[P2P-F] debt and energy

Mon Aug 22 14:38:07 CEST 2011

Dear Thomas,

I'm sharing your response with our list,

Michel

On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 5:49 PM, Thomas Greco <thg at mindspring.com> wrote:

> Dear Michel,
> I enjoyed our visit, as usual.
>
> In his FEASTA article, Richard Douthwaite says,
>
> *Money has no value unless it can be exchanged for goods and services but
> these cannot be supplied without the use of some form of energy.
> Consequently, if less energy is available in future, the existing stock of
> money can either lose its value gradually through inflation or, if inflation
> is resisted, be drastically reduced by the collapse of the banking system
> that created it. Many over-indebted countries face this choice at present —
> they cannot preserve both their banking systems and their currency’s value.
> To prevent this conflict in future, money needs to be issued in new,
> non-debt ways.*
> Taking his premise as given, he is entirely correct.
> Which choice are you betting on, inflation or resistance to inflation?
>
> Observing government actions over the past 3 years, we see *both *tremendous
> *currency inflation*, which eventually causes *price inflation*, and *attempts
> to hold down prices by starving the productive sector for credit*.
> The consequent business failures and unemployment resulting from the latter
> have managed to forestall price increases in most consumer goods, except for
> the necessities of food and energy and some basic commodities.
>
> Not much of the accumulated debt has been written off; mostly it has been
> taken over by governments in their attempts to keep the banking system
> alive.
> Thus, indebtedness that the private sector incurred during the bubble
> phase, which turned out to be unbearable, has been put upon the shoulders of
> the citizens in the form of runaway increases in government debt. The power
> elite, in my opinion, will try to the last gasp to preserve the usury based,
> debt-money, monopoly banking system which is the source of their power. I
> expect some very extreme measures like bank closures, revaluation of
> currencies, drastic cuts in social programs. Eventually, most of the debts
> must be written-off, but they will try to preserve the indebtedness of
> people and the productive sector, keeping the slaves in bondage.
>
> What will it take to stir the populace to throw off their chains?
>
> Back o the premise: *goods and services ... cannot be supplied without the
> use of some form of energy.*
> True enough, but that energy need not be from fossil fuels. There is an
> abundance of human energy, plenty enough to supply our basic needs and a
> dignified life for all, but not enough to continue the enormous waste that
> we are accustomed to--wars, planned obsolescence, short-term business
> planning, etc., all caused by the growth imperative built into the
> debt-money system.
>
> Cheers,
> Thomas
>
> --
> Thomas H. Greco, Jr.thg at mindspring.com
> Mobile phone (Thailand): +66 84 373 5645
> Mobile phone (USA): 520-820-0575
> Beyond Money: http://beyondmoney.net
> Tom's News and Views: http://tomazgreco.wordpress.com
> Archive Website: http://www.Reinventingmoney.com <http://www.reinventingmoney.com/>
> Photo gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/tomazhg
> Skype/Twitter name: tomazgreco
> My latest book, "The End of Money and the Future of Civilization"
> can be ordered from Chelsea Green Publishing, Amazon.com, or your local bookshop.
>
>

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