- Politics UK
PoliticsUK would like to welcome 97% Owned - Democratise our Money Supply creator Mike Howarth
Hi Mike, A lot has happened since we last spoke. Can you tell us how has 97% progressed since we last spoke in December?
Mike Horwath A lots happened in the last 5mths, we managed to complete two versions of the film, a special One hour version curated by Positive Money and our 2hr10min version. We been working to get the film as far and wide as possible with 4 screenings in the pipeline including a cast and crew special, tickets here: http://97pcowned.eventbrite.com/ and we are hopeful the film will be on TV, Sky Channel 201-203, so I will post confirmation on our Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/ 97percentowned Also we have translated the one hour version into Spanish, Greek, French, Indonesian, Lithuanian with more to come…So very busy ;)
www.eventbrite.com
When money drives almost all activity on the planet, it's essential that we un...See more
Politics UK Are you pleasantly surprised with the reception of 97% considering that over 51,000 people have viewed 97% on YouTube and with ROAR magazine covering your documentary?
Mike Horwath 51K on the full version but also 14.5K on the Positive Money version so the response has been amazing that for such a 'dry' & 'academic' topic we've managed to generate such interest. We have no marketing budget, distribution or sales teams so this is purely viral in nature which really goes to show how much interest there is in the topic. We can only hope that this goes onto generate more and more interest and I'm aware that there are other similar productions in the pipeline that would have better resources that we have so I hope we've started a trend for film makers to explore this topic rather than relying on our American cousins.
Politics UK With 20/20 hindsight; what mistakes were made that led us to the economic crisis that we face?
Mike Horwath If you want a quick soundbite, house price inflation. But that does not answer the full question, can you fix what is fundamentally broke?
Politics UK Do you think that your film has had any impact on how people now view the credit crisis, and the bailout of the banks?
Mike Horwath I hope it gives our viewers the opportunity to learn a little about a system that isn't documented (well it is but needs an army of researchers to make sense of it) and not transparent. It's based on assumed facts many of which are completely incorrect and live in the realm of myth. I hope it encourages them to research the system and draw some conclusion based on evidence, I would like to see the language introduced to the main stream news broadcasts so that Central Bank reserves, commercial bank money and similar become common knowledge. I didn't really set out to explain or provide answers to the bail out but to explain the money creation system that causes crisis such as the Bank bail out, so I hope it has a lasting impact.
Politics UK The last time we spoke we discussed the creation of money.
Money, to the majority of us, is bits of paper and coins in our wallet. Can you explain how money is created?
Mike Horwath As the title of the film alludes, 97% of the money supply has been created as debt, but I would say watch the film, you can find the 1hr version here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3mfkD6Ky5o or the full 2hrs or so here:http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=XcGh1Dex4Yo then get in touch with us and, get onto the forums and discuss what you found, believed, liked, disagreed with, open debate is great but it should be based on facts not assumed knowledge or ideas myths. Get armed with the facts.
To join the campaign to democratise money see http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/97...See more
Politics UK So, money is created by the creation of credit/debt by private banks. How is this a problem?
Mike Horwath I guess its only a problem if you believe that money is created by Banks, thats usually the first argument.
Mike Horwath If you can reach a consensus that 97% of money is created as 'bank debt' then I would suggest that the entity with the ability to create money, who is legal obliged to the owners of the company, the shareholders, to seek the best return on that investment, has a conflict of interest. Now in my mind that conflict of interest is what we are seeing popping up all over the world in the 99% Movement, the indignados, austerity measures and others as a reflection of this conflict. That is however my own opinion, that if we can create money from nothing, essentially, then as a society we should be able to decide what and how that is used for, not leave it to the whims of a Bank computer.
Politics UK Critics of the privatised creation of money by banks have claimed that it is one of the causes of economic of inequality. Is this true?
Mike Horwath I believe that is true but I would urge anyone on here today to discern their own information and look to more knowledgable people, for example Prof Richard Wilkinsons book The Sprit Level: Why more equal societies almost always do better for some interesting arguments and ideas.
Politics UK We hear a lot about fuel poverty and increased fuel prices, is the price of fuel affected by the process that money is created?
Mike Horwath This is not something we covered in the film so I would not be happy to pass comment other than I believe oil and money and power seem inextricably linked. We need to break the grip of all three.
Politics UK You said in our last interview that “The issue as I see is the Economics profession itself is corrupt”. Can you explain what you meant?http://on.fb.me/K3lLdb
Mike Horwath institutionalisation, you don't get a top job for arguing with the head professor ! There are some out there such as Steve Keen setting a precedence but its not usual. Why do people want to get a top education, study hard and then blow a good job by arguing ?
Mike Horwath Bundle this with a question about 'Fractional reserve Banking' and you've guaranteed a pub fight. Its the divisive left v right question.
Mike Horwath There is so much Debt because money is created as debt so if you want to grow the economy you need to grow the debt.
Mike Horwath I want to suggest on this question that people really learn how the system works, discuss the actual system not people borrow, or people cant pay back debt.
Politics UK Is it possible for the public to reduce their total debt while the banks are allowed to create money as debt?
Mike Horwath No I just dont see how that can work. But I never knew how Banking worked until about 1.5yrs ago when we started the project, so I'm looking forward to the 97% Owned debunk...
Politics UK Houses prices have increased three-fold in just over 10 years.
Has the banks benefited from this? Have they encouraged this?
Mike Horwath Money and Power, this gave the banks both especially on the Global circuit. I cant rant about this enough but I would say get into the film, get onto the various websites that document this and learn about it.
Mike Horwath Removing equity from Property, increasing house prices across the board and increasing the real price of mortgages, the current interest rate is artificially low, is robbing from future generations.
Mike Horwath What you take out of your property now you take away from your children and the next generation, each incursion of debt must create a new debtor.
Politics UK On PoliticsUK polls, it is consistently the economy and employment which concerns our users most.
We have a boom and bust economy (according to Positive Money UK ).
Can you explain what influence the banks have on the economy and employment in the UK?
Mike Horwath In the UK we are lucky we have water, housing and all the essentials we need to survive and live in comfort. But we need money to do these things so its no surprise this tops the polls, the vast majority need a job to provide the money to provide the basics.
Mike Horwath So Boom and Bust is a major problem, we need to arm ourselves with the knowledge we need to make a better life for ourselves and as we can see from the film, and I hope the viewers share these conclusions, we need to gain the knowledge to take back the power to fight the entrenched powers for the special super subsidy they have, for no reason other than nobody has the power or knowledge to take back the control.
Mike Horwath I argued in this article that this has been happening for centurieshttp://www.disinfo.com/2012/05/ what-is-money-how-is-it-cre ated-and-what-are-the-cons equences/ and that John Gray, commented, “We’re not moving to a world in which crises will never happen or will happen less and less. We are in a world in which they happen several times during a given human lifetime and I think that will continue to be the case” We need to change this.
www.disinfo.com
When money drives almost all activity on the planet, it's essential that we unde...See more
Mike Horwath If boom and bust cycles are the increase in available credit followed by the decrease in available credit, which Banks control, then we can only be left with one conclussion...
Mike Horwath So why is this never a Political issue come polling day but Polish immigrants are a major problem ?
Politics UK Are banks really the powerhouse of the UK economy? Or could they be some of the most heavily-subsidised businesses in the world?
Mike Horwath If the entity that creates money is increasingly becoming a larger contributor to the economy how can that be good?
Mike Horwath As Ben from Positive Money mentioned in the film the more of the GDP banks contribute the less the other industries are providing
Mike Horwath If banks did as the Myth states, use savers money and direct it to good borrowers, then wouldn't we want why they are making so much money and therefore why do competitors not enter the market and provide.. competition..we know its rigged and its a myth
Mike Horwath Read here for the proof : http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/ consequences/ subsidising-banks/
www.positivemoney.org.uk
Are banks really the powerhouse of the UK economy? Or could they be some of the ...See more
Politics UK Why didn't you explicitly name the reform needed i e Full reserve banking reform or 100% money reform?
Mike Horwath We are filmakers, we want to inform, entertain, create debate, open people to new ideas and I hope viewers take the content and ideas to formulate their own opinion.
Mike Horwath We have turned down opportunities to make films with people that insisted we put across a single vision or ideology.
Mike Horwath In fact we have had negative feedback for being biased and for not stating a solution....
Mike Horwath Part of the reason I think were in this mess....if it inspires you to believe that the system as it is has faults, then its important enough to seek the solutions
Mike Horwath No…plasters and band aid, besides we are not actually paying any of the debt down, in fact we growing the debt. We should look to massive reform to liberalise people not restrict them, why are we paying for the mistakes of an elite few who told us one thing, then when it went wrong told us we were to blame. As I suggested earlier we need to take responsibility for ourselves and change the system, the elite will not do if for us.
Politics UK What viable and practical alternative to how money is created and supplied does 97% support?
Mike Horwath If you took a 30cm ruler and put world peace at the end, then put Monetary Reform at 1cm I believe if we can achieve the goal of getting this into the political process by the next election then I'm a happy voter. Change is always slow and hard. I would love to see this topic get into Main stream political debate...if David Cameron the son of a Banker wants to get online and debate this with me I'm game but I hope by the next election 60Million people want to debate this topic. Then we let the people decide, democratise the money supply or not? But lets get this out there and let the idea flourish and see what comes out of the wood work.
Mike Horwath For the time being I would support Positive Moneys approach, its not perfect but its well thought out, well researched and its by far the best and most realistic chance we have or step by step, cm by cm making a real difference
Politics UK Can the present economic crisis be ‘fixed’ without changing how money is created and supplied?
Mike Horwath Feel like we flew through this time....before I answer would like to say thanks to you and all the pople on Politics Uk for liking, sharing the film and for the feedback, to the organisers and were on Facebook, @queuepolitely so keep the debate open...to the question
Mike Horwath We'll be at the Cast and Crew Screening for those in London, we only have 40 tickets so get in quick
Mike Horwath Then we move onto the next film, there are so many subjects we put about 5 concepts on hold to do this film so expect some shorter 20-30 min films from us next year maybe 2-3.
Politics UK "Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few." George Bernard Shaw - How can the answer to monetary reform, or any of the worlds ills, come from the largely uneducated and ignorant masses, the same masses that categorically fail to hold their governments to account every single day?
Mike Horwath The heaviest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself
Mike Horwath the question is how far can they be pushed before they decided to do something about it...usually when food becomes a problem
Politics UK 97% argues for a radical rebirth of people power, why not just campaign for the abolition of money itself? Money. after all, is simply an ideology, aslong as money translates into social/economic power, there will always be those who are wealthier and consequently more powerful than others.
Mike Horwath No issue with that statement other than I listen to the Chomsky's, Slavoj Žižek's of the world and hope those better equipped than me can suggest some real alternatives and in fact I would love to see a proliferation fo idealism as we saw in the late 1800's, or the Tom Pain's and others that drove change to drive change. This is why I love ROAR.org
Politics UK What impact would it have if we all insisted on using cash to pay for everything possible instead of digitally? Inc mortgages and utility bills etc etc
Mike Horwath For the Banks very little as you would still deposit cash which is circulated within the system.
Mike Horwath It's increasing debt that is the issue, get rid of your credit cards, pay of your debt that is the point in which you can make an impact.
Mike Horwath If £67 Billion exists in cash but i believe its about £2.1 Trillion in Broad Money then you get an idea of the debt
Mike Horwath But I would advocate for the use of cash and stop using electronic money because it gives the banks power, this is what our customers want. Stop using credit cards and electronic money etc and go back to cash
Hex Austen The people have two enormous powers.
The ability to remove a product
The ability to create a demand.
With those two things, the people could actually turn thousands of years of hierarchical history on its head. Do you think that 97%, Occupy etc. are part of a movement toward self-realisation and self-accountability for people?
Mike Horwath
William Kristol Irving, one of his early books, Two Cheers for Capitalism, asserts that capitalism, or more precisely bourgeois capitalism, is worthy of two cheers: One cheer, because "it works, in a quite simple, material sense", by improving the conditions of people. And a second cheer, because it is "congenial to a large measure of personal liberty". These are no small achievements, he argues, and only capitalism has proved capable of providing them. But it also imposes a great "psychic burden" upon the individual and the social order as well. Because it does not meet the individual's "'existential' human needs", it creates a "spiritual malaise" that threatens the legitimacy of that social order. As much as anything else, it is the withholding of that third cheer that is the distinctive mark of neoconservatism, as Kristol understands it.
Mike Horwath I believe the movements we are seeing are a response to this "psychic burden" and this is why the media portrays it as lacking in direction or "they dont know why they are protesting" as we used the carton in the film.
How do you turn around a power that has existed for so long?
Stephen H O'Hanlon Why the hell has no one told me abut this before?
So..basically, our whole economy is debt fuel and controled by private companies to make profit from?
Jean Eveleigh Hi Mike - what do you think to the calls for a green/ethical bank controlled by the government to lead directly to the public in times of austerity rather than relying on fiscal stimulas being passed on through the high street banks? - Mike Horwath * Jean Eveleigh: Hi Jean, question back, if I dont sound like a lawyer, why is your Government borrowing Money, which you pay back in Taxes?
Andrew King Hi mike congratulations on your film great to see some factual truths about money that are not often discussed,may I ask in answer to you're question about 'where would the cash come from' would it not be a simple case of taking it out the atm's instead of using the plastic as u mentioned in your later post?- Mike Horwath * Andrew King: Thanks Andrew, glad you enjoyed the film. We are releasing another film in the next week or so this an amendment to 97 % owned. We filmed it originally but felt it was so technical that it would put viewers of so we cut it and created a stand alone film. It deals 100% with how money is created by Central Banks. It caused us about 6mths of delays to get our head around it
Politics UK PoliticsUK would like to thank Mike Horwath for tonight's interview. It has been both interesting and informative.
If you would like more info on 97% Owned - Democratise our Money Supply please vistit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/97percentowned and visit the website http://queuepolitely.com/ and http://97pcowned.eventbrite.com/
Once again, Thank you
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©PoliticsUK
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
PoliticsUK Interviews 97% Owned - Democratise our Money Supply creator Mike Howarth
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