Column #43 A PROPOSED BREATHER

(Week 8 - Monday, Sept. 15)

With six weeks worth of this column having gone out, it is perhaps time to take a look at how it has been received so far, and how it might proceed into the future. The response has been gratifying; more so than I could have expected. I say this with respect to numbers of people who have opted-in, and the many thoughtful questions, comments and critiques received. This is all greatly appreciated.

There are at least two places on the net where these columns are posted (on the initiative of others) as they come out, and a complete set maintained. These are listed at the bottom of this page. Others have offered to do the same, set up a dedicated website, or otherwise help to get these and other of my writings out. There have been more offers than I have been able to follow up on so far, but I am grateful for every one. I am moved by the news that a number of people have indicated that they make hard copies of the columns and give them to people they know who might be interested.

The greatest challenge with the columns so far, I am informed, is that some folks are having a difficult time keeping up with the volume of reading. These articles are meant to be short enough in length to read over the proverbial "morning cup of coffee," but people today often lead harried lives (got to keep up with the monthly "interest" payments, after all), and have a difficult time in finding place for even the smallest tasks. Many are indeed keeping up with whatever they hope to get out of the content, but others are not.

The content is designed to be a tightly reasoned and integrally connected discourse that can (supposedly) in a step-by-step manner help the reader awaken to a wholly different perspective about money than is offered in the conventional dialogue. I write each article in mindfulness that there may well be readers who are joining in for the first time, or rejoining after an absence. Consequently, each installment has to be at least minimally decipherable to the uninitiated within the terms and context presented in any given piece. That said, much groundwork for understanding is laid as the series unfolds, and if parts are missed something is inevitably lost. There are many readers who, according to the feedback I am getting, feel the same way, and experience frustration if they "fall behind." There are others who work to consolidate their understanding by going back over past installments.

In light of these considerations, plus other commitments coming up in the near future, I am contemplating taking a two-week breather from October 5 through 19 during which no new installments will come out. The series would pick up again starting October 20, and presumably focus on the issues that have gained public attention during the run-up to election day on November 4. I would welcome whatever thoughts anyone has about this.

There is yet much that needs to be said about money and the economic times that we live in. I don't anticipate that subject will ever be exhausted. Accordingly my commitment to getting this dialogue out, through New View on Money and other channels, remains ongoing. Thank you for your patience with this process and continuing interest.

I close with a monetary thought for the day:

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

Thomas Jefferson, letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802)

Richard Kotlarz
richkotlarz@gmail.com

The complete set of columns from this series is posted at the following websites:
http://economictree.blogspot.com/
http://www.concordresolution.org/column.htm