In This Age of Plenty

http://www.michaeljournal.org/plenty.htm In This Age of Plenty This 410-page book presents a new conception of finance, of the money system, that would definitely free society from purely financial problems. Its author, Louis Even, sets out the outlines of the Social Credit financial proposals, conceived by the Scottish engineer Clifford Hugh Douglas. 1 Preface (to the first edition in French) This book talks about Social Credit, but it is far from being a general survey of Social Credit. Social Credit is actually a whole orientation of civilization, and deals with its social and political, as well as its economic, aspects. We even believe, with Douglas — to whom the world owes this enlightening doctrine — that putting right the economic order along Social Credit lines, is impossible without first putting right the political order. In this volume, however — except for a few thoughts incidental to the repercussions of a flawed and dominating financial system on politics — we have confined our study to economic objectives and Social Credit financial proposals. Louis Even The title of this book — In This Age of Plenty — clearly shows that we are now dealing with an economy of plenty, in which the access to the huge possibilities of modern production is made easier for all. “Old economics” was ruled by the presence of gold or any other rare commodity, when production itself was scarce. But it is to go against progress and logic, to want to keep an instrument linked to scarcity, to confer claims on automated production. In the first part of this volume, we recall essential and very simple notions that everybody readily admits, but which are almost totally ignored in the present economic organism. The ends no longer direct the means. A short study of the present monetary system shows that money governs where it ought to serve. We present the Social Credit proposals as a remedy, explaining the outlines, without going into the methods of application. The problem, we believe, is not so much to develop a technique of operation, as to reach an agreement on ideas, which seem both too simple and too bold to the minds who are accustomed to losing sight of the ends, and to getting bogged down in the complexity of the means. So, several chapters are especially intended to justify the Social Credit doctrine. The second part reproduces, without necessarily being linked with each other, certain speeches and articles which throw light on the various aspects of Social Credit. In offering this book to the public, we have especially in mind the ordinary reader, who has no special knowledge of economics. Even in dealing with specific topics, we avoid technical terms as much as possible, since they are more likely to tire readers than to enlighten them. We strived to write in such a way as to be easily understood by the great majority of people — which, besides, is in the spirit of an economy of plenty to serve and everyone. Montreal, May 1st, 1946. LOUIS EVEN 2 Preface to the present edition (1996) Fifty years after the publication of the first edition in French, Louis Even’s book, In This Age of Plenty, is now available in English. Louis Even began to make Social Credit known in French Canada in 1935, but now, in 1996, there are as many subscribers to his Movement’s English-language periodical, Michael, as to its French-language periodical, Vers Demain, in several countries in the world. (For more detail on the development of Louis Even’s Social Credit Movement, see the biographical notes.) The present volume is the English translation of the fourth (revised and enlarged) edition in French, published in 1988. Ten chapters and six appendices have been added to this 1988 edition, to form the present volume. (These additions are mostly taken from issues of “Michael” published after 1988.) 3 In This Age of Plenty published in Polish Bishop Kraszewski Louis Even’s book, “In This Age of Plenty”, was published in Polish in 1993 by Bishop Zigniew Jozef Kraszewski, then Vicar General of the Diocese of Warsaw-Prague, Poland. (Note: Bishop Kraszewski died on April 4, 2004.) Here is the translation from the preface to Louis Even’s book, written by Bishop Kraszewski: “What Catholics learned in the social doctrine of the Church is the way between socialism and capitalism. For many years, this doctrine has been diffused in Canada, and known as the Social Credit theory. Louis Even’s book, In This Age of Plenty, that I introduce to the Polish readers, is an exposition of the Catholic social doctrine that is good not only for the Canadians; this book contains a lot of instructive topics for any person who reads it and who is open to social problems. This book has not been written only for great theoreticians and scholars, but for everybody. That is why this book is precious to the Poles, especially at the time of the second miracle of the Vistula River that we are presently experiencing. (The miracle of the downfall of Communism.) “Poland miraculously succeeded in gaining its freedom and sovereignty. After the devastation of Communism that had been keeping us captive for so many years, we have the duty to choose the right path of social justice, based on Catholic doctrine. I think this book will largely help in achieving that. I entrust all the readers to the protection of Our Lady Victorious, who reigns in the co-cathedral of Kamionku, in Warsaw.” 4 CONTENTS PART I Goods at the service of needs through Social Credit Social Credit: not Socialism, not a political party 7 Chapter 1 — A Few Principles 10 Chapter 2 — Economics 13 Chapter 3 — The Consumers 18 Chapter 4 — Goods 19 Chapter 5 — Specialization — The Machine 21 Chapter 6 — Poverty amidst Plenty 23 Chapter 7 — The Symbol and the Thing 25 Chapter 8 — The Birth and Death of Money 27 Chapter 9 — The Monetary Defect 32 Chapter 10 — Putting the Monetary System Right 34 Chapter 11 — The Rights of Each One to the Bare Necessities of Life 36 Chapter 12 — What is a Dividend? 39 Chapter 13 — Heritage and Heirs 40 Chapter 14 — The National Dividend 43 Chapter 15 — Money and Prices 46 Chapter 16 — Price Adjustment 47 Chapter 17 — The National Credit 52 Chapter 18 — The Monetary Mechanism of Social Credit 57 Part II A Few Talks and Articles on Various Aspects of Social Credit Chapter 19 — Society Exists For All Its Members 58 Chapter 20 — Minimum Security, Maximum Freedom 62 Chapter 21 — Politics at the Service of the People 66 Chapter 22 — A Superpower Dominates Governments 68 Chapter 23 — The Monetary Power Resides in the Banks 73 Chapter 24 — Liberal Leader Mackenzie King Said in 1935 76 Chapter 25 — Money, or Credit, Is a Social Instrument 79 Chapter 26 — The Goldsmith Who Became a Banker, a True Story 83 Chapter 27 — A Lesson From a Bank Account 86 Chapter 28 — What Would Social Credit Do For You? 90 Chapter 29 — Applied Science, a Common Good 94 Chapter 30 — A Corrupted Monetary System 98 Chapter 31 — Social Credit puts money in its proper place 102 Chapter 32 — Should Money Claim Interest? 106 Chapter 33 — Interest on Newly-Created Money Is Robbery 110 Chapter 34 — The Public-Debt Problem 115 Chapter 35 — The Labour Question, A Money Problem 124 Chapter 36 — There Is No Unemployment Problem 128 Chapter 37 — Full Income Instead of Full Employment 131 5 Chapter 38 — Equality Between Money-Figures and Price-Figures 135 Chapter 39 — The Environment — Where Money Is Concerned 139 Chapter 40 — The Government Must Create Its Own Money 144 Chapter 41 — To Caesar What Is Caesar's 149 Chapter 42 — For a Better Understanding of Social Credit 156 Chapter 43 — Social Credit and Foreign Trade 161 Chapter 44 — At the Retailer's 165 Chapter 45 — The Stocker's Lesson 168 Chapter 46 — The Monetization of Progress 172 Chapter 47 — 30 Million Capitalists 176 Chapter 48 — Men of the Right, Empty-Handed 180 Chapter 49 — The History of Banking Control in the United States 187 Chapter 50 — Social Credit in the United States in 1932 194 Chapter 51 — The Aim of the Financiers: a One-World Government 199 Chapter 52 — Social Credit and the teachings of the Popes 205 Appendix A — Social Credit and the Catholic doctrine, a study by theologians 213 Appendix B — The Bank of Canada Must Finance our Country, Debt-Free 218 Appendix C - Money, Questions and Answers, by Father Charles Coughlin 223 Appendix D — Words of Thomas Edison 227 Appendix E — Money Is Created by Banks, Evidence Given by Graham Towers 230 Louis Even — Biographical notes 232 About Clifford Hugh Douglas 240 Back to the list of articles published in the Michael Journal Back to Michael's homepage 6 P ART I Goods at the service of needs through Social Credit http://www.michaeljournal.org/noparty.htm Social Credit: Not Socialism Not a political party Not Socialism Because of the word social in the term “Social Credit”, some people erroneously assume it to be a form of Socialism, and automatically reject it. On the contrary, Social Credit is the best way to fight Socialism and Communism, and to protect private property and individual freedom. A Dominican Father, who had studied the Social Credit proposals, even wrote: “And if you want neither Socialism nor Communism, bring Social Credit in array against them. It will be in your hands a powerful weapon with which to fight these enemies.” And in 1939, a Commission of nine theologians appointed by the Bishops of Quebec found that Social Credit was not tainted with Socialism nor Communism, and was worthy of close attention.

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