Hegemoney

[Tim Jenkin]

Since money was 'invented' thousands of years ago the ruling elites have always tried to exert their hegemony over its creation and distribution, and thereby exert their control over the exchange process. They did this either by taking control of the supplies of the predominant exchange medium or by defining what constitutes money, enforcing its use and preventing others from establishing competing exchange systems.

Rulers learned very early on that those who control money ultimately control everything. This is because money, when it is a commodity, can be used by those in control of it to extract wealth from society without having to deliver much in return. Where the supply of the exchange medium was controlled by the rulers they could spend it directly into circulation or lend it to those who needed it and demand that it be returned with a 'borrowing fee' (interest); where it was not controlled by the rulers, by their defining of what was 'legal tender' they could demand a 'conversion fee' (seigniorage) which converted the exchange medium (usually gold or silver) into legal tender (usually the creation of coins with the ruler's seal stamped on it). Either way the rulers discovered that control of the money system increased their power over their subjects, drew wealth towards them and concentrated it in their hands. This enabled them to demand from the rest of society whatever they required and gave them the power to control others and determine the course of events.

The history of human society, more than being a history of class struggle, has been a history of various social forces or interest groups competing over who controls the money system. For most of history kings, emperors and caliphs were in control but for the past five hundred years rising mercantile classes have challenged the money monopoly of the traditional rulers. Revolutions ultimately led to a compromise where governments and the financial institutions of the mercantilists and industrialists controlled the money system together. This led to the central bank model that we have today where governments and the banks collude to provide and control the supply of money.

Money today is no longer substantial so there is no need for the 'money powers' to control its physical supply. However, as all money is now 'created' as debt there is a need to control the supply of debt (cash it must be remembered is just a portable form of electronic money that started out as debt). The credit-creating machine (the other side of the debt) in all countries is made up of private financial institutions, central banks and governments. These three operate in unison and comprise the present day money monopoly.

So what's the matter with a money monopoly? If we've had one for thousands of years and we seem to have managed okay, what is the problem now?

Let's not get into the history of humankind, where most of the most dreadful calamities can be explained in terms of failing money systems. Suffice it to say that monopolies in general are not a good thing. They symbolise the end of diversity and choice and funnel us into narrow ways of doing things. When they fail we are left high and dry as there are no other options. They also create total dependence which allows them to dictate the terms and conditions for those who who are reliant on them.

In economics we understand monopolies as entities that exert exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices. A monopolistic money system is one that exerts exclusive control of the exchange mechanism and manipulates it in order to benefit those who control it.

In short, when the money monopoly fails we all suffer. There is nowhere we can turn so we all become victims. When it is not failing, in the sense that the exchange mechanism appears to be working, it massively diverts wealth from the wealth producers to those who control it, usually through the mechanism of interest.

The current financial crisis reveals how fragile the monopolistic money system is and how near to the brink we are living. We all live in fear that our sources of money will dry up and the anxiety this generates makes us all victims of stress. Apart from that, the money monopoly determines what happens in the realm of the economy: where society's efforts go (into works that benefit the parasitic monied classes or the wealth producers); the driving principle (growth at all costs vs recognition of finite limits); who controls things (huge financial institutions and corporations vs individuals and small enterprise); who benefits (the already wealthy vs everyone).

It doesn't have to be like this. We don't have to live under a money monopoly and worry that our sources of money are going to dry up and our savings will be reduced to nothing by inflation. There is a choice

The CES is an attempt to break the money monopoly by providing an alternative way of 'doing' money. So long as you have limbs that move and a mind that can think, you can provide for yourself by exchanging your specialisation in life for the specialisations of others. You don't need a 'supply' of money to meet your needs; all you need is a supply of energy, good will and a promise to give back to the community the equivalent of what you receive. As more of us become involved and experience the liberating effects of a public exchange system, the more we can reduce our dependency on the life-threatening money monopoly.

[Tom Cobb]

There is also something happening now that is unprecedented in the history of the world. The ability of millions, if not billions to communicate, organize and exchange information over the internet. Could this be the means to finally overcome the advantage that has always been wielded by those in control of centralizing money systems? Up to now, centralized and organized violence has always been able to crush the dispersed and decentralized. The wealthy have ever found it a simple matter to butcher the poor. Can the self organizing power that is emerging via the net, effectively counteract this?