Thesis 27: Patriarchy, Precious Metals, and Money

Gold and other precious commodities were placed in The Garden of Eden.[1] After the Fall, they were the most marketable commodities, and therefore functioned as the Biblically preferred medium of exchange.[2] Debasement of precious commodity-monies with baser substances is an abomination to God.[3] Inflationary money transfers wealth from the weak and struggling to the debt-ridden polis and its minions.[4] A debased currency can exist only under an Imperial monopoly: a Central Bank.[5] A debased currency is the machinery of revolution: the institutionalization of a debased heart.[6]

Notes

1. Heaven: Ezekiel 1:22:26-27; 10:9; 2 Corinthians 12:2,4 + verses below;
The Eden-Model of Heaven: Ezekiel 28:13-16; cf. Genesis 2:11-12;
The Temple-Model of Heaven: Exodus 25:3-8 et passim; 28:8-9,12,17-20; 39 passim; 1 Kings 6 passim;
The New Jerusalem/New Earth: Isaiah 54:11-12; 60:5-6,9,11; Revelation 21:11,18-21, Malachi 3:17; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15.

2. Genesis 23:16; 43:21 + Leviticus 19:35-37; Genesis 44:1,8; Ezra 8:25-30; 11:2-3 + 12:35-36 + Psalm 105:37; Ezekiel 7:19; 28:4; 1 Chronicles 21:24-25; Job 28:12-20; Jeremiah 32:9-10; 1 Peter 1:18. Cf. Job 31:24; Psalm 19:10; 119:72; Proverbs 8:10-11,19; 16:16; Isaiah 60:17; 2 Timothy 2:20. Cp. Matthew 10:9; Acts 3:6.

3. Leviticus 19:35-37; Deuteronomy 25:13-16; Proverbs 11:1; 16:11; 20:10,23; Amos 8:5-6; Micah 6:10-12; Zechariah 11:12; cf. Psalm 119:119; Proverbs 25:4; 26:23.

4. Isaiah 1:23; Amos 8:6; Micah 6:10; James 5:1-6.

5. Genesis 10:7-12; cf. #19, #20; Revelation 13:16-17.

6. Jeremiah 6:28-30; Ezekiel 22:18-20; Isaiah 1:25; Proverbs 17:3; 27:21; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:3.

References
On the various models of heaven, see James B. Jordan, Through New Eyes. Notice that gold and similar commodities are precious (price-ly) in places where most folk would think them irrelevant: the Garden of Eden and the New Jerusalem.

On money as the most marketable commodity, see Gary North, "Gold: Is It Just Another Commodity?," Mises on Money, and Honest Money: Biblical Principles of Money and Banking.

On debasement, see Banking and Money.

On violence and the transfer of wealth from poor to polis, see How Fractional Reserve Banking Oppresses The Poor.

On the need for a state-enforced central bank to preserve debased currency, see Gresham's Law in "Gold: The Sovereign Power of the Veto," and Ron Paul's suggestion to Legalize Competing Currencies.

On a debased heart, see R.J. Rushdoony, Larceny in the Heart.

This thesis could be placed in the section "A. PATRIARCHY BEFORE THE FALL." It is placed here rather arbitrarily because it came chronologically in Genesis 23:16:

And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.

Debased currency is the lifeblood of the institution of violence (the State).

Many people feel that we need "the State" to provide our money. These people do not understand how money originated, nor do they appreciate the function money serves in our economy. Understanding the origin and function of money produces an appreciation of how a truly Free Market prospers, and why "the State" is unnecessary.

In late 2008, the Federal Reserve has used its powers of "fractional reserve banking" to create more than a trillion dollars in unbacked currency to give, basically, to its friends. Entire industries, involving hundreds of thousands of workers, are moved and shaken by the creation of debased currency. The State creates enormous power for itself by redistributing purchasing power from ordinary people to special interests, using a fraudulent money system.

Abolish the Federal Reserve System