Print
Category: Green Party
Hits: 4463

The present GP platform, Part IV, Economic Justice #& Sustainability, Greening the Dollar is found pretty far down the list in paragraphs 15, 16, and 17. The monetary reform proposal is detailed at the website greensformonetaryreform.org.

What is it all about?

It is about changing our money system. I think it is fair to say that most Americans don’t even know we have a money system. A money system is a means of creating, issuing, and circulating money among the population. The ability to implement a money system is called “the money power,” and is considered to be one of the sovereign or governmental powers in our legal tradition. However, control of the money power has been contested throughout western history and throughout American history.

Presently in the U.S., the money power is controlled by the banking cartel under the Federal Reserve System. Whether this is a governmental or private system is debated, but you should realize that available information about the money power is often misleading, confusing, and ambiguous. This is because it is a contested power and the people who control it do not want the public to know what they are doing (or that they are doing anything) so as to minimize opposition and competition.

There are two essential points of view here: 1) that of the money issuer and 2) that of the money user.

Since nearly everyone is in the money user category, that point of view is widely understood and boils down to a desire for stable value and having more money.

The money issuer perspective is focused on control and using money to advance the various goals of the issuer. This is managed by deciding to whom the money is issued, for what purpose is the money used, and how is the money to be returned.

The Greening the Dollar part of the platform is presented in terms the money users can understand, and the focus is on changing the money issuer from the banking cartel to the Congress and placing the money power under clear public control. Most of the current credit and banking system is preserved and the change would not be disruptive to the public. There is a proposed statute, called the NEED Act, which would create a money system under which Congress would create and issue money and the money system would be managed by the newly created Monetary Authority. Under the Greening the Dollar system Congress could fund the Green New Deal and many other programs without debt or corporate control.

What is money?

Money is a creation of the human mind. Money is created by humans for social purposes (such as trade, commerce, warfare, religious offerings, etc.) where other types of social bonds do not accomplish the desired purpose. As a creation of the human mind, money can be designed in different ways. However, there are practical constraints because the money must actually function in its social context. Thus, if there is no clearly dominant political authority, money in the form of precious metals is preferred because it can be said to have “intrinsic value.” When there is a clearly dominant political authority, then money will be in the form most useful to that authority. Money created by subordinate authority is generally not desirable because its value and usability is not reliable.

Why should we change the present money system?

The Federal Reserve money system (FED system) must be replaced because is not appropriate for the future. The FED system is a debt-money system. Money is issued by banks when loans are funded. The money is issued to “credit worthy” borrowers and is used for purposes that serve the banking cartel, such as controlling land, corporate control over resource use, creating financial profits, etc. The circulation of money is accomplished largely by requiring the purchase of nearly every need with money and by requiring taxes. The money is returned as the loan is repaid.

The FED system loan repayment requires interest in addition to the principal. This makes it a usury system. While the problem of usury is largely forgotten in our media information, there is a long history of the social injustice that results and many of our present social issues echo the complaints of usury victims of the past. The money for the interest is not created when the particular loan is funded and must come from subsequent loans (including the federal debt). This means there is always more debt than money, which creates a chronic money shortage and a driving need to acquire money by any available means.

This is the reason that “growth” is a constant requirement of the FED system, and inflation is a constant feature. Despite media propaganda, the need for “economic growth” is a requirement of the FED money system and not some innately desirable human goal. This also creates the so called credit or business cycle. As money is loaned for some activity that activity becomes more popular as it becomes a source of money. These activities are nearly always land or financial speculation or development that creates huge amounts of new debt. But it reaches a point where further debt is not desirable and the credit increase becomes a credit decrease. There is not enough money to support the debt and the money available for the activity rapidly declines.

Our future does not, however, permit the idea of constant “growth” to be the driving force of political and economic policy. The fact of climate change means that we face a long-term future of declining resources and reduced economic possibilities. There is also the fact of resource depletion, particularly fossil fuel depletion. Notice that both of these facts are vigorously denied by the U.S. ruling class. Arguably, it is fossil fuel exploitation that has enabled the economic growth required by the FED system as fossil fuels have enabled the creation of energy slaves such as motor vehicles and other technologies.

I believe we no longer live in an environment that will support economic growth, which means the FED system will no longer function in our social context. We can see all around us the social effects, such as declining living standards, constant war, increasing poverty, etc.

The FED system can survive for quite a while yet by using devices such as quantitative easing, becoming increasingly more authoritarian, and by expanding corporate/bureaucratic control over resources. But we do not want the dismal future the FED system offers.

The Greening the Dollar portion of the GP platform offers the possibility of a money system that can be used for the public interest instead of a private aristocratic agenda. Greening the Dollar is our way to have the money needed to accomplish such goals as the Green New Deal, transitioning urban areas to more sustainable models, transforming agriculture, improving social justice, and ending imperialism. I do not want to present it as a utopian panacea, but it does make it possible to create a livable and desirable future.

Regards