One of the reasons civilizations in the past have collapsed, is because their money was debased. Not by the citizens, but by the rulers, who always spent more than they took in with taxes. How did they do it? By clipping coins and diluting their content, among others. Sort of like America’s ceasing making coins out of silver, and backing the dollar with gold. Even pre 1981 pennies are made of copper, and worth about three cents, it is said
Aristotle said in 340 B.C., “Money is a guarantee that we may have what we want in the future. Though we need nothing at the moment, it insures the possibility of satisfying a new desire when it arises.” We need a stable currency, and if we save in a debasing currency, there is no insurance. When we save dollars, we try to do as Aristotle said, and that is to insure that although we may not be needful now, if we have dollars, in the future we can buy that which we want…theoretically anyway. Unfortunately, Aristotle never knew about modern day America. America is inflating at an ever increasing rate. In other words, American money is being increased in numbers very quickly, and conversely, decreasing in value and purchasing power. Calvin Coolidge said in a speech in 1922, that, “Inflation is repudiation.” And so it is.
Two years after ’Silent Cal’ made that speech, away off in Germany, the reichsmark totally bit the dust, and required a wheelbarrow full to buy a loaf of bread. Why did that German currency go to zero? Because after WW I, which Germany lost, the Treaty of Versailles required Germany to pay for damages it had caused. Never in history had that happened. Germany was broke. She had lost an expensive war and was dirt poor. She was told to pay damages, and she did…with printing press money. The more printed, the less it bought, until finally, it bought nothing. As Calvin Coolidge might have said, Germany had repudiated. Life insurance policy holders, who had paid their premiums faithfully, found that a redeemed policy might have bought a loaf of bread. The same thing is now happening on Zimbabwe, nee Rhodesia. Under prosperous Rhodesia, food was exported and fed most of Africa. Its currency was stable. Now, after trillions of monies have been printed in a hopeless attempt to create wealth, Zimbabwe is on the brink of dissolution. Printing presses do not create wealth. Mining, making, and growing, creates wealth.
Unlike Zimbabwe and Germany of 1924, America is self-exterminating itself with a different modus operendi. America has no court ordered war debts to pay, as Germany did, and it has no egotistic, zero intelligence, iron willed dictator, as has Zimbabwe. We have the D.C. Gang, who over the years, under different political party dominations, has seen fit to expand the federal government to unbelievable proportions. The D.C. Gang, be they Republican or Democrat, has seen fit to regulate everything in sight, subsidize anything requesting a subsidy, and spend, spend, spend, without the slightest care about where the dollars will come from to pay the exorbitant costs and bills. The D.C. Gang, has instilled in the craniums of their subjects, the false impression that when money flows out of D.C., there is no cost, repercussions, inflation, or any other consequences. “The government will pay,” is the catch phrase attached to all expenditures, and probably not a single politician, with the exception of Ron Paul, seems to care, or even fathom where the dollars will come from, other than that “government will pay.” The result is a national debt is so large, that it is actually, truthfully, and logically, impossible to ever pay. The long term commitments made by the D.C. Gang, make the long term national debt about $50 trillion. Totally impossible to ever pay…except with printing press dollars, scrip, or Monopoly type of money, which is basically what dollars now are. Monopoly money is un-backed, and the product of a printing press, as are dollars. Therefore, DO NOT SAVE IN THEM!
America is being killed, like so many previous civilizations have been killed, by spending more than is taken in, enlarging the empire at mind boggling cost, absurd wars, endless handouts, and as the Romans did, circuses, huge amphitheatres, and wild government spending, to keep the masses happy and under control. In the past, under all civilizations, governments grew, waste multiplied, currencies became worthless, and empires collapsed. With today’s marvelous electronic communications, fast travel, and weaponry never thought of in ancient times, can America survive with a debasing currency? Since all other currencies are debasing also, there is a possibility. As I write this, the buck has increased against other paper monies, but don’t become confident, because all of them are being printed, and all are backed by…nothing. Time will tell, but the killing process is well under way. I write about America, because I am an American and proud to be one. Neither I nor the reader of this, has ballooned the dollar amounts. It was done as a means of keeping office and getting votes, by the cadre of 435 and a President. They alone, are responsible for the currency debasement, which helps to kill America, and we are the victims. All we can do is protect ourselves. A vote for McCain might help, but not solve America’s huge debt, which isn’t solvable. Isn’t VP candidate Sarah Palin great?