beyond.

The pessimistic scenario presented in the previous chapter is the kind of narrative that turns people off. No one wants to hear those things, even if they are true—or we should say especially if they are true. As Adlai Stevenson said when he was a candidate for President: 'The contest between agreeable fancy and disagreeable fact is unequal. Americans are suckers for good news.'

So, where is the optimistic scenario in which everything turns out all right, in which prosperity is restored and freedom is preserved after all? Actually, it is not hard to locate. You can find it every day somewhere in your newspaper. It is the shared faith of almost all politicians, experts, and commentators. If that is what you want to hear, you have just wasted a lot of time reading this book.

There is no optimistic scenario. Events have progressed too far for that. Even if we begin to turn things around by forcing Congress to cut spending, reduce the debt, and disentangle from UN treaties, the Cabal will not let go without a ferocious fight.

When the Second Bank of the United States was struggling for its life in 1834, Nicholas Biddle, who controlled it, set about to cause as much havoc in the economy as possible and then to blame it on President Jackson's anti- bank policies. By suddenly tightening credit and withdrawing money from circulation, he triggered a full-scale national depression. At the height of his attack, he declared: 'All other banks and all the merchants may break, but the 566

THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND

Bank of the United States shall not break.'1 The amount of devastation that could be caused by today's Federal Reserve is infinitely greater than what Biddle was able to unleash. It would be pure self-deception to think that the Cabal would quietly give up its power without exercising that option. We must conclude that no one is going to get out of this one unscathed. There is hell to pay, and it is we who are going to pay it.

SEVENTH REASON TO ABOLISH THE FED

What has any of this to do with the Federal Reserve System?

The answer is that the Federal Reserve is the starting point of the pessimistic scenario. The chain of events begins with fiat money created by a central bank, which leads to government debt, which causes inflation, which destroys the economy, which impoverishes the people, which provides an excuse for increasing government power, which is an on-going process culminating in totalitarianism.

Eliminate the Federal Reserve from this equation, and the pessimistic scenario ceases to exist. That is the seventh and final reason to abolish the Fed: It is an instrument of totalitarianism.

If the optimistic scenario is too optimistic and the pessimistic scenario is too pessimistic, then what is the scenario that we should hope lies in our future?

There is a middle course that lies between optimism and

pessimism. It is called realism. Calling it a realistic scenario is not meant to imply that it is predetermined to happen, nor that it is even likely to happen. It is realistic only in the sense that it can happen if certain conditions are met. The balance of this chapter will be devoted to an analysis of those conditions.

Let us begin by allowing our opponent, Cynicism, to state the problem we face: 'Is it realistic to believe that the current trends can actually be reversed? Isn't it just fantasy to think that anything can be done at this late date to break the CFR's hold over government, media, and education? Do we really expect the gum-chewing public to go upstream against the indoctrination of newspapers, magazines, television, and movies?'

Apathy joins in* 'Forget it. There's nothing you can do. The bankers and politicians have all the money and all the power. The 1. See chapter seventeen.

A REALISTIC SCENARIO

567

game is already over. Make the most of it, and enjoy life while you can.'

Do not listen to Cynicism and Apathy. They are agents of your enemy. They want you to quietly get in line and submit without a struggle. However, they do make a point that must not be

overlooked. The battle has progressed far, and our position is not good. If we are to reverse the present trends, we must be prepared to make a herculean effort. That does not mean 'Write your Congressman' or 'Vote on Tuesday' or 'Sign a petition' or 'Send in a donation.' That is far too easy. Those measures still play an important role in the battle plan but they fall far short of the need.

Armchair campaigns will no longer do it.

Before turning to the question of what kind of effort will be required, let us first be clear on ivhat it is we want to accomplish.

WHAT MUST NOT BE DONE

Let us begin with the negatives: what must not be done. The most obvious item in this category is that we must not turn to government for more of the same 'cures' that have made us ill. We do not want more power granted to the Fed or the Treasury or the President, nor do we need another government agency. We probably don't even need any new laws, with the possible exception of those legislative acts which repeal some of the old laws now on the books. Our goal is the reduction of government, not its expansion.

We do not want to merely abolish the Fed and turn over its operation to the Treasury. That is a popular proposal among those who know there is a problem but who have not studied the history of central banking. It is a recurrent theme of the Populist movement and those advocating what they call Social Credit. Their argument is that the Federal Reserve is privately owned and is independent of political control. Only Congress is authorized to issue the nation's money, not a group of private bankers. Let the Treasury issue paper money and bank credit, they say, and we can have all the money we need without having to pay one penny in interest to the bankers.

It is an appealing argument, but it contains serious flaws. First, the concept that the Fed is privately owned is a legal fiction. The member banks hold stock, but it carries no voting weight. No matter how large the bank or how much capital is paid in, each bank has one vote. The stock cannot be sold or traded. Stockholders 568 THE

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