My dad thinks that the Federal Reserve, as a private entity, gets to keep all the money that they print or treat the money as a loan with interest to the federal government which we then have to pay back through taxation. He believes in the various conspiracies concerning the Bilderberg group and the Rothschilds indicating that they run the world and are responsible for all the wars and 9/11, etc...
Needless to say, this can be very devisive in my family. I just want some help, in order to save my relationship with the old man. He reads a lot of material concerning this subject and uses it as evidence agaist me, even if I point out that he needs to have more vetted sources. Any ideas or comments that may help me out here? Maybe I'm wrong and the concensus in the libertarian community is that this is all true (to some extent), but I'd really like some external information from a community of people (like you guys) that I actually trust.
There are certain merits to it. Jeckyll Island happened. Morgan did manipulate the market into depression, to a certain extent. Etc. Most of the claims are erroneious and grasping at straws, but they are mostly looking at real evidence. They just look at it "wrong."
But it's more institutional... People gaming the system in order to protect themselves. Get rid of the Rothschilds and the Warburgs will take their place.
In States a fresh law is looked upon as a remedy for evil. Instead of themselves altering what is bad, people begin by demanding a law to alter it. ... In short, a law everywhere and for everything!
~Peter Kropotkin
edward flaherty used to have a good website debunking federal reserve myths when he was at the college of charleston.
i just googled and the original page is down (i think he is teaching somewhere else now), but the content appears to have been moved here:
http://www.publiceye.org/conspire/flaherty/Federal_Reserve.html
hopefully, this will at least provide you with a starting point to shut down your old man's more looney claims.
Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine - Elvis Presley
Conspiracy theories are interesting little stories... i mean, have you seen an episode of Alex Jones? How can anyone take him seriously? He is trys so hard to care about the world, that it looks like he is just acting...
My Blog: http://www.anarchico.net/
Production is 'anarchistic' - Ludwig von Mises