–An open letter to #OWS — or in my geographical case, #Occupy Chicago

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Mitchell’s laws: Reduced money growth never stimulates economic growth. To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments. Economic austerity breeds austerity and leads to civil disorder. Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
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This is an open letter to the “leaders” of #OWS (are there any?) or, in my geographical case, #Occupy Chicago:

O.K., we get it and we empathize with it. You’re angry. You’re angry at the banks. You’re angry at the politicians and the rich and the corporations. You’re angry at the lying, the cheating. You’re angry at the unemployment, and gap between rich and poor. We get it. We really do. And we’re with you. We’re angry alongside you.

Now, to get from here to there, you have to figure out exactly where “there” is, and that requires focus. Exactly, what do you want to see happen, and who will make it happen?

Wait! Before you answer, it’s important to know what you’re talking about. Which you don’t. Ask any ten of your people in the street, “What’s the problem and how should it be solved?” and I suspect you’ll receive ten different answers, all ridiculous. The reason: They, and virtually all your #OWS followers, do not understand economics. Specifically, you do not understand Monetary Sovereignty.

The President and both parties have appointed a “super committee” whose assignment is to find ways to reduce the deficit, via some combination of tax increases and spending decreases. What do you think of that? Can you answer today’s single most important question in all of economics: How does a tax increase or spending decrease reduce unemployment or grow the economy?

If you understood Monetary Sovereignty, you would know the work of the “super committee” will exacerbate the problem, as will the result of their non-agreement (automatic deficit reductions). You need to be able to articulate to the world why deficit reduction is like applying leeches to cure anemia.

Can you do that?

It’s not enough to be angry. Everyone is angry. Even the rich are angry — at you. You need to promote specific goals and specific means to those goals, like the few I offered at What Is Your Plan?

The goal is not to punish the rich or to destroy businesses, or to eliminate capitalism. The goal is to lift the lower income classes, and the means are:

1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Provide free Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone, from cradle to grave.
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Provide long-term nursing care insurance for everyone
5. Provide free education (including post-grad) for everyone
6. Provide a salary for everyone attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate income taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America

Begin to institute #1-#9 today, in the order shown, and if/when excessive inflation starts to occur, institute the first inflation-fighting program the Fed always uses: Raise interest rates. If that doesn’t do enough, begin to cut deficit spending.

Perhaps, you have different ideas. Fine. But, more importantly, you need to understand WHY your goals are both important and attainable, and you need to put forth those reasons in a clear manner, so the public will understand. You need to be able to defend against the inevitable retort, “What about inflation?” You need to overcome intuition, your own, your followers’ and the public’s.

How will you do that?

Today, you are seen as leading an amorphous mob, a group threatening to bring down civilization. That’s why the politicians have been slow to back you. They don’t know what you want. You need to focus, focus, focus, so the world can visualize where you want to go, understand why you want to go there and how you will achieve it, and in that way, join you.

You need to understand, then teach, Monetary Sovereignty, first to your followers, then to the rest of the world. Those are your next steps. And there are plenty of us who can teach you. You have but to ask.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com


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No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia. The key equation in economics: Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Published by Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

MBA Northwestern, business turnaround expert, economist

Published

13 thoughts on “–An open letter to #OWS — or in my geographical case, #Occupy Chicago”

    1. I sent this via facebook message to the organizer of the site:

      “Points – #5, #8, and #15 make a widely held but false assumption. That assumption is that we are still on a gold standard – or that the federal government is somehow money constrained. #5, #8 and #15 would be meaningful if we were on a gold standard, or a country like Greece that does not have sovereign monopoly control of its fiat currency. The US fed government is the issuer of the US Dollar, not a user like you, me, a US state, a city, a county, or a business.

      Here are 4 very important sources that will plug you into the already existing community that is educating the world on the realities of modern money in the United States.

      http://pragcap.com/resources/understanding-modern-monetary-system
      https://rodgermmitchell.wordpress.com/
      http://moslereconomics.com/
      http://neweconomicperspectives.blogspot.com/ “

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  2. And article Five. Demand not tax breaks is the primary concern of business. Rodger, as I stated previously, I have spent time at both O.W.S. and Occupy Philadelphia. I preached about Monetary Sovereignty and for the most part was looked at as if I possessed two heads. At Philly’s Occupation, I approached a Table/Tent of young Ron Paul supporters. When I attacked his policies, especially his belief that we should regress to a gold standard and have a balanced budget they smirked incredulously and refused to listen. Even after I had exposed the foolishness of Paul’s positions. Until the protesters understand the battle they should and must be fighting they play into the hands of those they protest against.

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  3. If you are able to contact them, suggest they look at my site and Warren’s, because that will help them achieve what they want. Tell them, though they may like Ron Paul’s ideas, America is not going to accept more austerity, and Warren & I show how to lift the poor.

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      1. I had this precise thought and I thank you for your educational website.

        The cure to economic woes would quite possibly erode the purchasing power of existing euros that clearly are condensed in too few hands. The 1% would rather their wealth increase in purchasing power and your proposals very gradually reduce it.

        When that means greater standards of living and a thriving economy that the rich are best positioned to enjoy, everyone should favor such a policy, but…

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  6. The good news is that despite the often misinformed or underinformed make up of these upset citizens (not all of them are so clueless), they are at least awaken out of a long slumber and coming face to face with the harsh reality of the problems. Because they are taking the initiative to make a physical & emotional stand, awareness can be raised across a much broader spectrum and ideas for solutions (such as the ones here) have a whole new platform. Teachable moments. Informed people should be down there helping to educate whether they meet intuitive resitance or not, whether their prescriptions are “right” or not. This is a giant discussion.

    What many of them do understand is that the system itself is broken, fixed directly against them, and that “reform” is impossible under the current paradigm. The real pain they are feeling is enough for now. Asking them to be economic scholars is silly. Centuries of heavy conditioning have trained them not to ask what money really is, a mere social arrangement. Teaching them about MS will be educational but still be limited to symptom diagnosis and not address the root cause of the real disease, the mathmatically inevitable debt bomb that is usury via private banking monopoly control of money.

    Meanwhile, Bailout II coming soon. Absconded wealth by the creditors in the face of collapsing, toxic institutions runs rampant while the austerity blanket is spread across the peasants and commonwealth of the empire. Nothing to see here protestors. Go home and read your “right way to do” Capitalism bibles. I think the protestors are calling for a new way, not a patched up version of the old way that they rightfully suspect will betray them again.

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