A story exploring time travel and societal issues in the wake of 9/11. This is chapter 19. See previous posts for chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18.
Outside, tiny shards of crystalline snow floated on the wind. Inside, a fire roared and a man named Jay roasted chestnuts. Half a dozen people relaxed on couches around the fireplace. T2 Ana were there as guests of Thomas and his friends. It was a celebration. The New Year was upon them. Like everyone else in the country, they were talking about the financial crisis.
"I mean, yeah it was bad, but aren't we all kind of far removed from all of it?" asked a woman named Marnie.
"I'm telling you, the crisis wasn't the crisis," said Thomas. "The real crisis is the response."
"Oh, not this again," said Jay. "Look, I agree that the big banks are bad, but they're not cartels like you keep calling them."
"He might have picked that up from me," said T2. "Right now, the financial system is being fundamentally restructured. By the time they're through, the country's twelve largest banks will control seventy percent of all bank assets. When the dust settles, the government will have injected over a trillion dollars into this parasitic industry and sent $16 trillion more overseas for damage control. The banks will keep bribing ratings agencies and lying about Libor. And the revolving door between Washington and Wall Street will just keep spinning. What would you call it, if not a cartel?"
"I guess the foreclosures do affect regular people," said Marnie.
"The military-industrial complex used 9/11 to consolidate its power," said Thomas. "That's exactly what the banks are doing now, using the financial crisis, which they themselves manufactured."
"You always get so worked up about this," said a woman named Kate. "I just wonder if there's a more evolved way to relate to it all."
"And I wonder how people can use money every day without even understanding where it comes from," said Thomas. "It's all debt, created in a computer system. Loan amounts go into circulation while the amounts owed for interest are never created, except as new debt, keeping dollars artificially scarce in every part of the economy that regular people have access to."
Ana, who had until then been quiet, spoke up. "I'd say it's a wonder the system works at all," she said. "But then, the crash sort of proves that the system doesn't actually work without government intervention. Free market! Ha!"
"You know, I read somewhere that the bailout the government gave the banks was similar to the total amount owed by all homeowners who were delinquent on their mortgages," continued Ana. "They could have given the money to the homeowners to bail them out. Instead, the government paid the banks directly, preserving homeowner debt, and the banks took possession of the homes through foreclosures."
"Okay, but what are we supposed to do, huh?" asked Jay. "All join credit unions?"
"For a start," said T2. "Personally, I favor creating a new monetary system entirely. Outside of banks. Outside of governments. A financial network created for us, by us."
"What, like your corporate points program?" asked Jay.
"Be nice," said Kate.
"There's a bit more to it than that, but basically," said T2. "The tokens you call corporate points will actually become quite popular once they catch on. And nothing motivates the creation of a new system like watching the old one eat itself."
"I have a question on an unrelated topic," said Ana. "How do you all know each other?"
"Just friends," said a woman named Corie. "Kate and Jay are a thing. And Marnie and Thomas are a thing. And I'm just wherever I feel like being in all of it. Like a butterfly! Or a bee."
"So you're not all with NIS or TAP?" asked Ana.
"I don't even know what that means," said Corie.
"She means The Federation," said Thomas.
"Oh right," said Corie. "Thomas said you started it. That's cool."
"What's The Federation doing about the financial crisis?" asked Jay.
"Thomas," T2 asked. "How much of an overlap do you suppose there is between your AFN subscribers and readers of Adbusters Magazine?"
"Maybe ten percent of mine," said Thomas. "Why?"
"Because I might ask TAP to consider bold action," said T2. "To hold Wall Street crooks accountable in media and support economic justice efforts."
"Wait," said T2. "Is this more about Universal Basic Income?"
"In a roundabout way," said T2. "But at first, we need news stories about the corruption and collusion. And like you said, we need people to understand what money really is, who controls it, and how it's controlled."
"And what then?" asked Marnie.
"Then people can make informed choices about how to proceed," said Thomas.
"So in other words, we're screwed then," said Jay.
"Why would you say that?" asked Ana.
"I just mean that people don't always make the best choices, informed or not," said Jay.
"It's true," said T2. "Not everybody would make the same choices we would. But some would. An important few."
(Feature image from Pixabay.)
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