Page 16 - Michael Journal 2019 August

Money Must be Created by the Island’s Inhabitants
for Exchanges Among the Island’s Inhabitants!
The following article, written by Mrs. Gilberte
Côté-Mercier, is a summary of Louis Even’s tale,
“The Money Myth Exploded”, which helps us
understand how money today is created as debt by
private banks, whereas social money can be cre-
ated debt-free by society.
by Gilberte Côté-Mercier
Let us imagine that 10 men lived on an isolated
island inaccessible to the rest of the world.
The men were good workers and they suc-
cessfully exploited the island’s riches.
Everyone plied a trade. Peter tilled the land,
Louis bred animals, etc.
One day, Peter, who was tired of eating only
his crops, asked Louis to trade a calf for some po-
tatoes.
Peter: “Louis, can you sell me a calf?”
Louis: “What will you give me in return?”
Peter: “Twenty bags of potatoes.”
Louis: “I am not interested in potatoes; I don’t
eat them.”
Peter resigned himself to eating potatoes.
Louis, however, had too many calves and would
have liked to have traded his livestock for prod-
ucts that he actually wanted.
It was the same situation each time one of the
men wanted to trade with the others. Either it was
difficult to match tastes, or it was not the right
time or it was impossible to make the calculations.
Often, it would have been necessary to cut a calf
in two to complete an exchange.
Seeing the difficulties they had in trying to
make mutually agreeable arrangements, the 10
men gathered to discuss the problem.
They noted that the island provided them with
everything they wanted; it was not wealth that
was lacking, nor work, but something else.
Everyone agreed that money was lacking on
the island.
* * *
The men were practical and had common
sense. They had determined the problem was that
they lacked money to facilitate exchanges, and so
they decided to create money.
They did not act like our governments who
16 MICHAEL August/September 2019
money. This money cannot be lost or stolen. I am
conclude that an increase in taxes or a war are the
solution when there is a lack of money.
Rather, they reasoned logically: “Money is
lacking. Therefore, let us create some money for
ourselves.”
They did not think about going elsewhere to
create money. They did not ask spirits from an-
other world nor men from other countries to cre-
ate money for them. Rather, they decided to cre-
ate it themselves, for themselves.
Peter said: “James was formerly a bank man-
ager. He knows very well how to count. James,
please create money for us.”
James: “Fine! I will create money for you.
How much money do you need on the island so
that business can be facilitated?”
Peter: “If we had $1,000 on the island, then ex-
changes could be completed easily. Please create
$1,000; $100 for each of us.”
James got down to work. He took a book, wrote
Peter’s name and beside it he wrote that $100 in
credit was available to him. Then, he handed Peter
the credit book, and said:
“Here is $100 for you, Peter. It is money made
up of figures, of numbers; the most modern
www.michaeljournal.org
for them.
lending you $100. You will pay it back to me at the
end of the year, plus an additional $7 in interest.” would be sufficient for now.”
Peter was incredulous: “Why are YOU lending
ME $100? You want me to pay back $100, and on
top of that, interest! You must be joking, James!
It is as if the money that you create would belong
to you since you want me to pay it back to you.
You are mistaken, James. We asked you to create
money for us, not create money for you. You will
receive your share of $100 like the others, but the
total $1,000 does not belong to you. If you lend
$100 to each of us with the obligation to pay it
back to you, it is as if the $1,000 was yours!”
James: “But, that is the way money is created
in modern nations!”
Peter sarcastically replied: “Oh! It is undoubt- It represented the amount of the island’s addition-
edly for this reason that living is so nice in civil-
ized countries, where one can die of hunger when
there is such abundance, and where war ultimately
settles matters. Well, that type of society does not
interest us, James. You will create money for all;
for everyone. It means that you will create $100
for each one of us which you will simply give us.”
James understood. He gave each man a credit
book with $100 noted in the credit column.
On the island, they called the $100 a dividend.
It was based on the island’s production, and it was
brand new money that came from James’ pen.
The money was necessary for the island’s inhabit-
ants in order to exchange their products.
The following year was a great success. There
were no longer arguments when trading goods.
Business prospered so much that the $1,000
in circulation was not enough to purchase all that
was produced on the island as production had
greatly increased.
* * *
At the end of the year, the men met again. They
considered that the money which had been cre-
ated at the beginning of the year had done them
much good but, because of the island’s growth
and prosperity, they needed more money.
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They asked James to create more new money
Peter said: “If we had an additional $25 each, it
James created $25 for everyone by adding this
amount in the credit column of each man’s book.
Peter had worked more than Louis during the
past year and already had $150 noted in his credit
book. He received $25 and so had a total credit
available for his use of $175.
Louis, who had been sick during the year, had
$50 in his credit book at the end of the year. He
received $25 and so had a total of $75.
The $25 which was added to everyone’s credit
column could be called the dividend for that year.
al development or progress in the year.
The 10 men had created money for them-
selves. They did not ask a monopolist to create
their money. They had more confidence in them-
selves, the very folk who had built the island’s
wealth, than in strangers who would simply ex-
ploit the island’s real producers.
They created dividends to circulate, not debts
to pay.
The credit which circulated on the island was a
social credit, based on the production of the island
and based on the confidence that the island’s in-
habitants had in their small society. The credit was
created by the island’s inhabitants for the island’s
inhabitants.
* * *
If Canada was this island, and it was inhabited
by 37 million members, should this method to cre-
ate credit not be the same? Why not? v
Gilberte Côté-Mercier
Rougemont monthly meetings
House of the Immaculate
1101 Principale Street, Rougemont
August 25, October 27, Nov. 24
10:00 a.m.: Opening. Rosary
4:30 p.m. Holy Mass in the chapel of
the House of the Immaculate
Week of study: September 22-27
Congress: September 28-30
Triduum of prayers: October 1-3
MICHAEL August/September 2019 17