The Island Of Dreams
(And The Curse Of The Bankers)
(Please allow for a little artistic ‘licence’ here, it’s simply a Fable)
Copyright © F.P Publishing(UK) 2005
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Not so many years ago, there was an inhabited beautiful island of healthy, contented people who had the perfect community. They were totally self sufficient, wanting for nothing and expecting nothing. After all, they all worked, had enough to eat and drink, and laughed and played when they felt like it, (which was often).
These islanders used the tried and tested ‘bartering’ system to run their lives. What was the point of ‘money’ when they had ‘Gods FREE energy’ in abundance.
· They had a forest that supplied wood for the construction of virtually everything.
· They had livestock and a complete understanding of husbandry to feed themselves.
· Everyone could grow vegetables and fruit on their very own land.
· Water was fresh, clear and plentiful.
· Clothing could be made from the hides of various animals.
· Many extra luxuries were simply ‘washed up’ on the shoreline as ‘pure gifts’ it seemed.
Yes, these islanders, although living simply, were LIVING in the true sense. They didn’t go to bed at night worrying about a thing. Except if anything of a personal nature troubled them.
(Ill-health, romantic/love relationships, would it rain? are the crops and animals faring well? etc).
DEBT! What was that? They couldn’t understand the concept.
BUT THEN of course, the inevitable happened. A stranger and his small family found themselves ‘castaways’ on the island, having run into stormy weather not far from this idyllic island community.
Immediately, the castaways were taken care of. They were fed, housed, given warm dry clothing, and accepted into the community like ‘family’.
A small area on the edge of the forest was cleared so that they could build their own home on their OWN plot of FREE land, and everyone joined in to make very short work of it.
Once the home was built, they were ‘given’ all they needed to make the family comfortable.
Every islander gave ‘something’ to start them off, including livestock and plants.
Then, the new family were told how this wonderful community ran the ‘bartering’ system, and how THEY would now be expected to contribute to the community using …… ‘Gods FREE energy’.
Our new islander had to think WHAT it was that he, his wife and children were good at, so that they could trade those skills against food and other necessities to live comfortably.
After several days of mind searching, our new islander decided he would carve out a nice little ‘niche’ that would HELP all the other islanders, but would mean he didn’t really have to do much at all. He decided that the bartering system was (in his eyes) totally unfair. After all, how could a joint of meat be the same value as a basket of eggs? Or a day of gardening be traded for an item of clothing? Madness! Absolute madness.
He HAD to bring ‘order’ into the system ‘for their own good’.
Firstly. He decided he HAD to know exactly how many people were ON the island so that he could work out a ‘fair’ system that would ‘benefit’ all. So he spent the week going round collating all the names, how much land, how many buildings, livestock, and even the children
they had plus their ages. This gave him a complete inventory of the island.
Secondly. He decided what he would use to make ‘bartering’ fairer.
He decided on ‘Vouchers’ – ie; chips made from the plentiful hardwood all around them, and ‘branded’ with a unique red-hot seal.
Thirdly. Now he had to work out how many vouchers everything was worth.
For example; 12 eggs = one voucher. 1 joint of meat = two vouchers.. A days labour = 3 vouchers, and so he went on, labelling EVERY activity, service and product with a ‘voucher value’. He quickly went to work writing out copies of his detailed inventory and values so that
every islander had a copy.
Fourthly. He now had to hold a meeting with all the heads of family, and everyone else who wanted to attend. He explained that as an outsider he could identify the faults in their beloved bartering system, but that as a repayment for the kindness they’d ALL shown him
and his family, he was going to IMPROVE their lifestyle even MORE. He explained the ‘voucher system’ in great detail, and all could see how easy it would be to value EVERYTHING fairly.
So, after some skillful sales-patter, the system was adopted with a ‘YES’ vote, and our newcomer was given the awesome responsibility of overseeing the whole system. He gave himself the title – ‘BANKER’.
Fifthly. Our banker now had to show how GENEROUS he could be. How grateful he was to be given this responsibility. So he GAVE them all 20 vouchers each to get started. FOR FREE!
But if they wanted more vouchers, they would have to ‘borrow’ them from him, and pay him back within 30 days. If they did this, the vouchers were loaned FREE. If they took longer to pay the banker back, he would charge an extra voucher on top for each week AFTER the 30 days.
Sixthly. Our ‘BANKER’ wanted to ensure that he never actually had to do hard, manual work. So he needed a bigger, better system to bring MORE vouchers to him personally each week over the long term.
He realised that EVERYONE on the island owned their own property.
SO, he put ‘TEMPTATION’ their way. He would offer an irresistible deal to ANYONE who wanted it. He would GIVE them 1,000 vouchers in exchange for the potential ownership of their property. (He’d learned from his Banking Masters in the ‘Real World’ that Printing More
Money was a great tool that every banker should have at their disposal)
He wouldn’t own the property, but he would GIVE the homeowner 1,000 vouchers on condition that they paid him back JUST 1,100 vouchers in 12 months time.
If they couldn’t pay it back in that time, the Banker ‘would’ then OWN the property, and the ORIGINAL owner would have to LEASE it back OFF of him.
(The system similar to that which WE all call a mortgage).
OK, I suppose that seems fair. After all, it’s similar to how WE buy our homes in the Real World. But what effect did it have on our ‘Islanders’?
The islanders you’ll remember, were happy, contented people, with plenty of time to play and thoroughly enjoy their lives. No REAL worries.
They were happy to exchange their personal values/goods for whatever another islander had that they required/needed. It was swings and roundabouts as far as ‘value’ went.
But NOW, they were forced to consider the TRUE value of each product/service they were exchanging.
Suddenly, they are faced with the decision, “have I got enough vouchers for that?”.
“Has the other person now got enough vouchers to pay ME?”.
“How can I get MORE vouchers to be able to afford to purchase the things that I could NATURALLY barter for before vouchers came along?”
It was pretty soon that they were all realising they needed far more vouchers than they had been ‘GIVEN’. SO – they went to their friendly BANKER, and he of course was only too pleased to help. YES, he would give them as many as they wanted. They only had to make
sure that somehow they’d manage to barter their way into a superior ‘voucher’ position than their other islanders before the months end and no harm done.
The trouble was, there’s only a ‘limited’ number of vouchers in circulation, and each time an islander has to pay the banker the extra interest each month, that meant there were LESS vouchers to play with, and it became HARDER to EARN those extra vouchers each month.
This was now starting to play on the islanders minds, and sleep wasn’t so easy these days.
Instead of having a lot more time to laugh and play, they were spending more time trying to GENERATE more vouchers to pay back to their FRIENDLY BANKER.
BUT THEN.
Let’s not forget how their ‘Banker’ was offering to help them OUT of such a situation.
They could put up the ownership of their home in return for ‘Mega-Vouchers’. With all those extra vouchers they could carry on their happy contented lifestyle once again, and SURELY in one year they’d be able to EARN back the necessary vouchers to pay BACK their banker in full?
This is what most of the Islanders decided would be best, so they each went in turn to the banker. They each put up their houses as surety, and YES! For a while they were back to their old selves, without a care in the world. Really enjoying their new-found wealth.
THIS was even better than before. Now they didn’t have to work at all if they didn’t want to.
Beautiful sky. Beautiful beaches. Beautiful romantic sunsets, and peaceful, loving sleep-time.
‘The BUBBLE of NIRVANA’.
BUBBLES? They have a habit of being extremely beautiful. They are like a wonderful fantasy world when you look into them. Continuously changing dimensions and reflective images.
But!…… BUBBLES also … ALWAYS….. POP!
The wonderful BUBBLE our islanders found themselves in was also bound to POP! and halfway through the year, reality started to hit home.
They hadn’t saved enough vouchers to pay back the banker, and they were so busy enjoying their new-found wealth that they became lazy and complacent.
(A characteristic not present in these lovely islanders ‘before’ THE BANKER came along and corrupted their minds with false promises).
At the end of the year, NONE had collected enough vouchers, (or anywhere near enough).
Inevitably, ‘The Banker’ became an INSTANT landlord.
He wasn’t about kick these good people out of their homes, but he WAS going to charge them RENT each week to LIVE in their OWN HOMES.
Now bear in mind that these good islanders NEVER had these expenses before, so somehow they were going to have to EARN this much in vouchers EVERY week for the rest of their days. This equates to FAR more work. Far LESS play/laughter time, and ultimately
far less contented sleep-time. Tension became endemic in their lives and relationships became splintered and fragile.
The quality of life for these lovely people had been destroyed in the space of just over ONE YEAR by an institute that ‘we’ all call – BANKING!!
BANKING – is a cancer that IS destroying OUR lives. Quietly but ‘efficiently’ in the background.
(Though ‘The Island Of Dreams’ is obviously fictional. The lesson learned is VERY REAL).
You don’t know or realise it’s happening, as the banking service is supposedly aimed at HELPING YOU get through the financial maze that EVERY ONE of us is forced to enter at some stage of our lives. Usually ending in debt, that slowly but surely diminishes our quality
of life until we die.
(Or get wise).
Most of us are just naïve, decent people, wanting to get on with our lives.
We work to live (or so we think). Bust mostly, we work to survive. (Just).
Mothers are being emotionally blackmailed to work longer hours. But when child care etc is deducted, most mothers are actually WORSE off, and will incur more debt through the guilt they feel by ‘not’ being with their children. They then try and rid that guilt by using even
MORE of their wages to buy gifts/treats for their young. It’s a vicious treadmill that is ALMOST impossible to get off of.
OK – That’s just a personal view of the banking system we ‘have’ to endure.
To take back control of the money in ‘your’ pocket, please THINK! before you BUY that next ‘commodity’ that you really don’t NEED.
And be CAREFUL what you VOTE for!