Recent Brainpower Tip #1
How can you really comprehend big numbers, so they mean something? One way is to
compare them to a more familiar quantity or scale.Here's an example. Since the start of the
"financial crisis," the Federal Reserve (which isn't federal and doesn't reserve
anything) has created $29 trillion out of thin air and given it to the major
banksters (who then lavished huge bonuses on their executives). Source: Senior
Scholar L. Randall Wray, professor of economics at the University of
Missouri–Kansas City.
What's the difference between $29 trillion and, say, $400 billion? It's hard
to picture. But compare it to, say, the population of 300 million people in the
USA, and you can start to picture it.
This is a great comparison, because the creation of that money out of thin
air was a currency debasement by that amount of money (inflation, in other
words). And because it's a "taking" from dollar holders, that makes it a tax.
How much was this tax per person?
- Divide 29 + 12 zeroes by 300 + 6 zeroes.
- The per capita tax is just under $97,000.
If "only" a $9 trillion counterfeiting operation, the tax would be only about
$32,000 per capita. For a family of four, that would be $128,000. But it's not
"only" $9 trillion. For a family of four, the damage is $388,000.
And now, with a little comparison, you can see just how egregious this
stealing really is. No wonder that when Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal
Reserve Act, it wasn't by light of day. It was pretty much a cloak and dagger
operation, and guess who got stabbed?
Recent Brainpower Tip #2
One of the rare ways that tax dollars are spent intelligently is when they are
spent on public libraries. The public library is an amazing resource.Just two
ways you can use your library to boost your brainpower:
- Watch nonfiction documentary videos (DVD or, depending on your library,
via download). I watch these fairly often, and it's amazing what you can
learn.
- Listen to audio books (typically today, you download and listen on MP3
player). I can go to university while pulling weeds in my yard or doing
housework. I use this resource intensively.
Your library is no doubt strapped for funds. Help them out. Here are some
ways:
- Buy a movie they don't have. Watch it, then donate it.
- Consider volunteering. If you can spare a couple of hours for a couple
of evenings a week, they will have plenty for you to do.
- Be careful with library collection items. Handle DVDs by their edges.
Treat books with utmost care, and never eat or drink while reading them.
- Don't reserve items that are already at your branch, unless the need is
urgent. This is poor impulse control. Reserve items that are at other
branches, yes. But if you can't wait a few weeks for something, you have
discipline issues that create unnecessary work for others.
- Watch your county government for wasteful spending, and object to it.
That means less cutting of the library budget if they listen and act
accordingly.
- See what's at your library and talk it up to friends and neighbors. The
more patrons a library has, the more political clout it has. My library, for
example, keeps usage and patronage statistics for budget justification. And
when that doesn't work, a few thousand phone calls from library patrons tend
to get the county board's attention.
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