A PARTYKILLER
You can almost hear it.
Money , finance and economics.
I mean, the subject doesn’t radiate excitement and entertaining conversations at parties, does it?
Most people would probably label it “boring”, “opaque”, or leave it to people in suits who work at banks and in government.
But isn’t that exactly why bankers and politicians control the narrative in our society about money and finance? Ordinary people know nothing about this subject. “Because it’s boooooring!”.
As a consequence the narrative is reserved for the institutions in power.
If we want to have financial democracy in our society, we must take responsibility as ordinary citizens and educate ourselves to participate in shaping the narrative.
KNOWLEDGE IS THE KEY TO FREEDOM
I remember the years leading up to the financial crisis in 2008. I was a poor student in my mid-twenties at the time. I stood on the sideline and watched how people went amok in a You-Only-Live-Once frenzy of borrowing money to buy new kitchens, a new car, summerhouses, trips to Thailand, and of course, the ultimate key to the bursting of what was named “the housing bubble” – buying houses they couldn’t really afford, with adjustable interest rate loans.
I remember my impression of society as a floating around in a greasy pool of laziness and unimaginative self-sufficiency.
It was all very cleverly and conveniently orchestrated. Until the music suddenly stopped.
As a child my frugal parents had taught me that you shouldn’t spend more than you make, I knew it had to end sometime. And when it did, while so many people were shocked and in tears. I was relieved.
The lie that so many people had tried to pass off as a truth to each other, had been exposed as the lie it had always been.
No one could explain what had taken place – and why.
Not the politicians.
Not the bankers.
Not the media.
No one had answers.
No one took any responsibility.
As banks were collapsing while others were being saved by the government, while technically insolvent homeowners were crying in despair, I was left with three glaringly obvious conclusions at that point.
- The institutions in society had failed the trust of the public, and the responsibility that came with their bestowed authority
- As a result, I could no longer trust them.
- I had to find the answers to my questions elsewhere.
No one can tell me how the world works anymore. They simply do not have all the pieces to the puzzle. I have to put together the pieces myself – in an endless ocean of true or false information.
But I still believe it is worth the effort – to gather a different worldview different from mainstream media.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Now I am asking you; Do you still have trust in the authorities, and if so, why?
BY THE WAY
Did you read my blogpost about an online group of young people who shook Wall Street at their own game?
No? Then read “Gamestop – A Stab At the People Who Live By the Sword“!