POVERTY amidst PLENTY

If asked to account for the paradox of 'Poverty amidst Plenty' with one word, it would have to be TRUST.

The word TRUST has two principal definitions and ironically both are at the heart of America's problems, today.

Definition 1
A legal arrangement in which an individual (the trustor) gives fiduciary control of property to a person or institution (the trustee) for the benefit of beneficiaries.

Definition 2
A monopolistic corporation, prior to the enactment of antitrust laws.

The monopoly of our monetary system provides an example for both the first and the second definition of TRUST.

Under the first, the Federal Reserve System is the 'trustee,' the American people are the 'trustors' and our money supply is the 'property' or 'trust.' Notwithstanding the declaration "In God We Trust" on the back of the Federal Reserve Note, in fact, when we exchange that note for our labor, it is in the Federal Reserve System that we put our trust.

Under the second definition, the Federal Reserve System is also a monopolistic corporation. But unlike other monopolies, the antitrust laws which were first enacted in 1890 to eliminate monopolies (a.k.a. trusts), do not apply to the Federal Reserve.

But, the Federal Reserve is not alone in the immunity it enjoys from antitrust laws. Under the patent and copyright clause of the United States Constitution, patent and copyright holders also enjoy, with few exceptions, categorical immunity from antitrust laws.

The TRUTH is that these government granted monopolies are to blame for the constant struggle working Americans have faced over the centuries.

[w]e have increased the risk of inflation in a world beset by deflationary forces. Quite an achievement. Quite a paradox, too.

From money to information to technology, government granted monopolies have succeeded in maintaining constant inflation despite the deflationary forces that accompany advances in knowledge, technology, and industrialization.

In other words, through government granted monopolies a privileged few have been the principal benefactors of human progress and economy.

Our only hope is to recognize the problem, eliminate the monopolies, and place our TRUST where it belongs--in GOD and eachother, as EQUALS.