The PLENTY And The U.S. Constitution Don’t Mix
One of my primary opponents in the 4th District Congressional race is the President of the Board of Trustees for the PLENTY Currency Cooperative. The PLENTY is a local currency created in part by BJ Lawson to compete with the U.S. dollar right here in America. The creation of a competing currency within our own borders is antithetical to the U.S. Constitution; the federalist system it established, and America as an independent nation state. Motivated by “intense opposition to the corporatism and corporate socialism that is eviscerating our economy, environment, and civil liberties,” the logical outcome of my opponent’s efforts with the establishment of the PLENTY is division and segregation – eliminating the U.S. dollar as a means of exchange.
The school of economic thought behind the creation of a competing currency within our own borders comes from the Austrian School, as put forth by Ludwig von Mises in the late 1800’s-early 1900’s. It is a beggar thy neighbor attitude focused on everything local and related to the long ago discarded mercantilist actions (think modern day China) between nation states.
The belief by my primary opponent that the dollar is a fiat currency not backed by a precious metal and is controlled at the national level is behind the creation of the PLENTY. While my primary opponent rants against the U.S. dollar as a “debt” based currency; strangely, the PLENTY is backed by the U.S. dollar. While my primary opponent praises his adherence to the U.S. Constitution, and therefore federalism and the nation state made up of our 50 states, he works hard to push a local currency which when taken to its’ logical conclusion can only weaken our federalist system and the nation state.
The U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8 leaves the power of coining money to Congress. The U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 10, says no state shall “coin money.”
The creation and effort towards circulating the PLENTY are not the actions of a mainstream Republican, let alone a conservative Republican. The creation of a competing currency to maintain a local economy is more closely associated with modern day liberalism, or the actions of a liberal Democrat.
The reasons offered for not using U.S. dollars are largely related to environmentalism, and the beggar thy neighbor actions focused on keeping economic activity captive within local borders. The reasons my primary opponent offers for why using the U.S. dollar is bad include, “Promotes buying from…the internet, catalogues, and chain stores,” “Makes our economy more dependent on people and events outside our control,” (that would be our fellow Americans). Additional reasons are “Allows use of materials from places with unknown practices and values” (that would be the other 49 states), “Keeps consumers unaware of the impact of their consumption,” “Concentrates wealth,” and “Encourages industry-scaled production.”
It’s not hard to argue the creation of a local currency like the PLENTY is un-American and anti-constitutional. Let us not forget the failure of the Articles of Confederation was in some respects related to the chaos created by each state having its’ own currency.
Finally, it’s important to realize if my primary opponents goal is true success of his currency creation then; trade policy discussions between North Carolina and its’ surrounding states have to begin, balance of payments issues have to be addressed, the decision on a floating or fixed exchange rate to the U.S. dollar has to be made, the potential of alarming our trading partners pushing them further towards establishing a global currency has to be considered, and North Carolina will need a good store of gold and silver as my primary opponent believes these are the metals that must support a currency.
The creation of the PLENTY is not the action a of serious Republican candidate focused on making the Constitutional Republic that is the United States of America stronger and more prosperous.
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