Month: January 2011

The Gold Standard, Part 2

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 15 of 50 in the series 2011A

Those who want to return to the 100% gold standard often point back to those halcyon days before 1913 when the money of the United States was based on gold.

This thinking needs some adjustment. Up until 1873 the nation was on a bimetallic system.  That is both gold and silver were used as a basis or backing for our money. Technically this was not a gold standard period, but was a gold/silver combination standard. If we were to hone it down to one metal we would have to say the standard relied more heavily on silver than gold because the value of gold was established by the value of the Spanish silver dollar.

In 1873-4 silver was demonetized in an attempt to create a gold standard. This was done through two pieces of lengthy legislation passed under the radar with few people outside of Congress approving of it or knowing what was in the bill.  It was a little like the Healthcare Bill of 2010 where we were told that they had to pass it to find out what was in it. Even President Grant didn’t know that silver had been demonetized for some time after it was passed.

However the people soon woke up and smelled the coffee and discovered that they could no longer use silver to pay bills. This sent the nation into shock as a large portion of the nation’s money was suddenly not money any more.

Meanwhile those behind the legislation who knew what was coming converted their assets into gold and made out like bandits while many common people lost everything.

Many were not happy with a gold only standard and pushed Congress to act.  On Feb 16, 1878 Congress passed the Bland Bill re-monetizing silver.  The fact that it passed 205 to 72 gives strong evidence that people were not that happy with a gold only standard. Also the fact that a depression occurred a few months after the gold standard was implemented just added fuel to public dissatisfaction.

The nation thus went back to the gold/silver standard until the passage of the Gold Standard Act of 1900. From 1900 to 1918 we were on the single monetary gold standard. Because of the war we threw the gold standard out the window (from 1918-1919) and the value of the dollar rested only on faith and the value of goods and services produced. This occurred with the other warring nations, but for longer periods. After the war we then went back on the gold standard until 1933 when it was dramatically changed by FDR who made the consumer use of gold illegal.  Gold could be exchanged between nations, but not individuals and the dollar could no longer be redeemed for gold.

So we had the closest thing to a pure gold standard from 1873-1878, 1900-1918 and 1919-1933.  Before that, for most of our history, we had a bimetallic standard, which used the competing metals of gold and silver.

But… have we ever had a pure full-reserve banking system backed by either gold or silver?  Actually, we haven’t.  There has always been some type of fiat money in circulation since the beginning of the Republic so one could say that a full-reserve gold-backed system really only exists in theory and has never been tested – that is unless you want to go back to the 16th century and earlier to the Dark Ages.

The closest thing to a pure metallic standard in our history has been a partial gold standard consisting of fractional banking that allows for a mix of fiat money with gold and silver.  During this period citizens have been promised that they could redeem their money for gold, but that money has always been at risk due to runs on banks caused by unforeseen circumstances and the frailties of human nature.

Still many full reserve gold standard advocates point to our history of the good ole days when citizens could redeem dollars for gold as the financial Camelot of our history.

One of the main arguments for its restitution is to cite the progress we made with inventions and overall improvement of the standard of living while it existed.

As of this writing it has been 78 years since we have gone off the redeemable gold standard in 1933.  If we subtract 78 from 1933 we arrive at the year 1855.  If we look at the two periods 1855-1933 which used a metallic standard compared to 1933 to the present we see that great progress has been made in both times.  Does the progress since 1933 create an argument to the case that we should not have a redeemable gold standard? If one says no then he can’t use a corresponding argument that the gold standard was a prime reason for progress before 1933, or 1913 or whatever date is selected.

If the gold or gold/silver standard of the past worked so much better than fiat money then the economic times should have been a lot better while it existed.  So, were there any downturns while we had metallic based money?

Quite a few actually.  There was either a depression, financial crises or severe recession that started in the following years – 1792, 1796, 1819, 1825, 1737, 1807, 1847, 1857, 1873, 1884, 1890, 1893, 1901, 1907, 1910, 1920 and of course the Great Depression beginning in 1929.

Some of these were as bad as the great Depression except they didn’t last as long.  Several were particularly severe. The depression of 1837-1843 was devastating as was the one from 1873-1879 with even longer effects in Europe.  There they called it the Great Depression.  The depression of 1893-1897 is sometimes called the worst economic downturn except for the Great Depression.  Unemployment hit over 18%.

A little known or understood depression began in 1920.  Wholesale prices dropped a whopping 36.8%, and the retail value close to 50%, the largest in history. Unemployment began to soar and the GDP lost 24%.  This could have easily been worse than the Great Depression.  Consider that in the devastating year of 2009 the GDP only lost 2.4%.

Calvin Coolidge, an unsung hero, solved the problem by cutting spending in half and by 1923 cut taxes from 73% to 25% on the top rate. The stock market tripled and wages increased 20%. By 1926 the unemployment rate went down to from 11.9% to 1.8%.

After the Great Depression and going mostly off the Gold Standard we have had recessions in 1973, 1980, 1990 and 2008. Only the 2008 downturn compares in any degree to earlier depressions.

Looking at history then one cannot say that one of the advantages of the gold standard is that it keeps the economy stable.  There have been major calamities with and without the help of gold, but the greatest ones so far have occurred during the days when gold and silver was the foundation of our money system.

How do Gold Standard advocates explain this?  Here is a quote from “Gold: The Once and Future Money,” a popular book advocating a return to the Gold Standard.

“The gold standard cannot be blamed for crises caused by leaving the gold standard or for those that took place while the gold standard was not operating…Liquidity-shortage crises are not inherent to the gold standard, and the problem of the liquidity-shortage crisis was eventually solved within the gold standard framework.” 1

Another explanation I have heard is that the problem was that we just did not adhere closely enough to the gold standard.  If we had done this then no major problems would have occurred.

I find these explanations very flimsy on logic for problems occurred in times of closest adherence and not so close.  This argument reminds me of the one produced by the socialists and communists who always claim that problems occurred because the people did not follow the model closely enough. They rarely consider that something could be flawed in the system itself.

Likewise, are there flaws in the gold standard itself that are ignored by advocates?  One would think that all the depressions that occurred during its practice is evidence that the money system of the past is far from perfect, just as is the one in the present.

One strong evidence of this is what happens when a great crises occurs, especially war.  In such times the gold standard is almost immediately thrown out the window.

During the Revolutionary War the colonists had little gold and if they had stayed on the gold standard independence could not have been won.  They immediately dropped the gold standard and printed fiat money.  This was imperfect but worked better than gold which was in very limited supply.

During the Civil War both the North and the South abandoned the gold standard and printed their own money.

In World War I the United States and other major nations involved all abandoned the gold standard in favor of fiat money.

Deep into the crises of the Great Depression FDR abandoned gold redemption for all citizens.

During World War II many billions of fiat dollars not backed by gold were used to win the war.

During the Vietnam War Johnson removed all silver from our coinage and then in 1972 Nixon completely removed us from the gold standard between nations.

Obviously, there is a big problem with the gold standard when it comes to dealing with a threat to the survival of a nation.  Not only the United States but all nations throw it out the window if their survival is on the line.

Do we really want to go back to a monetary system that is so rigid that it is abandoned at the sight of any major crises?  Is there not a better system that can be created that we do not have to throw out the window every few decades?

There is an answer and solution to every problem and we will discover that solution as we proceed.

1. Gold, the Once and Future Money, Nathan Lewis; John Wiley & Sons, 2007, Page 174

2. Most of the other data cited is readily available at Wikipeadia and many other sources.

Read This entire series. Here are the links.

Copyright 2011 by J J Dewey

Copyright by J J Dewey

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The Gold Standard, Part 1

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 14 of 50 in the series 2011A

As noted, the gold standard has appeared in three different incarnations in our history and many conservatives are advocating a return to it in some form.  Are any of them practical?  Let’s take a look.

We will call the first of these “the purist gold standard with no fiat money.”

One could say that this system is a refined form of bartering, for before there was any standardized money system people exchanged goods through this system of exchange. In our early history individuals had to garner some type of product that was in demand so they could trade for other essentials.  If a family raised cattle they may trade a cow, meat or milk for grain, tools, gold, or even a wife for the kid.

This system proved awkward, for many of the products exchanged had a low shelf life.  If you had an expensive chariot to sell you just couldn’t exchange it for a silo full of grain for several reasons.  First, you had no means of storing a large quantity and secondly it would rot before you could use even half of it.

What to do…  You could find ten other people who need grain, but then five out of the ten may not have anything you want so you may wind up with materials worthless to you that you have to spend days bartering away rather than spending time making more chariots.

In parts of the ancient world precious metals, particular gold and silver, became very useful in making the bartering process work.  They had the advantage in that they did not decay, did not take up much space and were recognized as having value.  This meant that our chariot maker could trade his vehicle for an agreed upon amount of gold and then divide it up and trade it to ten different individuals who had items he actually needed.

Some believe that gold was universally used as a medium of exchange since the beginning of civilization, but such has not been the case.  Some parts of the ancient world had very little gold so its use was not practical.  Other parts had gold but did not assign that much value to it.

The Aztecs are a prime example of this.  Gold didn’t have much value to them until it was made into something beautiful and even then only those of high rank could use it making it fairly useless to the common citizen.  In its raw form jade was more valuable.  Other items used in exchange were corn, amaranth, beans, cotton armor, obsidian knives, copper bells, sandals, shields, feathered capes, cacao, shells and feathers.  They just couldn’t understand why the Spaniards were so obsessed with gold and considered cheap glass beads to be just as valuable unless the gold were made into something beautiful. 1

The Mayans used gold less than the Aztecs and the closest thing they had to money was cocoa beans.

The Incas had a lot of gold but didn’t use it for money.  Most of these ancient American civilizations relied on trade and barter and had no standardized money.

In our past then gold has fallen into three categories.

(1) An interesting yellow metal that is useful for art and jewelry.

(2) A valuable metal useful in barter.

(3) Money.

So, what’s the difference between 1 and 2?

To understand this we must ask another question.  Exactly what is money?

The simplest answer to this is that it is a medium of exchange. This is a simplistic definition that is not complete.  For instance, most items used in barter and mediums of exchange are not considered money.  A plumber can exchange his labor for potatoes, but the potato farmer will not state he received money from the plumber.  He will merely say he received his services.

Similarly, there have been many times in our history, such as the British Isles after the fall of Rome, that gold was considered valuable, but used for barter instead of money.

So what makes pieces of metal, paper, shells or tally sticks money?

Now some argue that gold has always been money because it has intrinsic recognized value but so does food, shelter, fuel and tools.  What is the difference?

In a barter system there is none for they are all mediums of exchange.

So then a substance is not seen by society as money merely because it is can be used for exchange, but because of something else.  What is that something else?

Perhaps Aristotle was the first to identify this:

“All goods must therefore be measured by some one thing…now this unit is in truth, demand, which holds all things together…but money has become by convention a sort of representative of demand; and this is why it has the name nomisma – because it exists not by nature, but by law (nomos) and it is in our power to change it and make it useless.”

And he continues: “Now the same thing happens to money itself as to goods – it is not always worth the same; yet it tends to be steadier…money then acting as a measure makes goods commensurate and equates them… There must then be a unit, and that fixed by agreement” 2

Many years later Abraham Lincoln said it with greater simplicity: “Money is the creature of law.” 3

Gold did not just magically appear as money but some decree of law has always made it so.  For instance, the Coinage Act of 1792 decreed that gold as money would have its value based on the Spanish silver dollar, or 27 grams of silver. This made an ounce of gold valued at $19.44 at the time. 4

Then in 1834 a new coinage act set the value of an ounce of gold at $20.67 and it stayed there until it was again changed again by law. Through The Gold Reserve Act of 1934 FDR decreed the new value to be $35 an ounce.

So one day $20.67 was worth an ounce of gold and the next it was worth only worth .59 ounces, a loss of 41 cents on the dollar.

By law then gold remained at $35 an ounce until world demand forced changes in the Seventies.  Then in 1973 the value was rest to $44 and the following year it was decreed by law that the dollar would no longer be tied to gold at all.

Since that time gold has had a floating value established by the free market and has fluctuated greatly.  It can still be used as a medium of exchange.  Mt neighbor would sell me his car if I gave him enough gold, but it is not considered money for it is not currently defined as such by law.

So, during the 142 years that gold was valued at about $20 an ounce was it’s value consistent just because the law said it was?

No.  During this period one ounce of gold or the $20 fluctuated in value and the amount of goods and services it could buy varied considerably.  California during the gold rush was a prime example.

Then from 1934-1970 when the value of an ounce of gold was decreed to be $35, was the value of that ounce always the same during this period?  No.  The amount of goods and services you could buy for $35 again varied considerably, especially during World War II.

Conclusion:  Money is a medium of exchange which is established by law.  Law forces acceptance but the value of that medium will vary according to its supply, velocity of circulation, stability of the government, supply and demand for products and services and other factors.

Notes

1. The History of Money; Crown Publishers, Inc., 1997 by Jack Weatherford, Page 18

2. From Aristoltle (Ethics 1133), Quoted in The Lost Science of Money By Stephen Zarlenga; Page 34

3. Abraham Lincoln, Senate document 23, p. 91, 1865

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_dollar

Read This entire series. Here are the links.

Copyright 2011 by J J Dewey

Copyright by J J Dewey

Index for Older Archives in the Process of Updating

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Astrology and More

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 13 of 50 in the series 2011A

About time to catch up on questions:
Tom Wrote:
If a master were to overshadow someone will the original person (being overshadowed) have new gifts, talents, hobbies from the master or no new hobbies, but his skills and talents enhanced?

JJ
Think of it this way.  If you have a new super smart roommate move in with you does this make you smarter than you were before or increase your talents?  Not really, but it does give you some access to the guy’s intelligence if he is willing to share.

Ruth:
JJ, I have another question.
“56 And again, verily I say, let mine handmaid forgive my servant Joseph his trespasses; and then shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she has trespassed against me; and I, the Lord thy God, will bless her, and multiply her, and make her heart to rejoice.”

Does this paragraph relate to a past life thing? It seemed out of context with the rest of what was being said, unless God already knew that Joe would be unfaithful?

JJ
This related to his life at that time and not his past.

First, we do not know for sure how much of the final revelation was actually written by Joseph and secondly he was believed to have had quite a few plural relationships by the time he wrote the first draft and this was said to have caused a grievance in Emma.

Stephen writes:
On that page you have linked to Ruth, I have got to ask, is God a Lawyer? No 7 reads:

7 And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this law are these: All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead.

Phew!!!! Amen

JJ
There is a correct principle given here and that is “All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations,” are generally dissolved at death.  Then when we are reborn we start with a clean slate.  Since you will generally have no recollection of any obligation from a past life you will not be bound by it.

The Mormons are in illusion when they think they made promises before they were born that they now have to keep.  If you cannot remember a promise then you are not bound by it; therefore, people do not make promises unless they can keep them in their consciousness.

There are two exceptions to this. The first is if your commitment from a past life was somehow related to or caused karma. In this case you will have to pay it off and may be forced toward fulfilling a commitment that you cannot even remember.

The second is if the commitment had a powerful emotion behind it.  This could be love or hate.  Powerful emotion carries over into future lives.  Have you met someone who you were instantly attracted to or repelled from?  You probably had feelings about them in a past life.

Now it’s remotely possible that an advanced brotherhood could make some type of link by decree or a granted priesthood of some kind but I doubt that this is what happened.

Here is what would be more likely to be the case. Spiritual love is the strongest binding force in human existence.  A spiritual teacher can recognize this binding force and acknowledge to the couple that their relationship will continue beyond death.  However, this continuation will happen not because the teacher decreed or approved it but because of the binding power of love.

In addition the Molecular Relationship (which is not yet established) can create relationship which will draw souls together in future lives.

Rob:
If peoples’ personalities can be affected by the thoughtform centered around the old zodiac, then won’t newborns be affected by the new zodiac since mass-thought is now centered around it?

JJ
I’m not sure what you mean by an old and new zodiac.  There is just one zodiac that is used by astrologers.

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The Song of the 144,000

Joseph Dewey

The Song of the 144,000

We thank you Father
That you have revealed to us your protective universal light;
That within this light is complete protection from all destructive forces;
That the Holy Spirit of Your Presence permeates us in this light,
And wherever we will the light to descend.

We thank you Father
That you fill us with your protective fires of love;
That within this love is complete protection from all destructive thoughts and feelings;
That the consciousness of Christ is lifted up in us in this love,
And wherever we will the love to be enflamed.

We thank you Father
That You are in us and we are in You;
That through us Your Will is sent forth on wings of power;
That Your Purpose is accomplished on earth as it is in heaven;
That through us Your Light and Love and Power
Is manifest to all the Sons and Daughters of Mankind.

Synopsis:   “The Song of the 144,000” was specifically spoken of in The Book Of Revelations by John nearly two thousand years ago as being a necessary characteristic of being or becoming one of “The 144,000.”

You would think that when considering the importance that The Book Of Revelations and the doctrine of the worldwide Christian Community places on being considered as, or becoming one of “The 144,000,” that there would literally be thousands of versions of this “new song” — and millions of Christians singing it in an attempt to fulfill this requirement.

After all, how can one expect to be counted among “The 144,000” and yet not know about nor sing this “new song”?

Curiously enough, and to the best of anyone’s knowledge, this is the only known version of “The Song Of The 144,000” ever written.

So, exactly what is this “new song” that is to be sung by the 144,000, and why does it need to be sung?

Find out for yourself, and consider joining the hundreds if not thousands of others who use and benefit from “singing” this prayer of thanks and protection.

Here is a list of links to archived articles here at Freeread.Com that go into further detail about “The Song”

Comments On The Song Of The 144,000

To Sing Again

Singing The Song

The Principle of Trinity

The Molecular Commitment

Protection

The Song Revisited

Unity of Words = Unity of Power

Hurt Not The Earth

Gathering Thoughts on the Song

The Song   (2005-03-22)

The Song   (2006-03-11)

Seer Stones

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 12 of 50 in the series 2011A

Tom:
JJ, You said that this is a gut feeling that he is on to something. Are you able to get soul contact that too many vaccine shot is causing autism? Is this mostly going with your gut feeling?

JJ
I think you’d call it more of a gut feeling mixed with common sense.  If even too much water can kill you then six doses of the poisonous substances in a little child could indeed pose a risk.  There really needs to be some legitimate research into all aspects of the vaccines to put the public’s mind at rest.
Dan
So, if a person works around the signs in one direction, then when they become a disciple reverse directions, at what point (sign) does the reversal usually occur?

JJ
This occurs when the seeker establishes a valid soul contact.  The soul leads the disciple in the opposite direction of the astral self.  The reverse direction of the Zodiac is a symbol of the greater reverse that occurs within.

Dan:
If a person’s rising sign is the same as their sun sign, does it likely mean they failed to learn the major lesson of their last life (well enough)?

JJ
No.  It usually means they have decided to focus on one major area of development rather than scatter their energies.

Blayne:
Question for JJ. Joseph Smith had taught that everyone could and should have their own seer stone.
What’s your take or knowledge on this? Is it meant literally? If so how do we find ours? Or is there an esoteric meaning only? Or is it just a tool to focus the mind and energy like a wand or rod etc.?

I am curious because Seer stones were quite prevalent in JS and BY day and in Salt lake in the 19th century. Kids were using them to find lost items for people and telling them how their relatives were doing in far away places etc. Why have we lost that and how do we get it back?

If I am entitled to it I want my seer stone!

JJ
It might be interesting to note that Joseph used a seer stone to translate the Book of Mormon and reveal his early revelations.  But later in life he didn’t seen to use it at all but shifted his attention away from revealing data to revealing principles.  It is also interesting that his greatest teachings were merely received through contemplation without the aid of a stone.

A stone, a crystal, tea leaves, ink blots, a fire and other items can provide points of focus that when used effectively can stimulate the consciousness to see things previously hidden.  In a way these things are like training wheels to aid the seeker in developing his inner abilities.  Eventually he can drop these aids for most types of seeing, especially as far as principles go.  They are most useful in finding hidden data though not always accurate unless used by a high initiate.

It is also interesting that the seer stone has gone out of vogue in this age.  About the only time you hear any mention of it is when some Mormon offshoot prophet claims revelation.

This subject can make for an interesting assignment.

Find a crystal or rock a couple inches in diameter and enter a dimly lit place where you can barely make out the outline of the stone.  Then think of something you want to know and stare into it for about ten minutes.  As soon as you see images focus on them and see where this takes you.

Members can post their experiences the next couple days.

The Rising Sign

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 11 of 50 in the series 2011A

DK has a different take on the rising sign than orthodox astrology.  He states that this indicates the lesson in life that we need to learn.  Taking this into consideration I have examined a couple charts from Keys members.

Dan’s Chart

Dan’s info
Sept 6, 1963
Fredonia, ks
Unknown time, POSSIBLY early morning 2am-8am

First, let me say that anyone interested in getting some of the basic reading free can go to:
http://alabe.com/freechart/

I ran Dan’s chart and first we note that his Sun is in Virgo. What is significant is that Uranus, Venus and Pluto are also there with Venus and Pluto conjuncting the Sun. All this energy in Virgo gives evidence that his rising sign is also there so I would guess he was born about 6 AM.

The Sun represents the personality you show to the world and the Keynote of Virgo is service. The sun in Virgo indicates Dan was born with a natural desire to serve and do something of value. The fact that his sun conjuncts Venus within 2 degrees indicates that he desires to serve in a creative way with some type of work he finds enjoyable. Then his Pluto conjuncts his sun even closer telling us that he feels a strong sense of purpose. He would have a sense that there is something in harmony with the Will of God that he is supposed to fulfill.

The Moon represents the emotions, your mother and the world of form. This is in Aries which tells us you have a restless feeling about just taking things easy and are always thinking of creating something new. When you get a feeling that something needs done you will impulsively forge ahead.

The Rising Sign. If this is indeed Virgo then it would mean that the main lesson you need to learn in this life is to gain an understanding of service that moves the will of God forward and service that does not. Since service is related to discipleship this would indicate you are to learn how to be a true disciple.

Here are some comments from the site about your sun and moon signs

SUN in VIRGO Extremely careful and cautious by nature, you value neatness and order above all else. You rigorously practice very high standards of living and conduct and you demand the same of everyone with whom you come into contact. At times, you are so supercritical that you are merely nit-picky. You are very good at practical skills and quite handy with tools of all kinds. You are also greatly concerned with hygiene, cleanliness and personal health problems. Very likely your health is much better than you think it is — don’t worry so much! Extremely methodical and analytical, you are a perfectionist — this makes you the perfect person to carry out highly detailed, precise operations. But, at times, you pay so much attention to details that you lose sight of the larger issues.

MOON in ARIES High-spirited and courageous, you are a fighter when your emotions are aroused. The degree of force and drive that you can bring to any effort sometimes surprises others. You have hair-trigger reactions to specific stimuli and tend to “let it all hang out.” You sometimes act before you think and do things on the spur of the moment, and that sometimes gets you into trouble. Your moods change quickly — you have quite a temper, but you don’t hold grudges. Very independent, with an extremely strong and forceful personality, you are known for being impulsive, careless, reckless, foolhardy, rash and daring.

Tom wrote: Sun sign: On the Aquarius/ Pisces cusp, but more in Pisces Feb.22 Moon sign: Capricorn Rising sign – Cancer Can you do a few quick comments on the above, thanks JJ.

Tom’s Chart

The fact that you are on the cusp shows your personality is influenced by both signs. If your chart shows your sun is in Pisces then that would be the major influence. This is the most potent emotional sign and it gives you a strong emotional intensity and the Aquarian influence can pull that desire energy into a quest for knowledge that can be applied to service and helping others.
Your moon in Capricorn will produce a desire in you to improve yourself and to accomplish all you can in this life.

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Joseph Smith’s Handwriting

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 10 of 50 in the series 2011A

John Crane asked me to analyze Joseph smith’s handwriting and gave me this reference to some samples.

Handwritten Documents Here

The first two samples are consistent with Joseph’s handwriting but the third one from Carthage in 1844 looks like a dictated letter – as it doesn’t look like his handwriting. The mystery is who wrote it? It definitely does not match Hyrum or John Taylor’s writing. That leaves Willard Richards who was also in prison. I can only find a small sample of poor resolution handwriting belonging to him and the match is possible but there are differences. The other possibility is that Emma made a copy or had one made after she received it. I do not have a sample of her handwriting handy so I cannot compare it to hers. The back of the page does have the word “copy” on it.

That said I will give a few details from the handwriting that we know belongs to him.

Joseph had an outgoing friendly personality and came across with lots of warmth, empathy and a sense of emotional understanding.

He had very strong feelings, was very passionate and had a magnetism about him. He liked sharing on an emotional level whether it be romantic or strong outward expression. He didn’t like to keep his feelings in and if he was pleased, displeased or angry he usually communicated these feelings quite clearly and honestly.

His consciousness was not centered on any one aspect of living, but all aspects. We know he was interested in the spiritual side but he was equally at home when centered on he social side of life, the material side, or the intellectual side.

Most people as emotionally centered as he was are not that intellectual yet he had a strong desire to explore new knowledge and would leave no stone unturned in discovering it. He was also very perceptive and a quick thinker. He would have been a good debater.
He was one of those people who could come across as all things to all people. He had a good sense of charm and could get people to do things his way when they did not realize they were being influenced. He was very inclusive and would associate with the high and the low. He was very trusting but difficult to fool.

He was more of an extrovert than introvert and loved variety and change. He didn’t have strong feelings of self importance and was fairly humble for such an outgoing personality.

He had secrets but did not like keeping them forever and was always pleased to find someone he thought he could trust to share them with.

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Autism and Teachers

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 9 of 50 in the series 2011A

Thanks for your comments about vaccinations and autism. Since one of the prime directives of this group is to find and recognize truth – this controversy provides an ideal situation to exercise this ability.

Both sides make good arguments, but the question is which side is correct?

The establishment makes the Global Warming defense that the science is settled – there is no further discussion or investigation necessary.  They merely pronounce their version of the truth as fact.

The trouble is that that no good studies are available to prove which side is correct.  All we have so far is anecdotal evidence which is just not accepted by the Powers-That-Be as acceptable.  Perhaps the best study was from the parent in the video where he said he had talked to about 1000 parents with autistic kids who witnessed a correlation between vaccinations and autism in their children.

He then tells us that kids receive an average of 36 vaccinations by the age of five.  I think back to my youth and I had only one vaccination before high school and that was for polio. He points out that one single vaccine may not be the problem so much as the quantity.  After all, the autism rate has increased from one in 10,000 to one in 110 in the past few decades.  Something has to have caused this and nothing else has been identified, even in an anecdotal way.

The parent in the video calls for studies of the effect of numerous vaccines given at once.  Typically a kid may receive 6 vaccines during one single appointment.

It is my gut feeling that he is on to something here.  I would think that a small child receiving six vaccines at one time could be in danger of a number of things.  Such a barrage of poisons could indeed induce a number of ills.

I think the parents of autistic children should do all in their power to encourage some legitimate studies to determine once and for all if there is a connection of some kind.  The trouble is that the medical establishment and the drug companies do not want such studies for if it turns out the parents are correct then medical practitioners will be embarrassed and drug companies will lose money.

On another note John C writes:

A person who possesses such “soul vision” would be intuitively aware of what the soul knows and what the soul sees. And the key of intuition can be used most effectively when consciousness, and therefore attention, has risen above the level of the personality.

I wonder, then, whether such a person would be in constant need of a teacher to explain all things to him, or whether he would be able to look through the eyes of the soul and “just know”, though the oneness principle, that for which he or she seeks.

JJ

As far as students needing “a teacher to explain all things to him…” I do not think this applies to anyone here.  Such thinking applies to some cult members and dumbed down adherents of some tightly controlled religions.

When a person achieves soul contact he does not instantly know all things, but progresses precept by precept and line by line, as the scripture says, until he achieves full enlightenment. That which is seen through the eyes of the soul (not the emotions) is accurate but that does not mean the person sees all things.

Why?

Pages: 1 2

Creating Sound Money

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 8 of 50 in the series 2011A

Part 2 in this Series

An increasing number of people, including economists, politicians, pundits, bloggers etc are coming to the realization that something needs done to create a sounder dollar and money system.

Here are some of the steps that are put forward.

(1) Put us back on the gold standard. Those who support this are far from being united as there are several camps on this:

(A) A purist gold standard with no fiat money.

This was the standard through parts of ancient history, the Dark Ages and attempts were made toward this goal on and off up to about 100 years ago.

(B) A gold standard with fiat money, but with redemption. This usually consists of fiat money created on a 10:1 basis.  That is for every once of gold on deposit there would be ten ounces worth of money in circulation.  Under this system the consumer can redeem his money for gold, unless there is a run on the system that depletes the gold supply.

(C) A gold standard with fiat money, but with no redemption. This is basically what we had from FDR to Nixon. The value of the dollar was set at an arbitrary value assigned to gold which was $35 an ounce, but a citizen could not possess monetary gold with the exception of rare coins.  Other nations and some banks were allowed to exchange money for gold.

(2) Eliminate the Federal Reserve. These advocates may or may not want a return to the gold standard.

(3) A balanced budget amendment. This sounds like it should be a no-brainer, but is it?  Why hasn’t Congress ever taken this seriously?

(4) If we do not have a balanced budget amendment then something needs put in place where borrowing and spending is kept within reasonable boundaries.

(5) Grow the economy through low taxes and business incentives.  A healthy economy strengthens the dollar.

(6) Reduce the trade deficit. We have had a trade deficit since 1975.  Should we be worried?  Some are more concerned than others.

(7) Secure energy independence.  This is another no-brainer but the problem occurs in execution.  The Left and the Right have conflicting ideas of how to achieve this.

(8) Expand alternative currencies.  These are already in play to a degree.  Examples are Time Dollars and Ithaca Hours which are community currencies.  Then companies are issuing their own form of monetary credits that are used like money. Many want the monetary laws changed to allow for the creation of private currencies that directly compete with the dollar. The belief is this would strengthen our currency as a whole.

(9) Barter. Barter has been sold as an alternative to authorized currency. Some claim barter strengthens the financial position of the individual. Barter companies became popular in the Sixties and Seventies.  One reason for this was that many were under the illusion that they didn’t have to pay taxes on items gained through Barter. However, the IRS had different ideas and went after many of them and now there are few bartering companies left.

Here is the IRS rule on Barter: “Barter dollars or trade dollars are identical to real dollars for tax reporting. If you conduct any direct barter–barter for another’s products or services–you will have to report the fair market value of the products or services you received on your tax return.”

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=187920,00.html

If you have to treat gain through barter as regular income then one might as well deal with cash and get more leverage with currency.

Even so Barter is far from dead thanks to Crag’s list and other internet sources.  Many are now doing barter on a one-to-one basis through classified ads.  Participants must be warned, however, that they are still not beyond the reach of the taxman as they comb through internet sources to find barterers who may be trying to escape taxes and do go after them.

Even though small businesses and individuals are limited today in their use of barter big business and even countries are using it on grand scale.  These two entities exchange goods and services on a scale of which the average person is completely unaware.

(10) Restoring the power to create money to our elected representatives, as specified in the Constitution, instead of farming this out to private enterprise.

Next we’ll expand on some of these points and see if any of them offer hope to take us out of this financial malaise.

Read This entire series. Here are the links.

Copyright 2011 by J J Dewey

Copyright by J J Dewey

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The Economy – One Last Chapter

Joseph Dewey
This entry is part 7 of 50 in the series 2011A

My friends. I have not yet gotten around to publishing my book – Molecular Politics because it needed one more chapter dealing with our monetary system. After a lot of reflection and study of the subject I am finally ready to write it. Here is the first installment.

An Out of Control Economy

We have to do something about our out-of-control borrowing and spending or this time period will mark the real beginning to our troubles instead of the end of a financial downturn.
There are several things on which the vast majority agrees. The problem is there is major disagreement on how to proceed with these agreed upon problems.

(1) The weakened dollar needs strengthened.

(2) The government spends too much and the federal budget needs some common sense control just as a family budget does.

(3) We do not want to borrow so much that our children and grandchildren will become poor debtors.

(4) It is dangerous to borrow so much money from countries that are potential enemies, let alone from friends.

(5) We pay way too much interest on borrowed money, currently around $450,000,000,000 a year and if interest rates or the debt ceiling changes this could go way up. This is an insane situation.

(6) There is far too much waste and fraud with taxpayer’s money.

(7) There is too much frivolous spending and political paybacks that add to the wasted spending.

Almost every politician gives lip service to these causes of financial problems but few will support any kind of action to solve them

Why?

Because any time there is a cutback in spending some individuals and groups will feel threatened with loss. – then, after that threat occurs, these people will lash out in every conceivable way at the politicians who tried to be fiscally responsible.

We do not see many attempts at fiscal restraint in the federal government because representatives are not limited by a balanced budget amendment. The case is different with many of the states, however, where a balanced budget is required.

Therefore when we had the financial disaster that started in 2008, even though all governments were short of funds, the federal government borrowed and spent more than ever. A shortage of funds provided no incentive to conserve spending for politicians were terrified of voters complaining of cutbacks.

On the other hand, some states were forced to make cuts in spending whether the politicians wanted to or not.

In my home state of Idaho we have a balanced budget amendment. Since we were hit hard by the Great Recession like everyone else action had to be taken. Governor Butch Otter had to look at ways to increase revenue and cut spending.

To increase revenue he proposed a one-penny increase in the gasoline tax. When he did this you’d think he was ordering a pound of flesh from each of us. Both conservatives and liberals cried foul and the proposal was dead in the water.

Then to offset cuts made to parks and recreation Otter increased various fees for camping, registration and services. Again there was a outcry, especially from senior citizens who had to pay more to enjoy Idaho’s beautiful campgrounds.

He then talked of turning some underfunded campgrounds over to private enterprise who would keep them open for a profit.

This time there was great suspicion from the Left who does not trust that business has the public interest as a priority.

Because of the budget shortfall Otter found he had to look at every possible avenue of spending when considering cuts. Finally he had to look at the sacred cow of education. He cut education by about 7.5%. He explained that this was not as bad as it sounded because the percentage of the budget dedicated to education actually increased. The problem was that the budget itself was much less because of shortfalls.

Again, there was a major outcry, especially from those involved in education. Letter after letter appeared in local papers making known their displeasure and painting a very undesirable picture of our governor. Here are a few things they said.

(1) We should have used our reserve account for emergencies to keep education fully funded.

The trouble with this idea is hard times are continuing and the reserve account may soon be gone no matter what we do.

(2) The governor was accused of supporting funding for his pet projects while leaving education out to hang.

The trouble with this argument is that no governor is squeaky clean enough to escape this accusation. Since values are a matter of opinion then those hit by cuts will always think money is not fairly spent or distributed.

(3) The governor was accused of being anti education or hating education.

I don’t think this is true of any governor in the union and is a cheap shot.

(4) Many liberals voiced this cut and dried, yet simple criticism. The governor and legislators lacked guts enough to just raise taxes enough so cuts in education will not be necessary.

Even if the conservative governor was willing to do this he would have been crucified by his own party and may have lost his bid for reelection.

What do we learn from this reflection on state and federal spending?

We see that one of the reasons the federal government overspends so much is they see what happens to State leaders who do support legitimate spending measures and then get attacked for it. It just seems so much easier for them to borrow more money, supply the needed funding and be done with it.

Except this time round we are reaching a critical mass in borrowing. Even the general public, which usually does not pay much attention to financial matters, is waking up to this and demanding action.

The problem is that many will complain no matter what cuts are made.

So far we have presented some ideas of what can be done to restore financial security, but this will not be enough. Sooner or later we will have to apply one more all-important measure – a reform of the monetary system.

Some think that this is wishful thinking, but I submit that it can be done and will present a plan that can turn this country around and head it in the direction of its true destiny – the economic light of the world.
Copyright 2011 By J J Dewey

Read This entire series. Here are the links.

Copyright 2011 by J J Dewey

Index for Older Archives in the Process of Updating

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For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE

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