Why we have a local currency here in the Columbia Gorge region.
The reasons for the formation and existence of the Gorge Local Currency Cooperative (GLCC) are as varied as the individuals who make up the steering committee and all of our members. One thread in common is that we care about our local and global community. Our intent is to create something to benefit everyone. RiverHOURS, our local currency, is designed to help the Columbia Gorge community move more easily into an economic future that is becoming increasingly unpredictable.
Using a local currency, people of the Columbia Gorge region can still trade goods and services using RiverHOURS even if the worst should manifest concerning the United States economy. Beyond basic community service, RiverHOURS exist because of local individuals who have studied the current finance and banking system, and are dedicated to exploring alternatives and providing solutions to this powerful system, which is privately-owned and operates for a profit at the expense of virtually every federal US citizen and State Citizens.
“It is well enough that 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.”
― Henry Ford
Money creation and banking is one of the largest and most powerful institutions in the world, yet is the least understood by the people. Religion, science, governments, politics and medicine pale by comparison. The Federal Reserve System, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are all privately-held corporations that operate for profit. Together, these institutions have acquired untold wealth and funneled that wealth to a tiny percentage of the world’s population. The owners of these institutions control governments around the globe by controlling international finance.
The founding fathers of our country warned Americans about these entities or “international bankers” in their journals and letters. Several others have also tried to enlighten the American people for generations, but their messages are usually censored by the dominant corporate-controlled media. The GLCC is dedicated to educating the public about the dominant system of finance in our world and strives to remove the cloak of secrecy which protects its operation. The GLCC is also dedicated to promoting local prosperity, community and entrepreneurship as our mission statement suggests.
The founders of the GLCC recognize that there currently exists a very real possibility of economic collapse. Although the GLCC cannot predict the future, we believe an important defense is to provide a local system where the trading of goods and services can continue should there be another contraction of the money supply facilitated by the owners of the Federal Reserve as it has done many times in the past.
The GLCC is exploring other systems by which goods and services can be traded within a community, such as time trading. We believe a variety of choices will provide the greatest economic stability and prosperity for a long time to come. The web and depth of deceit cannot be explained in one short article, and it is the responsibility of every American to seek and discover this information for themselves. There are many excellent materials about the controllers of global finance and how to remove the power of money creation from them, returning that power to Congress as authorized in the Constitution. (Art. 1, Sec 8)
Understand the bigger picture!! Please read the articles below and explore our "Educate Yourself" link to the left for more detailed information.
The Biggest Ponzi Scheme by Scot Bergeron
“A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that involves paying abnormally high returns ("profits") to investors out of the money paid in by subsequent investors, rather than from net revenues generated by any real business. It is named after Charles Ponzi.”
____From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
We are all victims of a huge scam perpetrated by a few individuals. I can’t stress enough how important it is that everyone be informed about this scam, it is literally vital to the survival of humanity.
Here is how the greatest Ponzi scheme works: All the money in America -- every penny on the street, every dollar in your purse, every electronic entry in every bank account -- was created as the result of a LOAN. There are very few exceptions. All the Federal Reserve Notes in circulation as well as all "credits" within the banking system, were loaned into circulation.
As you are well aware, loans are subject to interest, which means borrowers must pay back the original loan plus the interest accrued on top of it. This may sound just fine until one realizes this: banks that issue money into existence as loans do not print, or put into circulation, the expected “interest” that the loan will generate. It is literally impossible, for Americans to ever be out of debt, because there is not enough money in existence to ever pay off the debt. “Interest money” is never printed or put into circulation as credits! So, we have a major problem with our banking model, hence the “Ponzi scheme.” In our current banking model, there will always be more debt than there is money in existence. A perpetual state of debt exists!
An example: (In this scenario there are ten citizens and only one banker.) The ten citizens go to the banker to borrow one hundred dollars each. The banker lends each citizen one hundred dollars and requires each of them to repay one hundred and fifty dollars in five years -- the hundred dollars (principal) and fifty dollars (interest). It is not commonly known that the extra fifty dollars is never created or put into circulation by the banker, so the ten citizens must compete with each other to acquire not only the first hundred dollars, but also “capture” an extra fifty dollars from their neighbor’s original loan to repay the banker.
The banker knows, even before he makes the loan, that some of the borrowers will never be able to repay their debt. He knows this because he knows there is not enough money in circulation for all of them to do so.
Loans are usually secured by land or homes as collateral. When the five years is up and only four of the ten borrowers are able to repay the loan with the interest, the banker proceeds to foreclose on the land and homes of the other six. The banker now finds himself the owner of much property. He then sells the property by making loans (holding mortgages) again to people -- a certain percentage of whom he knows will default because the money to pay off all the loans with interest does not exist. This is how the banking system works.
The scenario above is replayed throughout our country. In fact, it is the way the banking system works almost everywhere in the world. The system requires that some people lose so that others can win. And while people, our friends and neighbors, are competing with each other to “capture” the money they need to make their “interest” and principal, bankers are reaping, raping, and getting fat on our labor, the environment, and humanity with their scheme.
It is my experience that most people don’t believe me when I explain how the banking system works. Those same people usually don’t know the Federal Reserve Bank is a privately owned corporation. (Look it up in the phone book. The Federal Reserve is NOT under the U.S. Government, it is listed like any other business.) The Federal Reserve Bank ultimately oversees and controls every bank in the United States. The United States government borrows its money from the private owners of the FED.
It is easy to see the losers of the banking scheme: the homeless, the destitute, the prisoners; those soldiers taking bullets for oil because they couldn’t afford to go to college or find a job that paid enough to sustain them. The bankers and global elite who keep this system in place make sure we see the disenfranchised on the streets, on TV, and in magazines. Keeping the losers in our face keeps us fearful. Fear keeps us competing with each other for the insufficient dollars so that we won’t “end up like the losers.” Our banking system intentionally functions to keep the super wealthy on top and the poor on the bottom.
Several politicians have tried to abolish the Federal Reserve System and return to a banking system that doesn’t endlessly generate debt; a banking system owned by the people of the country, as our Founding Fathers intended; a banking system that instead of purposefully creating losers, provides opportunity for everyone to be winners. Unfortunately, most of these politicians have been silenced, sometimes with deadly force.
To understand why any person would pull a lever that dumps dioxin into the Columbia River, or operate an incinerator that releases creosote into the air, or drive miles on highways at night to empty a tanker of radio active waste, look no further than to what they are competing for and why. Worker’s homes and the wellbeing of their children are at stake. They will do what it takes to keep their jobs. A worker knows if he refuses to “pull that lever,” another competitor is waiting to fill his position. Our artificially induced competitiveness is at the root of environmental problems, homelessness, hunger, war, third world slavery, and greed.
Banking reform should be at the top of all “issues” in the upcoming elections, but you’ll find it hardly mentioned on TV. The Democratic and Republican candidates nominated for President of the United States are part of the club that maintains the status quo. Through television, the ‘status quo club’ will tell you which candidates you may vote among. The ‘status quo club’ will convince you that to vote outside the options they put forth will be “wasting” your vote.
If you listen to the media and do what they tell you, another opportunity to change the system will be lost. Good people ARE waiting to lead our country, but they won’t get any funding from VISA or Master Card, and they certainly won’t get airtime or press from the major media.
In my experience of the rich, I’ve learned most rich like the system just the way it is. It’s time the rest of us folk put away our petty differences and become Americans again. The founding fathers knew about the banking scheme and created a constitution that should have protected us from it. Some people feel that the federal government should have never been allowed to borrow money. I agree with this sentiment.
What you can do: First, educate yourself. Excellent books and videos explain in detail how the banking scheme was perpetrated and how to fix it. See "Educate Yourself" here on this site. Second, vote only for candidates that promise banking reform and termination of the privately owned Federal Reserve System. Third, actively promote, use and support your local currency system. Unlike Federal Reserve notes (dollars), RiverHOURS are issued into circulation without debt attached. The additional RiverHOURS currency in circulation in our region can, and will, help fill the gap that debt-generated bank loans create. Speak to any one of the GLCC steering committee members for lists of educational materials.
Lastly, learn Law and then apply it. You would be absolutely amazed how much has been purposefully hidden from the American people about Law and our Government. There are many websites and books on the subject, but may I suggest you start by visiting www.teamlaw.org and just start reading and exploring the site. You will be astonished.
Local Money Creates Wealth Outside the Bubble
by Mira Luna