Money, it's a hit.
Dont give me that do goody good bullshit. Pink Floyd

I am fascinated with money.  I have been for some time.  I am curious about our monetary system and am always striving to learn more.  I'm not talking about what they teach in Economics 101, rather some deeper questions.

Through my exploration I've learned a few basic things about our monetary structure.  One that really stands out is that in order for our economy to grow, it is inherent that we go into further debt.  There's no way around it, it's the way the system is set up.  Think about it - every time new money is introduced into the market it does so with a price, called interest.  In other words, whoever is in "control" of money, automatically collects this commission, whether it is 2%, 5%, 10% or 20%.  And there is no good or service that is exchanged as part of this transaction, rather it is just a cost. 

What happens, over the course of time, is that this "interest" starts to add up.  So while there are always individual winners and losers in the marketplace, on the whole the market loses. It has to if it grows.  There's no way around it.  The more the economy grows, the higher the debt gets.  The better we do, the more we owe.  Strange, isn't it?

Until at some point this interest (which always leads to debt since there is no good or service exchanged) reaches a tipping point, and an "adjustment" is necessary.  An adjustment is when those who hold the purse strings decide to collect this debt and reel in their interest (thus taking the money out of the marketplace and bringing the economic commerce to a slow down or halt).  They can then count it, bless it, thank us for all of our hard work, and, if we're lucky, sell it back to us, with interest of course, pat us on our heads and send us off to make more debt.  

It's a cycle that continues and continues.  So we can go out and meditate on money (ala ‘The Secret') all we want.  And maybe we'll accumulate lots and lots of it.  But while we accumulate, someone else will be filing for bankruptcy.  It has to be that way, the way we are set up.  There has to losers.  Someone, after all, has to pay the interest. 

The farther along I follow the truth about our monetary system, the stronger the stench becomes.  I don't know who is at the top of this pyramid (and isn't this really the ultimate pyramid scheme?), and I don't know how many are really in the know to this manipulation.  My guess is the higher you are in the pyramid, while you may, too, smell the rat, you may be less inclined to ask questions.

On the surface, we in the West are perceived winners in this game.  After all, just take a look at our gifts.  Most have a roof over their heads, food on the table, a cell phone, a car or two, cable tv, etc.  But it is not the economy that brought us these gifts.  It's not capitalism.  It is hard work, ingenuity, and evolution that got us where we are today. 

Every generation we have new innovations, we are more efficient, we are smarter and we are healthier.  And every generation we acquire more debt. 

Used to be one working adult in the average family could provide contemporary needs, now we need two.  And that's a stretch.  How can this be?

Our marketplace is holding us back.  Our marketplace is sucking our energy.

But we are scared.  Scared to ask tough questions.  Scared to rock the boat.  Because an overhaul of the economic system will create uncertainty.  We do have a lot to lose.  There would be a lot of unknowns.  This is all true. 

So instead we go along with the program. 

More information:

http://www.freewebs.com/whosemoney/whatismoneyreform.htm

http://www.michaelsharp.org/ebooks/rocketguide.pdf

Bryan Bertsch is a Meditation Coach and Energy Healer in Minneapolis, MN.  Visit him online at http://www.bryanbertsch.com/.

Interesting article on

The Decade of Global Transformation and the New American Evolution
March 13, 2009

by Curtis Lang

To view this online go to:

http://www.satyacenter.com/decade-of-global-transformation

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Today we bought a bike for our daughter Zoe, who just turned 15.  My first stop was Craigslist, where I found a gem of a find - a Raleigh Sprite 5 speed Cruiser.  Turns out it was an ad posted by Re-Cycle, the Minneapolis based second hand bike shop.  (www.re-cycle.com).

This works out very well for us because for openers we don't have to spend so much cash on a bike.  And since we bought from a shop we can trust we know that it has been tuned up and is ready to ride.  Turns out this was sold on consignment, and it's nice to know that we won't have to invest anything more into the bike for awhile. 

On a deeper level, we get to reuse a perfectly good bike rather than use our resources on having  a new one built from scratch (while saving the landfill a big hunk of metal and rubber).  I think it's important that we make smarter choices on what we do with our resources and I try to contribute to that any way I can.  And plus I am frugal by nature and always enjoy a deal!

In any case, for those in Minneapolis, check out Re-Cycle at 2327 Hennepin Ave in Uptown.  In addition there are shops all over the U.S. as well.  The owner and employees are extremely helpful and it's a nice, open, clean shop.