Tag Archives: Private Property

Free Banking – The Ultimate Solution

11/2/2012 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

In our recent open letter to Evo Morales, we brought up three principles which must operate together in a society for the greatest amount of material good to come to the greatest possible amount of people.  While most assume that the principles, Liberty, Private Property, and Equality before the law, can only operate via the apparatus of government, we argue that the exact opposite is the case.  By necessity, the operations of government, an ultimate sovereign, would necessarily hinder the operation of these essential principles.

The reasoning is this:  These principles are so important that they must be learned and respected by every member of society.  At the same time, they are so basic to human nature that they are most effectively learned by simply living amongst one’s fellow human beings.  As such, the more a person is exposed to the anarchic environment in which we all ultimately live, the more quickly they will master these essentials.

Free Banking - The key to Liberty
Free Banking – The key to Liberty

The apparatus of Government can only retard the most effective teacher:  Hands on experience.

The recognition of the vacuum of power called Anarchy, which all systems great and small operate under, is extremely important when trying to understand the world as we know it.  However, it is not the focus of today’s Mint.

Today’s Mint is focused on Free banking.  Within our three great principles, Free banking generally fits under the principle of Liberty.  However, as banking and currency circulation, circa 2012 is perhaps the least free area of enterprise, it deserves special consideration as we examine what true freedom consists of.

Important as it is, the concept of Free banking may seem foreign to you, fellow taxpayer, as it is to nearly every other person, great and small, on our beloved earth.

However, the concept of Free Banking is perhaps the most important thing that men today can dedicate themselves to, for it is the lack of Freedom when it comes to currency and credit which has lead to stripping of the earth’s resources and the resulting environmental problems which a number of developing nations suffer from in a disproportionate manner.

Specifically, the suppression of Free Banking has caused the activities of man to create what is an unsustainable imbalance with the demands of the earth’s natural systems.

So what is Free banking?  As the name may suggest to many in the developed world, it is not a lack of monthly charges on a bank account, rather, it is the freedom for banks to compete as issuers of credit and safe keepers of currency in any form.

The Free Lakota Bank - Free Banking in action
The Free Lakota Bank – Free Banking in action

The current slave banking system’s fatal flaw is that it is obligated to issue credit and accept deposits in currencies which are nothing more than debt issued by a Central Bank.  This constraint causes the currency created by the Central Bank to be the basis of all of man’s activities out of a necessity to pay a tax to the government in said currency.

To compound this fatal flaw, the issuing Central Banks actively manipulate the interest rates, which affect the price of the flawed currency and credit, making the value of both the credit and savings of everyone completely subject to the whims of the Central Bank.

If the currency which everyone was working for had been created legitimately by the labor of another man and its price, via the interest rate mechanism, allowed to respond to real supply and demand signals, a natural balance would be struck between credit and savings in society.  This balance would express itself as conservation and eventual increase of the earth’s resources.

However, the currency which everyone is working for is nothing more than a piece of data created by a computer and printed onto a piece of paper and, via the active suppression of the interest rate mechanism, is not allowed to be properly discounted.  As such, all of the labors of man are set towards destroying the earth, turning it into more pieces of paper, and depositing them into a bank in order to close out the credit account created by the computer.

We observed the zeal with which Evo Morales and other revolutionary leaders have implemented reforms by closing down a majority of the ministries of the government almost immediately upon gaining the power to do so.  It is a swift move in which they attempt to consolidate their power.  However, as one studies these cases, they will see that often there was one notable exception that was allowed to continue operating:  The Central Bank.

The Central Bank is often seen as a sacred cow, even by those who vehemently opposite it, on the grounds that the currency and interest rates are too important to day to day life to be to the incapable hands of the people, which is what the concept of Free banking is all about.

However, it is for this very reason, the indispensible role of currency and credit in society, that currency and interest rates CANNOT be left in the hands of any one entity, no matter how much clairvoyance is attributed to them.

No one would argue that grains and fuel are important to everyday life in nearly all the earth.  However, even hard core Marxists would be hard pressed to admit that all peoples would be better off were only one entity given the ability to produce and set the price for either.  As such, it has been proven over and over again that the expansion of the ability to produce such indispensible items not only provides them in sufficient quantities to satisfy demand, it will do so at a price that is more or less tolerable for all (this argument, of course, is null if the price is controlled by a single entity).

While free market proponents are quick to recognize the benefits of the freedom to produce grains, fuels, and healthcare, for example, they become hardcore Marxists when it comes to currency and credit.  What those who fall into this trap fail to realize is that all of the virtues of free markets are worthless if the most basic economic common denominators of currency and credit are not allowed to operate in as nature intended.

Free banking would allow free markets to solve all the problem of scarcity in currency and credit in the most efficient way possible.  Why, then, is Free banking seen as the ultimate boogeyman by those in authority?  It is for one reason and one reason only:

Control of currency and credit represents the ultimate authority in the material world.

While free market reforms can go a long way towards liberating the peoples of the world, the task and to close down the Central Bank and allow both the banks and the people to choose in what currency they will issue credit and maintain their savings.  Far from leading to anarchic chaos, the basic need for exchange and the issuance of credit amongst humans would cause all of society who wished to trade with one another to arrive at a tacit decision as to what is best suited to serve as currency.

While in most cases, this tacit decision has arrived on Gold and Silver, the British and American empires, the most recent examples of empire, grew so wealthy that lesser metals, such as copper, were thrust into use as currency.

As a practical matter, it must be admitted that closing down the Central Bank would be a shock.  For this reason, we look to solutions such as those seen in the actions of Canupa Gluha Mani, the Ithanchan of the Free Lakota Bank, as a path to free banking and the ultimate freedom of the peoples of the world.

The Lakota people declared their freedom from the sovereignty from the Government of the United States government in 2007.  As an important part of this process, they knew that it would be necessary to establish their own monetary system.  Further, they recognized that to simply choose another currency would again make them slaves to the creators of that currency.

To solve this problem, they opened the Free Lakota Bank and adopted what is known as the American Open Currency Standard, which is attempt to return to a balanced system of metallic weights and measures to use as currency which is recognized and traded internationally.

While this may seem now like an impossible step to take, the Peoples of the earth must enjoy free banking if they are to enjoy Liberty, Private Property, and Equality before the law in any meaningful way.  For the lack of options in currencies in favor of the Central Bank’s monopoly on the issue of credit will keep the Peoples of the earth and their governments in the bonds of financial slavery until the Freedom of Banking is restored.

Free banking, by its very nature, does not obligate a people to adopt a currency standard, as the native Lakota people have.  While the most likely outcome of the liberation of the currency and credit markets is for all involved to quickly settle on a new currency standard, it is necessary to guarantee that all Peoples the right to choose which currency they want to hold and to bank in.  This is the only way that man can live in harmony with one another and with the natural world.  This freedom is the spirit of the principle of Free Banking.

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for November 2, 2012

Copper Price per Lb: $3.48
Oil Price per Barrel:  $84.86
Corn Price per Bushel:  $7.39
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  1.73%
FED Target Rate:  0.17%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!
Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,677 PERMANENT UNCERTAINTY
MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  0.25%
Unemployment Rate:  7.9%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  0.6%
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  13,093
M1 Monetary Base:  $2,394,100,000,000
M2 Monetary Base:  $10,168,900,000,000

An Open Letter to Evo Morales

10/29/2012 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

While we have taken the decision, along with a silent majority of Americans, not to vote in the upcoming national elections, this does not mean that we have given up hope for change, quite the contrary.

Here at The Mint, for better or worse, we have opinions that cannot be confined to a dot on a pre printed scantron form.  They require words and dialogue.

Enter the open letter.  If one is to effect change in this world, it is important to correspond with those who are in the seats of power and therefore have the ability to effect positive change in this world.  If we can change their mind, they can change the world.

When writing world leaders, it is important to both acknowledge their authority and use terminology which we understand to be important to them.  We must recognize them as an ally for we share a common aim, the good of themselves and their people.  Finally, as people who are derided daily for serving their populace, they need encouragement.

The following is a copy of our open letter to Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia.  A proper Spanish translation will be forthcoming.  Enjoy!

 

Evo Morales - President of Bolivia in Brazil 2007
Evo Morales – President of Bolivia, photo taken December 17, 2007 in Brazil by Marcello Casal Jr. of Agencia Brasil http://www.agenciabrasil.gov.br/media/imagens/2007/12/17/1840MC44.jpg

 

October 29, 2012

An open letter addressed to His Excellency Evo Morales Ayma, President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia,

Allow me to extend my warmest greetings to you, Mr. President, and to the honorable people of the great Andean Republic of Bolivia.  May they live long and prosper in the blessed land that they inhabit which you capably govern as their humble servant.

I have watched, both from near and far, your passion to liberate and elevate the Peoples which inhabit the land known today as the Plurinational State of Bolivia.  I have watched with admiration your courage and determination as you have risen to your current position and as you continue to labor daily for the liberation and dignity of those who have, for too long, been victims of unjust oppression.

I write you today for two reasons.  First, to encourage you in your noble struggle.  All great leaders, as you know all too well, face adversity, criticism, and opposition from those who are threatened by what they represent.  These forces have only increased in intensity as you take steps to repair centuries of injustices.  Know that though there may be some with loud voices who heap insults upon you for taking action while they sit idly by, there are many, though their voices be soft, who pray for your health, strength, and wisdom.

Our second motive for writing to you is to humbly offer you three principles which, to the extent they are followed, will allow the Peoples of the land known as Bolivia to excel economically.  Bolivia is already a rich land.  In the hands of the people, it will be made richer. 

Together with you, we reject the Neo-Liberal principles which have wrought destruction on those Peoples who have blindly employed them.  Our aim is to provide you with the tools with which not only Bolivia, but all of the inhabitants of the earth, can strive to observe the ten commandments to save the planet which you have generously contributed to the world.

While the titles of these principles may appear in conflict with your first and sixth commandments, we ask that you carefully read the explanations and see that the operation of these three principles will allow for the accomplishment of your ten commandments which to save the earth from exploitation.

A word of caution, it is exceedingly important that these economic principles operate together, or they will not operate at all:

Liberty:  Much has been written on the subject of Liberty.  Truly, it is the precursor to dignity and the cornerstone of all civilized human societies.  As it applies to economic policy, liberty means that Peoples will prosper to the extent that artificial restrictions on their ability to work, produce, and trade are removed.  The correlation between Liberty and civilized society is so great, that the chorus of the Bolivian anthem rings especially true:

“Morir antes que esclavos vivir!” {For those reading this in English, it translates as: “We will die before living as slaves.”}

The concept of Liberty, to be productive in society, must not be limited merely to speech and movement, as it is today in most societies which pretend that their inhabitants are free, but rather extended to the ability for a person to engage in trade and other activities at will to the extent that engaging in the activity does not infringe upon the Liberty or property of another.  This is the key to Liberty, as it keeps the earth in balance.  Dangerous imbalances occur when the Liberties of one group are subordinated to those of another.  Our third principle, Equality before the law, deals with this.

Perhaps most importantly today, Liberty must be extended into the banking and currency realm, leaving the decision of the most acceptable medium and methods of trade in the hands of the people.

Private Property:  For all of the virtues that the principle of Liberty bestows upon a people, the principle is nothing more than an intangible idea unless its natural byproduct, the principle of Private Property, is respected equally by all members of society.  The concept of Private Property is the basis for any and all productive activity which takes place on the earth, from sowing a field to building a wells to provide access to clean water.

Beyond the ownership of one’s person, which should go without saying, a person or group of persons must be able to lawfully possess property, which they may choose to work and share as they please, with the expectation that they will be able to both employ and enjoy the fruits of their labors.

In the same way, the principle of Private Property comes with the obligation to care for and maintain the property that one is entrusted with.  The principle itself provides the incentive for the property to be maintained as persons will naturally care for something that they will either enjoy themselves or prepare for sale to another free individual.

In order to be both productive and well maintained, Private property must be held at the individual, family, or community level.  If property is held by the government or another large entity, it will be exploited in the same way that property is today exploited by large corporations, who have no direct incentive to care for it after they have extracted the wealth from it.

Equality before the Law:  The principles of Liberty and Private Property must be secured for all by the concurrent operation of the principle of Equality before the Law.  For people to prosper economically, they must know not only which actions are permitted, but that the laws which are enforced are administered in the same manner to all members of society, regardless of perceived wealth or lack of wealth, race, sex, color, or origin.  Only if there is a perceived equality before the law can persons plan and carry out their daily activities.

Equality before the law is the basis for a just society in which people may prosper in accordance with their efforts to help their fellow-man by serving their most intensely felt needs.  As such, all laws in a society should focus on protecting both the life and rightful property of the individual or group, any law extending beyond these two realms necessarily serves to limit both the right to Liberty and Private Property which must be held sacred allowed to operate unhindered so that the greatest possible amount of material good can come to the greatest possible number of persons in a society.

We offer you these three principles, knowing that in your wisdom and benevolence, the Peoples who find themselves under your care will benefit greatly and become the envy of the nations of the earth, not for the natural wealth they care for and produce, but for the nobility of their convictions.

Your dedication and service to the people of Bolivia is an inspiration to all of humanity.  Our desire is to see all of the Bolivian people, and the Peoples of the world, live in balance and freedom with God, nature, and each other.

Be encouraged and may God bless you and all Bolivia.

All the best,

David Mint

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for October 29, 2012

Copper Price per Lb: $3.49
Oil Price per Barrel:  $95.54
Corn Price per Bushel:  $7.37 
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  1.75%
FED Target Rate:  0.16%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!
Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,710 PERMANENT UNCERTAINTY
MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  0.25%
Unemployment Rate:  7.8%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  0.6%
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  13,107  
M1 Monetary Base:  $2,334,000,000,000
M2 Monetary Base:  $10,199,400,000,000