Arkie Economics
by Dirty Dan, Garden Doctor

    Let's say right off that I've got no economic degrees or schooling
(except hard knocks) so take this for what it is worth.  I can't tell one
economic theory from another, no matter how many curves, (but even the
experts don't agree, so what difference does it make)?  This is one simple
personal view; see for yourself.

    The dollar, once worth a set value of silver or gold, is now a
Federal Reserve Note (FRN) with a value that is always changing.  Dollars
(wealth) used to be made in response to the production of goods based on
natural resources, such as minerals, oil, timber and agricultural
products.  Tangible goods are produced to make a dollar.  As production
grew, wealth grew.  Real wealth is still produced this way, which is why
forests are being raped, why no areas are safe from oil or mineral
exploration, and why large corporations want to control farm production.
As these resources continue to grow more scarce, watch the scramble to
gain control of them.

    Most dollars (now FRNs) aren't made in the production of real
wealth anymore.  Instead, we have an investment economy where money is
made off of money: trust funds, stock markets, bond markets, CDs, IRAs,
money market accounts, and so forth.  Carl Sagan recently wrote that $10
invested 200 years ago at 5% interest would today be worth $172,925.81
with nothing tangible produced, the dollar's real value has been reduced.
As increasing numbers of people invest money to make money, real dollar
value drops even more quickly.  The number of dollars exponentially
approaches infinity while the value of each dollar approaches zero.  One
may have more dollars (FRNs) but they are worth less.

    The name of the game is to make dollars faster than they are
losing value.  But the faster more people struggle to make more money, the
faster it loses value.  It's like the dog chasing its tail until
collapsing in exhaustion.  Large money concerns are better adapted to stay
ahead than smaller investors.  How do present interest rates for loans
compare to 30 years ago?  Why do lenders want to raise them even higher?
How much interest are you paid for the money they use to make more money?
Does a service economy produce any new wealth?  Congress wants 50% pay
increases to keep up with expenses, but why the reluctance to raise the
minimum wage?  Why does it take two incomes to run a household once served
by one?  Why are most consumer goods more expensive but of cheaper
quality?

    The Federal Reserve Board reportedly controls the supply of money
(FRNs) in order to give the dollar stability.  The cost of a bag of
groceries reveals how well they are doing.  Are there other controls?  The
1987 stock market "crash" is said to have reduced the wealth of the
western world by one-third.  Where did it go?  Doesn't it really mean that
one-third of the number of dollars were removed from the system?  Who
absorbed most of the "loss" - large or small investors?  Savings and loans
are losing one billion dollars per month.  Where is it going?  Who will
have to give up more dollars to cover the "losses"?  Will the looming
pension fund scandal be the next "loss" that reduces the number of
dollars?  There are rumors that at some point a new dollar will replace
10, 100, or as many as 1,000 old dollars.  A cashless society would make
re-valuations easier.  All measures only delay the inevitable.  Who always
loses?

    Recently, I learned that during the 1930s there was very little
money, yet no one went hungry because there were numerous gardens.  The
word "economy" is derived from ancient words meaning management of the
household, which probably included a food garden.  Planet Earth is an Ark
traversing a spacious sea;  proper management of the planetary household
is true Arkie economics.  The destruction of the environment and natural
resources in order to "make money" will eventually create true poverty.
Over-developed areas can produce little food.

    Invest your energy in surroundings that will support life
when dollars have none.  The hollow ring of economic theory will
fall silent to the appeal of the wealthy, attuned garden.

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