Survival in adversity

THIS WEBSITEABOUT LOOKING AT ECONOMIC FACTORS

Preface to WHY WE ARE ALWAYS BROKE

In growing up some of my earliest memories were of World War Two. I remember my tricycle had Remember Pearl Harbor on it. I was barely five years old at the time of Pearl Harbor and so had to ask what it meant. I remember my parents talking about the days of the depression and how many did not have money or jobs. Now we had the money, but ordinary items we used were rationed. In addition to money we needed ration stamps in order to buy flour, sugar, coffee, gas, and other items. In growing up some of my earliest memories were of World War Two. I remember my tricycle had Remember Pearl Harbor on it. I was barely five years old at the time of Pearl Harbor and so had to ask what it meant. I remember my parents talking about the days of the depression and how many did not have money or jobs. Now we had the money, but ordinary items we used were rationed. In addition to money we needed ration stamps in order to buy flour, sugar, coffee, gas, and other items.

I can remember my mother trading her coupons with friends. We did not use a lot of sugar so my mother would trade her sugar coupons for anothers coffee coupons. Every automobile had a sticker, either an A B or C. The coupon determined the amount of gasoline you were able to purchase. An A was for public officials and other big shots. B was a secondary level, not one of the elite but one above the common person. C was the common person.

A friend of dad had a B coupon. We were just common folk and had a C. So every day dad would drive to work with his friend who had a B coupon. One week his friend would drive in the B vehicle. The next week dad would drive his C vehicle. The third week his friend drove. Dad would pay part of the gas money on the third week. Now we had the money but the goods were rationed.

There were not a lot of goods available but everyone had the things we need to sustain life. It was important that we remained strong as a family. That is how we were able to survive. I can remember in the early 1950s I could take a dollar bill and get a school lunch ($.25) ride the bus ($.15) get a hair cut ($.35) buy a candy bar ($.05) and still have 20 cents left.

As the war ended I remember adults worrying about our economic future. Many thought that it was the war which pulled us out of our economic doldrums. I remember my mother telling about a neighbor who was hoping the war would continue longer so she could continue to benefit economically.

It was a time when cash was important. Many stores would give a 10% (some even a 20%) discount to someone who paid cash. Our currency had engraved on them Silver Certificate and the statement that this bill could be redeemed for gold. In 1954 I entered the seminary. During my years in the seminary I did not purchase anything significant. If we needed something we made our needs known to the superior and it was provided for us.

My first three years of ordination I was in a similar situation. The car belonged to the parish. All auto expenses were paid by the parish. I was given any spending money I needed and received gifts from parishioners and friends. I never really had any significant expenditure.

When I came to Lafayette, Louisiana in 1967 I wanted to buy a bicycle. When I found one I wanted I asked the sales persons if they gave a discount to someone who paid cash. That was my memory of the early 1950s when I made a purchase. She looked at me like I was some sort of freak. I had not noticed but our currency was no longer a Silver Certificate it had become a Federal Reserve Note.

In other words our money was no longer backed by gold, or silver, or anything significant. Our money was now a DEBT that our Federal Government owed to the Federal Reserve Bank. So if I paid cash for an item I was not giving anything of value to the one from whom I purchased the item. I was simply passing the DEBT of our Federal Government to someone else.

I remember one Sunday evening I was driving to a neighboring church to help out with their Sunday evening mass. The car radio was on and President Nixon came on and began talking about the gold standard. My first reaction was thinking it quite strange that the President would come on the air on a Sunday evening. I thought he would be talking about expanding the war in Vietnam or bringing everyone home. When I realized he was talking about the gold standard I remember grunting and turning the radio off.

It was many years before I realized the significance of what President Nixon said. Within a few months prices began to rise sharply. I noticed it especially in the increased prices for gasoline. Gasoline had been available in our area for 25 to 30 cents a gallon. Within a few months that price went up to 60 cents a gallon then to 75 cents a gallon.

The price of food also went up but not as quickly and not as dramatically. In the early 1970 I could get a full meal for less than 2 dollars. That price began to expand andcontinued until the present day. Unfortunately I never associated that expansion with the Sunday evening talk of President Nixon on the gold standard. That is until utility rates began rising rapidly and I begin attending meetings of the Louisiana Public Service Commission and asking questions about our economic system.

Then I discovered that by relieving our currency of the need to be backed by gold or silver the Federal Reserve Bank was able to put out more money which meant more debt owed by the U.S. Government to the Federal Reserve. I also learned that in June 1963 President John Kennedy signed a presidential order that our currency was to be backed by silver and gold and the Federal Reserve Bank was to be eliminated. Within a few months Kennedy was murdered. I have read many analyses of his death. I have looked at the index of many more analyses. In several hundred books I have not found even one reference to JFKs presidential order regarding our currency.

I wondered how we could keep expanding our debt and not bear the consequences. I learned that The USA was passing its debts off to other nations. I remembered how 50 years ago I had almost every class challenged Jerome J. Judge my economic professor at the University of Notre Dame. He was expounding on the virtues of credit. I insisted you cannot create something out of nothing. You cannot take a debt and pretend that it is an asset. It will eventually catch up with you.

But it all looked so good. Money which had no value was becoming more and more important. This false money was flourishing and was readily available. Whatever makes money is what sells. It doesnt matter what consequences follow.

The values that held us together through a depression and a world war (thrift, family, church) were no longer so important, so necessary. You dont save your money so you can buy a home and car you spend money you dont have not just for basic needs but for luxury items and find yourself in debt.

As a result subtle changes creep into our thinking, philosophy, and morality. What becomes important and dominant is not what is just, good, and moral but what is most profitable. There is profit in poverty. It creates jobs, is a source of revenue for merchants and corporation who supply needed goods for the poor. So we do not seek solutions to the problem of poverty, we continue to pour government money into programs that sustain poverty.

When he became President, Jimmy Carter attempted to create government structures to help eliminate the causes of poverty. He sent a bill to Congress and called for local meetings to hear what people throughout the country had to say. I went to one in New Orleans. A few of us were calling for programs which would help poor people become more self reliant and less in need of the system. 90% of the attendees were social workers who presented ideas to make their work easier (less reports etc) but nothing which would eliminate their work.

After the local meetings there was a series of regional meetings. These were attended by 4 or 5 of the members of Congress. It was a rare opportunity for any citizen to go and have the opportunity to speak to 4 or 5 members of Congress and get their feedback. I went to our regional meeting in West Memphis, Arkansas. It was the same picture.

Most of the attendees were social workers pushing not for any type of new structure to help eliminate poverty. Their interest again was to simplify their work and assure the continuance of their job. Poverty is profitable. After the regional meetings President Carter realized what he was fighting and pulled the bill. Then Ronald Reagan was elected. There was an immediate fear among Community Action Agencies and other groups that he would cut their funding. I was on the board of our local community action agency. I was asked to attend a national meeting in Austin, Texas. The emphasis at the meeting was on preserving the institutions not upon the needs of the people.

As a result of our economic emphasis not only does our government encounter more debt, individuals and families incur debt. They begin losing their homes, savings and other things they considered so important and so essential. This creates problems in families and helps induce increased divorces.

Like poverty divorce is profitable. You dont simply divorce another person. You have to go before a judge, hire lawyers, in some cases see counselors all of which are costly. We have substituted money for family and church. Often lack of thrift is one of the major causes of a divorce. Again money which is a debt and has no value has replaced thrift, family and church.

Another problem today is abortion. Like poverty and divorce, abortion finds its roots deeply imbedded in economic causes. Often abortions are caused by economic woes. Abortion as an issue is profitable. Both pro abortion and anti abortion groups spend a lot of money pushing their side. Again thrift, family and church are lost to economic considerations.

In our society if there is an economic problem we just print more money. However, money will not buy solutions to our human problems. The recent bailouts are a clear example. Already some of the banks are calling for more money. A report by a group from Harvard University is saying we cannot continue to pour money into this system.

Our new president campaigned successfully on a simple platform. We need change. He has just come into office and we have to give him a chance but his current rhetoric is not change. The solution he seems to be setting out is the same: pour more money into the system hopelessly in debt.

When I look at the response to our new president I again feel overwhelmed. I was at a regional pastoral council meeting the other night. Much of the meeting focused on what is believed his response will be to abortion. Great fear was projected that he would sign a presidential order which would mandate that all Catholic hospitals would be required to perform abortions. There is even a silent vigil and a march planned for the evening he is inaugurated in protest to this supposed response of Mister Obama.

But what is the reality? The abortion issue will not be settled by edict of a President. A recent news item mentioned that the ACLU is filing a law suit against the Catholic Church. Catholic institutions (including hospitals) are receiving federal monies and while receiving and distributing these monies are denying abortions. Even if President Obama does not mandate that all hospitals perform abortions, the courts may well mandate that they perform abortions if they receive any federal funding.

The other day I needed to do some shopping. Virtually everywhere I went I saw many Black persons with tee shirts picturing our new president. The most important thing for them is the color of his skin.

I believe abortion is a problem. I am gratified that as a nation we have been able to move beyond racial prejudices and elect a Black person as President of the United States. But I also KNOW that we face far more serious problems than racism or abortion. I believe that we need to look at racism and abortion in terms of their economic impacts if we will find any real solution.

Recently I sent a book entitled Why We Are Always Broke: Things We Need To Know About The Economy to a publisher. I received a phone call from an agent of the publisher. He was very positive in speaking about the book but said: Unfortunately our readers will say: what does a priest know about economics? People will want to hear what experts say. He mentioned specifically Alan Greenspan.

If the economic data being released by the various Government Agencies is accurate and indicative of the attitude of our people then ordinary people are not buying what the experts say. Ordinary people are seeking solutions which call for less spending, less debt. I watched the inauguration of Barack Obama with intense interest. In one of the lulls media personnel were talking. One comment which struck home to me was that one of President Obamas financial appointees had called several financial gurus asking what is the answer? What can we do? Everyone of them said We dont know!

I started my research for this book many years ago. Four of us went regularly to our Louisiana Public Service Commission meetings. We always had a different message than the paid lobbyists representing utility companies and other interests. Two of the five commissioners realized what we had to say was important and invited us to meet with them every 4-6 weeks to present what we knew and had researched.

One day a member of our group made the statement: If you want to know why something happens, follow the money trail. I believed there was a morsel of truth in what he said but also was certain that his statement was entirely too simplistic. I began my research in order to prove him wrong. After much research I had to agree with him.

That insight was incredibly valuable. Now instead of simply looking at political, cultural, and social factors which determined what happened, I began looking at the economic factors (who profited from this event,who paid for it, who would lose money if this event came off etc.)

What I also discovered was no one else seemed to be looking at this factor. A few times I found possible links exploring the internet. I opened the site only to realize I was back at my own website.

I have a lot of interests and would gladly pursue any of these interests rather than this book if there was even one person who was looking at the economic factors which dominate our society and control the major decisions made today.

I ask you to consider my book. If there are errors in my text I would appreciate you pointing them out. But if your objection is people do not want to hear what I present but look for an expert opinion, the facts do not substantiate that analysis. The people are NOT buying what the experts say. Unfortunately no one is offering any other interpretation.

If you ask what does a priest know about economics then look at this text. I know that

1. War is central to our economy.

2. Our currency was once backed by gold or silver. Then it had value. Now it is a debt our Federal Government owes to a private bank.

3. Once we released our currency form its gold backing we created an artificial monetary system that has gone totally haywire.

4. As long as we have an artificially stimulated economy persons at the lowest end (or now even the middle sector) of our economy will have to be subsidized by the Government or someone so they can survive.

5. When John Kennedy tried to remedy this problem he was killed within 5 months. No analysis of his murder has considered this fact.

6. For over 50 years contrary to expert thinking I have realized we cannot continue to spend money we do not have without serious consequences.

7. As long as poverty, divorce, abortion and other social problems are profitable we will not find any solution to them. Any possible solution will have to consider the economic factors involved.

8. Despite being elected on a platform of change our incoming president seems to be applying the same solution - spend money that isnt there.

9. Ordinary people are not buying these solutions but are not being presented with any other alternative.

10. Why We Are Always Broke: Things We Need To Know About The Economy does provide an alternative view of economic and social issues.

My knowledge of economics was not obtained by pursuing degrees in a university. My only university experience in economics would have led me to the same conclusion the experts today are pursuing. My knowledge of economics was obtained by private research. This research was not in order to obtain a degree. This research was aimed at understanding some of the underlying causes of many of our social problems today (poverty, high utility rates, wars,). This knowledge was the result of an attitude that was not willing to accept the usual suggested answers but always sought a deeper solution. This solution always looked at economic factors that might otherwise be ignored.