Column #79 A NEW ROTATION

(Week 14 - Monday, Nov. 10)

Everything evolves, and so does this column. The initial concept was to put out a daily message of four to five hundred words that could be read over "morning coffee" as a daily antidote to the standard media fare. In practice I have found that these offerings tend to take on their own natural length, which turns out to be roughly twice what was originally contemplated. It has required a major exercise in discipline to keep them within even those bounds, as anything that touches upon the topic of money tends to swell in the enumeration. Truncating or dividing the topic arbitrarily tends to cut the heart out of it, and so I let whatever is wanting to be written have its way. The upshot is that I have produced twice the amount of verbiage that I intended, and keeping up that pace is not sustainable.

Most of the feedback I get indicates that while much, if not most, of the readership has kept up with the reading, they too sometimes fall behind, and the unread email mounts up. There seems to be on their part a determination to keep up, as the columns as a series represent a systematic and carefully measured development of thought. If a link is missed, something is lost.

Taking this all into account, I have decided to reduce the frequency of the installments to three per week; those coming on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This column is the first of the new rotation. I anticipate that the length of the typical column will be approximately the same, but the less frantic pace will leave me more time to devote to producing each one, plus attending the correspondences and dialogues which the columns have been a seed for starting. I have tried to be responsive to communications that have been sent to me, but have fallen far behind in spite of strenuous efforts. I apologize for that. I look forward to catching up on my backlog and being more responsive in the future.

All this said, this effort is not about writing columns. It is about precipitating change. We are at a juncture in the life of our nation where the portent of that sentiment has never been more acute that now. The providential turn represented by the latest election has released a breadth and depth of hope into the world that, if harnessed in the right way, could provide the boost to at last overcome the opposition to permanently transformative change in the realm of money. This would be truly the culmination of a battle of the ages.

It is not mere coincidence that our new President will take office at the height of the greatest financial crisis the nation, and the world, has yet faced. Indeed, the urgency of the matter will not even wait for him to take his oath, as it is pressing down upon him even now. It is a foreboding sign that already he is being hedged about by a coterie of heavy-hitting financial advisors that will surely impress upon him the importance of going even deeper into "debt" as a way of resolving the "debt" crisis. I do not say that such voices should not be heard, but truly liberating virtues of public money need at last have their hearing.

If the promise of the moment bounces back unrequited in the unfolding of events, then the present euphoric mood will turn upon the People as it metamorphoses into the bitterness of cynicism, and our state will be at the last incalculably worse than at the first.

What is more, nothing will be changed by reading; only by acting. We Americans are doers. That is what we bring to the world. What then to do? That is for each to determine out of his or her own inspiration.

As a thought, there are practical initiatives that can be pursued in concert with others. One is the Concord Resolution, which is an effort to recreate in our time essentially what was done by the colonial government of Massachusetts in 1690; that is, to issue public money in service to the commonweal of the People, as the alternative to relying on private money, which would make of the colony a debtor to the moneylenders. This Resolution has been reworked of late to make it more focused on the transference of the money-creation franchise itself from the private banking system to the U.S. Treasury. It has also been presented in such a way as to encourage others around the nation to introduce parallel resolutions in their communities. It is our hope that this could become a movement.

It is incumbent upon me to address the matter of resources. I have, and will continue, to offer up the column, and the fruits of all other initiatives that I am engaged in, free of charge, and remain true to that commitment regardless of whatever personal sacrifices it entails. That said, the effort cannot move forward without resources. To date that burden has fallen upon a very limited circle of people who have effectively emptied themselves out to insure that the work, at least on a minimal level, continues to move forward. The level of critical work that needs to be done with respect to the monetary sphere far exceeds the resources available to perform it. It may not be too much to say that this is a tragedy of our time.

Help is needed in researching specific topics on money, and I would be willing to speak to anyone who is willing to lend a hand.

Basic material help of many kinds is sorely needed. This, of course, includes financial assistance. Funds contributed to the effort become in effect monies that are consecrated to the liberation of the whole of humanity from the ravages of a bogus "debt". This is not simply a worthy sentiment, but a spiritual principle that works through money itself. I will have more to say on that subject in future columns.

Finally I would express my appreciation for all who have taken an interest in these discourses. I have received hundreds of communications posing questions, offering critiques, or lending encouragement. I am grateful for every one. In the future it is my hope that I can be more responsive, and tighten up the time lag in the dialogue.

The time for action on the transformation of the way our society creates, issues and controls money is now. I encourage each to find their own path of commitment according to their own authentic calling. For those with ears to hear.

Thank you for your patient and considerate attention.

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