A Run on the State

by Bill Huff
by Bill Huff

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"History teaches us that history teaches us nothing."
~ Hegel

So far, Hegel seems to be right. Cycles come and cycles go – especially in terms of economics and liberty. Those who observe and remember, can discover, analyze, and predict the next cycle while the majority of the people remain in the dark, repeatedly surprised by avoidable calamities.

Jefferson killed a bank. Jackson killed a bank. Now it’s our responsibility to untold generations to stand up and throw off the shackles of yet another criminal syndicate with the respectable sounding name: "Federal Reserve Bank."

A BANK of the United States is in many respects convenient for the Government and useful to the people. Entertaining this opinion, and deeply impressed with the belief that some of the powers and privileges possessed by the existing Bank are unauthorized by the Constitution, subversive of the rights of the States, and dangerous to the liberties of the people, I felt it my duty, at an early period of my administration, to call the attention of Congress to the practicability of organizing an institution combining all its advantages, and obviating these objections. I sincerely regret that, in the act before me, I can perceive none of those modifications of the Bank charter which are necessary, in my opinion, to make it compatible with justice, with sound policy, or with the Constitution of our country.

~ Andrew Jackson, July 10, 1832

Make no mistake. If the bank Jackson killed was not compatible with "justice, with sound policy, or with the Constitution of our country," we can be sure the Monster that returned in 1913 was much better prepared to entrench itself and eventually swallow every last vestige of liberty.

Jackson’s words later in the same document read as though they could have been on the table while the conspirators were drafting the plan to sponsor the Federal Reserve Act:

Is there no danger to our liberty and independence in a Bank that in its nature has so little to bind it to our country? The president of the Bank has told us that most of the State banks exist by its forbearance. Should its influence become concentered, as it may under the operation of such an act as this, in the hands of a self-elected directory, whose interests are identified with those of the foreign stockholders, will there not be cause to tremble for the purity of our elections in peace, and for the independence of our country in war. Their power would be great whenever they might choose to exert it; but if this monopoly were regularly renewed every fifteen or twenty years, on terms proposed by themselves, they might seldom in peace put forth their strength to influence elections or control the affairs of the nation. But if any private citizen or public functionary should interpose to curtail its powers, or prevent a renewal of its privileges, it cannot be doubted that he would be made to feel its influence.

So, it is obvious, that, in almost every respect the Federal Reserve was an "improved" version of the earlier attempts to place total economic control in the hands of a very small and inherently unaccountable cabal. And the entire program can be said to have been sold as a "Bailout" by government.

Later we read about how much confidence Mr. Jackson would place in the Supreme Court to settle the matter:

It is maintained by the advocates of the Bank, that its constitutionality, in all its features, ought to be considered as settled by precedent, and by the decision of the Supreme Court. To this conclusion I cannot assent. Mere precedent is a dangerous source of authority, and should not be regarded as deciding questions of constitutional power, except where the acquiescence of the people and the States can be considered as well settled.

Will the People get Depressed or Mad as Hell this time around?

What happens to the power of the State when the People increase their knowledge and competence of monetary science and the rule of law? Everyone knows the cliché "follow the money trail." But with just a little more education we can all display a level of prophetic genius with regard to economic affairs and the power of the State which are always intertwined. Without the proper knowledge set we will not be sufficiently armed or motivated, nor will be willing to bear the burdens and hardships of the long hard road back to Liberty with Responsibility.

Whenever the power of the State increases, our economic autonomy and liberty must decrease. Given enough power, the State will eventually devour all resources and crush all means of production. The all-powerful State is insatiable because it combines all the hubris and criminality of all its operatives, dupes and parasites. It is the antithesis of creativity and productivity.

I am reminded of a favorite Jefferson quote as it is related by Hamilton Abert Long in "The American Ideal" – a text we provide free at LEXREX.com

With money we will get men, said Caesar, and with men we will get money. Nor should our assembly [the Virginia Legislature] be deluded by the integrity of their own purposes, and conclude that these unlimited powers will never be abused, because themselves are not disposed to abuse them. They should look forward to a time, and that not a distant one, when a corruption in this, as in the country from which we derive our origin [Great Britain], will have seized the heads of government, and be the voices of the people, and make them pay the price. Human nature is the same on every side of the Atlantic, and will be alike influenced by the same causes. The time to guard against corruption and tyranny, is before they shall have gotten hold on us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the fold, than to trust to drawing his teeth and talons after he shall have entered.

~ [from "Notes on the State of Virginia," 1782]

The wolves have already gathered to feast on the corpse of a dying Republic. It is our task now to pull out their teeth and talons. This means, among other things, that the Federal Reserve Banking System must be abolished along with every vestige of Corporate Fascism. The separation of bank and state is what must occur if we are to gain from the most recent upheavals. It would appear that more than enough suffering is imminent to make this point valid to the public. Perhaps this time it will be sufficiently engraved on our consciousness. But we need to keep focusing on the primary cause of the problem. Sadly, the Media, the "government" and the "experts" are constantly mistaking effects for causes either inadvertently or deliberately. During each crisis we need to step up our efforts to teach the liberty principles to others.

A tax by any other name

INFLATION is not something the Fed was created to combat. Inflation is what the Fed Does! And the more the Fed inflates the so-called money supply the closer we are to national financial ruin. Ron Paul has accurately characterized this as the Inflation Tax. Interestingly, the Wikipedia entry for "Inflation Tax" says it is "not a rigorous economic concept." Is Alan Greenspan writing for Wikipedia?

As Liberty and the comprehensive knowledge of classical libertarian ideals increases around the world it is natural for the State to lose its grip – to atrophy. One or the other must prevail. The Ron Paul Revolution is just our local name for the transition that is under way.

The rest of the world is watching our financial debacle right now – and someone is learning from it you can be sure. Do you think the Russians and the Chinese are completely ignorant regarding how the US is ignoring its own principles, laws, and Constitution in a Naked attempt to consolidate a Global Fascist Hegemony? They can read our Constitution; compare it to our behavior, and realize the world can only become less safe and less secure if we continue to abandon our first principles. No clairvoyance is required to recognize the fact that someone must do something – sooner or later – to curb the trend toward global domination.

For those who have slept through the Ron Paul campaign – the Federal Reserve Bank is not even part of the government of the United States and certainly has no lawful right to go on a buying spree with taxpayer funds on behalf of the government or the People. The recent bailouts of major corporate entities are without precedent and without lawful authority altogether. They constitute retroactive extortion.

As the control of the modern State on the minds of men becomes more and more tenuous we can expect desperate measures from those who are desperate to maintain control. If they lose our minds they must try to use our bodies to regain control. They have tipped their hand more frequently in recent years in regard to the fact that they will continually try to use fear to make us give up our liberty for security. But the State is nothing more than a combination of mere men with a few vicious women thrown in to enhance the Velvet Glove effect. It is a Fiction attempting to be a Non-fiction.

Whether mankind is capable of taking the next "small" step in the right direction remains to be seen. We have all of the necessary data. The contest is now an information race. There is next to nothing that government can do better than some other entity or combination. That is, nothing that needs to be done. We don’t need to be dominated, controlled surveilled or micro-managed. We need only Liberty From the State. The State is not the source of Liberty.

Good government is the absence, not the presence of certain things. This principle rules out any usefulness for the present versions of our major two political parties. They are both married to the all-powerful State and its Unlawful Banking system. This makes them the enemies of liberty.

"It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself."

~ Thomas Jefferson:
Notes on Virginia Q.XVII, 1782. ME 2:222

"The bank," Jackson told Martin Van Buren, "is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!" Jackson, in vetoing the recharter bill, charged the Bank with undue economic privilege. [Source = Whitehouse.gov ??? Does Dubya read his very own website?]

Will the bank kill the Republic or will the Republic kill the bank?

Andrew Jackson’s epitaph includes the words, "I Killed the Bank."

What do you want on your Tombstone?

Note: For more documentation and further reading I recommend the University of Virginia resource of Jefferson quotations and, in particular, this link on money and banking from Jefferson’s point of view.

September 27, 2008

Bill Huff [send him mail] is a Classical Libertarian and proprietor of LEXREX.com and JamTheCulture.com; a former public school music teacher turned home schooling advocate; a US Navy veteran, and host of WarIsARacket.com. He is available as a guest lecturer or for interviews on talk radio.

Copyright © 2008 Bill Huff

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