New book recounts popular

opposition to the mother of

all frauds, private central banking,

which has enslaved mankind.

by Anthony Migchels

(henrymakow.com)

Kerry Bolton's new book, "The Banking Swindle"  begins by relating how the bankers conquered Europe via Holland and Britain and later the world through the US. He describes how the current financial system came to be and what problems it brings.

But where the book really takes off is the description of the public discourse in the thirties that arose in reaction to the Great Depression. Opposition to the financial system itself was universal throughout the industrialized nations. Social Credit activists were active throughout the West. But also other financial systems were both promoted and, what is more, even implemented.

New Zealand implemented financial policies that were very similar to Hitler's Germany. A large scale social housing program financed with State Credit  relieved 75% of the unemployment during the Great Depression. This iconic project has disappeared in a memory hole. Canada also printed its own money from the mid thirties up to the early seventies. Here is an eye-opening account of the Canadian economy with Government money.

The level of public involvement seem to have been huge. They were talking banking and monetary reform in pubs and on street corners, all over the West.

In Britain itself there were the 'Green Shirts for Social Credit', started by John Hargrave.

The Green Shirts kicked off in 1930. Hargrave soon realized that nothing could be done through Parliament and that a mass agitation was necessary.

Bolton: "Hargrave advocated a militant campaign that would break the media blackout. The Green Shirts took to the streets on marches, behind drums and banners, held street corner meetings, and sold newspapers on the street, delivering the Social Credit message in a cogent manner. Facing the violent opposition of the Left, they were noted for their discipline in the face of provocation. They were also noted for throwing green painted bricks through the windows of banks and using the consequent court cases to publicize their views."

Bolton analyzes the struggle for monetary reform in all major western nations, including the USA with Father Coughlin, who at his peak had 40 million followers.

I must say that this comprehensive overview was eye opening for me.  I never really realized what kind of trouble the Money Power faced back then.

It also shows that the system may not be quite so unassailable as it often looks. True, the consequences of today's depression  have been much milder than 80 years ago. Millions of people actually starved or were close to starvation back then. However we feel about the welfare state, it has prevented that kind of mass suffering this time around. On the other hand: we can also be sure that this is a vital part of the Money Power's calculations. Because hunger is a powerful motivator, the usurers have learned to sedate us to the nastiest side effects of our hidden slavery.

ALTERNATIVES

The book analyzes a number of alternative financial systems that were simply not (yet) part of the banks' control grid. For instance Czarist Russia financed its modernization without the usurers and was rapidly developing into a rival of the West. This, undoubtedly, was the prime reason for the 'revolution'.

Or how about the  Confederate "Greybacks" during the Civil War? I had never heard of them. Apparently they were actually real debt free notes, as opposed to the interest-bearing bonds backed Greenback. As always, the money system reflects the real dynamics behind the scenes. I'm not well enough versed in US history to come to any conclusions, but Bolton makes a very plausible case that the Confederacy was a real rebellion and that they were cut off from bankster loans.

Just as the British inflated the "Continental", George Washington's debt free unit, the Union destroyed the "Greyback" through counterfeiting.

Conclusion

The Banking Swindle is in many respects an effort to reconnect the Right to its roots. After reading the book, I understand why Bolton considers the classical populist resistance against Money Power the true Right. In this day and age, the true Left-Right paradigm has been so utterly discredited because this insight has been lost. The Right today is associated with Capitalism and the current financial system.

People in the Truth Movement are a pretty heterogeneous bunch. The kind of awareness that it represents and which is now influencing more people cannot be called 'conservative', even though personally I feel very connected to real conservatism.

The Banking Swindle exposes both the scale and the nature of a truly international, diverse and very powerful monetary reform movement. Post war propaganda and guilt by association have labeled these movements as 'fascist', but many of them were not, and fascism itself has been demonized. Bolton does a wonderful job of rehabilitating them and showing their profound importance.

This is exactly the kind of inspiration and insight we need to build on.

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Anthony Migchels is an Interest-Free Currency activist and founder of the Gelre, the first Regional Currency in the Netherlands. You can read all of his articles on his blog Real Currencies