Letter To Our North Country Youth
Home / Letter To Our North Country Youth
THEIR PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, TEACHERS, CLERGY, COACHES
THOSE WHO CARE & WILL MAKE THE TIME.
The Vision of Public Banking: Banking in the Public Interest
“IN all your deliberations in the Confederate Council, in your efforts at law making, in all your official acts, self-interest shall be cast into oblivion…. Look and listen for the welfare of the whole people and have always in view not only the present but also the coming generations – the unborn of the future Nation.” ~ Skennenrahowi, The Iroquois Peacemaker
A QUESTION?
Friends, how much time will you spend this week watching TV, reading a book, magazine, scratching your head over another crossword puzzle, leaning over a video game, going to a movie . . . . or nursing a nagging doubt, fear: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 hours and more?
Can you imagine devoting 10-12 minutes to “A Open Letter to Our North Country Youth” & “Their Parents, Grandparents, Teachers, Clergy, Coaches, All Who Care” — a letter that calls upon our youth and us, We the People, to help fulfill Lincoln’s vision of “a new birth of freedom . . . a government of, by, and for the People” — a letter that is, indeed, dedicated to our children, grandchildren, and to the generations to come: “All Our Relations”?
We speak of our “American Dream.” Are we aware of what we are saying? Can it be that if we are dreaming, we are, in fact, asleep? If so, what will it take for us to awaken as Americans from, and to, our dream . . . , our true dream before it becomes the nightmare that so many fear?
The financial crisis of 2008 occurred. Millions of fellow citizens lost their hard-earned savings, retirement, and homes. Since 2008, the increased concentration of wealth within the major Wall Street banks testifies to the fact, we suggest, that the lessons have not been learned. Yet again. For those who recognize this possibility, might it be that the stakes have been raised, the ante “upped”? If so, is it reasonable to expect anything other than that an even greater crisis may be around the corner, heading our way . . . , unless an extra-ordinary effort is made by fellow citizens, We the People?
May the following Open Letter, friends, The Bretton Woods IV Convocation: Live Free & Prosper and resultant North Country Action Plan contribute to such an effort, AWAKENING!
* * * * *
* OUR YOUTH-OUR FUTURE-OUR COMMON WEALTH *
~ LIVE FREE & PROSPER ~
“That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” ~ Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address
OVERVIEW
“The youth who can solve the money question will do more for the world
than all the professional soldiers of history.” ~ Henry Ford *
Over the last decade, the State of New Hampshire paid $629.4 million dollars in interest payments, alone, on its state debt.
Those interest payments have gone primarily to out-of-state, private investors, brokered by major Wall Street firms such as Bank of America. They are sapping the precious “life-blood” (money) of our state, its citizens.
If NH were instead to invest those millions of dollars in our state, our youth, its future, then (as outlined in the following) the return would be literally in the billions. NH citizens, businesses, economic development agencies, councils, non-profits and communities would have full access to our own common wealth. Prosperity would return unto our land. Such an investment is the 1st cornerstone of “The North Country Action Plan.”
An initial and proven step toward its realization would be the establishment of a public bank, not only at the State level — as pioneered by North Dakota and introduced in New Hampshire House Bill 672 below — but on the joint county level. Belknap’s County’s Commissioners are considering such an institution that banks in the public interest. I trust ours would be equally interested in hearing of such a possibility.
These long-awaited break-throughs will happen if citizens, and in particular our youth: i) grasp the following vision; ii) meet with our elected representatives, public servants, fellow citizens; iii) let your voices be clearly and resonantly heard.
If you do so, the spirits and fortunes of the North Country will be raised. Indeed, on what truer foundation than our youth, the generations to come, can New Hampshire create a future truly worth envisioning?
Live Free & Prosper!
* If you read no further, but glimpse the following insight, may it grow in you like a seed through any misfortunes to come. That is: might the key to the “money question”, of which Ford speaks above, lie in the fact that what we duly value, we “lend” worth. Is that clear . . . ? Even, above all, our debts . . . . when, as outlined, we claim such debts and “offer them up”, seek their redemption.
OUR COMMON WEALTH?
“We have seen within the last 10-15 years a gradual concentration of banking capital, and if we don’t have a central bank controlled [overseen] by the government [dedicated public servants], we’ll have what will amount to a central bank controlled by a few interests in the city of NY.” ~ US Senator John Wingate Weeks, 1913
^ The financial crisis of 2008 occurred. Millions of fellow citizens lost their hard-earned savings, retirement, and homes. Dozens of financiers made, in their own words, “a killing”.
^ In 1995, the 6 largest banks in the US held 17.1% of our country’s wealth (GDP).
^ When the 2008 financial crisis came, the percentage of wealth held by those banks rose from 17.1% to 55%.
^ Two years later, 2010, the combined assets of the banks were estimated at an even higher 64%.
^ From 2009-2012 incomes of the top 1% of the US earners swelled by 31.4 %, while incomes of the bottom 99% inched up to but 0.4%.
^ In those first 3 years of the recovery, the top 1% amassed 95% of the income gains. [Note: Is it clear that we are not speaking of the amassing of money alone, but of our “life-blood”, the very “life-blood of our nation”?]
Since 2008, the increased concentration of wealth within the MAJOR banks (at the expense of our smaller state and community banks) testifies to the fact that the lessons were not learned, that the stakes are raised. Given this fact, would it be reasonable to doubt that an even worse financial crisis lies before us — unless, as noted, We the People make an extra-ordinary effort?
The following citizens’ initiative would contribute to such an effort. Inspired by the generations to come, if the initiative is taken up by our youth — and, as noted, those adults who are moved to make the time — we trust that such a labor will not only lift the spirits and fortunes of the North Country. But, from New Hampshire’s head-waters such prosperity will flow on down to the entire state and nation.
“The last will become the first.”
Let us light one small candle than to curse or shrink back from the darkness.
THE BOTTOM LINE
“What is left to do when all hope has been drained out of life?” ~ An Anonymous Youth
^ Over the last decade, hundreds of NH’s youth have taken their lives or died of drug overdoses. Nation-wide, we are dealing with a growing epidemic.
^ This has happened because the youth have, in the first case, seen no reason to continue living. With respect to overdoses on drugs, the drugs provided an escape from their daily existence which, for many, was unbearable.
^ Simply expressed, the “American Dream” has become a nightmare for a large and growing number of our youth, those who otherwise bear in themselves the seeds of the future. Should we be surprised that so many of our children, grandchildren — those who survive and manage to keep their dream alive — leave home, our North Country?
^ Would this happen if, as noted, we were able and willing to invest more fully in our youth, recognize their value/worth. Can we imagine the prosperity that would arise, if, in the words of one young man, “we see to it that our financial system works for, as opposed to against, us.”
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR OUR YOUTH?
“Across the US, municipalities make annual payments on @ $4 trillion dollars borrowed from private parties, while in our states schools close, jobs are lost, students saddled with life-long debt, public services cut, public assets sold, small businesses stymied through lack of funds, and hope sapped from lives. This trend can not continue.” ~ Walt McRee, Chairman, Public Banking Institute
^ In 2014 the total interest, alone, paid on NH’s state debt was $77 million. Over the last decade, the state has paid $629.4 million dollars, or over half a billion dollars to, as noted, largely out-of-state, private investors, including major Wall Street banks.
^ Such an indebtedness diminishes the sovereignty, independence of our and all states. For we
become beholden to these monied interests through their lobbyists and legislation, which is clearly not in the public interest.
^ NH currently has governmental agencies/programs funded by tax-payers dollars that already make loans and act as banks. Two examples are The Community Development Finance Authority & The NH Community Loan Fund.
^ If New Hampshire had an actual public state bank: i) it would not have had to pay out the over half a billion dollars of interest; rather, like the bank of North Dakota banknd.nd.gov , it would have done business with, and paid, itself; ii) its existing agencies/programs would be more effective; iii) the bank would be able to direct more funds to benefit the citizens and institutions of the state.
^ Such a public state bank would not do retail banking (i.e. compete with existing retail banks). Rather, it would be a state development bank. In this process of banking in the public interest, it would work with and support the state and local banks.
^ As noted in the Wall Street Journal* (11/16/14), the Bank of North Dakota is an exemplary model. It has not only outperformed the major Wall Street Banks, including through the 2008 financial crisis — by remaining true to fundamental banking practices — but the Bank of North Dakota is highly valued by the state’s community banks, which are flourishing. North Dakota has, in fact, more community banks per capita than any state in the nation.
* “It is more profitable than Goldman Sachs Inc., has a better credit rating than J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and
hasn’t seen profit growth drop since 2003. Meet Bank of North Dakota, the U.S.’s lone state-owned bank, which has one branch, no automated teller machines and not a single investment banker. Its total assets have more than doubled, to $6.9 billion last year from $2.8 billion in 2007.”
By contrast, assets of the much bigger Bank of America Corp. have grown much more slowly, to $2.1 trillion from $1.7 trillion in that period. [Bank of North Dakota’s] return on equity, a measure of profitability, is 18.56%, about 70% higher than those at Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan. . . . Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services last month reaffirmed its double-A-minus rating of the bank, whose deposits are guaranteed by the state of North Dakota. That is above the rating for both Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan and among U.S. financial institutions, second only to the Federal Home Loan Banks, rated double-A-plus.”
A fuller analysis of the article is at: http://www.publicbankinginstitute.org/bnd_outperforms_wall_street
“A serious and sincere study of our history is revealing. The host of economic ills arose when the wisdom of
our Founding Fathers and Constitution was dismissed and private banking interests were allowed to assume control of our public, common wealth – for their profit, as the 2008 crisis has made ever clearer. ” ~ Richard Kotlarz, Monetary Historian
WHAT COULD THE FUTURE HOLD FOR OUR YOUTH?
“ALL men have certain natural, essential, and inherent rights – among which are, enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, and protecting, property; and, in a word, of seeking and obtaining happiness.” ~ Article 2, New Hampshire Constitution
^ From July 1, 2013 to July 1, 2014, 12,561 children were born in NH. (Nearly a 1,000 decrease from the 13,300 children born in 2009.) If the $77 million dollars — paid last year in interest alone — had been invested, instead, in our youth, it would have led to a remarkable surplus.
^ That is, an inheritance (i.e. bank account) of $6,130 could otherwise have been established in a public state bank here in NH for each new-born child to welcome them into life — as opposed to the monumental debt that they have otherwise inherited from us.
[Such an inheritance is being proposed in North Dakota and is but one possible way in which the interest money paid on our state debt could otherwise be spent. Surely other ways can be proposed. What, however, distinguishes this way is its recognition that the youth are literally our future. If this point is appreciated, the inevitable problems that come readily to mind with respect to such a proposal can be seen as challenges and opportunities. If not, all we will recognize are the problems, and we will continue with Big Banking, business as usual.]
^ Pursuing this path for a moment, if we recognized that our youth are, as expressed, the key to our future, our human “capital” — and if, as outlined, we were to invest in them, the generations to come, in this ground-breaking way: i) at 21 years of age that $6,130 (compounding at the 3.4% interest rate students pay on their educational loans) would amount to $12,370.63*; and ii) the $77 million annual interest paid to private, out-of-state investors would, instead, grow in-state with our children into literally the billions of dollars noted, as outlined in the following.
* This balance could be made available before 21 years for students going to college, or at 21 for young adults as a down-payment for an apartment or home, seed capital to start a business, or for whatever other milestones are thoughtfully determined by those who recognize the vision. If the foregoing is clear, is there, in fact, a better investment we can imagine?
WHAT SUCH A VISION WILL TAKE & GENERATE
“If the American people ever allow the [BIG] banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers occupied.” ~ President Thomas Jefferson
^ For any concerned, a public state bank is as little “socialistic” as our public state prison, hospital, schools, highway system, you name it. All are struggling for funds, because, we suggest, there is no public state bank that is banking in the public interest. The Big Wall Street Banks have gained control of our money, “life-blood”.
^ Inspired by North Dakota’s public state bank, NH has proposed the same: House Bill 672: < https://legiscan.com/nh/bill/hb672/2015 >, as the 1st cornerstone of The New Hampshire Action Plan, the extra-ordinary effort referred to at the outset.
^ Beginning in the North Country, the youth, themselves, (counseled by interested adults) are called to: i) write their own introduction to the House Bill; ii) offer any amendments you see fit; iii) draw on these 2 steps to explore the creation of a joint, county public bank. If you do so, your voice will make a difference.
^ Properly run by accomplished bankers, who (as in North Dakota) understand the vision, such a bank would not be driven by purely private “bottom-lines” interests, but by the greater good.
^ The success of House Bill 672 will — to repeat and emphasize — depend upon citizen support. For the bill will likely be opposed by the major Wall Street banks. Misinformation can be expected to be circulated by the banking lobby; considerable pressure applied to our legislators.
^ This opposition can only be overcome by a greater vision. Such is life. The investment noted in our youth offers, we believe, that vision — if you, youth, will grasp it. For, not until we value you for the true “asset” you are, will The North Country have a future worth envisioning.
^ Specifically, if, following North Dakota’s lead, NH had established a public state bank solely on the capital represented by the $629,400,000 million dollars that it paid on interest over the past decade, that capital alone could have generated up to an additional $5.66 billion through normal, every day banking practices.
^ Those practices are called “fractional reserve requirements” (credit creation). They allow our existing banks to create, on the average, 9 times the amount/fraction of money that they have on deposit as reserves. This additional money the banks then lend out, as we speak. That said, the exact reserve requirement would have to be clearly determined for a NH public state and county bank.
^ By establishing such public banks, this investment in our youth, the future, will turn, literally, our debt into a asset and provide — accordingly — a cornerstone for prosperity to return to NH!
Is this point clear? We ask because it is the heart of the matter.
^ THAT IS: by bringing both our debt and interests payments back home (from the Bank of America to our own Public State Bank), we will recognize these misfortunes for what they are — if we take a moment to pause and consider. This recognition will lead, in turn, to the understanding of how our debt has arisen and its interest payments skyrocketed to $77 million last year. This understanding, in turn, will allow us to take fuller responsibility for our misfortunes. By assuming this responsibility, our misfortunes will, as outlined, become the very basis of our fortunes. Such is a fundamental and enduring fact of life: a minus times a minus equals a plus: — x — = +.
As in North Dakota, the pluses will reveal themselves in: i) a dramatic decrease in our taxes; ii) a more fully endowed pension fund; iii) a revitalized infrastructure; iv) a vibrant economy; v) the elimination of a considerable amount of student loans — and more.
Once we grasp the significance of the problem-challenge-opportunity before us, and assume
responsibility for our money, national credit, common wealth, our “life-blood”, prosperity will return unto the land.
THE “TOP LINE”, HEART OF THE MATTER
“If people only understood the rank injustice of our money and [BIG] banking system,
there would be an uprising before morning!” ~ President Andrew Jackson
If Presidents Jefferson and Jackson knew what they were talking about, may the long-awaited uprising of We the People be upright, firm, peaceful, constructive, and up-lifting.
Toward that end, gathering together the foregoing threads: a public state bank is: i) legal; ii) represents the best of banking practices, banking in the public interest; iii) allows the state and county governments to do their current bank-like activities more effectively; iv) would bring prosperity to our state, as it has done to North Dakota; v) has been acclaimed by the Wall Street Journal and other media as a model; vi) and it provides that future worth envisioning not only for ourselves, but, above all, for our children, the generations to come.
Simply expressed, when we bank in the public interest, ALL parties prosper, including those Wall Street banks, which are interested in the youth, longer term and greater good.
Common Sense.
In the Words of Abraham Lincoln:
“The government should create, issue, and circulate all the currency and credit needed to satisfy the spending power of the government and the buying power of the consumers. The privilege of creating and issuing money is not only the supreme prerogative of government [US Constitution, Art. 1, Sec. 8, Para. 5.], but it is the government’s greatest creative opportunity. By the adoption of these principles, [i] the long-felt want for a uniform medium [of exchange] will be satisfied. [ii] The taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest. [iii] The financing of all public enterprises, and the conduct of the Treasury will become matters of practical administration. [iv] Money will cease to be master and become the servant of humanity.”
* * * * *
Stuart Sinclair Weeks
The Bretton Woods IV Convocation: Live Free & Prosper
Toward the Redemption of Our Financial System & Restitution of Our Common Wealth
A CALL TO PARTICIPATE
www.brettonwoodsiv.org
No comments:
Post a Comment