Topic: Campaign for Liberty
To Make our Dollars go farther, Shouldn't We Burn a Few?

Emma Goldman, 'Silk Revolutionary Founding Mother', proposes a plan to salvage the value of our savings and to begin restoring confidence in the future of American liberty and sound money.
by Emma Goldman
(libertarian)
Sunday, August 3, 2008

In Dr. Ron Paul's newest 167 page bestselling book, "The Revolution: A Manifesto", he shows how the Federal Reserve central banking monopolists devalue savings held in American Dollars via inflation of their fiat 'money supply'.  Here's my suggestion as a way to deflate the money supply, which we individuals can implement using our lighters.  Consider this an individualized plan for use in countering every future inflationary announcement made by the Federal government.

An Individual's Voluntary Deflation Plan

Goals :

To prevent a catastrophic dislocation in the economy by deflating the dollar every time an inflationary measure is announced in the media.

How to Implement the Plan :

For every 100 million the Federal Government announces it is going to 'pump into the economy', main street American voters (e.g. those who aren't in the auto industry, the military or defense contracting, the housing industry, the medical industry, the government, or the banking industry) should take out a single Federal Reserve dollar (a one dollar bill), and light it on fire - turn it to ash, My Dear Reader.  Those who are in the other industries mentioned above should burn two one dollar bills to ash (because they can better afford it), and those who are in the banking industry should burn three one dollar bills to ash (because you are part of the central fiat banking monopoly, you got the 'new money' first, and it is worth more to those who get it first).

An example of the Plan :

At a summer barbeque, Joe has his military friend, his lawyer friend, and his banking friend over to his house.  He mentions there's a way to deflate the currency and restore some value to it, by burning a dollar (or two, or three) every time the Fed pumps 100 million into the U.S. economy.  His friends laugh at him, but he shows them Chapter 6 in Dr. Ron Paul's newest bestselling book, "A Revolution: A Manifesto", and they read the first few pages.  Then they become indignant and angry that a central banking monopoly has, for the past 95 years, driven up (via hidden taxation through inflation) the price of everything they buy.  And furthermore, the value of all their live savings is quickly being driven to zero, because its denominated in American dollars, which has only 4% of the purchasing power that it had prior to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.

So they ask Joe, "how many should we burn?".  Joe says, "Well, earlier in 2008, the Fed pumped in 300 million into the economy, so that means we should all burn 3 dollars a piece.  So they get the dollar bills, and roll them together, and wait for the barbeque to be served.  Once dinner is off the grill, they get a camera, and throw the roll of bills onto the grill, and snap a picture to commemerate their first act of civil disobedience they have taken in their entire lives.  "It feels kind of liberating, doesn't it?"  "Yeah, it's like giving the system the finger."  Then Joe says, "Bill, since you're part of the military industrial complex, you might opt to throw in three more dollars.  And John, since you're the town banker, you might opt to throw in six more dollars."  "Why's that", they ask.  "Because remember, since you guys get the money sooner after its first created out of thin air on the Fed's printing presses, your dollars are worth more than mine, since I don't work in one of those industries I mentioned.  So burning yours has a larger helpful deflationary effect.  Not to mention, you can afford to burn more, since your dollars go farther."  Joe continued, "But this plan is totally voluntary, not required.  None of us has to burn any more dollars in the future if we don't want to, but the bottom line is that it would help stave off inflation if all voting Americans in the country followed this plan."  "You do realize that it's illegal to destroy money..."  John, the banker, said, "So I think we should keep this discrete and among friends we know outside of government."  "Good idea", they all agreed.  "So what do we do now?", Bill asked.  Joe said, "we have to keep watching the news, and let each other know when the new money is going to be pumped into the system."  "They pumped 3.2 billion into rescuing Bear Stearns during this so-called housing crisis," Bill, the banker said.  "How much should we burn then, Bill?" asked Joe.  "Well, 3.2 billion is 3200 million, so divide 3200 by 100 is 32.  That means that all of us have to burn 32 more dollars to offset the new money inflated into the system."  "Wow, that sounds like a lot!  I don't have that kind of cash right now in my wallet."  "That's okay, every dollar you light up helps," Bill said.

The Bottom Line:

Yes, burning a dollar bill is an act of civil disobedience, but deflating the dollar supply will help reverse the inflationary actions by the Federal Reserve.  The important thing about this plan is to make it into a fun event, have friends over, describe it to them, educate them on the harm done by the central banking monopolists over the past 95 years.  Use this Deflation Plan as a celebration that you are taking direct action in opposition to the bad fiscal policies found in the headlines.  Take every opportunity to counter the claim that the Fed is helping our economy, when in reality it hurts it, every time it inflates the money supply.


About Emma's Silk Revolution

It's one thing for an individual to declare a revolution, it's quite another to offer up a rational plan of action for implementing such declarations.

I offered in a separate article, the reasons for starting a "Silk Revolution", which is a non-violent revolution meant to revolutionize today's immoral American politics into a moral government where objective laws, and not fascist men and women, rule.

The goal of the Silk Revolution is to start shrinking Federal government, with the ultimate goal of a government pared to its objectively necessary functions - namely as a retaliatory agency delegated by the people to protect individual rights, life, earned property, and private contracts.

I envision a limited government,  society where justice and liberty are enjoyed by all.  In such a limited retaliatory government, objective law society, we would have complete a) separation of state and economics, b) separation of state and education, and c) a re-separation of state and religion.

But, as you probably know My Dear Reader, it requires much more than a vision of where you would like to go... once you have that vision, you must chart a course of action, and must set realistic, definable goals in order to measure your progress.

So I was puzzling about how to 'start' the Silk Revolution.  How could I kick off the Silk Revolution with an intellectual 'bang' that got people to wake up to the issues surrounding it?  The above "Voluntary Deflationary Plan" is the opening salvo to the Silk Revolution.

I don't yet have a statement of principles (like a Declaration of Independence) for the Silk Revolution, but that is being thought about and ideas are being discussed, so stay tuned.

My thought is to have every principle that defines the Silk Revolution to revolve around the Individual as the highest moral unit of government, and not the lowest moral unit, as today's Constitution is.  The reason for that is since - over the past 232 years in America - we have now created an upside-down world in relation to what the Founding Fathers envisioned, I thought we must invert the founding Constitution so that a future "America version 2", founded on Silk Revolutionary principles, could not be perverted again in such a manner by big-government statists.


©2008 Emma Goldman, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Sunday, August 3, 2008
Last modified: Sunday, August 3, 2008

The views expressed in this article are those of Emma Goldman only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Emma Goldman is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

Report violation by Emma Goldman of Nolan Chart LLC's terms of use policy.


More Articles By Emma Goldman

Reader Comments:

Posted By: Larry
Date: 2008-08-04 15:46:23

You go first!

Report violation