by Steven Walsh
Well, the world doesn’t stop turning and evolving. With the hot war in Ukraine – including its nuclear facility in question, COVID, and environmental changes in addition to our economic worries – things are ever more challenging. Money is created to come in and out of circulation and can be an organizational tool to help us face all our challenges if we can take back seigniorage from the banks. If you are already a monetary reformer, skip the following two paragraphs.
By the laws we have let pass through our fingers, we have given the bankers the financial privilege to be the first issuers of circulating money! They decide how much and who will receive new money, and the interest goes into their pockets. Without working for that money, the bankers receive that interest. However, during the U.S. Civil War, the American Revolution, and life before in our colonies, the government issued the money that was either spent or loaned into circulation, and no interest went to the bankers. If you have basic questions about how our money system works, try any of these resources:
- Order Stephen Zarlenga’s book, Lost Science of Money, and settle in for a scholarly historical read.
- Go to the home page of AMI,scroll down to the 32-page Monetary Reform Manual, Key Articles, and Selected Articles, and find what is appropriate for you.
- Go to the Alliance For Just Money, click About Money, and begin with those headings.
- Go to positivemoney.org and click RESOURCES and the subheading VIDEOS. Scroll down the page to Introductory Videos and check them out.
Until now, the emphasis on monetary reform has been on changing the money creation process in developed countries. Within these countries, a few brave citizens and their money have chiefly created the awareness we have today. However, in recent years it has come to light that our whole international banking system takes advantage of this false notion of money creation. At past AMI Conferences, persons associated with the IMF and bankers from too-big-to-fail banks have alluded to this problem without being specific. The economist Richard Werner has brought attention to this problem – see here (excellent overall intro. -15 min.), or here (excellent intro on money creation and economic colonization – 15 min.), or here (80 minutes with second half including Richard’s attacking views on central banks of which we need to respond).
Three days – three essential themes! tentative schedule. please watch AMI website for changes
On Friday night, Oct. 7, at 7 pm. Chicago Time, we will have two speakers from Southeast Asia who will give perspectives from developing countries:
- Zahid Aziz, from Malaysia, who wrote Confessions of an Islamic Banker, will provide us with his thinking on monetary reform and public banking.
- Djamester Simarmata, from Indonesia, will speak about development economics and money creation from an Indonesian perspective.
- After each presentation, we will go into breakout rooms, consider what has been explained, and come up with good questions. We’ll continue with a Q&A session with each of our speakers.
On Saturday morning, Oct. 8, at 9 am. Chicago Time, we’ll continue with leading monetary reform thinkers; here are some in alphabetical order as the schedule is still being set:
- Christine Desan, Harvard Law School, will speak on “How To Spend a Trillion Dollars: Our Monetary Hardwiring, Why It Matters, and What We Should Do About It” Here is the online version. Persons ready for a deep dive should read Desan’s 63-page paper to be better prepared to pose questions.
- Ellen Brown, the founder of the Public Banking Institute, has thought of several possibilities, and there is still a decision to be made.
- Miguel Ángel F. Ordoñez, former Gov. of the Central Bank of Spain, will speak on ´´The Role of the State and Individuals in the Reform of Money and Payments´´
- Virginia Hammon, author of US MONEY, will speak on the NEED Act and its recent update, the American Monetary Reform Act, and suggest future directions for monetary reform.
- Sergio Rossi, University of Fribourg, Switzerland, where he holds the Chair of Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics, speaking on themonetary-structural reforms of our banking systems at both national and international levels
- Frans Verhagen, author of The Tierra Solution, will speak on Transformation at the international level and propose a U.N. Peoples’ Bank.
- Edgar Wortmann, from OnsGeld in the Netherlands, will share a summary of his monetary reform proposals
On Sunday morning, Oct. 9, at 9 am, we will look at the effect of our monetary/financial system on our culture and the individual. Other speakers will emerge, too. While on Friday, we are taking an international perspective, on Sunday, we are taking a serious dive into the mental health effects of our financial system, especially over the last 40 years.
- Bruce Rogers-Vaughn is an Associate Professor of the Practice of Pastoral Theology and Counseling at Vanderbilt Divinity School with 30 years of experience in clinical pastoral psychotherapy and the author of Caring For Souls In A Neoliberal Age. Rogers-Vaughn will speak on Money,Suffering, and Hope.
- Bruce Woll, a philosopher with a theological background, will continue on this theme and discuss what is “public” todayand the direction of our society.
- Gabriela Dylis translated two articles – one by Stephen Zarlenga and one by Nick Egnatz – into Portuguese.Dylis reviewed monetary reform in several countries and was in Brazil this summer and checked out their social media platforms. She will share her background and her effort in this movement.
Here is the link for this year’s conference. Check the AMI website every few days for updates.
Three days – Three essential themes.
Steven Walsh
AMI Steward