Page 11 - Reflexions of African Bishops and Priests

“This power becomes particularly irresist-
ible when exercised by those who, because

they hold and control money, are able also
to govern credit and determine its allot-

ment, for that reason supplying, so to speak,
the lifeblood to the entire economic body,

and grasping, as it were, in their hands the
very soul of production, so that no one dare

breathe against their will.” – Pius XI

problem is “the calamitous system that accom- system. Further, each loan that is repaid to the bank
panies Capitalism”. In his encyclical, Populorum ceases to exist. The money that formed the loan is
Progressio (“The Development of Peoples”, March withdrawn from circulation.
26, 1967, n. 26.), he writes: The fundamental flaw in the system is that
“This unchecked liberalism leads to dictator- when banks create new money in the form of
ship rightly denounced by Pope Pius XI as produ- loans, borrowers are expected to pay back more
cing ‘the international imperialism of money’. One money than the bank created. Banks create the
cannot condemn such abuses too strongly be- principal amount but not the interest. As it is im-
cause — let us again recall solemnly — the econ- possible to pay back money that does not exist,
omy should be at the service of man. But if it is the only solution is to borrow even more money
true that a type of capitalism has been the source in order to pay the interest on the principal. Thus,
of excessive suffering, injustices and fratricidal unpayable debts accumulate.
conflicts whose effects still persist, it would be Creating money as debt is the mechanism used
wrong to attribute to industrialization itself evils to impose control not only upon individuals but on
that belong to the calamitous system that accom- the entire world.
panied it. On the contrary, one must recognize in “Among the actions and attitudes opposed
all justice the irreplaceable contribution made by to the will of God, the good of neighbour and the
the organization and the growth of industry to the ‘structures’ created by them, two are very typ-
task of development.”
ical: on the one hand, the all-consuming desire for
The Flaw in the System: Money is Created profit, and on the other, the thirst for power, with
by Banks as a Debt the intention of imposing one’s will upon others.”
The financial system has been diverted from its (Pope St. John Paul II, Sollicitudo rei socialis, n. 37.)
goal and does not fulfill its true purpose. Money is If there was only $1 in circulation in the country,
rightly a tool of service. But, bankers, by appropriat- it had to have been loaned by a bank. Let us sup-
ing control over its creation, have contorted money pose the bank lent $1 at a 6% rate of interest. At the
into an instrument of domination. In Quadragesimo end of one year, $1 must be paid back to the bank,
Anno, Pope Pius XI states: plus 6% interest, or 6 cents. The fact is that only $1
exists in the country, not $1.06. It is impossible to
“This power becomes particularly irresist- pay back both the principal and the interest as the
ible when exercised by those who, because they interest, 6 cents, was never created.
hold and control money, are able also to govern
credit and determine its allotment, for that reason For money to remain in circulation, debts and
supplying, so to speak, the lifeblood to the entire bankruptcies must accumulate. Creating a nation’s
economic body, and grasping, as it were, in their money as a debt is an absurdity. Worse still, gov-
hands the very soul of production, so that no one ernments persist in borrowing money from private
dare breathe against their will.” banks; money that a government could create it-
self, interest free. This practice forces responsibility
Since banks only issue money as an interest for an astronomical debt’s interest charges onto an
bearing loan, we see that all money is created as a unwitting public. There should be no debt, whatso-
debt. No nation can repay its debt under the current

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