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Nevertheless, throughout US history, the battle over who gets the Money Changers by reforming usury laws and limiting land the power to issue our money has raged. In fact, it has changed ownership to 500 acres. Both were assassinated. In 48 BC, Julius hands back and forth eight times since 1694, in five transition Caesar took back from the Money Changers the power to coin periods which may aptly be described as 'Bank Wars' (or, more money and then minted coins for the benefit of all. With this precisely, 'Private Central Bank vs American People Wars’), yet new, plentiful supply of money, he built great public works. By this fact has virtually vanished from public view for over three making money plentiful, Caesar won the love of the common peo- generations behind a smoke screen emitted by Fed cheerleaders in ple. But the Money Changers hated him. Some believe this was the media. an important factor in Caesar's sination. Until we stop talking about 'deficits' and 'government spending’ One thing is for sure: with the death of Caesar came the demise and start talking about who creates and controls how much money of plentiful money in Rome. Taxes increased, as did corruption. we have, it's just a shell game, a complete and utter deception. It Eventually the Roman money supply was reduced by 90 per cent. won't matter if we pass an iron-clad amendment to the As a result, the common people lost their lands and homes—just Constitution mandating a balanced budget. Our situation is only as has happened and will happen again in America to the few who going to get worse until we root out the cause at its source. still own their own land and homes. Our leaders and politicians, those few who are not part of the problem, need to understand what is happening and how, as well 4. THE GOLDSMITHS OF MEDIAEVAL ENGLAND as what solutions exist. The government must take back the The Chinese were the first to use paper money, known as 'fly- power to issue our money without debt. ing money' (a kind of banker's draft), in AD 618-907. In about Issuing our own debt-free money is not a radical solution. It's AD 1000, private Chinese merchants in Sichuan province issued the same solution proposed at different points in US history by paper money known as jiao zi. Due to fraud, the right to issue men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, paper money was taken over in 1024 by the Song dynasty which Martin van Buren, Abraham Lincoln, then issued the first government paper William Jennings Bryan, Henry Ford, money. Thomas Edison, and numerous con- . . About that same time, Money gressmen and economists. Until we stop talking about Changers—those who exchange, cre- Though the Federal Reserve is now ‘deficits’ and "government ate and manipulate the quantity of one of the two most powerful central money—were active in mediaeval banks in the world, it was not the spending’ and start talking about England. In fact, they were so active first. So where did this idea come who creates and controls how that, acting together, they could from? To really understand the mag- manipulate the English economy. nitude of the problem, we have to much money we have, it's just a These were not bankers per se. The travel across the Atlantic. shell game a complete and Money Changers generally were the U . goldsmiths. They were the first 2. THE MONEY CHANGERS utter deception. bankers because they started keeping IN JERUSALEM other people's gold for safekeeping in Just who are these Money their safe rooms, or vaults. Changers to whom James Madison The first 'paper' money in Western referred? The Bible tells us that, 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ Europe was merely a receipt for gold left with the goldsmiths, twice drove the Money Changers from the Temple in Jerusalem. made from rag paper. As the ditty goes: Apart from when the Temple Guards were forced to the ground in Rags make paper; paper makes money; money makes banks; the Garden of Gethsemane, these were the only times Jesus used banks make loans; loans make beggars; beggars make rags. physical violence. What were Money Changers doing in the Paper money caught on because it was more convenient and Temple? safer to carry than a lot of heavy gold and silver coins. As a con- When Jews came to Jerusalem to pay their Temple tax, they venience, to avoid unnecessary trips to the goldsmiths, depositors could only pay it with a special coin, the half-shekel of the sanctu- began endorsing these gold deposit receipts to others, by their sig- ary. This was a half-ounce of pure silver, about the size of a quar- nature. ter. It was the only coin around at that time which was pure silver Over time, to simplify the process, the receipts were made out and of assured weight, without the image of a pagan Emperor. to the bearer, rather than to the individual depositor, making them Therefore, to Jews, the half-shekel was the only coin acceptable to readily transferable without the need for a signature. This, how- God. But these coins were not plentiful. The Money Changers ever, broke the tie to any identifiable deposit of gold. had cornered the market on them; then they raised the price—just Eventually, goldsmiths noticed that only a small fraction of the as with any other monopolised commodity—to whatever the mar- depositors or bearers ever came in and demanded their gold at any ket would bear. one time. Goldsmiths started cheating on the system. They began In other words, the Money Changers were making exorbitant by secretly lending out some of the gold that had been entrusted to profits because they held a virtual monopoly on money. The Jews them for safekeeping, and keeping the interest earned on this had to pay whatever they demanded. To Jesus, this injustice vio- lending. Then the goldsmiths discovered that they could print lated the sanctity of God's house. more money (i.e., paper gold-deposit certificates) than they had gold, and usually no one would be any the wiser. Next, they dis- 3. MONEY-CHANGING IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE covered they could lend out this extra paper money and collect But the money-changing scam did not originate in Jesus' day. interest on it. This was the birth of ‘fractional reserve lending'— Two hundred years before Christ, Rome was having trouble with that is, lending out more money than you have reserves on its Money Changers. deposit. Obviously it was fraud, often specifically outlawed once Two early Roman emperors had tried to diminish the power of understood. the Money Changers by reforming usury laws and limiting land ownership to 500 acres. Both were assassinated. In 48 BC, Julius Caesar took back from the Money Changers the power to coin money and then minted coins for the benefit of all. With this new, plentiful supply of money, he built great public works. By making money plentiful, Caesar won the love of the common peo- ple. But the Money Changers hated him. Some believe this was an important factor in Caesar's assassination. One thing is for sure: with the death of Caesar came the demise of plentiful money in Rome. Taxes increased, as did corruption. Eventually the Roman money supply was reduced by 90 per cent. As a result, the common people lost their lands and homes—just as has happened and will happen again in America to the few who still own their own land and homes. much money we have, it's just a shell game, a complete and utter deception. 3. MONEY-CHANGING IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE But the money-changing scam did not originate in Jesus' day. Two hundred years before Christ, Rome was having trouble with its Money Changers. Two early Roman emperors had tried to diminish the power of 14 = NEXUS DECEMBER 1998 - JANUARY 1999