Interdisciplinary
CIS 1420- Internet & HTML Fundamentals I took this class during the spring semester of 2012 at SLCC. This class fulfills my interdisciplinary general education requirement. Our instructor wanted us to post our paper, but because I really like my website I posted that as well.
Reflection I choose my hand coded website for my ePorfolio because it shows all that I learned regarding HTML, CSS, and Javascript coding. For our website we had to choose a subject that we would be willing to do a research paper on, so that's why there is a paper with the website. My topic was on the Venus Project, which is a composition of revolutionary ideas for a more efficient future. It introduces the interesting idea of a resource based economy, which if your interested in learning more about it I encourage you to read my paper.
This paper demonstrates my learning on this subject by using and interpreting the information in a variety of ways. I couldn't even have done this paper if I didn't do the proper research so I also learned how to gather and analyze information and communicate effectively by using technology resources, library resources, and other media resources.
Open the file termproject.html document first to view the site. Be sure to extract it!!
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The Venus Project
The Monetary System Today
Money is what keeps the cogs of the monetary system turning, and makes the system possible. We can charge each other and pay each other with our money. We can fine each other and tax one another. We can invest and become rich or loose it all and go bankrupt.
But where does all the money come from? The money comes from the banks, and it is made out of fresh air. Yes, today money is created by The Federal Reserve and the central banks around the world when needed. And the money is given its value in decree, meaning that it is the government that decides the monetary value of each ‘coin’, even though 99% of all the money today is electronic. The ‘gold standard’ that once existed has been abandoned a long time ago. Now, money has no relationship to anything real.
The central banks in turn lend the money out to other banks, who then lends it out to customers. And here’s how this process happens, through fractional reserve banking:
Bank A gets 100 million dollars from a central bank. It can then lend out up to 90% of this (this percentage varies from country to country, some can lend out up to 100% of these money) to a customer. This loan is then deposited to an account in another bank, or in the same bank.
As soon as this money is deposited, the bank can then lend out 90% of this money to another customer, and on and on. So, from 100 million (which was created from fresh air), the banks can multiply this to around 1 billion dollars through repeated lending. You might ask, ‘but what if the customer wants to withdraw his money and the bank has just lent it out’??? Well, of course, that’s the problem. Here’s where the banks are gambling.
Most of the time the customers do not want or need to withdraw a lot of money. If a customer want to withdraw a reasonable amount, that is no problem. The bank then takes that money from the pool of money it has. The problem comes if many customers want to withdraw a lot of money at the same time. This doesn't happen often, but when it does, it might threaten the life of that particular bank.
In addition to the money and banking system, the monetary system needs us to constantly buy new stuff for it to survive. If we stop buying, the system will collapse. This is called cyclical consumption. We have to buy, buy, buy, buy and consume, consume, consume.
Notice how we are called ‘consumers’ without anyone even getting slightly insulted. That is how deep the system has indoctrinated us into believing that ‘this is the way it has to be’. Read with a robotic voice: ‘Yes, I am a consumer. I buy things. I consume. I am important because without me the whole system collapses’.
As a result of the need for cyclical consumption, products cannot be made to last as long as they could have. Thus, products are designed to break. The first nylon stockings, for instance, never broke, which made the corporations redesign the stocking to be weaker and have a shorter lifespan, so that they could sell more and make a profit.
This kind of planned obsolescence is designed into most products we buy today. The products cannot be made too sturdy and long lasting, and have to be made in such a way that they become obsolete in themselves. Instead of being updated, they have to be replaced.
In addition to the planned obsolescence, we have perceived obsolescence. This is when a product is still working fine, but the customer still wants a new one, because of sentimental reasons, like fashion or perceived higher quality or style in ‘the new’ product. And these feelings and wants are of course produced by advertising and marketing in the media. And the reason for all of this is? To make a profit and uphold the monetary system.
Money is what keeps the cogs of the monetary system turning, and makes the system possible. We can charge each other and pay each other with our money. We can fine each other and tax one another. We can invest and become rich or loose it all and go bankrupt.
But where does all the money come from? The money comes from the banks, and it is made out of fresh air. Yes, today money is created by The Federal Reserve and the central banks around the world when needed. And the money is given its value in decree, meaning that it is the government that decides the monetary value of each ‘coin’, even though 99% of all the money today is electronic. The ‘gold standard’ that once existed has been abandoned a long time ago. Now, money has no relationship to anything real.
The central banks in turn lend the money out to other banks, who then lends it out to customers. And here’s how this process happens, through fractional reserve banking:
Bank A gets 100 million dollars from a central bank. It can then lend out up to 90% of this (this percentage varies from country to country, some can lend out up to 100% of these money) to a customer. This loan is then deposited to an account in another bank, or in the same bank.
As soon as this money is deposited, the bank can then lend out 90% of this money to another customer, and on and on. So, from 100 million (which was created from fresh air), the banks can multiply this to around 1 billion dollars through repeated lending. You might ask, ‘but what if the customer wants to withdraw his money and the bank has just lent it out’??? Well, of course, that’s the problem. Here’s where the banks are gambling.
Most of the time the customers do not want or need to withdraw a lot of money. If a customer want to withdraw a reasonable amount, that is no problem. The bank then takes that money from the pool of money it has. The problem comes if many customers want to withdraw a lot of money at the same time. This doesn't happen often, but when it does, it might threaten the life of that particular bank.
In addition to the money and banking system, the monetary system needs us to constantly buy new stuff for it to survive. If we stop buying, the system will collapse. This is called cyclical consumption. We have to buy, buy, buy, buy and consume, consume, consume.
Notice how we are called ‘consumers’ without anyone even getting slightly insulted. That is how deep the system has indoctrinated us into believing that ‘this is the way it has to be’. Read with a robotic voice: ‘Yes, I am a consumer. I buy things. I consume. I am important because without me the whole system collapses’.
As a result of the need for cyclical consumption, products cannot be made to last as long as they could have. Thus, products are designed to break. The first nylon stockings, for instance, never broke, which made the corporations redesign the stocking to be weaker and have a shorter lifespan, so that they could sell more and make a profit.
This kind of planned obsolescence is designed into most products we buy today. The products cannot be made too sturdy and long lasting, and have to be made in such a way that they become obsolete in themselves. Instead of being updated, they have to be replaced.
In addition to the planned obsolescence, we have perceived obsolescence. This is when a product is still working fine, but the customer still wants a new one, because of sentimental reasons, like fashion or perceived higher quality or style in ‘the new’ product. And these feelings and wants are of course produced by advertising and marketing in the media. And the reason for all of this is? To make a profit and uphold the monetary system.
Still interested? Click here to continue reading to learn more about the Venus Project.