Sunday, January 11, 2009

How To Destroy the World: War & Money

We usually think of war as the only or the most destructive force in the world. The damage is obvious and our feelings against it intensified by the grief we feel for those who suffer.

But war is waged by those who has the money to build or make weapons and to employ people to obey their orders to kill. The poor do not have the means to defend themselves and they die for it. So, war is waged as a result of a prosperous nation (that wants to defend its wealth or grow richer) - and this must be accompanied by an expansion in the money supply and a rise in the government deficit. Expanding a government deficit or the money supply to fund a war must be thought to be positive economically to destroy and control other nations.

But the same technique is also being used to destroy one's own nation - by expanding the government deficit and the monetary supply.

People are being softened by encouraging them to go into debt in order to engage in mindless consumption. With low interest rates, they have no incentive to save - and therefore depriving them of the opportunity for self-independence. Asking people not to save but to consume so that those with capital invested in wrong projects can continue to stay afloat is an enslaving policy.

Ordinary men and women must always be encouraged to save so that they can have enough capital to venture into their own cherished projects which may contribute to the richness of the society in which they live.

Running a loose monetary policy at low interest rates for years and years is bad for the economy. It keeps commercially unviable businesses alive - which means no improvement in productivity or servicing the needs of society. Low interest rates provide no santuary for those who retire holding cash, as the benefit of the cash is given to investors. Inflation from a loose monetary policy erodes the purchasing power of the people and unduly propping up the profitability of inefficient businessess and the rich asset-owning class.

Indiscipline in monetary policy is destroying own nations and that of others, loosening our moral fibre and the resolve to build and innovate.

1 comment:

mekyam said...

hi et!

amen to what you said about encouraging people to save.

we have to get back to the basics, to the simple values of old. values like spending within our means and not getting into debts hankering for things we cannot afford.

as you intimated, in modern times those who seek to enslave their fellowmen do so by insidiously encouraging rank consumerism and instant gratification of wants.

i agree with you that the erosion of commonsense and moral fibre, brought on by the chase for purchasing power, has actually destroyed human societies more than warfares.