How fiat currency and socialism are destroying Christendom*. Part 1

You may be wondering what is wrong with our society, why are otherwise strong and certain people brow beaten and unsure, why does socialism suddenly seem to be an unstoppable juggernaut?  Why has money gained importance over everything else, and why is everyone trying to get a government handout?

These are existential questions that need an answer, and to answer them we must first focus closely on two things that are dysfunctional within our society. Two basic macro structures we all take for granted, which are eating our society from the inside out, our corrupt monetary system, and its sly friend socialism.

Inflation targeting is probably the most obvious and familiar part of this system to most people. Much money has been spent over the years trying to convince people that inflation is a good thing. Apparently we should all be thrilled that prices are increasing by 3% per annum. I watched a how-to video recently, where a financial advisor said in a straight faced manner that inflation occurred when prices rise?  This person was obviously clueless and was confusing cause and effect. The cause of inflation is an increase in the money supply which devalues the currency thus causing prices to rise across the board, (we are not talking about supply and demand of products, but rather supply and demand of money itself).  When prices rise, savers are impoverished as their savings lose purchasing power, while householders find it difficult to make ends meet as prices for everyday items keep rising. Farmers and small business cannot increase production fast enough to account for the steadily rising input prices. So as time goes by, key components of our society are eviscerated. Savers are impoverished or forced into risky investments; families are squeezed financially, putting pressure on marriages, increasing the numbers of divorced couples and further impoverishing all involved. Farmers, and small businesses, are eventually forced to borrow large sums of money to expand their businesses, if they don’t they are crushed by the relentlessly rising prices to the point where they are either working for almost nothing at all, or they sell the business or farm to one of the big borrowers or foreign investors next door. Even governments themselves are squeezed as projects run over budget and taxes must be increased.

However, this is all good if the GDP is increasing by 2 or 3 percent each year, right? The more people that borrow money, get divorced, sue each other, flip houses for profit (or loss it doesn’t matter), employ plumbers to fix leaks, replace defective Chinese equipment or rebuild their home after a fire; the higher our GDP is, and thus the better off we are. (According to GDP)

Therefore, citizens, you have a choice; you can “pick your poison” so to speak.  Your choices are as follows: take on more debt, work harder to stay in one place, or expect a lower standard of living. It’s as simple as that. 

As time goes by, lives are destroyed; expectations go unmet; good schooling becomes a luxury; retirement becomes unaffordable; while envy and jealousy take hold as younger people look at baby boomers and find it difficult to achieve their lifestyle. People lose patience with the system, the government, and each other. Income inequality increases, as fewer and fewer larger entities control more and more of the profits and wealth. Everyone else works harder or watches helplessly as their living standards fall. Charitable activities also cease as “time is money”, and it’s just easier to ask the government for a handout.

Thus, quietly and without fanfare, socialist thinking takes hold.  Just like a mirage in the Australian desert, socialism offers all the answers. It caters perfectly to the situation and promises redemption of all those affected. It will redistribute or “share” the wealth; it will “close the tax loopholes”; it will take care of those who can no longer afford to retire; it will provide medical care for those who can no longer afford it; it will house the newly homeless; feed the hungry; supplement the farmers income; and all this at very little cost, almost none in fact.

The only problem is, there is a cost, a hidden one, our good friend inflation from the first paragraph, the very same inflation causing the problems in the first place!

To be clear then, once the cost of socialist policies exceeds the available free cash in the economy the bills are paid for by borrowing, or QE (Quantitative Easing), or in the future probably, MMT (Modern Monetary Theory). All these mechanisms fall into the category that if you can’t blind them with science, just baffle them with bullshit. They all have different sophisticated names, but it all boils down to the same thing, money created out of nothing.

In the final analysis, socialism could not grow, mutate, and destroy the economy, unless money could be conjured out of thin air to feed the beast.

So the fuel for socialism is fiat currency, and the support for fiat currency comes from socialism, neat isn’t it! Which is why, when socialism becomes established, and the borrowing and handouts really get going, it usually continues, and is virtually impossible to get rid of. The socialists are quick to make friends with the printing press, and the resultant impoverishment of the population results in the even more widespread request for help, assistance and funding. Once you get to this point, the path of least resistance for the government is the creation of even more debt, and the path to eventual hyperinflation and societal collapse is almost guaranteed.

In part 2:  I will examine who benefits most from this insidious arrangement and attempt to explain how it has become normalised within our society.

*Christendom: Christian majority countries, and the countries in which Christianity dominates or prevails.