takes an even more convoluted path to final assembly of the sub-assembly.

 Everyone who touches any component of any value-added process adds to the final price their own component of interest. From the primary food producer, to the regional distribution centre, and on to the grocery store, and all on trucks financed almost entirely by interest-bearing debt, traveling on roads financed by public debt bonds, delivered to buildings almost entirely debt-financed to cover the cost of both the buildings and the land upon which they sit or are built.

 And what of those values? In 1980 the Bank of Nova Scotia, for example, built something like an 80-storey office tower on Bay Street in Toronto, and at a cost of about $100 million. By standard accounting procedures, it will then write that building off financially at the rate of a flat 5% ($5 million) every year for twenty years, so that as of 2000 the bank will forever carry the asset/building on its books at a nominal $1. Over the same twenty-year period the actual or market value will have increased to perhaps $1.1 billion. Poof! An 80-storey office tower is magically transformed into an 800-foot-high, $1 billion column of rent-absorbing capitalized interest!

 Go to any major city just about anywhere and look up at the centre of the downtown. Now apply the same process to every building there owned by a company that is in the essential business of managing debt - including insurance companies (banking and insurance are the same essential business but I’m not going to get into that here), and to all the retail shopping malls everywhere that are owned by property development firms that are themselves wholly-owned subsidiaries of financial institutions. The really big and/or sprawling and expensive buildings always sit on really expensive real estate because that real estate is a sponge for all the money created as debt and that means all the money.

 And then there is the price of labour. The price of everything you buy out there also has to include the interest cost of everyone’s mortgages and other personal debts. Ford has to pay its one-million (or however many) employees sufficient wages/salaries to cover the employees’ own personal interest costs and these costs have to be included in the price of a new automobile. And it gets worse with every cycle. And then consumers - the people who build the goods that they consume - have to pay higher taxes on the higher wages/salaries needed to pay the increased relative and absolute interest charges, both public and private, with each cycle.

 It’s all interest because it’s all debt, and it’s all debt because it’s all interest. Even if the mixture begins without color, white as snow - as the ink of interest is slowly titrated in, with each new round of production the mixture becomes increasingly dark until it is coal black. The system constantly needs new money to pay new interest on old debt. All new money is created as debt - and the vast majority of it (98% in any one year) as interest-bearing debt. By design - and by law - neither the original debt nor the interest can ever be paid - only discharged - meaning new debt is substituted for old. Even if you pay in cash you are still only substituting the Bank of Canada’s (or the Federal Reserve’s) liability to pay for your own - you did not pay the debt - you only discharged it by passing it on to someone else. Payment destroys debt money. Discharge doubles it.

 New money is constantly needed. All new money is debt. And no debt, including interest, can ever leave the system. We cannot see how saturated we are with interest because we have become interest - we are interest.

 In a barter and tab system the interest component is eliminated as unnecessary and harmful. Any transaction in the productive or consumptive process can be reduced to two essential elements - information management and means of settlement (payment). Core information management is the same in either case. Regardless of how a widget is to be paid for, you must first determine that you need a widget and produce it.

 That leaves means of settlement/payment which is the tab element of the barter-tab system. Assume that an automobile chassis (the part with the wheels and the frame but without the body attached yet) is built by whatever means (i.e., it exists) and has a financial value of $3,000. That price is determined by the cost of all of the components and sub-assemblies that went into the chassis, plus the labour and capital required to transport, prepare and assemble it, and a few other, mostly fixed, costs.

 The company that makes the chassis under contract to one of the major automobile assemblers will then transfer them for the (negotiated) price of, say, $3,600 each, so as to cover the owner’s profit of 20% on the resources invested.

 Under the tab system, if Ford, for example, were the purchaser of the chassis it would simply record in the public records of some sort that it had acquired say, 1,000 such chassis at a total price of $3.6 million, and from whom. The money to pay the producer of the chassis is created by Ford’s acknowledgement of the transaction and the $3.6 million is directly secured by the 1,000 chassis themselves. When the chassis builder then goes to buy new parts for the next batch it simply spends the trade dollars that it earned by producing the last batch. The money to produce everything useful becomes embodied in and secured by the thing produced itself. There is no financial sleight of hand here. It is value for value and while you cannot create something out of nothing, and you still have to take responsibility for what gets produced, you are more than compensated because you only pay for substance and that eliminates interest.

 Real prices plummet. An hour of labour can buy a week’s worth of groceries in an interest-prohibited system. Take the water out of a human and there remains a small pile of dust and ash. Take the interest out of prices and they practically disappear.

 Barter also appears on the verge of a major breakthrough. The last barrier to barter has always been information management, and the means of information management are expanding geometrically. Barter is a global multi-trillion dollar equivalent-value distribution business mostly because of the large industrial user-base that has previously dominated the market. What was lacking was a consumer interface or wholesale level by which to facilitate exchange and therefore production of more consumer goods both in absolute terms and relative to the purely industrial barter market.

 That barter wholesale market is now developing (in our opinion) on the world wide web along the lines of an eBay, but with auctions/barters in real time. The consumer barter market is on the verge of exploding not because of the glorified garage sale aspect of the system, but rather for the use of barter as a means of acquiring staples, thus freeing up cash while at the same time you need increasingly less of it (cash).

 Barter holds the very real and only potential for total elimination of interest in our daily lives. The more people that become active in barter, and the more active those people become, will set the standards for how much and how fast that interest can be eliminated. We owe it to each other, to do all that we can. Get active in barter today!     TOP ^

Money - the most Expensive Commodity!

Barter is NOT an alternative "medium" of Exchange!

Barter is NOT an alternative "currency"!

Barter IS an alternative commercial SYSTEM !

 A most common question asked by new barter members is, “what’s available”? Meaning of course, what types of things can I buy with my Barter Credit? And for some reason, almost everyone wants to know if they can buy houses, cars, commercial real estate and other large ticket items. Of course you can, but so can you with ‘money’.

 Right up there in terms of the most common questions is, “how can I convert my Barter Credit to cash”? Another big one is, “why do I have to pay cash Fees to barter”?

 These are all good questions, but only when proffered by someone that admits he knows nothing about barter. Apparently barter is one of those phenomenon that are just too simple for most people to truly grasp. The intent of this information being shared with you here and now is to help correct that.

 Generally, attempts to explain barter start out with making some form of comparison to “money” or conventional cash. But that is entirely the wrong way to explain barter, unless you have a complete understanding of what “money” really is. And you know what? Based upon the questions commonly put forth to barter companies, and as remarkable as it sounds, it is evident that almost no-one really knows what money truly is!

 Money is not just a medium of exchange. Money is not just a tool to allow us to conduct commerce. Money is a commodity produced by banks, and it is the most expensive commodity produced by anyone on this planet! And the proof of that very unusual statement is exceptionally easy to demonstrate!

 Webster’s defines “commodity” as “any useful thing”. In terms of money, this loose definition is completed by its comparison to more common types of commercial commodities. Generally, we understand and have come to expect that producers of any commodity agree to exchange, or sell that commodity in consideration of some other commodity that is either more desirable to them, and or is in an amount that would include some form of “profit” for them.

 Suppose for a moment we look at the producers of money; the banks. What is the cost of their production? Well, it used to be that the paper and ink were part of the equation, but nowadays, less than 5% of money in circulation is actually in paper form. That leaves us with the cost of a computer generated ledger entry - the opening and closing of an electronic circuit. Basically we could say money has no real or direct cost of production, aside from some nominal but very minor administrative costs. In this sense, “production” of money is merely another way of expressing “creation” of money out of nothing.

 In assessing any commodity, we must look at cost of production as well as supply and demand factors. Well it seems everyone always wants more money, so demand for money is great! Supply on the other hand is controlled by this idiom of good faith called “credit” that for some reason only works in reverse of its intended/publicly perceived meaning when associated with money.

 The producers or creators of this money, cause its no-cost creation at the very moment that demand is expressed in the form of a “credit” application. When we qualify as a good credit risk, then money is instantly produced and just as instantly, “loaned” to us at interest. This means quite literally, that what did not exist before it was allegedly borrowed, must subsequently be repaid to its creator at full face value plus interest. What a deal!

 Now another interesting word comes into the equation; “capital”. Pursuant to the Income Tax Act, the Bank Act, and others, the word “capital” is also defined simply as “any thing of measurable value”. The reason this word comes up at this stage of the explanation is simple. We are now determining the actual cost of the money that we are using, because we are attempting to explain a comparison of money to barter.

 The producers of money have historically used the word “capital” to describe all of their own money, or money that is under their control, and they publicly admit to making a “profit” on this capital of approximately 15% per year on average.

 So the direct costs of possessing money via credit, which by the way, is the only way that any money ever comes into circulation - it just doesn’t “pop up” somewhere, is clearly the sum total of these three things:

 1. 100% for the amount of “principal” that must be repaid to the creator; plus

 2. 10% (an arbitrary estimate) for the average interest paid to the creator; plus

 3. 15% as the admitted profit paid to the creator, which by definition, can only be paid by the collective borrowers.

 So what does this total direct cost of about 125% of face value have to do with barter? Plenty! But let’s not go there just yet. We still have “taxes” to deal with. There are so many direct and indirect forms of taxes nowadays that it is virtually impossible to determine what an actual tax rate might be for each dollar spent. But to be conservative, let’s just say that all of the taxes only added up to 75%, even though most economists estimate the total to be somewhere between 80% and 85%.

That would mean that for every dollar spent, 75 cents of that dollar would end up paying taxes of one form or another. This is even more interesting once we realize that 100% of every tax dollar received by our government goes directly to paying, you guessed it - “interest”! Now who gets that interest and for what? The creator of the same no-cost money that we already agreed to purchase at a 125% surcharge!

 So now we have collectively agreed to pay the creator of this money, produced at absolutely no cost, a total of 200% of its face value! What other commodity has ever performed at such a rate? The private banks “make up” a value upon creation; they arrange in advance of delivery of their product for a 200% profit on their made up value, while their true costs of production were really nothing!

 Now before we discuss what this has to do with barter, let’s briefly address one more thing about the money producer’s profits. 100% of the revenue paid to the money producers as previously mentioned is pure profit! Oh they have some nominal operating costs and minimal administrative costs, but these pale in comparison to the 15% per year perpetually compounded net earnings that the money producers admit they make on 100% of this “capital” that is under their control. Realistically, whatever their actual expenses are, we pay those too! Because they admit to having the 15% left over as "net" profit. We have simply left these vast revenues out of the discussion to make the numbers more believable.

 OK - barter! Well first let’s make sure we understand what this 200% surcharge or premium for dealing in money really means. It means that whenever we agree to exchange anything we produce, or to sell our labour for example, in consideration of an agreed amount of money, that we are also agreeing to gifting 200% of that same value amount to the banks in exchange for what they produced - which was nothing! But worse, because of the nature of the credit agreements we enter into, we pledge this future gift to the bank in the form of our future productivity. In short, we enslave ourselves to the tune of a minimum of 200% of whatever our ongoing and cumulative production is – an ever-spiralling commitment in perpetuity! That is called the real cost of money.

 Barter has none of these costs! Barter is not a medium of exchange like many mickey-moused “barter-clubs” might elude to it as. Barter is not an alternative currency as other equally uninformed parties will proclaim it to be. Barter is not a commodity that can be sold or exchanged or subjected to profiteering like money can. Barter is an entirely different SYSTEM of conducting commerce. Barter just happens to be the only fair, equitable and therefore viable alternative system of commerce on this planet!

So just before we discuss this unique and equitable alternative "system" of commerce, called "barter", let's deal with the last issue of money; that final proof that money is a commodity. Generally demand for commodities is associated with consumption. The meaning of consumption is obvious. As you "use" whatever amount of a commodity you possess, you create a demand for more.  You then satisfy that demand by being productive.

 In other words you go forth and produce something; you sell your goods, your services or your labor; your productivity, so that you can obtain more of the commodity you have consumed, whether that be food, lumber, or in this case, money. Now a truly manifest aspect of a commodity is that its consumption is relative to its utility; i.e., it is consumed because its consumption facilitates our sustenance. By this we mean it contributes in some direct manner to providing our food, shelter, clothing, transportation, or entertainment.

 Interestingly, "money" like many other commody, has no direct utilitarian value, although it does, like many of those same commodities, possess the inherent ability to be "exchangeable" for those commodities that do have a direct utilitarian value. But as this definition of money completes itself, we find that money is very unique among all commodities. It is the only commodity on the planet, that by its mere existence, provides evidence that you must sacrifice 200% of its perceived value in the form of some other yet to be produced commodity that DOES have direct utilitarian value!

In other words if you possess ten dollars worth of money, you must by design of the banking system, deliver to its beneficial producers, twenty dollars worth of your future productivity – INADDITION to the ten dollars worth you must have sold in order to possess the subject ten dollars!. That doesn't sound so bad, but what if you possessed one million dollars worth of the commodity called money? Now your children or their children, must go forth and produce goods, services or labor for the sole and exclusive benefit of the money producers to the tune of two million dollars! Do you suspect the banking system is trying to interfere with your productivity! Well they aren't, they're simply trying to ensure that they are the exclusive beneficiaries of it!

 You think you want more money? Why? Because you owe them more? Whether you owe it to them directly or indirectly is not the issue. The more money you have in order to allow you to pay them whatever it is they admit you owe them, then the more future money you will require to pay them for their mark-up on their commodity. And the only way you can get the "more" is through their ingenious production method called "credit", which by design means 3 to 1 returns for them, or more, plus more, plus more, of your future productivity.

 Seems almost understated at this point, but money is not an efficient commodity to possess – unless you are the banker!  In fact, from a purely economic perspective, it is at the very least, minus 200% as efficient as any other commodity you can produce!

 So what about the lottery winner who now has $10 million worth of money? Lucky fellow, but now the rest of us, including him, must go forth and sacrifice $20 million worth of our future productivity to satisfy the producers of his $10 million windfall. A windfall that they created in the form of no-cost credit, euphemistically called "money".

What about the billionaire's club? The Bill Gates and the Donald Trumps of the world? No different than the lottery winner. All of their billions of dollars worth of money was originally loaned into circulation as credit to someone. You guessed it, as no-cost credit, but its producers, gleaned a 2 to 1 profit to "pretence-value" - a surcharge, payable only by the sale of your goods, your services or your labor, in exchange for what, MORE MONEY! And that more money, comes again with the same 2 to 1 profit to pretence-value surcharge, and so on and so on!

 It's called a "tread-mill”, in case you were wondering. All forms of money are a tread-mill! Any time you create the illusion that one commodity such as money, is a required medium of exchange to allow you to conduct your otherwise free exchange or commerce, you are creating an expensive and completely unnecessary tread-mill.

 The word "money" really should be thought of as being the only perfect definition of counter-productivity. It is after all, the only commodity on the planet that by its production, immediately causes the direct sacrifice of other commodities worth 200% of their perceived value! And don't feel bad if you are just coming to understand this. Even most alleged economists and many of the existing barter companies out there do not fully grasp the true difference between these two systems of commerce. And certainly, none of the alternative currency supporters have even the first clue about how the existing money system works, otherwise the last thing on their agenda, would be to introduce another artificial medium of exchange - a brand new, perhaps less expensive, but nonetheless, tread-mill!

It makes no difference whether the money is paper, or gold, or silver, or paper backed by gold, or silver, or moon-dust, it is an artificially induced commodity that comes at a real price in terms of the sacrifice of other necessary commodities, for the sole and exclusive benefit of the money producers!

 Barter is not a tread-mill because barter is not a commodity. Barter is not a medium of exchange. "Barter” simply means “exchange”. Joe trades his 100 pounds of apples for Henry’s 20 quarts of milk. That’s barter. Now just a little more sophistication in the form of simple record keeping, allows Joe to exchange his 100 pounds of apples when they are ripe, for a record commonly called “barter credits”, that entitles Joe to subsequently redeem his barter credits with Henry in exchange for 20 quarts of milk whenever Henry has milked his cow.

 In order to properly compare this barter exchange to a money transaction, let’s pretend that Joe and Henry and several others were capable of producing enough between them to barter and be self sufficient. That’s easy but so what? The so what is simple. If Joe and Henry and the others were to exchange their production for that commodity called money, they would then by design of the money producer's system, have to produce at least 200% more, or three times as much in total than they otherwise did, simply to pay the money-producer’s “their end” and maintain the same standard of living.

 There are any number of ways that this comparison can be expressed. The most dramatic way, is perhaps the most straight forward way of expressing it. A unit of barter credit achieved from the exchange of a specific quantity of goods, services or labour, is worth at least three times the face value of the dollars that could be achieved from selling those same goods, services or labour, for money. Anyone that does not believe this simply does not understand how the two systems work.

 If you truly believe you need more money when you have access to barter credits, you are really missing the point. If you are struggling and finding it hard to make ends meet in the money driven economy, then for your own sake, take off your money-blinders and get more involved with barter. If you only conduct 33% of your current commerce with barter you will enjoy a 100% increase in net cash flow and lifestyle!

 Those who contend that they cannot afford to trade or barter because of cash flow obviously need the benefits of barter more than others. In summary, if you are cash short then you REALLY need to learn how to use MORE barter for more things than the guy who is cash rich. At least he has an option.

 Now let’s go back to our most common question. “What’s available”? Well what is available is limited only to how well each of you understands the difference between the barter system and the money system. When you do actually understand this, you will suddenly realize that you no longer want to sell anything for cash, but rather you will want to sell what you have for barter credits that are realistically worth three times as much as whatever cash you could get for the same items!

 And when you start to understand the benefits of selling your productivity; your goods, your services or your labour, for the more valuable barter credits rather than for the more expensive money, then so will everyone else, and suddenly everything will be available for barter. What’s available in the barter market in that sense is entirely up to you.

 What’s available on the existing barter market is vast to say the least. There are many millions of people out there who have figured these things out about barter and have already taken the steps and made the adjustments allowing them to conduct large portions or sometimes even most of their commerce through barter. We are aware of hundreds of parcels of real estate, automobiles, travel arrangements, clothes, food, gas, you name it, it can be found.

 These people who are already offering these valuable goods, services or even their labor for barter, are the true pioneers of the modern barter industry. If you are new to the barter arena, the last thing you should be thinking about is "what's available", which is really a euphemism for how can you take advantage of existing barter participants. You should be thinking about how you can learn to be a productive barter participant just like they are. They should be your mentors not your victims!

 The "what's available" question is just another way of expressing that you simply do not understand barter. It means you still think that "dollars" that come with a built-in surcharge of at least 200%, and are therefore only worth 33% of the real value of your product, are more desirable to you than barter credits, which are worth the full 100% value of that same product. It simply means you don't get it! It also means that you won't get a lot of support from anyone in the barter industry.

  Now there is the issue of the second most common question; “how can I convert my barter credits to cash”? We’d like to answer the question by saying that you can’t, simply because it’s too stupid a thing to do! But regardless of how senseless it is, yes you can do it.

 We understand that the money system has entrapped many people; leaving them feeling like the only way out is to have more money. Wonder why? Well, spend one dollar and you need to produce something worth two more to give away, spend two more and you need to produce something worth four more to give away, spend a hundred and you need to produce something worth two hundred more to give away, and so on, ad infinitum! Well, there are innumerable ways in which barter can help you achieve more money without bastardizing what barter credits you may have by directly converting them to cash.

 First, as previously discussed it is not just important that you understand that barter is an alternative financial system, it is vital that you understand what this really means. First it means that alternative currencies are not the answer to an equitable alternative financial system. It means that gold or silver-backed currencies are not the answer. It means that only the answer that allows you to take the counter-productivity of money out of the equation can be the sought after answer.

 Conventional “money” may also be described as a promise to pay; which is a pledge of productivity, backed by the collective good faith of the nation’s citizens in most successful countries that have a surplus GNP (gross national product) such as Canada or the US.

 Countries such as Switzerland that really have no basic per capita production (other than alleged banking services), have been forced to stick to the old system of securing their pledge of productivity with a pile of gold as collateral. They have a “gold standard” which really means that because they are essentially incapable of producing anything of real value, they guarantee performance (not payment) of their money production (which is still just a promise to pay by delivery of production), with their gold.

  Because of this aspect of the value of Swiss currency for example, the rest of us in the real productive world, have been gifting the Swiss with our real productivity to the point where they now enjoy one of the world’s richest per capita lifestyles, in exchange for nothing. That “nothing”, is our possession of their fiction, or fiat money; a promise to pay - payment being the delivery of some valuable productivity, which for all intents and purposes does not exist and will never be made available; (which is however “secured” by a pile of gold, that also by law, cannot be redeemed by anyone holding the currency, including us).

 The point is, that EVERY country in the world issues fiat money - a promise to pay in product, backed by either the good faith of the people, or by the good faith of the people with the additional collateral security of a pile of gold. Productive nations such as Canada or the US have established a track record by their annual surplus production, and generally have a “strong” currency, and no longer require secondary collateral such as a pile of gold.

 Non-productive countries are generally the very poor nations and have a weak currency, except of course, the few like the Swiss who possess large quantities of stolen gold as a tool to mask their incapacity to produce anything of actual value.

The point, is that ALL money issued by any country is a promise to pay - a pledge of performance, real, or sometimes feigned like the Swiss, it makes no difference. Likewise ALL of this money is “loaned” into circulation by banks that merely “create” it at the onset of a loan at no cost to them, but proceed from that point onward under the pretence that we, the borrowers, must pay it back to them plus interest - because they pretend that it is a "commodity"!

So what does this mean and why is it relative to barter? It means that if we collectively go out and be productive in the conventional system and “borrow” money to make for example $100Million in profit for ourselves, we must by design of that system, have produced enough extra productivity to sell to third parties, so that we could deliver the corresponding $200Million to the bank as alleged repayment of the nominal “loan”, plus about 10% for interest and charges, plus about 15% which represents their publicly admitted annual earnings on that capital, plus another 75% to cover the tax portion of the money spent.

 So for us to make $100Million we must really create enough productivity to equal about $300Million. Hence we have traditionally sold our labour and efforts worth $300Million in exchange for only $100Million (taxable), so that we have the ability to “gift” $200Million (non-taxable) to the bank. Or to put it simply, every dollar of conventional currency that is in circulation anywhere on the planet, was "loaned" into circulation; it was "created" as no-cost-cr