Benjamin Franklin and the Colonial Scrip

In this very interesting article about Fractional Reserve Banking and the similarities of it with a Ponzi Scheme there some very interesting stories and quotes. 

I specially liked this one of Benjamin Franklin:

When the directors of the Bank of England asked what was responsible for the booming economy of the young colonies, Franklin explained that the colonial governments issued their own money, which they both lent and spent into the economy:

“In the Colonies, we issue our own paper money. It is called ‘Colonial Scrip.’ We issue it in proper proportion to make the goods pass easily from the producers to the consumers. In this manner, creating ourselves our own paper money, we control its purchasing power and we have no interest to pay to no one. You see, a legitimate government can both spend and lend money into circulation, while banks can only lend significant amounts of their promissory bank notes, for they can neither give away nor spend but a tiny fraction of the money the people need. Thus, when your bankers here in England place money in circulation, there is always a debt principal to be returned and usury to be paid. The result is that you have always too little credit in circulation to give the workers full employment. You do not have too many workers, you have too little money in circulation, and that which circulates, all bears the endless burden of unpayable debt and usury.”

I recommend everyone to read the full article. It's time for people to understand the current monetary system is not what we have been told or lead to believe. It's time for people to realised there are alternatives that would work much better for society, and these alternatives are actually not a new thing, but things that have been done and that have worked successfully in the past.

If you are interested in learning about money creation you can take a look at Positive Money.

About rape-ish, consent, feminism and Fifty Shades

Lately I am reading everything that crosses my way about women, violence about women, women in adverts, women in positions of power, anything related to feminism.

Today I read this article "My boyfriend 'sort-of' raped me. But I didn't break up with him" and here are my thoughts about it. Some surprising thoughts even to myself.

I think the most important thing to start talking here is CONSENT. We men and women need to re-educate ourself, and truly understand consent. It should the taught by heart and deep to the bone that consent in sexual intercourse is essential, fundamental and an absolute must all the way through with no grey areas. And for that, we need to talk about it, and the person telling her story is very brave to do so in order we get there. 

To decide if it is rape? or not rape? legally a crime? or whatever, I don't know because I am not a lawyer.  But what I know is that it was something totally unacceptable, it was an aggression and it was about power. Here the problem is not the amount of harm, the problem is the attitude toward women in today society and the many doubts about what it's acceptable or what is not.

What I think is very sad is that, like her, so many women after something like this happening to them, they will stay with the guy, and minimise the thing going around if it was or not was rape? was it legally rape? what it actually was? In any case and in lack of a descriptive or legal definition, it was unacceptable and totally lacking of CONSENT. And not being able to see this instantly says a lot of where we are as society in terms of feminism. Meaning we are in a not very good place. Not men, but neither women, if we are not able to realised when sex it's used to assault us. And when you say no, it is assault.

And now I am going to be polemic. I would not have thought so deeply about consent, the concept and what it really means, the importance of vocalise it, if I had not read Fifty Shades. It is not only about being able to say no, consent is also about saying yes clearly.  Whatever people say, consent is essential all the way through the story and it is there from beginning to end. Anyway, don't bash at me yet. I have learnt it is an immediate reaction to anyone saying anything good about Fifty Shades. But let's remember this is a fictional novel, and because I am a curios person, after reading the books I did my internet research about kinksters. And ok, some of the stuff is clearly not for everyone. But I will tell you what should be for everyone and what we can learnt from them. The principles they insist on and repeat over and over again: trust, respect, safety and CONSENT. You may like or not what they do consent about, but that's a different matter. 

Trust, respect, safety and consent, the lack of them, apply perfectly to the story we're discussing. The grey area we place them because this may be not a rape but a rape-ish thing it's appalling and depressing. Realising that I have learnt there is no grey area about consent thanks to Fifty Shades of Grey and reading in kinky websites is surprising and ironic. But it is what it is!

Lost

Revisando mis notas de cursos de postgrado para una solicitud de empleo, todo 9's y 10's. 

Checking my postgraduate qualifications for a job application. All 9's and 10's (1st in UK). I actually forgot that! I was fucking good at being good. But in the end good has not been enough. 

Remembering the good times, that in fact weren't that good, hurts anyway when the future gets so blurry and you are lost.

I was so good also, at making so many many plans... until you realised how life is so good at laughing at your plans and you stop doing them. Or maybe I was actually not that good at making plans and my plan making sucks.

Well, if I could only remember how to do plans, not good plans but just any plan. But that's the problem. Just any plan. Where do you get the energy and enthusiasm to do just a plan? So much trouble for just a plan that most provably is going no where (reasons above) And anyway, I don't want just a plan, I want a great plan and I run out of ideas and will.

Nevertheless, what can we do when we are lost, but keep wondering around with the hope to get somewhere, to find our place, or at least a path that, not necessarily goes somewhere, but if only it would keep us entertained with just enough trouble but out of too much suffering. 

Y estos son los que nos lideran hacia la independencia

Harvard ‘apoya’ la independencia: la élite de economistas se suma al proceso - Noticias de Economía

"Xavier Sala i Martin, como buen liberal ortodoxo, firme partidario del sistema de capitalización de pensiones" aunque si Cataluña se independiza dice el que no haría falta. En que quedamos entonces? En que es bueno o en que no tanto? "Olivier Blanchard (economista jefe del FMI)"Ya sabemos cuantas cosas buenas ha hecho el FMI por el mundo claro que si, "Salvador Alemany (presidente de Abertis)" y con conexión directa con la Caixa. No sabes quién es Abertis? Pues mira quien es Abertis. Y de la Caixa y las preferentes mejor no hablemos que sino no acabo (gente muy ¨honesta¨)

Si estos son los líderes que nos dirigen a la independencia, me queda claro que no me van a traer la independencia que yo me plantearía apoyar, una por una Cataluña mas justa, mas democrática y mas social. Una Cataluña en la que los estafadores y prevaricadores fuesen a la cárcel.

Estos no son mas que una panda de neoliberales que no quieren cambiar nada. Bueno si, lo que han hecho es cambiar la Europa social que nos vendieron cuando querían que nos juntáramos y fuésemos todos Europeos, por una Europa arruinada, desmembrada y gobernada por políticas ultra-liberales dictadas por los mismos bancos y mercados causantes del desaguisado a través de gobiernos telele que se pasan la voluntad del pueblo por el forro. El 94% de las ayudas públicas en 2011 fue para el sector financiero - ABC.es vamos, que dos mas dos son 4. Resulta que una serie de empresas privadas muy mal gestionadas llamadas bancos quiebraron, y entonces van y los gobernantes en los países donde estos bancos quebraron decidieron darles miles de millones de dinero público que no esperan recuperar, y ahora el que está en la ruina es el estado, es decir, los ciudadanos. Eso si, si tu le debes dinero al banco, no te preocupes que te va ha dejar en bragas.

Pero volviendo al tema. Me tengo que fiar de lo que estas personas propongan como modelo de guía hacia la independencia de Cataluña? A mi me parece que solo nos quieren cambiar el estatus a país para seguir sufriendo el mismo tipo de políticas, pero diciendo que todo es nuevo y mejor y que ahora somos Catalanes independientes. 

No necesito un país nuevo si lo que quieren es seguir aplicando las mismas políticas. Mi identidad cultural la tengo mas que clara, posiblemente, debido a lo mucho que me ha tocado vivir fuera de mi tierra. Los catalanes cuidamos, apreciamos y estamos orgullosos de nuestras raíces, costumbres y lenguaje. No necesito el estatus de país para definirme culturalmente. Se perfectamente quien soy y de donde vengo. Económicamente para que me den por culo con mas de lo mismo, la verdad que tampoco me hace falta.

Aun así, dado el panorama actual resulta imposible no preguntarse, me interesa la independencia de Cataluña? Pues me interesaría ser un país independiente si eso nos permitiera ejercer políticas independientes, no serviles a la UE (léase la Merkel) y al FMI. Si pudiéramos y fuésemos a seguir el modelo Islandés, que ha redactado una nueva constitución con la aportación de sus ciudadanos, que dejó tranquilamente y sin miramientos que sus bancos se declarasen en quiebra (sin que haya resultado el fin del mundo) y que ha puesto a los estafadores causantes de la crisis en la cárcel (yo no veo a nadie de la Caixa yendo a la cárcel por lo de las preferentes), entonces diría que si. Pero no nos engañemos, no van por ahi los tiros. 

Eleciones griegas y mis pensamientos aleatorios sobre las mismas, la crisis... tantas cosas.

Que decepción. Al final tenemos lo que nos merecemos porque sigue habiendo tanta gente que no se da cuenta de que tiene el poder de no votar a oportunistas y mentirosos. Todos dicen lo que haga falta decir mientras son aspirantes al gobierno y todos hacen lo contrario una vez están ahi. Los griegos van a tener a Samarás, nosotros tenemos a Rajoy, las noticias parecen dadas por MINITRUE... y seguimos hablando de si los mercados estan felices o descontentos con este o aquel evento y de la deuda y el déficit y los bancos, estos son los mas importantes de todos porque tienen que estar llenos de dinero no importa a costa de que, en vez de hablar de si hay huelga minera en asturias, de por qué ahora resulta que la desobediencia civil o simplemente manifestarse han pasado a ser actos terroristas, de si los griegos van a poder controlar su tasa de suicidios o de donde coño está europa. porque la europa que a mi me vendieron en su dia era una para todos y todos para una y ahora lo único que queda en esta europa descompuesta es usura privatizada para el beneficio de unos pocos y el sufrimiento de muchos. Un tres por ciento de diferencia y nada ha cambiado... incluso cuando tanta gente ha cambiado. ¿Es eso democracia? Nos dicen que si, que eso es, pero yo ya no me lo puedo creer. Pues eso, que decepción.