Why are American’s so docile in the face of persistent unemployment, record levels of foreclosure and a banana republic system of inequality?

One word–Debt.

“Workers who are unable to meet their debts, who are victimized by constantly rising interest rates that can climb to as high as 30 percent on credit cards, are far more likely to remain submissive and compliant. Debt peonage is and always has been a form of political control.”

Think about it. Your credit report is used to determine everything from a job prospect, to getting a security clearance, to even finding dating partners. For many young adults, starting out after college means hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loans to service, even if they can’t find a job.

“But with the reward for a college degree falling and default rates sky-rocketing, many students and their parents will end up as the student loan debt slaves.”

In the last 40 years wages have remained flat. To maintain a middle-class lifestyle, American’s have become trapped into a Web of Debt. And, it’s not just American citizens, but the US government as well.

“The United States is legally bankrupt, defined in the dictionary as being unable to pay one’s debts, being insolvent, or having liabilities in excess of a reasonable market value of assets held. By October 2006, the debt of the U.S. government had hit a breath-taking $8.5 trillion. Local, state and national governments are all so heavily in debt that they have been forced to sell off public assets to satisfy creditors. Crowded schools, crowded roads, and cutbacks in public transportation are eroding the quality of American life.”

Written by author Ellen Brown, Web of Debt, is a fascinating history of the banking cartel’s control of America and the world. Their aim was to control the political systems of respective countries through their control of the central banks.

“The key to their success was that they would control and manipulate the money system of a nation while letting it appear to be controlled by the government.”

The dirty little secret of finance, is that our money is loaned into existence by banks. But the US government could do this just as easily.

 “At one time, the right to issue money was the sovereign right of the king; but that right got usurped by private moneylenders.” 

The United States has created its own money before. During the Civil War, President Lincoln created “Greenbacks” to finance the war.

“These federal dollars were first issued by President Lincoln when he was faced with usurious interest rates in the 1860s. Lincoln had foiled the bankers by funding the government with U.S. Notes that did not accrue interest and did not have to be paid back to the banks.”

As you might remember from your history book, he was assassinated, and the US reverted to a gold backed dollar, controlled by the bankers. I’m sure it was just a coincidence.

“The bankers countered that allowing the government to issue money would be dangerously inflationary. What they failed to reveal was that their own paper banknotes were themselves highly inflationary, since the same gold was “lent” many times over, effectively counterfeiting it; and when the bankers lent their paper money to the government, the government wound up heavily in debt for something it could have created itself.”

As we debate austerity, and listen to Republican congress critters caterwaulling about how any day we’ll turn into Greece, it’s useful to remember that we have alternatives to this system of private finance.

“If governments everywhere are in debt, who are they in debt to? The answer is that they are in debt to private banks. The “cruel hoax” is that governments are in debt for money created on a computer screen, money they could have created themselves.”

We the people, in order to create a more perfect union… You know how that goes. As a representative democracy, there is nothing more important to sovereignty than control of the money supply.

“The dollar is a national resource that belongs to the people. It was an original invention of the early American colonists, a new form of paper currency backed by the “full faith and credit” of the people. But a private banking cartel has taken over its issuance, turning debt into money and demanding that it be paid back with interest. Taxes and a crushing federal debt have been imposed by a financial ruling class that keeps the people entranced and enslaved.”

Read Web of Debt and tell your friends. We have a choice going forward. To either become educated and organized, or to become serfs. And, you know how I feel about becoming a serf.

Fuck you. I won’t do what you tell me.

Update: “First, it is impossible to justify the conventional view that fiat money should operate almost exclusively via today’s system of private borrowing and lending.” 

Update: David Dayen has a great idea–bring back postal banking.