Money is a form of exchange between two people that is used to buy and sell various goods and services. Most countries have their own kind of money, such as the United States dollar or the British pound, but what gives them value? The US Dollar and British pound both use to be backed by gold, this meant that the government issuing the currency, promised to exchange it for the commodity that it’s being backed with (in this case gold). However, in today’s society, both currencies (along with most other currencies in the world) are “supposedly” regulated by governments through central banks, which are backed purely on the faith in its financial system that issues the currency and only has value because a parties engaging in exchange agree on its value. Nevertheless, if this is the case, how are governments able to print money they don’t have? The answer is DEBT…
Debt equals money in our current system, these central banks essentially create money through the interest that it charges consumers to lend (what we call credit), which never existed in the first place. Therefore, an economic system that is run this way is bound to collapse at some point, as there is will never be enough money in circulation to pay back all the debt and interest that is owed, which is why we have economic crashes. As a result of this, when you are unable to pay back the money you borrowed, they will take away your home or car (things that actually have value) to pay off the debt you owe, which never existed to begin with. According to reports from early 2019, the global debt reached $250 trillion dollars, but who do we owe all this money to, if we’re the one’s creating the money?
Have you ever noticed on British banknotes, (for those who are familiar) that they all have this same statement “I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of five/ten/twenty or fifty pounds. This phrase dates back to the time when banknotes were backed by gold, so members of the public could exchange these banknotes for the same value in gold. To still have this phrase on banknotes today doesn’t make sense, as they are no longer backed by gold, or any commodity for that matter. So, in a sense, you’re essentially giving people an “I owe you”, as you are promising to pay them the amount that you’re agreeing to pay them.
“Modern slaves are not in chains, they are in debt”