In the world of high finance, Donald Trump is “chump change?” That’s right. He’s a crook, a liar, a cheat, and an ignoramus. His learning/verbal skills are just as weak. He doesn’t know the difference between GDP and GOP. But the real “wheeler/dealers” love him because as long as Trump is around spouting and spewing gibberish about his wealth, he gets all the attention, while they are out and about raping and pillaging humanity for every dime they can get. And they have got-a-lot of dimes. In the US their dimes total 1.35 quadrillion (that’s $135 trillion in dollars). And it gets worse with each passing day. Indeed, every day of the year, the ultra-wealthy watch as $3.7 billion in new dollars of wealth (in dividends, interest, rents, and capital gains) are sucked up out of the economy and handed to them on a platter from us—all tax free. What’s to stop it? Nothing...except knowledge and the determination to change things for the better. What’s more, if you’ve got the stamina to read, assimilate, and act, I’ve got the fingers to tickle the keyboard until my fingers fall off.

Put another way, the status quo is not hopelessly lost to those who give a damn. In order for anyone to give a damn, they must first find enlightenment. That, and they must reach deep down inside their empty pockets and resolve to make the kind of changes that put a lot more change where there is emptiness. Let’s make poverty the last refuge of ignorance.

This narrative is a cry for action that can be summed up with three words—knowledge, enlightenment, and courage—the golden triangle of change for the better. They aren’t free. Making use of all three will take some real effort.

How the System is Rigged

It starts with inheritances. They pass from one generation to the next unearned and untaxed. The beneficiaries (those who inherit more than $10 million) not only get a leg up on all the rest of us, the law allows them a “step up” in basis for tax purposes. That means that a billion dollar estate passes on with a new starting value, they pay no tax until an asset is cashed in. But inherited wealth tends to go on forever. No super rich person cashes in his/her political power. They love the power money brings. What’s more, it grows and grows untaxed and unearned in perpetuity (in stocks, bonds, and rental papers). That is how the Walton siblings (children of Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart) received $23 billion from Sam’s estate back in 1993. Today, thanks to the power of tax-free compounding, they are worth around $200 billion, plus or minus a little. And their tax bill? Zero. Nada. All this thanks to legislators who passed the laws that make it possible. The “quid pro quo” is found in the fact that the right-wing of the conservative party gets elected from an endless amount of money thanks to the conservative Supreme Court (see Citizens United v FEC). Trying to outwit this cozy arrangement is like trying to win in a game of poker with $10 and the big players hold $10 billion. Yes, I tried that way back in the days of my youth. So you can say that I was once stupid. But not twice.

There’s more.

The same legislators rigged the flow of new money emanating from the Federal Reserve. Banks borrow from the Fed from the “discount” window, at the long-term rate of 2.13 percent. In turn, banks charge you and me from 7 to 25 percent, depending on their greed quotient. But that is just the start of their shenanigans. Loans to individuals and small businesses account for about 30 percent of the banks’ cash on hand. That pool of money (called M1) drives the economy.

The much larger pool (M2 – M1) amounts to 70 percent of our money supply. This money is lent to the banks’ “best” customers. It goes to very wealthy individuals and to large corporations. They use it to buy back stock shares (driving up the value of those shares), for huge bonuses to CEOs, and for mergers and acquisition (M&A), and for direct loans to the ultra wealthy. It does not drive the economy. It is pure and simple how legislators, banks, CEOs, and the unltra-wealthy suck up 70 percent of the money, and make the wealthy a lot wealthier.

Remember

M1 = 30 percent of our money supply. It drives the economy as money in circulation.

M2 – M1 = 70 percent of our money supply. It makes the wealthy, wealthier.

In contrast, credit unions also borrow from the Fed, but in much smaller amounts (set by law).

They lend 70 percent of their available funds to individuals and to small businesses—where 70 percent of all jobs are created.

The Problem: Banks lend extravagantly to their ulltra-wealthy customers, and too little to individuals and small businesses. Conversely, credit unions lend 70 of their available funds to individuals and to small businesses the source of 70 percent of US jobs.

                                           Banks v. Credit Unions  

      Data: Courtesy of a Bing.com AI search

 The above data should send a massive shock wave through the sensibilities of all men and women of goodwill around the world. As far as I know, you are seeing it here for the first time, just as I am. Bankers have a good idea about the numbers So does the Fed. Now you also know quite a bit more about 1) the collusion between bankers and their “good ol’ boy network,” and 2) why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. For the first time, we can all see that bankers in their habitat as they shovel heaping helpings of virtually free money from the Fed to their ultra-wealthy customers, while showing very little concern for individuals and small businesses.

Did I mention that many of the ultra-wealthy pay ZERO income tax dollars to the government? Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are two rich boys who pay zero income tax dollars. How can they avoid income taxes? They borrow the salary they want or need from banks and repay them with corporate funds, while paying only about 5 percent to the banks, and zero percent to the US Treasury.

It is fair to say that the main parts of the world of capitalism are fueled by greed, by insider trading, and by a political network that connects the wealthy, to right-wing legislators, to bankers, and to the Supreme Court. In contrast, the world of free markets runs on innovation, on brainpower, and on competition. Moreover, credit unions are the voice of free-markets, while bankers love to play the money game with a stacked deck of cards. I hope you never again confuse the two terms—capitalism and free markets—nor which market favors competition, and which one does not.

The Cure: Passing laws paid for by the wealthy is a difficult game to win. For now, vote for free markets, for freedom of choice, and never in favor of greed, subservience, or the ultra-right agenda. Never vote for a right-winger, or an empty-headed liar. Also, close your bank accounts, then move your money to a credit union. Ultimately, credit unions must become competitive with banks. Encourage many others to do the same. Support free enterprise, become incredibly good at some endeavor, and work for yourself if that is possible.

I could write more, but my fingers and my eyes are getting tired.