JULY 1
1967 – US POSTAL SAVING SYSTEM ENDS
Opposition from commercial banks prevented the postal savings system from fully developing. The United States Postal Savings System was a postal savings system operated by the United States Postal Service from January 1, 1911 until July 1, 1967
1996 – QUOTE BY ANDREW GAUSE, MONETARY HISTORIAN, ON FRACTIONAL RESERVE BANKING SYSTEM
“One thing to realize about our fractional reserve banking system is that, like a childs game of musical chairs, as long as the music is playing, there are no losers.” THE SECRET WORLD OF MONEY, PUBLISHED JULY 1, 1996 http://www.andygause.com
1983 – DEATH OF BUCKMINSTER FULLER, US ARCHITECT, SYSTEMS THEORIST, AUTHOR, DESIGNER, INVENTOR AND FUTURIST
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
This is what proponents of a democratic monetary system are doing – calling for the creation of US money (rather than borrowing from banks) to rebuild our national infrastructure, democratizing the Federal Reserve system, eliminating “fractional reserve banking” (which allows banks to loan out more than their deposits) and other provisions.
JULY 2
1787 – LETTER TO JAMES MADISON FROM GOUVENEUR MORRIS, ONE OF THE PRIMARY ARCHITECTS OF THE US CONSTITUTION
In describing the motives of the owners of the new Bank of North America, Morris stated,
“The rich will strive to establish their dominion and enslave the rest. They always did. They always will…They will have the same effect here as elsewhere, if we do not, by [the power of] government, keep them in their proper spheres.”
1881 – PRESIDENT JAMES A. GARFIELD SHOT. HE DIED 10 WEEKS LATER
“Whosoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce, and when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate.” (attributed quote)
1961 – DEATH OF EARNEST HEMMINGWAY, AUTHOR
“How did you go bankrupt?”
“Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”
From The Sun Also Rises
JULY 3
2011 – “MONETARY REFORM, PART I: END THE DEBT” ARTICLE BY LARRRY WALKER, JR.
“Free Our Money – So what’s the problem? You know, you think about it all the time. It’s debt, debt, debt! The way our economy is set up now, the only way it can grow is through incurring more debt, either by government, business or consumer borrowing. Our economy cannot grow without increasing its money supply, and the only way that new money can be introduced, under the present monetary system, is through debt. But growth through debt really amounts to nothing more than spending next year’s income today. It’s a vicious cycle, one which has reduced millions to poverty, and to lives of indentured servitude. It’s time to end the debt, now…Why does the federal government print money, give it to the Federal Reserve, and then borrow its own money back at interest? Couldn’t the government simply print United States Notes, rather than Federal Reserve Notes, and spend it into the economy without a middle man?” http://larrymwalkerjr.blogspot.com/2011/07/monetary-reform-part-i-end-debt.html
JULY 4
1826 – DEATH OF JOHN ADAMS, SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
“ All of the perplexities, confusion, and distress in America arises, not from the defects of the Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation.”
1826 – DEATH OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. . . The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”
1892 – ADOPTION OF THE “OMAHA PLATFORM,” FOUNDING DOCUMENT OF THE POPULIST PARTY
“The national power to create money is appropriated to enrich bondholders; a vast public debt payable in legal tender currency has been funded into gold-bearing bonds, thereby adding millions to the burdens of the people…[The two political parties] propose to drown the outcries of a plundered people with the uproar of a sham battle over the tariff, so that capitalists, corporations, national banks, rings, trusts, watered stock, the demonetization of silver and the oppressions of the usurers may all be lost sight of.
PLATFORM
We demand a national currency, safe, sound, and flexible, issued by the general government only, a full legal tender for all debts, public and private, and that without the use of banking corporations, a just, equitable, and efficient means of distribution direct to the people, at a tax not to exceed 2 per cent per annum, to be provided as set forth in the sub-treasury plan of the Farmers’ Alliance, or a better system; also by payments in discharge of its obligations for public improvements….We demand that postal savings banks be established by the government for the safe deposit of the earnings of the people and to facilitate exchange
JULY 5
2015 – GREEK PEOPLE REJECT EUROPEAN CREDITORS BAILOUT PLAN
The Greek government called for a national referendum vote on July 5 in response to a proposed deal by lenders (European Union, European Central Bank and the IMF) to bailout Greece. The Greek government claimed previous international lenders were irresponsible in providing loans to the Greek government that they knew could not be repaid. Greece, as virtually all nations in the European Union, is limited in their political and economic ability to react to economic crises when they gave up their authority to issue their own currency as a condition to join the European Union. The Greek people rejected the bailout plan 61% to 39%.
JULY 6
1863 – BIRTH OF RICHARD MCKENNA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE MIDLANDS BANK OF ENGLAND
“I am afraid that the ordinary citizen will not like to be told that the banks can and do create and destroy money. And they who control the credit of a nation direct the policy of governments, and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people.”
JULY 7
1896 – REMARKS OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN BEFORE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, CHICAGO, IL (BRYAN WAS THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT)
“We say in our platform that we believe that the right to coin money and issue money is a function of government…Those who are opposed to the proposition tell us that the issue of paper money is a function of the bank and that the government ought to go out of the banking business. I stand with Jefferson…and tell them, as he did, that the issue of money is a function of the government and that the banks should go out of the governing business…When we have restored the money of the Constitution, all other necessary reforms will be possible, and … until that is done, there is no reform that can be accomplished.”
1947 – DEATH OF HENRY FORD, INDUSTRIALIST, FOUNDER, FORD MOTOR COMPANY
“It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”
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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt? Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice. This calendar is the original project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini, Deb Jose and Greg Coleridge helped in its development. It is currently updated by Greg Coleridge. Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, email monetarycalendar@yahoo.com
To see the calendar year-to-date, go to https://monetarycalendar.wordpress.com/
A second historical calendar, the REAL Democracy History Calendar, in many ways complements this calendar. For information, go to https://realdemocracyhistorycalendar.wordpress.com/about/
create real democracy 