End the Fed

By Daryl Dominic Tan

A brilliant example of strange bedfellows would be the progressive left-leaning Liberals and fiscal conservative Libertarians marching together on the streets of New York City as part of the Occupy Wall Street protests. Odd yet fascinating as despite comprehensively different political views, many are starting to see the discrepancies in Wall Street and are now stepping up to the plate against the very evils that are causing the inflation of the American dollar and the suffering of the middle-class Americans – Corporatism, also known as Crony Capitalism.

If any one word could be used to sum up these evil entities accurately, it is greed. Unfortunately though, a large majority of people (comprising mainly of Socialists and advocates of central-planning) always fail to grasp that there is a difference between Capitalism and Corporatism. The word “Capitalism” itself has largely become a pejorative, immediately denoting exploitation of the poor at the expense and benefit of the wealthy. This is not true however, as free market capitalism is about privatized profits and privatized losses and provides greater opportunities for the unemployed and lower costs of products as a result of healthy market competition. Corporatism AKA Crony Capitalism on the other hand, is the truest definition of a system that absolutely incapacitates the working and middle class. Corporatism doesn't favor the free market, for it is all about having their own corporate interests protected by the government who are readily in bed with them. Competition is eradicated and prices are driven up contributing to the inequality rate.

Much to the displeasure of the common man, most political decisions that the government make are largely influenced by corporations and likewise. Who funds these corporations and make them "too big to fail"? None other than the infamous and much hated Federal Reserve, the single largest man-made disaster the United States has ever created in the history of its existence. The Federal Reserve was established in 1913 in Jekyll Island, Georgia, with the sole intent of establishing a more efficient central banking system. The idea of a Federal Reserve was conceived by many billionaire bankers, most notably J.D. Rockefeller and J.P Morgan.

Exactly 20 years later since its enactment and at the peak of its activity, the Fed effectively caused the United States government to declare bankruptcy under Franklin D. Roosevelt. The inefficiency of the fed has been displayed on a regular basis and has always been the cause of an economic crisis or a bubble burst, most notably when Alan Greenspan became director and kept interest rates too low. The result of his actions led the economy of the United States to plummet in the early 90s. Current director of the Fed, Ben Bernanke, not to be outdone, has constantly called for the creation of paper money out of thin air (also known as Quantitative Easing) to bail out inept companies that have simply overspent their budget due to their own greed, resulting in a sharp and dangerous increase of executive powers allocated to the Federal Reserve.

How then, does the Federal Reserve affect every other American, and the world in general? The answer is by manipulating the global currency through devaluing, deprecating and debasing the American Dollar. This in turn, affects everybody's wealth as currency value dramatically takes a plunge. The Federal Reserve behaves like a criminal enterprise, or as many would say, an international banking cartel. What makes it all the more frightening is that the Federal Reserve is run by a coalition of powerful banks. Therefore, in essence, the entire United States economy is being run and observed by banks, all under the watchful eye and support of the government .

It is hereby somewhat comforting to know that one of the main agendas of the Occupy Wall Street protests is to end the fed. People are starting to realize that a Fiat-based currency and a fractional reserve banking system simply won't work as it exploits the other classes of society and only serves to promote a corporatist agenda.

The Importance of Self-education
By Daryl Dominic Tan

Are most of us really being educated? Or are we being indoctrinated? Why is it that the seemingly well intended act of acquiring knowledge has become more and more restricted to a certain standard these days. Why is it that most public school students are simply forced to memorize tidbits of information but not encouraged to ask how and why? Why is it that instead of encouraging curiosity, public school students are being inculcated with a ludicrous amount of harebrained respect for authority as well as being taught to rigidly obey and be content with the information they receive at all costs. Are we truly living in ‘The Misinformation Age’ as some may say?

What I think is that we are being molded into plastic robots and sheep of the system. Do we blame the teachers for this mess? Are teachers merely lazy tools? I don't think some are necessarily lazy as they do have good and honest intentions but I do find the word ‘tools’ very appropriate in most cases. These particular tools are restricted to teaching whatever this higher authority demands and subjugates them to teach. There are rules to follow, and unconventional or unorthodox methods of teaching are shunned for being deemed too radical.

It is something about this century we are living in that we have to abide by being politically correct all the time. Japan’s textbooks completely ignore the atrocities that their own government had committed during World War II. Defenders of the Japanese education system would blurt out something along the lines of national pride and that the youth of Japan shouldn't have any idea what happened back in Nanking. What about a better alternative such as admitting and acknowledging one’s faults? Maybe this could teach the Japanese youth a thing or two about humility.

As for France, their public school history textbooks have been revised in order to acquire a more politically correct agenda. How can anyone run away from his or her history? The past is significant; be it bad or good. We learn from our mistakes. Unfortunately though, the French are clearly losing their sense of identity along with the rest of the European Union. Modern French history textbooks choose to relegate Napoleon Bonaparte’s role (one of France’s most well known figures of all time) to lowly standards, while increasing the significance of Black slavery tremendously. National identity is definitely a major crisis in Europe right now, and it is only being exacerbated by its crumbling economic situation.

But the main question - what is Education really all about? Should government have the right to control something as delicate and fragile as education? Are we in control of our own minds or are we merely the property of a higher authority? I say we should educate ourselves from different angles and perspectives. Homeschooling is a wonderful alternative given the wider range of books, learning materials and sources to choose from. This way, we aren’t only exposed to one view. It is extremely important for us to expand our knowledge as vastly as possible if we want to gain any traction in moving forward as innovative and extraordinary individuals.

Don't forget that many of the world's most successful people are and were self-educated. Most notably Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Julian Assange, Craig Ferguson, Ernest Hemingway, Leonardo Da Vinci, Herman Melville, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, and a whole lot more.

A word to everyone reading; Educate yourselves. As Mark Twain once said, don't let schooling get in the way of your education. Go to the library. Have an interest in history? Pick out a few books. An interest in Biology? Go right ahead. An interest in liberal arts? What are you waiting for? You can learn anything you want. The only one obstructing you from acquiring and achieving expansive knowledge is yourself. Don’t bow down to societal pressure. Don’t let society pass judgement on you. Strive as an individual. Do what you want, do what you will, and don’t let anyone dictate to you otherwise.

Remember, it matters not where you study; but what you study.

Austrian Economics
By Daryl Dominic Tan

For most of my teenage life, I believed Karl Marx to be the greatest economist and political philosopher the world had ever seen. I was about fifteen when I discovered Communism, and I was deeply drawn to its philosophy to the point where I actually purchased an olive green jacket just to look like Fidel Castro, whom I practically worshipped back then. I was one of those kids who believed that equality had to be achieved among everyone through any means possible and that redistribution of wealth was absolutely necessary for a nation to be sustainable. It wasn’t until recently that I woke up, however.

It wasn’t until I came across the core ideals of what true liberty was really all about, that I crawled out of my little Leftist hole (as mentioned in my previous post entitled ‘True Liberty’). I have to credit Ron Paul’s book, ‘The Revolution: A Manifesto’ for changing my life tremendously. I was introduced to the works and theories of Ludwig Von Mises, Murray Rothbard, and Friedrich Hayek, all prominent key figures in the world of Austrian Economics, a theory that I now strongly believe will save the world from a looming economic depression.

It was a difficult period of time accepting what was a more logical and sensible approach to economics. I literally transformed from being a full-fledged Socialist adherent of Marxism, to a Fiscal conservative free-market supporter of the Austrian school of economics in a matter of a few months after extensive reading and research on the subject. For once, I had actually developed an interest in Economics. I wanted to learn about monetary and fiscal policies and most significantly, how the government spends our money. An interest that was not present whilst I was preaching Socialist ideals.

Firm believers and stalwart proponents of Austrian Economics are vehemently opposed to Keynesian Economics , created by none other than John Maynard Keynes himself. Keynes believed that the economy had to be viewed like a vehicle - that it had to be directed, guided, and controlled by a driver. Most alarmingly, he believed that the driver's role belongs to the government. The driver influences the market, the growth, the interest rates, the costs, etc, of the means of production, and takes charge of the economy with the help of a central bank to influence all outcomes of the market.

The United States has evidently adopted Keynesian Economics, and look where they stand today. A continuous flow of budget deficits afflict the U.S. year after year. The United States is currently undergoing one of the worst economic crises since the Great Depression in 1929. A fear of a global economic collapse is pandemic and widespread. But who is to blame? A large percentage of people blame the Bush administration while a fraction blame the Obama administration. None of these administrations should receive full blame however. Of course, they have both played major roles in worsening the crisis at hand. However, the economic system that the United States have adopted should be held accountable. The Keynesian approach is no longer a feasible idea as it once was.

With Obama constantly creating new job plans and injecting stimulus into the economy and bailing out failing businesses, the crisis is in fact worsening A befitting analogy to use is that of a drug addict; a drug addict needs his fix, he is at the lowest form of physical and mental state without drugs, you give him a stimulating jab of heroin into his bloodstream and he’s immediately okay. That’s exactly what the current administration is doing. Short term, it artificially props up the economy. Long-term wise, it only exacerbates the crisis at hand by prolonging the day of reckoning.

The Austrian school of economics is undoubtedly the best approach. Unlike the Keynesian methodology that the economy should be seen as a vehicle, Austrian economists believe that the economy should be viewed as a natural entity, a sort of biosphere that should never be interfered with. In a nutshell, Austrian economists believe strongly that economics is the science of individual choice (known as methodological individualism) and that the significance of utility is what determines value. They deem mathematical analyses and statistics highly unreliable and far too untrustworthy to analyze the economy, believing that the human mind is too complex for such analyses to be made and that the fate of the economy should be left to the free market to decide seeing as to how costs are subjective. Ultimately, the profitability gained long-term wise from an Austrian Economics approach is incredible and would yield prosperity.

That being said, the likelihood of a nation ever adopting the Austrian school of economics is highly unlikely. Most, if not all, governments, have a strong desire to control and influence the outcome of every situation that appears before them. The more it usurps all form of decision-making, we can only remain duped, and then doomed.