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Questions never, ever asked, Like, for example . . .

Why does government need to be funded?

Exotic world travel, along with travel photography, is among this author’s passions.

World travel can lead to expanded horizons—and imaginings. Then, those adjuncts, along with ever-ongoing studies in history and science, can lead to big-pattern vision and analysis. Those things are the heart and soul of this little book, which, specifically, was a work in progress for twelve years, and two previous editions, and buttressed generally by a lifetime of diverse experiences as a U.S. Marine in the Pacific, work, business, entrepreneurship and family. The result, hopefully, is true seminal thinking, a thing which this world seems to be sorely lacking.

The correct answer to this question: In America today, It doesn’t, but YOU do,

holds implications that are nothing less than

Staggering

for every hard-working American;

those performing the earnest, productive work that makes

the entire economy

Actually Function.

Indeed, it can be seen that a

Proper, Central, Essential Function

of Government

is augmenting compensation to that basic, essential work–raising that pay to its proper,

Commensurate, rationally understood value.

The reason this has not yet been accomplished is that

Our concept of money has failed to evolve.

And this is our potentially fatal

Failure of Imagination.

Historically, money and wealth were undifferentiated concepts, but now,

in a modern market economy, properly and of necessity

operating with fiat currency,

Wealth and Money are stand-alone concepts.

Recognizing and implementing this seminal insight would change just about everything–

in the most wholesome possible way!

Like, for example . . .

Saving (true) democracy and liberty.

This it will do by repairing the central defect of reason, the failure of imagination, inherent to “capitalism,” a defect that actually threatens humanity by giving rise to

Totalitarian communist regimes.

This defect of injustice, due to our historic defect of reason, and failure of imagination, is real, not imaginary, hence, the potential for historic revolutionary backlash–the archetypal example being the Communist Manifesto of 1848.

And this repair it will make while not merely retaining, but enhancing

True market functions.

Extinguishing any and all defenses or rationales for centralized economic models.

Which naturally and inevitably lead to centralized political power.

Communism makes all persons (except the ruling elite, of course) “equal” by leveling DOWN.

The properly understood economic model, introduced here, by proper understanding of

The concept of money,

Levels UP!

And does so in a way that is indefinitely sustainable financially;

the antithesis of what we’re doing now.

What we’re doing now, accruing debt towards infinity, with no resolution whatever even being suggested . . .

WILL LEAD TO COLLAPSE IN SOME FORM.

We now have a national debt well over $30 TRILLION, surging by TRILLIONS MORE, with no solution whatever . . .

EVEN BEING SUGGESTED.

(This point is urgently worthy of repetition.)

HAVING DEBT IMPOSSIBLE TO RETIRE IS THE DEFINITION OF BANKRUPTCY.

And much of this debt is owed to, and empowers, the greatest global threat to liberty on our planet.

And all the while . . .

those performing vital work, would, at long last, be compensated

in harmony

with the

actual, true, underlying, value-to-the-entire-system,

of their labor.

While the cost of that labor to employers would more closely resemble the (real) wages paid to . . .

off-shore producers.

The geo-political-economic implications of this insight are, well, yet again, nothing less than . . .

STAGGERING.

Very nearly ALL (actual) work in our modern economy is vital work.

It may be safely asserted that all those employed in the private sector, being paid hourly, or with relatively modest

salaries would be included in the (very substantial) pay augmentation of this plan.

The book provides (really attention-getting) examples in tabular format.

And, since funding government is kinda what taxation is all about, if government doesn’t need to be funded, then, hmmm . . . maybe the whole idea of taxation could become obsolete!

Not just income taxes, ALL TAXES, like on sales and property, too. Just try to imagine owning a home free-and-clear. Huh? No property taxes?

Yes, that’s right, no property taxes!

Hmmm . . . again, but what about the value of our currency? Did I think about that?

Um, yeah, I have thought about that–

more than a little, actually.

But just what is it that imbues currency with value?

Hmmm . . . yet again, that’s a really good question!

I’m glad you asked.

The supply of money is not immediately relevant, unless that supply is too small.

If the supply of money (i.e. currency) is too small there would then be a crisis of liquidity.

And this is not just a hypothetical postulate: that very thing happened in America around the turn of the 20th century.

The solution then was “bimetallism,” using silver along with gold to secure the value of the currency. But then, if the supply of currency is too large, the value of that currency would diminish, right?

Wrong.

And this fact began to be understood, with certainty, and acted upon by the Fed around the turn of the 21st century. The book describes this crucial-to-understand matter

in some further detail.

The value of currency in direct relation to supply of that currency only obtains if that supply is less than adequate. If the supply of currency is adequate for purposes of liquidity, the only cause for diminished value of that currency (in the form of inflation) would be artificial restriction of the supply of wealth.

And this act of government malfeasance/malevolence

has happened–more than once–by capriciously,

artificially, restricting the flow of oil.

It is what we’re doing

RIGHT NOW, accruing debt towards infinity,

that ultimately threatens our

SURVIVAL,

economic and otherwise.

Money is imbued with value by being exchangeable for wealth.

Exchangeable means being accepted for exchange. The value of money, i.e., currency, is established by the wealth that underlies it.

Wealth and Money are stand-alone concepts,

in a modern, market economy, which this book explains in detail.

In primitive, nascent economies, wealth and “money” are, of necessity, equivalent things.

But, when wealth is created anew, outside and beyond providential creation,

the two concepts begin to separate.

Failing to recognize this new separation, and properly acting upon it, threatens . . .

EVERYTHING.

Well, no, not really. Actually, that ‘s an understatement. Actually, failing to recognize,

and properly act upon this new separation,

GUARANTEES THE EVENTUAL COLLAPSE OF EVERYTHING . . .

CERTAINLY TO INCLUDE THE VERY NOTION AND IDEA OF INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY.

If the supply of money is caused to become too small, then, that currency artificially becomes wealth.

But, further, crucially, increasing the supply of money alone can have no effect on diminishing the value of that money.

At a certain point there becomes a level , above which money becomes surplus,

and surplus money can indeed have its value mitigated . . . even losing its fecundity.

That is, it can’t even grow; there is and always will be a limit to profitable investments.

While below that (surplus) level, money fully retains it value.

Money BELOW that SURPLUS level is to be understood as “CORE MONEY.”

It is in the realm of SURPLUS MONEY where it can be taxed for the purpose of limiting the overall supply of currency,

at a structured multiple of GDP, with no harmful effect to any individual or other entity, such as corporate.

EXTRACTING CORE MONEY, in the form of taxation, GUARANTEES the COLLAPSE of a modern

market economy by (1) needlessly mitigating the liquidity of that market, and then (2) further ensuring

actual COLLAPSE, by attempting something that is foundationally irrational, due to its proven impossibility

(totally offsetting government outlays),

and therefore, at minimum, myopic, but, eventually, after way more than enough time has elapsed,

it has earned the title of . . .

STUPID.

This bears repeating . . .

There is a point at which the supply of money becomes surplus, to an individual person, family, corporation,

or any other entity. There is a limit to what can be bought, or even profitably invested.

This concept constricts neither buying power nor investing opportunity.

When the concept of money in a vibrant, modern, wealth-producing economy,

the quintessence of which is the modern United States, is finally, at long last, properly understood,

it then logically becomes apparent that . . .

Core money

no longer need be unnecessarily, destructively extracted from that wealth-creating system!

Extracting this core money, i.e., not surplus money, is DESTRUCTIVE,

both literally and metaphorically. It is

HARMFUL

to the hard-working people creating and sustaining the wealth. Recapturing surplus money is (somewhat) necessary while being neither destructive,

nor even harmful to any person or other entity.

It is the concept of surplus money that makes

this dynamic possible.

There is a limit to what can be bought, or even profitably invested. This concept constricts no one’s ability to

dream big or live

LARGE.

In America today, attempting, futilely, to fund our national government not merely plays no role in ensuring the value of our currency, any more than does the gold reserve at

Fort Knox, which is a pathetic function of

myopic orthodoxy, it

ASSURES the COLLAPSE

of our entire system.

This book explains what DOES ensure that value, why and how, and yes, of course, how to

regulate the quantity of currency in circulation.

The message of this book limits the overall money supply

to a multiple of GDP.

It does NOT argue for UNLIMITED money supply.

But it DOES argue (vehemently) for the supply of money paid to the WEALTH PRODUCERS to be

GREATLY INCREASED, and then held

SECURELY,

FREE FROM TAXATION.

Our present system, which, for some reason, we continue to call “capitalism,” a term attributed to Karl Marx,

and intended as a pejorative, does indeed inherently contain a defect of rationalization–one that is crucial,

and has no remedy within our present organizing principles.

“Capitalism” undervalues the vital work that does in fact make the entire system actually function.

That work is NOT compensated in proper proportion to its contribution.

That compensation is NOT commensurate.

Under “capitalism” the value of work is established with the question:

How may people can perform a given task?

This is a fundamentally wrong question. The correct question to establish the true value of labor is to ask . . .

What would happen . . .

If those performing a certain task no longer existed?

For some jobs, the answer would be . . .

An Actual Apocalypse.

Both in its customary, modern usage, that is, a special, perhaps final disaster, and its actual etymological meaning of uncovering, or revealing. It would uncover, reveal, the true value of the labor that has been lost.

There is no solution to this critical problem under capitalism. This structural shortcoming of capitalism contains within it the original rationalization for the concept of socialism, but socialism is not the answer. Solving this otherwise insoluble problem is the project of this book, a project requiring seminal thinking.

This thinking contains the solution attempted by the concept of socialism, while retaining the golden goose of liberty and a market economy.

Before really big matters like this can begin to truly be unraveled, it is necessary to address another singularly basic question, seldom if ever asked:

What is Knowledge?

Yes, I know, readers may respond with something like, “Helloooo, we don’t ask that question because it’s a dumb question!”

Earlier in life I too likely would have responded in such a way, but as vision may expand with time and experience, bigger patterns can begin to emerge in one’s imaginings. The concept of what we think of as “knowledge” can begin to be seen in three (descending) categories:

Wisdom, Orthodoxy, and Ideology.

Wisdom: what is known to be true–including, but not limited to, the laws of physics.

Orthodoxy: what is thought and held to be true.

Ideology: what is clung to and proffered despite the evidence.

All three categories are “taught” in American education systems, knowingly, intentionally, purposefully . . .

Up to the Highest Levels.

Of course political positions today are summarized as the “left” and the “right.” This all began with the term “left;” the origin of this term (in the milieu of the French Revolution) as a political position is explained in the book. The term “left” is useful and informative, due to its provenance, but that usefulness does not extend to and hold for the term “right” in describing political positioning–the term “right” has come to be used simply to describe that which is not the “left”–too vague to be usefully meaningful. The term “left” is so useful and informative because it describes an insurgency–this description is true to its provenance. So, the next logical question becomes:

The Philosophical Left, An Impressionistic Left, and the Malevolent, Political Left.

It is the core message of this book, its heart and soul, that what this writer refers to as the philosophical left, in its historical quest for social justice, has forever been sniffing around a very real and important bush. The project of the philosophical left has always been an insurgency against orthodoxy. This, when properly conducted, is utterly defensible–quite possibly even essential to the project of . . .

Human Felicity and Flourishing.

The impressionistic left generally is composed of impressionable, malleable, at least somewhat ignorant (not unintelligent) minds–i.e., largely, students. Often described as “useful idiots,” a term commonly attributed to Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (aka “Lenin”), i.e., those highly susceptible to

INDOCTRINATION.

The project of the malevolent, political left is insurgency against wisdom. It is a project of nihilism for the purpose of gaining absolute power and control. It is in the lowest dregs of the malevolent left where one finds true, pure, genocidal evil.

. . .

Insurgency against orthodoxy can stand on its own merit; insurgency against wisdom requires a fulcrum. Archimedes said . . .

Give me a big enough lever and I will move the earth!

A fulcrum is what provides power to a lever; it is that upon which a lever pivots.

The malevolent political left originally disguised itself among the philosophical left because the issue of social justice was a fulcrum of quite great power. But as the power of that fulcrum has been somewhat attenuated (not solved! Solving this quintessentially seminal issue is precisely what this book is about!), the political left has moved to other issues to use as fulcra (plural of fulcrum), specifically environmental issues, most especially, of course, anthropogenic

Art Form.

Our present economic systems, which tend to staunchly hold to the notion that government must be funded, a notion that inherently means extracting wealth from that system, is a function of knowledge in the realm of orthodoxy, not wisdom. Our notion of the money/government nexus has yet to fully evolve–to the level of wisdom. So, describing our present economic system with a pejorative does, in fact, contain some objectively correct merit. Capitalism is a structurally flawed system. Chapter 6 of this little book is entitled: The Structural Flaws of Capitalism. Structural flaws are fatal flaws. Any system or edifice, built with even a single structural flaw, will eventually, necessarily and properly, crumble. So, the correct and proper alternative is socialism, right? Absolutely, positively, infinitely billion-trillion percent . . . NO!!!!!!! Socialism, properly understood, where government controls the means of production, belittles, squishes, diminishes, negates, even criminalizes, the single most powerful force present in our universe for human felicity and flourishing:

Positive Incentives!

However, crucially, government involvement in the just distribution of the monetary resource, an inherently abstract thing, imbued with value only by the wealth-creation that underlies it, can be seen as a fundamental aspect of government properly understood. And, also crucially, when this big-pattern thing is properly understood and implemented, it can then begin to be seen that the pathogen of ideology that presently plaques us can be properly dealt with, which is to say, squished. As alternative terminology (to capitalism), we often hear the expression “free-market” system. This is better, and approaches nearer the true essence of the concept attempting to be described, but it is still imperfect because this author considers it a tautology: any system that is not “free” is not in fact truly a “market.” An actual market is a system that inherently operates under the imperative of positive incentives. The power inherent to positive incentives approaches infinity–it includes the power to optimize all positive ends for all persons in all places at all times, which emphatically does and always will mean . . .

Proper stewardship of our planetary nest!

To begin conveying a little information about this author, who, from a very young age in the 1950’s, was fascinated by maps, books, language, exotic places and people, photography, (and girls, even though he didn’t understand just why, quite yet), we’ll begin with some photos of . . .

Traveling Around It

(the world, that is).

There’s a breed of men that don’t fit in,

And likely never will.

So they break the hearts of kith and kin,

And roam the world at will.

This is the (modified) version of the opening stanza of a poem by Robert Service. (The Men That Don’t Fit In–if you read the original, you will understand why it was modified.)

This poetic message was used in a magazine advertisement in the 1960’s, and these words identified and touched something ineffable in this adolescent reader that would exert a powerful and enduring hold on him, your humble correspondent; he never forgot them.

While not actually breaking the hearts of kith and kin, he found himself somehow instinctively turning away from offers, based on testings of competence, that promised a bright and highly credentialed career path.

That ineffable thing gradually became recognized as an instinct resistant to being “trapped.” An instinct that required the freedom to, quite literally, “roam the world at will.”

He (at least subconsciously) recognized this as an essential aspect of the path toward, leading in the direction of, understanding.

While overtly relishing true, black-letter education, he sought it out in ways not constricting to his freedom of movement, and, essentially, could and would be never-ending.

These ways began to expand in the 1980’s, and that expansion proves to be ever-continuing. Now, it is possible, even easy, and very affordable, to attend the truly wonderful and utterly intellectually-honest teachings of university-level scholars of impeccable reputation–remotely and on-demand–by recordings in audio and audio-visual formats. This is a blessing vast in scope, and one in which your humble correspondent has partaken on a quite large scale.

This is in addition to actual attendance at actual brick-and-mortar college-level institutions.

And combined with rather vast (it might be said) real-world experience in actual commerce, almost always as an independent contractor and entrepreneur.

This path less taken has resulted in what might, by some, be described as leading to at least some introductory-level insight into that first-cited type of knowledge: wisdom.

You, dear reader, be the judge.

Baliem Valley, New Guinea

These photos were taken in the western, i.e., Indonesian part of the island of New Guinea, in the southwest Pacific, at that time called Irian Jaya. The presence of people in this ultra-remote region was never even suspected until discovered by accident when the new age of aviation made fly-overs possible. This village is in the vicinity of Wamena, a settlement in the region of the Dani People, which is reached by small plane from the coastal city of Jayapura. I went there in the 1980’s for the purpose of a multi-day trek among these fascinating people back in their hinterlands. But even before beginning that trek, just by accident, I had the incredible opportunity to attend the somber event pictured here: the funeral of an unfortunate young man.

The women covered with dried mud I interpreted as nearest kin, and there is one very important aspect of this scenario that cannot be conveyed through still photos: the chanting. I was there for a significant portion of the day–many hours–and this chanting, what I’m pretty sure should be described as a funeral dirge, never stopped. Although it was very exciting for this boy born and raised in Nebraska to be in such an exotic place, I gradually began to share in their grief; by the time the unfortunate young man was placed upon his pyre, tears were streaming down my cheeks.

With the simple gift of some tobacco for the head man (chief), I was offered the opportunity to observe and photograph at my leisure (wow!). The pig was butchered and cooked in a pit of hot stones underground. To my surprise, when the pig was ready, they offered me a first serving. Reluctant to accept at first, I took a bite: this offering was from the back-strap–the tenderloin, the most succulent portion–and it was freaking delicious! The last three photos are of the funeral pyre being prepared, and then the unfortunate young man laid there upon. Needless to say, a never-to-be-forgotten experience.

Inner Mongolia

with its gers, and Bactrian (two-humped) camels.

(This type of dwelling may be more familiarly described as “yurts,” but that term comes from Turkic speakers; the term “ger” is used in this region.)

The three photos toward the bottom depict the ritual wrestling of the region, in which this author enthusiastically engaged with his new friends there.

As many world travelers would discover, these Bactrian, i.e., two-humped, camels are much more comfortable to ride than the one-humped, Dromedary camels of north Africa and the Mideast.

These three photos at the bottom are, I’m pretty sure, as best I can recall, from Hohhot, one of the major cities of Inner Mongolia.

Questions never, ever asked, Like, for example . . .

Why does government need to be funded?

Exotic world travel, along with travel photography, is among this author’s passions.

An Actual Apocalypse.

What is Knowledge?