Ron Paul Combating “Structures of Sin”
Some people are astonished to discover Catholics for Ron Paul because of the widespread myth that Catholicism is an oppressor of human freedom and liberation. The reality is that Catholicism and the Church are the greatest champions of human dignity and liberty history has known. The Catholic Church has been combating “structures of sin” for a long time, so too has Ron Paul (just not as long). Although the Catholic Church doesn’t promote specific models or endorse particular public policies, she does articulate the moral framework for doing so.
For example, the Catholic Church teaches that the State has a “fundamental task” in economic matters of creating “sure guarantees of individual freedom and private property, as well as a stable currency.” The Church also implores everyone to “combat, in a spirit of justice and charity, those “structures of sin” wherever they may be found and which generate and perpetuate poverty, underdevelopment and degradation. These structures are built and strengthened by numerous concrete acts of human selfishness."
Ron Paul has been combating one of the greatest “structures of sin” for a very long time: the Federal Reserve System, the fiat currency and its role in inflation, and the oppression of the middle class and poor in our country to the benefit of big government, big banks and big business. Say what?!?
In Ron Paul’s own words:
The dollar died on August 15,1971; after that date, it had no independent value for anyone. The new rules, with the dollar now simply a managed fiat currency, ushered in even greater inflation, economic turmoil, and set the stage for total loss of confidence in the dollar.
With the death of the dollar, the time is ripe for the institution of a trustworthy monetary system. The times demand it, and so does the survival of our economic and political order.
The task is not difficult, if we ignore—for once—the political pressures from the special interests whose demands are fulfilled through inflation of the money supply. Inflation, whether for the benefit of big companies, bankers, bureaucrats, monopoly wages, transfer payments, or political careers, must be ended.
If we expect to reverse the destruction of our economy, we must try to understand the motives of those who promote inflation.
Many big business people, bankers, union leaders, politicians, and professors all grew to love inflation, as they saw in it a chance to pursue their goals. Sometimes these were purely materialistic; at other times they embodied the lust for power. In both cases they were immoral.
When I studied the amount of inflation since 1970 and the proportion of Federal deficits in those years that needed to be monetized—created out of thin air—I came up with some startling figures. It is possible that only twenty percent of the inflation, the expansion of the money supply, was necessitated by deficit spending. Eighty percent of the inflation, therefore, may have been for "stimulation" of the economy to aid big business and big banking. Whatever the motive, these institutions profit from the depreciation of the dollar.
Some of the large banks, which have been prominent promoters of fiat currency, have certainly benefited from inflation. Their "profits" have been enhanced, since somebody has to broker all the new money created by government, and pass it on to the large corporations. The international bankers are delighted to do so.
The banks also have the privilege of creating checking account money, known as demand deposits. The banks create this money in the process of making loans—loans for which they charge interest. Much of our money consists of bank-created demand deposits.
Inflation bestows benefits, as well as wreaking havoc. Wealth is transferred from one group to another. Although the transfer has haphazard elements, it goes from the middle class and the poor to the government, the bankers, and the large corporations. This is the immoral process that must be stopped.
Interventionist economists carelessly criticize the spreading of economic growth throughout a free-market society as the "trickle-down theory." But inflation, by trickling, then rushing, through society, spreads economic misery among the poor, working, and middle classes, while enriching the special interests. It is this "trickling-down" that deserves condemnation from everyone concerned about poverty. (Gold, Peace and Prosperity, by Ron Paul)
Here Ron Paul clearly describes one of the greatest “structures of sin” plaguing our society today.
What is a structure of sin? It is the sum total of “the negative factors working against a true awareness of the universal common good, and the need to further it, gives the impression of creating, in persons and institutions, an obstacle which is difficult to overcome.” Structures of sin are “rooted in personal sin [such as greed and the lust for power], and thus always linked to the concrete acts of individuals who introduce these structures, consolidate them and make them difficult to remove. And thus they grow stronger, spread, and become the source of other sins, and so influence people’s behavior.” (John Paul II – Sollicitudo Rei Socialis)
The Federal Reserve System, its necessary inflationary mechanisms and the way it very subtly and immorally transfers wealth from the poor and middle class to big business, banks and government is perhaps one of the greatest “structures of sin” leading to the oppression of the America people by special interests. These structures “generate and perpetuate poverty.”
The Catholic Church teaches that the State has a responsibility to ensure a “stable currency” as one of the fundamental tasks of the State in economic matters. The State’s current monetary policy is one of structural instability and inflation.
[The] State must adopt suitable legislation but at the same time it must direct economic and social policies in such a way that it does not become abusively involved in the various market activities, the carrying out of which is and must remain free of authoritarian – or worse, totalitarian – superstructures and constraints.
Our current Federal Reserve/Fiat Monetary System has surrendered our country to authoritarian and totalitarian superstructures that oppress the poor and destroy the middle class while advancing the “economic interests” of the elites of a global society against the basic and just interests of regular folks like you and me.
Our country and our economy are being destroyed and the reason is primarily our Federal Reserve System/Fiat Monetary System.
Oh, and the Founding Fathers also agree:
"It is apparent from the whole context of the Constitution, as well as the history of the times which gave birth to it," said Andrew Jackson, "that it was the purpose of the Convention to establish a currency consisting of the precious metals."
"The loss which America has sustained since the peace," noted James Madison in Federalist Number 44, "from the pestilent effects of paper money on the necessary confidence between man and man, on the necessary confidence in public councils, on the industry and morals of the people, and on the character of republican government, constitutes an enormous debt against the State chargeable with this unadvised measure, which must long remain unsatisfied; or rather an accumulation of guilt, which can be expiated no otherwise than by a voluntary sacrifice on the altar of justice of the power which has been the instrument of it."
"The emitting of paper money is wisely prohibited to the State Governments," said Alexander Hamilton, "and the spirit of the prohibition ought not to be disregarded by the United States' Government."
Not only is inflation the result of the political demands of special interest groups, the career desires of politicians, and the ill-conceived motives of economists, it is also clearly unconstitutional. Money of real value, gold or silver, was clearly intended by the Founding Fathers, as evidenced in their writings and in the Constitution. Their abhorrence of paper money stemmed from their experience with the Continental, and irredeemable Colonial paper money. That same abhorrence is becoming evident today as well, which is a healthy sign for those of us interested in developing a sound money system. (Gold, Peace and Prosperity by Ron Paul)
Go Ron Paul!
For example, the Catholic Church teaches that the State has a “fundamental task” in economic matters of creating “sure guarantees of individual freedom and private property, as well as a stable currency.” The Church also implores everyone to “combat, in a spirit of justice and charity, those “structures of sin” wherever they may be found and which generate and perpetuate poverty, underdevelopment and degradation. These structures are built and strengthened by numerous concrete acts of human selfishness."
Ron Paul has been combating one of the greatest “structures of sin” for a very long time: the Federal Reserve System, the fiat currency and its role in inflation, and the oppression of the middle class and poor in our country to the benefit of big government, big banks and big business. Say what?!?
In Ron Paul’s own words:
The dollar died on August 15,1971; after that date, it had no independent value for anyone. The new rules, with the dollar now simply a managed fiat currency, ushered in even greater inflation, economic turmoil, and set the stage for total loss of confidence in the dollar.
With the death of the dollar, the time is ripe for the institution of a trustworthy monetary system. The times demand it, and so does the survival of our economic and political order.
The task is not difficult, if we ignore—for once—the political pressures from the special interests whose demands are fulfilled through inflation of the money supply. Inflation, whether for the benefit of big companies, bankers, bureaucrats, monopoly wages, transfer payments, or political careers, must be ended.
If we expect to reverse the destruction of our economy, we must try to understand the motives of those who promote inflation.
Many big business people, bankers, union leaders, politicians, and professors all grew to love inflation, as they saw in it a chance to pursue their goals. Sometimes these were purely materialistic; at other times they embodied the lust for power. In both cases they were immoral.
When I studied the amount of inflation since 1970 and the proportion of Federal deficits in those years that needed to be monetized—created out of thin air—I came up with some startling figures. It is possible that only twenty percent of the inflation, the expansion of the money supply, was necessitated by deficit spending. Eighty percent of the inflation, therefore, may have been for "stimulation" of the economy to aid big business and big banking. Whatever the motive, these institutions profit from the depreciation of the dollar.
Some of the large banks, which have been prominent promoters of fiat currency, have certainly benefited from inflation. Their "profits" have been enhanced, since somebody has to broker all the new money created by government, and pass it on to the large corporations. The international bankers are delighted to do so.
The banks also have the privilege of creating checking account money, known as demand deposits. The banks create this money in the process of making loans—loans for which they charge interest. Much of our money consists of bank-created demand deposits.
Inflation bestows benefits, as well as wreaking havoc. Wealth is transferred from one group to another. Although the transfer has haphazard elements, it goes from the middle class and the poor to the government, the bankers, and the large corporations. This is the immoral process that must be stopped.
Interventionist economists carelessly criticize the spreading of economic growth throughout a free-market society as the "trickle-down theory." But inflation, by trickling, then rushing, through society, spreads economic misery among the poor, working, and middle classes, while enriching the special interests. It is this "trickling-down" that deserves condemnation from everyone concerned about poverty. (Gold, Peace and Prosperity, by Ron Paul)
Here Ron Paul clearly describes one of the greatest “structures of sin” plaguing our society today.
What is a structure of sin? It is the sum total of “the negative factors working against a true awareness of the universal common good, and the need to further it, gives the impression of creating, in persons and institutions, an obstacle which is difficult to overcome.” Structures of sin are “rooted in personal sin [such as greed and the lust for power], and thus always linked to the concrete acts of individuals who introduce these structures, consolidate them and make them difficult to remove. And thus they grow stronger, spread, and become the source of other sins, and so influence people’s behavior.” (John Paul II – Sollicitudo Rei Socialis)
The Federal Reserve System, its necessary inflationary mechanisms and the way it very subtly and immorally transfers wealth from the poor and middle class to big business, banks and government is perhaps one of the greatest “structures of sin” leading to the oppression of the America people by special interests. These structures “generate and perpetuate poverty.”
The Catholic Church teaches that the State has a responsibility to ensure a “stable currency” as one of the fundamental tasks of the State in economic matters. The State’s current monetary policy is one of structural instability and inflation.
[The] State must adopt suitable legislation but at the same time it must direct economic and social policies in such a way that it does not become abusively involved in the various market activities, the carrying out of which is and must remain free of authoritarian – or worse, totalitarian – superstructures and constraints.
Our current Federal Reserve/Fiat Monetary System has surrendered our country to authoritarian and totalitarian superstructures that oppress the poor and destroy the middle class while advancing the “economic interests” of the elites of a global society against the basic and just interests of regular folks like you and me.
Our country and our economy are being destroyed and the reason is primarily our Federal Reserve System/Fiat Monetary System.
Oh, and the Founding Fathers also agree:
"It is apparent from the whole context of the Constitution, as well as the history of the times which gave birth to it," said Andrew Jackson, "that it was the purpose of the Convention to establish a currency consisting of the precious metals."
"The loss which America has sustained since the peace," noted James Madison in Federalist Number 44, "from the pestilent effects of paper money on the necessary confidence between man and man, on the necessary confidence in public councils, on the industry and morals of the people, and on the character of republican government, constitutes an enormous debt against the State chargeable with this unadvised measure, which must long remain unsatisfied; or rather an accumulation of guilt, which can be expiated no otherwise than by a voluntary sacrifice on the altar of justice of the power which has been the instrument of it."
"The emitting of paper money is wisely prohibited to the State Governments," said Alexander Hamilton, "and the spirit of the prohibition ought not to be disregarded by the United States' Government."
Not only is inflation the result of the political demands of special interest groups, the career desires of politicians, and the ill-conceived motives of economists, it is also clearly unconstitutional. Money of real value, gold or silver, was clearly intended by the Founding Fathers, as evidenced in their writings and in the Constitution. Their abhorrence of paper money stemmed from their experience with the Continental, and irredeemable Colonial paper money. That same abhorrence is becoming evident today as well, which is a healthy sign for those of us interested in developing a sound money system. (Gold, Peace and Prosperity by Ron Paul)
Go Ron Paul!
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