History tells us that the monks of Ireland held steady during the dark ages. As Europe lay in the grips of fear, terror and repression after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Irish maintained their heads and subsequently proceeded to spread education and reason back across the continent over the ensuing decades and centuries. I believe our little island is about to inherit/assume another important role, albeit reluctantly, in the evolution of our collective societies.
Are we as a nation in the middle of a huge second Karmic role, giving us far more influence internationally than our small population should hold? After all we are being used as an experiment in crazy fiscal policy. We are being drowned in public debt, as much as 250billion, or roughly 60,000 per head of population. That's right, even the newly born owe that amount of money! Now Ireland hasn't suddenly lost lots of land or seen its natural resources decimated in anyway. Far from it, the sun still rises and night follows day. In fact we are having a beautiful winter to date. So the natural rhythm of our lives is still the same, as in mother earth continues to provide for us, but somewhere along the line we have been shafted with obscene levels of human financial debt.
Our European masters/bond holders have ensured we are going to fail and default, by allowing a small number of people build up this level of debt and then forcing of all of us to pay for it. The need for higher and higher premiums and more and more security to bond holders has meant that we in Ireland cannot hope to pay our debts as a nation. They are just far too excessive. By forcing us to assume this debt, they have inadvertently signed their own economic death warrants. The Euro itself, it seems, could potentially fail.
But this catastrophe may have some hidden upsides for us in Ireland. I believe we are going to be one of the first to truly highlight the dysfunctional relationship humans have with money and debt. If we are smart we can then use this opportunity to come up with some sensible alternative paths. Europe has set us up to be the teachers of this great lesson. There is nothing to do now but hold our heads, and take on the role that has been thrust upon us.
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Our fundamental relationship with money and debt is highly dysfunctional. Our basic needs (food/water/home energy) are tied into the requirement that money is needed to obtain them. That means we can never achieve security as we always need cash remittances from somewhere (work/welfare/pensions), to even access the basics. Hence, when we have a black swan event, like September 2008, when ATMs came perilously close to not dispensing money, then we have no recourse for the most basic items as listed above. If we do not have cash, we do not eat or power our homes. That has become pretty much a universal constant, this over reliance on money. It has led to the complete emasculation of our populations.
We in Ireland are now saddled with the obscene levels of debt outlined above. However in the paying of it we will get no security. It doesn’t put food on tables or electricity into a home. All it does is sate the needs of investors. But those self same investors are us, ourselves!!! Bond holders are us; in the form of pension funds, insurance companies and private/public corporations. We invest in the market economy to provide us with future security. Hence we expect a return at a future date, as in a pension policy that allows us retire. Bond markets simply administrate that money for us. So we see the farcical situation where bond traders/holders across Europe are bringing down countries based on fears of default on investments. What we as individuals fail to see is that these bond traders are using our money to screw us! The promise of your future security is being used to penalise you today.
The double irony is that when you do receive your future remittances, by yielding cash back from pensions or investments etc., then it still does not give you security. You are still relying on these paper notes to fund your lifestyle; down to obtaining even the very basics of water, food and home energy.
If it was the year 1910 I would be more confident in our ability to pay off these percentage levels of debt. After all the worldwide population, of 1.75 billion in 1910, will increase 6 fold up to 2070, when the worldwide population will peak at 10 billion. However in 2010 the worldwide population is already 7 billion and is set to only expand by less than 50% up to the population peak in fifty years or so. Therefore the customary deflation of debt is going to be far less effective going forward. Our market economies need population growth to survive, not to mind thrive. Population growth is a finite commodity; therefore dependence on it is highly dangerous and in fact poses the greatest threat of all to our future security. So it is easy enough to see Ireland will not be able to deflate its debt mountain through dramatic population increases.
So it seems inevitable that we are heading for a default at some point in the future. How scary is that vista? All commentators tell us it is not possible to even contemplate such an action, based on the market retribution and subsequent treatment of us as a nation. But what it really means is that ultimately your present self will default on your future self! In real terms that is what is happening. So what should be our answer? Big Deal. Our future self will get over it. I’m sure they will make up in time.
We have also outlined how we don’t actually get any true security from those invested monies anyway. So why fret so much if we don’t pay off others foolishly gained debts. As shown our current model of a market economy is going to really crash at some future point, as long as we blindly follow the need for population growth dependency. So as long as we continue to pay back debt to our future selves and allow young pups to trade bonds like drunken brats at roulette tables, then we are just delaying an inevitable future guaranteed mega crash. What we need is to decouple from this market economy madness.
Why not draw a line in the sand and decide to make security of resources the new mantra to run our economies. If every citizen is guaranteed that they can access fresh food, clean water and home energy as a basic human right, without the need for cash to purchase these items, then we have provided security to our people. Then cash has far less power over our lives, we get to work less crazy hours and we do not need to invest all of our money into the market economy, in the fingers crossed hope of attaining future security. We can get basic security today and into the future.
How do we get these items in our lives without needing money to purchase them on an ongoing basis? Divert the money we normally put into pensions and other investments and use it to purchase local infrastructure like community energy generation (wind turbines/solar panels), permaculture and local community fruit/vegetable/meat production and local water generation (well drilling for clean water/rain water collection and harvesting devices for brown water).
In real terms just a fraction of our new national debt of 250billion would provide food, water and energy for all the households of Ireland in perpetuity, free from cash needs. I roughly estimate around 50 billion would meet all of these needs in perpetuity (approx. 30,000 per household). - (money sunk into Anglo plus Pension reserve fund equals 50billion!!). Therefore one fifth of our new national debt used in such a proactive way would mean we do not need money to buy food, provide water and power our homes. If we diverted that money into these projects, achieving that goal over a period of 5-10 years, then we are providing an invaluable service to our future selves. Our older self will now not need these monies so much as they will now have the basics guaranteed in life, thereby greatly reducing the need for pensions. Instead of thinking we are delinquents our older selves will think we are geniuses. A new, leaner and less voracious market economy can then build on these strong foundations of individual security.
Therefore it is not a disgraceful act to default on debt. What is disgraceful is to default and to continue running an economy in the same way. Default and build real security with a fraction of that money and you are suddenly a pioneer in designing true sustainable economic policy.
We have been thrust into the role of a future villain. Our hands are tied. We are going to default. How we react will be our greatest test. At the very least we are going to highlight how all western nations have built up too much debt. If we really want to spread the light like our forefathers did, then we will use the opportunity to get smart and divert the debt into building true security. It will finally free us from population growth dependency and show how humans can get a healthy relationship with resources and money. We were never meant to live in debt, as it is not natural law. Debt only works with rapidly increasing population levels, which as we know are going to stop soon.
The earth provides for all of our needs, always has, always will. We have never been smart enough to divvy them up fairly, to gain true security. This debt noose around our necks has given us the greatest opportunity in our history. We truly could be pioneers and gain a similar place in history that our monks of old attained.
So to our Euro masters implementing their foolish experiment I say, let it commence. Your foolishness will tear down the old dysfunctional ways and bring everyone with it. Have no doubt though that fresh healthy roots will flourish. The human is too ingenious a beast to allow anything else but rebirth to take hold.
p.s. Already we have to be grateful to bond traders. This crisis has highlighted how much power we have given you guys. The average Joe and Josephine is starting to see how much fat and cream you take off the top. A light has been shone on your lifestyles. That can only mean one thing. We are not going to accept it long term. We are going to start meeting our needs in our lifetimes, free from debt. No longer will the trading of debt allow you to grow fat. Stock up on the fast cars and champagne, while it's going.
Barry Fitzgerald
Author of "Building Cities of Gold"
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