What is your view on the Federal Reserve

[Fox McCloud]

Do you have a mostly conspiratorial view or a "flaw of the system" view?

edit: Wow! I posted this, and I get 2 replies before the poll, itself is posted!

I have a conspiratorial view of it; the whole founding of the system, how our policies and economics have been flowing, and other evidence (well covered by G. Edward Griffin) just makes it (to me) undeniable that the Fed is a institution founded out of conspiracy, and the ideals and things that have cropped up around it have led to further conspiracies.

I cannot truly describe how much I hate the system....Ron would have had my vote even if he hadn't mentioned the Federal Reserve, but when he mentioned abolishing the Fed and returning to a gold standard...my goodness, that made me giddy.

 

[NoxTwilight]

Yes

 

[integrity]

Abolish the FRAUD FED

 

[forsmant]

Fractional Reserve banking is a fraud and should be outlawed.

 

[TheNewYorker]

It's not conspiratorial, the fact is it's controlled by rich bankers, and they can control our money supply, something a select group of private people shouldn't be able to do, in my opinion at least. Nothing conspiratorial about it.

Same with the fact that the rich elite control how the world is run. Again, nothing conspiratorial about it, the fact is rich people have power, and if I was rich, I would be running the world to my benefit too.

 

[Dr.3D]

It isn't necessarily a conspiracy.... but rather a secret attempt to control the government and steal from the people. It is unconstitutional and it's money is as well. The constitution of the U.S. says right in it, money must be coined of silver and gold.

 

[Fox McCloud]

It's not conspiratorial, the fact is it's controlled by rich bankers, and they can control our money supply, something a select group of private people shouldn't be able to do, in my opinion at least. Nothing conspiratorial about it.

Same with the fact that the rich elite control how the world is run. Again, nothing conspiratorial about it, the fact is rich people have power, and if I was rich, I would be running the world to my benefit too.

*chuckles* I didn't say "conspiracy theory".....I should have used the John Birch Society's term "conspiracy facts".

Still, I can understand avoiding the term "conspiracy" as people misinterpret it.

but anyway, I was just using "common" terms.

 

[sluggo]

They are the world's largest counterfeiting operation, and they steal your savings a little bit at a time.

 

[nate895]

The Federal Reserve's Founding is an interesting story. It started in Washington's Administration as the First US Bank (not to be confused with the modern US Bank) and then the Second US Bank. Both were hot Constitutional topics at the time. Andrew Jackson came to office on a platform to shut it down, he did, but he founded the early version of the Federal Reserve. Then, after laying dormant for while, the Lincoln Administration, who was strapped for cash, rechartered it with the ability to print the almighty greenback. So, the Fed, in its modern form, was created to finance an aggressive war, no wonder the neocons like it.

 

[Bradley in DC]

Fractional Reserve banking is a fraud and should be outlawed.

As G. Edward Griffin explains, not if it's done honestly (as was the case with the Scottish free banking example).

 

[murrayrothbard]

As G. Edward Griffin explains, not if it's done honestly (as was the case with the Scottish free banking example).

Why would anyone support "honest" fractional reserve banking?

 

[jon_perez]

How about a fourth option?

"I don't claim to understand the very complex issues near enough to make a categorical or authoritative statement either way and while I'm willing to maintain an open mind, I refuse to be swayed by either dogma, conspiracy theories, economic ideology or the herd?"

 

[Bradley in DC]

How about a fourth option?

"I don't claim to understand the very complex issues near enough to make a categorical or authoritative statement either way and while I'm willing to maintain an open mind, I refuse to be swayed by either dogma, conspiracy theories, economic ideology or the herd?"

Or, in your case, logic, economic fundamentals like supply, demand and price, history or ...

(seriously, thanks for the change of tone on your exchanges )

 

[Greg in VA]

It's not conspiratorial, the fact is it's controlled by rich bankers, and they can control our money supply, something a select group of private people shouldn't be able to do, in my opinion at least. Nothing conspiratorial about it.

Same with the fact that the rich elite control how the world is run. Again, nothing conspiratorial about it, the fact is rich people have power, and if I was rich, I would be running the world to my benefit too.

I see no reason to make anti-semtic comments, your comment will just cause folks who browse this forum to think, yep, the MSM is right, what a bunck of kooks, nutters, crazies.

I think the Federal Reserve should be abolished, for it just causes further inflation, that erodes the common man's money. But your comment crosses the line and would only serve to reinforce already false impressions about Paulites.

 

[freest8r]

Kublai Khan and Paper Money

My son just did some research on Marco Polo for school and found out that he was impressed with the fact that Kublai Khan used paper money in his kingdom. I did a little digging and found these 2 pages on paper money from Marco Polo's writings.

I think you'll find it strikingly familiar to our Federal Reserve, which is nothing more than the largest counterfeit operation in the world.

Marco Polo's Writings
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/eacp/japanworks/mongols/figures/ser_xxiv.pdf

Chinese Paper Money
http://www.galmarley.com/FAQs_pages/monetary_history_faqs.htm#Chinese paper money

Here are some excerpts:

The Emperor’s Mint then is in this same City of Cambaluc, and the way it is wrought is such that you might say he hath the Secret of Alchemy in perfection, and you would be right! For he makes his money after this fashion ...

And the Kaan causes every year to be made such a vast quantity of this money, which costs him nothing, that it must equal in amount all the treasure in the world.

With these pieces of paper, made as I have described, he causes all payments on his own account to be made; and he makes them to pass current universally over all his kingdoms and provinces and territories, and whithersoever his power and sovereignty extends. And nobody, however important he may think himself, dares to refuse them on pain of death.

Furthermore all merchants arriving from India or other countries, and bringing with them gold or silver or gems and pearls, are prohibited from selling to any one but the Emperor.

So he buys such a quantity of those precious things every year that his treasure is endless, whilst all the time the money he pays away costs him nothing at all.

In the final phase of the Mongol dynasty in about 1350 huge efforts were made to correct the management of the currency but the situation was beyond repair, monetary paper having been issued in one form or another by all manner of private, provincial and central government agencies in what amounted to an explosion of credit.

Upon the demise of the Mongol system of government which had presided over so many benefits only to see them destroyed through financial crisis, the usurping Ming dynasty issued yet more paper currency with the solemn legend "This paper money shall have currency, and be used in all respects as if it were copper money". There was no public confidence in the firmness of this declaration and at the outset the paper traded at 17 : 13 against copper coinage. Before long the ratio fell to 300 : 1.

 

[HOLLYWOOD]

WELFARE for Business...

CORPORATE WELFARE!

The SUB-PRIME GREED and now MONEY PIT... makes the Savings & Loan Scandal and JUNK Bonds scams look like a DROP IN THE BUCKET!

 

[1913_to_2008]

Scum

 

[specsaregood]

Here is a little tidbit from Ron Paul's book (really more of a pamphlet).
From "Gold, Peace and Prosperity"
"The monetary reforms drawn up at Bretton Woods, NH, in July 1944 were supposed to be permanent. The agreement lasted 27 years. Harry Dexter White, Director of Monetary Research for the Treasury was the U.S. Representative. (Mr. White was later identified as a high-level fellow traveler of the Communist Party.)"

Liberty and Freedom cannot exist for long without "honest money".

 

[Onyx]

Wow!!! Two people voted in believing the Fed is good and helpful to the economy.