THE MASK AND THE FACE OF THE BANK-DRAGON

Millions of words have passed and 120 days are left before the four dark knights ride on the stage. Y2K is coming irrefragably.

It no longer makes a difference if every silly polly wakes up from the enchantment cast on them by sorceress Morgana La Bank. America sleeps from sea to shining sea as it glides toward the edge of the Y2K precipice.

The fog of the Dragon's breath has 260 million in soothing slumber. The stock market is given artificial respiration by the restless Dragon. "Sleep Pollies! Sleep Sheeple! The doom of pollies is that they forget. Their fear is manifest by their avoiding to look on the dragon's fearsome face.

Jim Lord came riding in and wounded the dragon with the Pentagon Papers. A thousand Minions yelped and run to damage control. A few frantic pollies are posting stupid diatribes to try and confuse even the few who have seen the Dragon through the fog of official lies.

The world financial system is only the mask of the dragon. Made of a thousand shining scales: loans, mortgages, savings accounts, cashiers checks, credit cards, debit cards, in millions of instruments to feed its own reckless lust. Behind that shimmering evil mask is the deadly face of the insatiable beast that owns the world. It owns our homes, our farms, our cities, our countries, our hospitals, our medicines, it elects presidents and finances dictators it commands governments and finances churches it owns almost all natural assets on earth, almost every home owner is forced in debt to it his whole life by land and construction codes, no enterprise can survive but by the Dragon's grace, it owns the debts of every corporation and the souls of most politicians and controls directly or indirectly all media except for the Internet which has become a thorn in its side. The Dragon now wants to control by police power the Internet "for the good of the children", so it claims as it denies food to the poor to children, the old and mothers and to the seek and the meek..

The Dragon cares nothing for the lives of people, concerned only about the source of its own blood sucked out of the people from birth to death. The people must leave their money in bank custody by the spell of fear - "Beware of thieves! - But bankers are the greatest of thieves - they take one dollar pay you 3 cents a year interest or less then reproduces it electronically a hundred and a thousand folds with the magic of fractional banking. You go to prison if you dare produce money out of nothing but they are licenced to steal. The dragon loans the phantom money back at usury interest and presto more power to the Dragon more pain to the people. "Keep your money in my belly" roars the monster, threatened for the first time in 500 years. "Your mattress is not safe". Do not hoard food do not prepare to survive just reproduce your banking records and leave your hard earned money here where it is safe from other thieves.

Take your money out of the bank let the Dragon will die, so the world may have a return to a real exchange with currency that no one can fake or cause to evaporate from your pockets even as you sleep by manipulating interest rates.

True knights are few, but the sound of their battle horns are being heard across the earth. "Might for right! Not right for might" Let the dragon die.

Trade your soon to be worthless money for trade goods. Let the Dragon of Greed die!

-- Arthur (ArthurRex@Camelot.Grail), August 24, 1999

Answers

A good essay on the central controversy of American (and global) politics. From the days of William Jennings Bryan, with his metaphoric 'cross of gold,' and before, to arguments between Hamilton and Jefferson, the contest between the People's interest and the Banktrust (call it what you will) has ebbed and waned, with skirmishes almost always contained to the fringes of American political discourse. It is not uninteresting, in fact, to examine more closely the habit of naming the Banktrust (call it what you wil) as a Beast, or 'The Monster from Jeckyll Island,' or the Dragon, or somesuch. All these concepts probably are 'forme frustes' of simply naming it as Antichristus. And for the individual involved in battling the Banktrust, accepting or rejecting certain theories as to the origins of the Banktrust becomes, in our current political and cultural environment, salient. Gore Vidal won few friends either for his writings against the National Security State or his later rumblings against the Jews. There is a whole train of American characters who've wandered out into the fever swamp and, if they came back at all, had mud smeared on their outer garments. Of course, 'fever swamp' itself, when used in this context, has become cliche'. It is still used, with effect, by those striving ardently and forever to derail any nascent anti-Bank movement. However subterrannean, the movement undeniably exists, and its issuance on the Internet is what raises the hackles of Mr. Clinton's company.

-- Mainstreet (AveAm@grace.love), August 24, 1999.

This is good stuff, Arthur. You're absolutely right; this is the first time the dragon has been really threatened and he is mightily alarmed. Perhaps the only good thing about Y2K is that it can pierce the dragon's belly with a mortal thrust and end this venal corruption.

-- cody varian (cody@y2ksurvive.com), August 24, 1999.

You guys are W-A-A-A-Y out there! Kinda trippy. Voices crying in the wilderness. True words, of course. But there have been a million Juan Bautistas as yourselves.

(And Pilate remains in the castle denying the question itself, with his "What is Truth?")

The question for us is, when do people rise? And will they know it if they have?

If the Fractional Reservers have gone out to the tip of a limb in their greed, will the people even know they have made revolution when they all take out their "3-day weekend" money at once?

Will the bankers need their heads handed them, or will they just go home for the weekend like everyone else, and not return?

-- Pancho Villa (you've@been.doing.it.to.us.for.500.years), August 24, 1999.

Great essay.. great imagery. Though perhaps the dragon is more like the worm thingy that inhabits Stargate's Tealk.. try to kill the worm and you kill the host. The dragon that sucks our blood also feeds us. It dies.. many die with it.

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), August 24, 1999.

Linda: Do you like to mudwrestle?

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.com), August 24, 1999.

TO PANCHO VILLA

Ole Pancho, we no care if the people know what they have done. Let thir fear to lose their pesos kill the dragon. We can get the land back grow corn and feed our kids. The Federales will run away if there is no money to pay them to kill the people. Viva la revolucion!

-- Emiliano (Zapata@viva.larevolucion), August 24, 1999.

You are exactly right. If only more people were aware of the fractional reserve banking.

-- Mark Hamilton (markhamilton@rtelco.net), August 24, 1999.

Heresy!

Blasphemy, I say! We have your gold, we hoard your gold (we LOVE your .

Dare not our anger, pitiful creatures; we shall gnaw the bones of your children!

(not Lon Frank, but..)

-- Smaug (Hobbitsare@for.lunch), August 24, 1999.

GREAT' essay Arthur, King of Spain ,I love mud wrestling and would like to make you my little puppy, lets make a date!

-- Gorgo the Great (masked marvel@WWF.com), August 24, 1999.

The Dragon has no grace nor love;

Its countenance has great deceit;

While all who hope look up above,

The Dragon dares to snare their feet.

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), August 24, 1999.

Viva la Revolucion -- get your pesos out of the DragoBanco - without dinero el Drago se muere.... Viva Villa!!! Viva Artuto Rey!!! Let the federales eat their heart out ...they will grab the bankers' caviar and champagne...they will steal their Gucci sapatos...

Kill the DragoBanco take ALL your diner out of the bank and put it under your mattress where it is safe from the BigPigDrago.....Ola Ola

-- Emiliano (Zapata@viva.laRevolucion), August 25, 1999.

Very impressive in a surreal kind of way.

-- R (riversoma@aol.com), August 25, 1999.