Debt

     Let’s look at some of the kinds of loans that most banks (depending on their size) usually offer.

–   Car loans

–   Personal loans

–   College loans

–   Home loans

–   Credit Cards

–   Small business loans

–   Corporate loans

     And then there’s the granddaddy of them all—government loans.  This is where the real money is at.

     Imagine the interest paid on a three hundred thousand dollar loan; it would be a lot, depending on the interest rate.  Now imagine the interest paid on a three hundred billion dollar loan.  How about 24 trillion (current U.S. debt)?  Now add to that all of the nations in the world that are in gigantic, unsustainable debt and your brain should officially explode!  We’re talking unbelievable—unfathomable—amounts of money, debt, and interest.  And what does money equal?  Power!

     This power can be used when a nation gets into trouble and needs a loan.  Sure, the banks will give them a loan, and they’ll charge interest, but they may also want a little more.  Maybe as a stipulation for granting a loan, a bank (or group of banks, like the Federal Reserve) may ask a certain world power to “take care” of a country that’s trying to buck the system, or they’ll ask a government to relax a few laws that are keeping Them from potentially making more money (laws that were created to protect taxpayers and citizens from risky investments and practices).  Maybe they’ll even use their power and influence to draw countries into war, causing them to need a loan to help pay their debts.  (So maybe They do force us to get loans!  Add to that the fact that this contributes to each person being individually overburdened in taxes, which leaves every person with less money in their own hands to actually stay out of debt in the first place, and the argument could be made that most people are “forced” to take out loans that they otherwise wouldn’t have had to.)

     (Note: The above mentioned war→debt scenario has happened many, many times.  The war of 1812 and The Civil War are just two examples.  Look into it.  A talk entitled All Wars Are Bankers Wars by Michael Rivero is a great place to start.)

     If the banks want something done (that is, something that will make them more money), they try their best not to use their own money to make it happen.  They’ll blackmail certain countries or politicians to do their dirty work for Them (with taxpayer dollars).  Why else would the United States be giving so much money to foreign countries?  They’re developing third world nations with U.S. tax dollars and putting in place a stable power structure that’s loyal to Them and Them alone.  It’s solely to benefit the banks and corporations.

     For hundreds of years, the best way to get a country into debt was to get them involved in a war.  (It still works pretty well, as a matter of fact.)  But now they’ve come up with another, less bloody way to achieve the same ends—the Socialist/Welfare state.  (Note: Although technically not the same thing, most socialistic societies and welfare states (according to recent data) give out increasingly more money in social programs and entitlements than they collect in taxes, especially as time goes on.  This inevitably leads to government debt, bail-outs, more government debt, increased taxes, more bail-outs, more government debt, etc …)

     “Free” health care, “free” college education, increased unemployment benefits, welfare, social security, entitlement programs … What does all of this do?  It redistributes the wealth in a way that doesn’t cost Them a dime (in fact, They make money), and it puts countries into massive, unrecoverable debt.

Excerpted from Them and Us: A Philosophy of Freedom by Adam Soto