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tures. They’re honest and they
will honor their pledges. Honest,
hardworking people were put into
this world to serve the Financiers.
“Oh great Mammon ! I feel
your banking genius coursing
through my entire being! Oh, il-
lustrious master ! How right you
were when you said: ‘Give me
control of a nation’s money and I
won’t mind who makes its laws.’ I
am the master of Salvation Island
because I control its money.
“My soul is drunk with en-
thusiasm and ambition. I feel I
could rule the universe. What I,
Oliver, have done here, I can do
throughout the entire world. Oh!
If only I could get off this island!
I know how I could govern the
world without wearing a crown.
“My supreme delight would
be to instill my philosophy in the
minds of those who lead society:
bankers, industrialists, politicians,
reformers, teachers, journalists
– all would be my servants. The
masses are content to live in slav-
ery when the elite from among
them are constituted to be their
overseers.”
12. The cost of living unbearable
Meanwhile, things went from
bad to worse on Salvation Island.
Production was up and barte-
ring had dropped to a minimum.
Oliver collected his interest regu-
larly. The others had to think of
setting money aside for him.
Thus, money tended to clot ins-
tead of circulating freely.
Those who paid the most in
taxes complained against those
who paid less. They raised the
prices of their goods to compen-
sate for this loss. The unfortunate
poor who paid no taxes lamented
the high cost of living and bought
less.
If one took a salaried job with
another, he was continually de-
manding increases in salary in or-
der to meet the mounting cost of
living.
Morale was low. The joy went
out of living. No one took an inter-
est in his work. Why should he?
Produce sold poorly. When they
would make a sale, they had to pay
taxes to Oliver. They went without,
this was a real crisis. And they ac-
cused one another of wanting in
charity and of being the cause of
the high cost of living.
One day, Harry, sitting in his
orchard, pondered over the situa-
tion. He finally arrived at the con-
clusion that this “progress”, born
of a refugee’s monetary system,
had spoiled everything on the is-
land. Unquestionably, all five had
their faults but Oliver’s system
seemed to have been specifically
designed to bring out the worst in
human nature.
Harry decided to demonstrate
this to his friends and to unite
them for action. He started with
Jim, who was not hard to con-
vince. “I’m no genius,” he said,
“but for a long time now there’s
been a bad smell about this bank-
er’s system.”
One by one they came to the
same conclusion and they ended
up by deciding to have another
conference with Oliver.
13. Enslaved by Oliver
A veritable tempest burst
about the ears of the banker.
“Money’s scarce on the is-
land, fellow, because you take it
away from us ! We pay you and
pay you and still we owe you as
much as at the beginning. We
work our heads off ! We’ve the
finest land possible and yet we’re
worse off than before the day of
your arrival. Debts ! Debts ! Up to
our necks in debts ! ”
“Now boys, be reasonable !
Your affairs are booming and it’s
thanks to me. A good banking
system is a country’s best asset.
But if it is to work beneficially,
you must have faith in the bank-
er. Come to me as you would to
a father... Is it more money that
you want ? Very well. My barrel of
gold is good for many thousands
of dollars more. See, I’m going to
mortgage your latest acquisitions
and lend you another thousand
dollars right now.”
“So! Now our debt goes up
to $2000 ! We are going to have
twice as much interest to pay for
the rest of our lives ! ”
“Well, yes – but I’ll lend you
more whenever the value of your
property increases. And you’ll
never pay anything but the inter-
est. You’ll lump all your debts into
one – what we call a consolidat-
ed debt. And you can add to the
debt, year after year.”
“And raise the taxes, year after
year ? ”
“Obviously. But your revenues
also increase every year.”
“So then, the more the coun-
try develops each year because
of our labor, the more the public
debt increases ! ”
“Why, of course ! Just as in
your country – or in any other
part of the civilized world for that
matter. The degree of a country’s
civilization is always gauged by
the size of its debt to the bankers.”
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