Goldman Sacks Rules the World!

On some Lists, Goldman sacks is not the largest Investment bank in the world, but the point is made. Banks rule the world. It was not always this way. It is not some master plan. I don’t believe in conspiracy theories. Bankers can be just as stupid and carless as we can with their money, whether it is one pound or one billion pounds. I think they have proven this. They are as weak or strong as any group of people and subject to the vagaries ands whim of greed, lust and ego. The mistake we have made is that we accept their importance to us. We have let this happen.

A typical banker might say to his wife or daughter for example. “ I must go I am in a meeting” [what I am doing is the most important thing in world because it involves money]. My decisions will affect millions of lifes; [for the better or for the worse I would ask], or indeed just for the shareholders and employees of the banks. Indeed the banker might say, “of course it is for the bank as well, as the bank needs to make money, a profit, to be it is good for the economy [the people?].

Is it always good for the economy that banks are successful? Whose economy?

In the last few centuries as the cultures of northern [western] hemisphere have embraced modern finance, capitalism, we forgot to ask is this what we want? In the last few centuries, in fact millennium, we have evolved have many philosophies and religions, and latterly more diverse political systems, exploring the ethics and moralities of our lives, they generally attempt to help us understand ourselves, make us better people and try to make us care more, to balance the advantage over the disadvantaged.

The only morality of banks is to make more money. Make more money you have a better life. Most of us in the western world, China and India have accepted by default to live under this belief system.

Napoleon Bonaparte didn't trust the bank saying: 

"When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes... Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain."  [ref-www.xat.org]

copy this link for a good brief history of banking: shttp://www.xat.org/xat/moneyhistory.html

In fact at times of war banks often finance both side of the conflict, often with the opponents accepting they must guarantee the loser’s debt.

No one individual invented backing. Bartering is part of the human condition. I have something or have made something that my neighbor likes or wants and he or she has something I like or think would be good to have. We agree to exchange these items at a value we agree. In a simple stone age society this might be some meat for some fruit, or a well made tool.

Native tribes of North America had the concept of wampam, sacred shell or beads used as a kind of currency. A currency was developed between many early peoples, it was usually something of shared value. It could be livestock, a spice, honey, feathers, furs, pottery, beads, etc. During Etruscan, Greek and Roman times, olive oil which had, and still has endless usages, was a valued currency even though they had coinage, much like modern commodities, such as crude oil, metals, or water.

Modern banking as we know it began in Northern Renaissance Italy, in the City states such as Venice, Milan and Florence. The most successful of these banks the Medici of Florence, were arguably the richest family in the world at one point including royalty. They produced four popes and famously comissioned many of the artist Michelangelo’s works, via the papacy and for their family. Their banks were developed to further expand business and trade.

Then the Dutch Republic became the European centre for baking in the 16 and 17^th century also to expand internal and their overseas trade.

England later copied the Netherlands and created the Bank of England to fund the Royal Navy, which was created to support England’s worldwide colonization and intimidation for business.

Silversmiths and Goldsmiths in London and Europe began to hold silver and gold in deposit for customers, whereby they would give a written receipt. Customers began to exchange these receipts instead of coins. The Goldsmiths realized they could lend more than they had on a receipt of a promise to pay. This I think is where it started to go really wrong.

Banks began to really grow. They began to loan huge sums to Governments. Barings Bank [England] and Hope & Co. [The Netherlands] financed the Louisiana purchased so American could buy a large territory west of the Mississippi river from France, which Ironically, Napoleon Sold to finance his European conquests because he did not want to borrow from the banks.

Rothschild Bank pioneered high finance though the industrialization of Europe and funded much of the expansion of railways around the world.

Gold and silver or any coinage, were replaced by paper. Promissory notes to pay the holder the sum of and equal to value written.

This is when the abuse of money by financiers really began. They realized they could lend money at ratio of at least ten to one of their deposits held. They could print their owe money and they have been inventing more complicated and clever ways to expand their promissory money ever since. The problem is this money does not exist. It is a fiction.

Here is a simple equation. The bank takes a deposit of 10 pounds, it promises to pay 5% interest to the depositor after one year. It loans that 10 pounds x 10. That is an interest rate of 100% on my ten pounds. Less my 5% returned. And each of the 10 borrowers are charged a monthly interest of 20% over one year. At the end of the year I have £10.50 and the bank has £119.50 plus additional interest they have accrued from relending the monthly installment payments. At the simplest level after a few months they can relend another £100 pounds as they have collected another ten pounds from interest.

Now in theory the bank could build up a reserve quite quickly. But this is where the human factor takes over, greed, lust and ego. As they have no regulation and no values. The pursuit of money is all they have. So they keep lending. Other wealthy people, King and Queen want a piece of the action, they invest buy shares, by other people’s loans, stocks, the promissory note can be applied to almost anything. All goods and service become commodities. To be bought and sold to the highest bidder. Ideally you undermine your traders value buy any means possible [legally?] so you can buy cheap and then sell it for as high a value as possible.

This only truly benefits investors and does nothing for the larger economy and pays no tax. There is still no tax on high level financial trading. Those with pots of money soon learned a big pot means bigger profit and no tax! This models’ only focus is to make those who stand to gain the most, the most money and the many who do not or are not allowed to share in the investment the live on a wage/means the investors can get away with.

[Very early and small societies did not choose to live this way. Give 1% of their tribe 99% of their material, I am sure most of these people would have thought this non-sense.

This exploitation in the end led to modern political movements broadly encompassed by socialism and unions. But these were reactions to modern banking [capitalism]. We forced the bankers and the rulers to share a bit more. But we accepted by default that the culture of big banks is part of lives. Why?

So now we live in a world where making a big pile of money is the only morality. We kid ourselves if we think there are any ethics or morality in banking.

The startling thing is it is starting to crumble and the powers that be cannot see it.

We are digging our own grave. It is like a not so clever chess player thinking how clever they are as they move themselves towards an endgame they cannot control. Yes Goldman Sachs rules the world in that most of the western governments are in hock to most of the western banks. But the banks have stupidly allowed this happen, [cut off their noses despite their face] they create investments packages that really do not make any real contribution to the lives of millions, they dream up new ways of lending which no one can repay. We are at the point where no one can repay. Everyone is in debt, the whole western economy runs on credit, daily, weekly, monthly cash flow. Bankers have gorged themselves on their own self importance, lust, greed and ego; we are clever we are bankers. The world needs us.

 Only because we have allowed it.

We do not need banks.

This is not merely a statement of action against capitalism, or a melodramatic call to arms; it an idea, 

a question I ask of our supposed western culture, I ask this question.

What is the foundation of our western/european culture systems; myth, magic or legend?  

What are these cornerstones for modern societies? The greatest myth of all is that our systems 

were either the first best example or better than any other; except perhaps in the mass use of violence 

towards all life. Our, modern western/european cultural systems were never the only path. 

Our systems are destroying us; self-destruction does seem a good path.  

But the greatest myth of all is that these systems cannot be changed or broken and rebuilt; 

most alarmingly that we are not already breaking.

Most of my statements are common knowledge. Many things will seem obvious I think. 

I will briefly demonstrate I hope, how will got into this mess and how we must change our belief systems. 

But immediately we must end the worship of wealth, of hoarding of things.

What makes a good society? What are the values of a good society? 

Certainly once you have put a price on some thing, a person, a plant, a piece of land, it, 

she or him or that, no longer have any value in a good society?  

They only have value in a bank. Do we believe in banks? Is banking a lifestyle?

Our beliefs have seduced us into the acceptance of modern banking. 

Ironically this belief system has nothing to do with good governance, humanity, and spirituality.

And has taken control of all governments and all religions, as good or bad as these systems were 

individually, they now do not matter. There is now only one culture the culture of wealth, 

of good (sic) banking. Banks enslave governments through debt, all prime minsters, 

presidents and dictators are really only bank managers at best, clerks at worst.

I propose that we reduce or eliminate the influence our banks have on our lives. 

That we change the way we are governed and that maybe we introduce another way of looking 

at the world. But most urgently stop the banks now. 

I suggest passive aggressive resistance in the short term, we shall see. Stop buying things!!!!

We have all heard the term supply and demand. No demand - No supply.

A solution to the dilemma of economic exploitation and self destruction is simple. No banks. 

Recognising the electronic banking system is now completely intrusive in our modern life, 

I accept this is not easily possible. But is possible. The simplest means is cash.  

Avoid any financial transaction from which a bank will profit. Keep savings in

small savings societies. Don’t borrow. Destroy debit and cedit cards. 

Question the so called ethics of your bank , ask them about tax avoidance, ask them about their salaries.

Take your money out of the bank! Don’t buy things.  And again Stop hoarding.

Another Path?

This is not only about stopping banks.  It’s about changing our perspective our values.

I will also offer people an alternate example, another path, which puts respect for all life and 

awareness before wealth, or hoarding of things. But first we must debunk the legend of our 

politically systems, the limitations of religion and the modern myth of banking.

We must realise there is another path. As an example to be added within the week, I will demonstrate that confederacy of the North American Iroquois Nation predates European democracy, 

ruled by consensus, not political parties while fully representing individual cultures within the confederacy, 

its’ core belief was respect, for all things; rock or man, water of woman, animal or sky 

and had no room for hoarding, they did not believed in gathering and collecting of things, 

to take for the sake of taking was disrespectful to them and this belief system was similar 

to their northern rivals the Algonquin who best expressed this concept of respect for all in Manitou;  

all things alive or still have a spirit a shared connections with all else. Something modern science
and physics are now proving to be true, at the basic level all elements are shared.

In it’s simplest form capitalism is hoarding. 

It is men and women competing to have the biggest pile of pebbles. 

The pile of pebbles only have a cost if we allow these men and women to 

tell us these pebbles have a price, be once this has been allowed then they have no value in real life.

Legend, Magic or Myth? – (the cost of living)

I would go so far as to suggest the legend of modern democracy is false, that the foundation of modern democracy was from ancient Greece as described in Plato’s republic and most subversively 

that we are taught this was a good model although at the time it was democracy for the rich only. 

In Greek tradition there is the belief that those in power are allowed to deceive their support 

for the benefit of the state, a belief that once in power you are somehow an elite to those 

who put you there and that you are only truly beholding to your accepted peers. 

Things only matter if it is on their agenda. You see this belief carried forward in our governments and boardrooms around the world. And we accept this most of time.

The magic is the stories related by the three modern religions of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, 

that they are the only models for the modern world and the best models. When all three beliefs remain 

at least in competition with each other and at worst at war so that the integrity of all three are undermined, instead of creating a better world they are all hierarchical, rich over poor, in America that Christian 

stronghold, we here the term, the 1%, those who have 98% of American wealth, where in Pakistan, predominately Muslim the rich pay no taxes at all.  And for any religion to believe it is exclusive 

of another or to support that dominion of the stronger over the weaker within it’s own ranks is false. 

Although I will allow there are noble words in all their scriptures. Indeed in the Quran, 

there is a statement which roughly translated, “If I eat when my neighbour goes hungry I am a sinner” 

If the world only lived by this!
I only challenge that any man or women has the right of dominion by religion.

The myth, banks, we need them?  As long as there has be money there has been money lenders yes, 

but modern banks were only evolved a few centuries ago and yes in truth they were initially superior 

to elite royal families controlling all the states wealth, they were in truth only created to make 

the rich richer and to finance the exploitation of the militarily weaker cultures by the western Europeans 

as the marauded around the globe. Along the way they realised they could get some extra money 

to play with if they offered a domestic service to some of the middle merchants and growing middle classes, retail banking, and convinced us that they were doing it for us and not their themselves. The poor and the middle glasses don’t really benefit from banks at all and are completely subject to the whims of banks; 

banks businesses who only really want to take your money from you.

I think that we have seduced are selves through our modern political systems and religious beliefs, 

we have allowed, accepted, the values of inherent elitism in these systems, have accepted the pursuit of betterment, of more, of the lust for wealth, to hoard. We created banks and now our systems and 

beliefs have no value only a cost.

What is the cost of living?

There is no democracy - Government is determined by cash flow.

Religion offers no resistance – churches sell their services.

Banks rule the world!

There is an alternative!!! No banks!!!

We have been through this before!