1,241 words

Imagine going back in time to the 1500s. You can only take one technology with you: the freezer. For the purpose of this thought experiment, we will pretend you’ve also got a way to power it. Now imagine you show the freezer to some peasants in a village. At first, they will probably be most interested in its craftsmanship. They’ve never seen such perfectly smooth metal, the astoundingly high-quality hinge, and the interior of the box magically lights up when opened. (more…)

3,521 words

Part 4 of 4

National Socialist Germany

Propaganda rather than scholarship has dominated studies on National Socialist Germany. Hence, the manner by which certain socio-economic achievements were attained is buried amidst histories that focus on war, the Holocaust, and racial theories. (more…)

Hieronymous Bosch, “Death and the Miser,” detail

2,448 words

Part 3 of 4

States that Broke the Bondage of Interest

Any efforts to advocate alternatives to banking that might extricate nations from the grip of the money-changers are dismissed as “funny money” (more…)

C. H. Douglas, founder of Social Credit

3,859 words

The Impetus from Catholic Social Doctrine

A significant impetus for financial and economic reconstruction was Catholic social doctrine. In many states such as Dollfuss’ Austria,[1] Salazar’s Portugal,[2] Franquist Spain, Vichy France, and as far away as Vargas’ Brazil, Papal Encyclicals provided the doctrinal foundations. The main feature of these “new states” was corporatist social and economic organization, replacing party parliaments with chambers representing all professions. (more…)

2,956 words

Part 1 of 4

“Money is merely the medium of trade. It is not wealth. It is only the transportation system, as it were, by which wealth is carried from one person to another.” — Father Charles Coughlin (1935) (more…)