Once again: The Social Security Trust Fund is neither a fiction nor bankrupt. That is a myth.

[ronnie624]

163. Thanks for the interesting article

Clearly, a certain amount of debt is necessary to maintaining a supply of money and liquidity.

But your article maintains also, that the debt must be responsible. It also has this to say, which I found fascinating:

We need to move (very carefully and deliberately) toward a time when at least three aspects of our economy are based on sustainable - and democratic - values. The first is a conversion to the creation of money on a fee for service basis, rather than with the current interest load. This will get rid of the present situation where there is never enough money in the creative sector because of the constant money migration to the finance sector inherent in interest-based money.

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The practical argument is that the idea of dividing up the earth is no longer serving the survival of the earth or our species. Anyone who persists in believing that the earth belongs to us must deal with the fact that this belief has been the value base for money and economic systems that have led to the downfall of all the major western cultures. (See again 6) It has led to an ethic in which the removal of resources from the earth has become a personal right of the owner of that piece of the earth, with no thought as to the social or ecological ramifications of that removal either now or for succeeding generations. This ethic has led, in all the major historic western cultures, to degradation of air and water and erosion and salt buildup in the soil, to a point where these resources could no longer support a healthy human population, leading to the demise of the string of world cultures listed earlier here. All these cultures broke down as a result of this environmental stress, coupled with the unrest created when wealth was concentrated, and the majority of citizens had only debt, and no stake in the future of the culture.

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Since some individuals, communities and regions are blessed with more than their share of earth and/or personal assets, there is also a need to consider how, in at least some voluntary way, those who are blessed with more, have a stewardship and sharing responsibility toward those whose ecosystems and social systems are less blessed. Such aid must be given with great respect toward the integrity of the individuals, the social systems and the ecosystems that receive them, as well as those which give.

The alternatives before us are basic change or failure to survive. The quicker we recognize this basic equation, the easier it will be to make the transition. The longer we take, the more limited and difficult will our choices be. What can I do, and what can you do to make the transition? Check and read the following bibliography for ideas, and have at it!

http://www.vantagequest.org/trees/money.htm#.T5jPFtluPhl