ThirstyFish

This truck, "Dead Reckoning III", was parked just outside the Occupy Philadelphia encampment a few weeks before they were evicted.

End the Fed is a slogan popularized by the Republican Presidential candidate, Congressman Ron Paul, in his 2009 book with the same title.

Some people are not interested in politics, they are apolitical. Some are lifelong democrats or republicans, liberals or conservatives, libertarians or socialists. Some regard themselves as independents. Others follow political conspiracy theories. Irrespective of our political leanings, the reality is that most of us are uninformed about politics, and, there is a good reason for that; Politics, by design keeps us uninformed, confused, and manipulates us. It is very difficult, if not impossible to separate political fad from political fact.

I understand those who choose to live their lives rather than waste time trying to educate themselves in that futility called politics. Who has the time to study medieval political treatises like Machiavelli's "The Prince". Even if we spend all our time sorting through political facts, we ultimately have a single vote which can be offset by any uninformed person. Is there no difference between ignorance and knowledge?

When you ask people about what the Federal Reserve System is, how it's run, what it does, why it might be a problem, you rarely get an answer. Even many of those who wave the End the Fed signs are not able to answer these questions with any clarity. The Federal Reserve is the central banking system of the United States that is meant to stabilize the financial system. Hmmm? Why did many prominent founding fathers and presidents oppose the idea of a federal reserve system? What was the Fed's role in the current financial crisis? How does the Fed fit in with the other three branches of government? Why do people want to End the Fed?

Why do any of these questions matter? The answer is because it is not fun living in a Orwellian or Huxleyan society. If you believe that America will never be an Orwellian or Huxleyan society, then open your eyes and look around you. You will find signs of both.

N.B. I asked a couple of friends who they though might ultimately be right, Huxley or Orwell? The common answer seemed to be, that they were both guilty of giving world leaders the ideas!

More Occupy photos.

Song of the Day: Reckless - Australian Crawl (1983)