How Do Banks Create Money?
Welcome back!
By Kalinda Rose Stevenson, Ph.D.
Banks create money because they have banking charters that allow them to do legally what would put the rest of us in jail if we tried it.
Fractional Reserve Lending
The most potent money creating tool is fractional reserve lending. According to the rules of their charters, banks only need to keep a fraction of their deposits in reserve, in the form of cash or other liquid assets. Read more…
Categories: Life Stories Tags: banks create money, banks make money. fractional reserve lending, how banks make money, the federal reserve
Can You Change Your Life By Becoming Soul Sick?
What if the best way to change your life is to first become soul sick? Joe Versus The Volcano is a money story about soul sickness. Soul sickness is a condition brought on by selling out your authentic self for some gain. It can be money. It can be fame. It can be popularity. It can be security. Whatever it is, the price is too high.
Your Authentic Self Becomes Soul Sick
Above all, soul sickness is a state of awareness. You become soul sick when you become aware that you have compromised your true self—your authentic self—for something that is not worth the tradeoff. Read more…
Categories: Life Stories, Money Stories Tags: authentic, authentic life, authentic self, change life, change your life, do for money, hero, hero journey, hero's journey, hero’s journey., joe versus the volcano, money or life, money story, self awareness, sell my soul, sell your soul, selling your soul, soul, true self, you and your money
A Money Story About Trading the Priceless For Orange Soda
Is It Priceless Or Does It Have A Price Tag?
Have you seen the ads by the credit card company about the difference between the things you can buy with your credit card and the experiences that are priceless? The purpose of the ads is to persuade you that things with a price tag are worth buying because those things can create a priceless experience.
Joe Versus the Volcano is about the opposite effect. It is a money story about the high cost of trading the priceless for something that comes with a price tag. Read more…
Categories: Life Stories, Money Stories Tags: do for money, hero, joe versus the volcano, judas betrayed jesus, money story, price tag, priceless, traditional stories, what people do for money
Do You Sell Your Soul For Money?
Do you sell your soul for money? How much of your life story is a money story ruled by choices about what you will do or not do for money?
One of my favorite movies is Joe Versus the Volcano. It’s silly movie that is truly profound. As a story, it’s an extended parable about what people will do for money. The story shows people sleepwalking through their lives, half dead, for the sake of their jobs. Read more…
Categories: Life Stories, Money Stories Tags: do for money, hero, joe versus the volcano, life stories, life story, money or life, money stories, money story, rule your life, sell your soul, tom hanks, what people do for money, you and your money
How To Be A Success In Life After Your Big Dream Dies
Apollo 13 is a story about the death of a dream. As the astronaut who had already spent more time in space than any of the other astronauts, Jim Lovell had one remaining dream. He wanted to walk on the Moon.
His dream died when the explosion turned the moon mission into a rescue mission.
The Successful Failure of Apollo 13
In the closing monologue, Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell says: Read more…
Categories: Life Stories Tags: Apollo 13, astronauts, big dream, current reality, death of a dream, jim lovell, landing on the moon, Life success, moon mission, path of least resistance, persistence, robert fritz, success in life, successful failure, tom hanks
Getting Help With Problems When You Are Feeling Alone On Your Own Dark Side Of The Moon
Getting help with problems is one thing if you are a celebrity. How To Get Home From The Dark Side Of The Moon focuses on how the Apollo 13 astronauts got home.
A movie such as Apollo 13 evokes the best in us, the sense of being connected. It is a triumph of human determination, and a shining moment of unified good will and compassion for the plight of three men stranded in space.
But what about the other side of the story? The astronauts got home from the dark side of the moon because they were celebrities. As celebrities, they got help from thousands of people working for their benefit. The story also unintentionally draws a dramatic contrast between the lives of celebrities and the lives of the rest of us. Read more…
Categories: Life Stories Tags: all the lonely people, Apollo 13, astronauts, current reality, dark side of the moon, feeling alone, feeling lonely, get help, getting help, help problems, help with problems, how to get help, i feel alone, isolated, isolating, jim lovell, loneliness, lonely people, need help, path of least resistance, robert fritz, so lonely, social isolation, tom hanks
How To Get Home From The Dark Side Of The Moon
One of the most powerful themes of Apollo 13 is that the astronauts could not get home without the help of thousands of people and the heartfelt concern of millions more.
Events Transpire To Get You Home
These words from Apollo 13 capture the essence of the story. Read more…
Categories: Life Stories Tags: Apollo 13, astronauts, change your life, dark side of the moon, finest hour, get home, home, jim lovell, nasa, power to change, story, tom hanks
Change Your Life By Going In A Straight Line To Get What You Want
Change Your Life As You Are Going In Circles On Your Life Storywheel makes the point that your life story is lived on a storywheel, which contains multiple storywheels all going around in circles. It emphasizes the cycles of our lives, the ups and the downs, the ascents and the descents as part of every life story.
Success In Life Depends On Focus
This post considers the importance of straight lines in any effort to accomplish specific goals. Read more…
Categories: Life Stories Tags: Apollo 13, apollo 13 mission, change life, change your life, focus, get what you want, going in circles, life changing story, life stories, life story, life transformation, moon mission, story wheel, storywheel, storywheels, success in life, the power to change, your life story, your life your story, your story
Change Your Life As You Are Going In Circles On Your Life Storywheel
You live your life going in circles on your own life story storywheel. James Bonnet, in Stealing Fire From The Gods, uses the model of the storywheel to locate every human story somewhere on the ongoing cycle of ascents and descents.
At the same time, good stories are also linear. The hero on a hero’s journey has one mission and must focus on that objective to accomplish that mission. This means that stories require single-minded focus in one direction. Read more…
Categories: Life Stories Tags: change life, change your life, going in circles, human story, james bonnett, life changing story, life stories, life story, life transformation, stealing fire from the gods, story cycles, story wheel, storywheel, storywheels, your life story
The Life Changing Power Of Unconditional Love
When we last left Phil in Can You Change Your Life With Sweet Vermouth And A Twist?, the weatherman stranded in Punxsutawney by a mysterious time loop was trying to get what he wanted in life by claiming that he loved Nancy and then Rita. At that point in Phil’s life story, his talk about love was a tool of manipulation. Phil had not yet experienced unconditional love for Rita.
From False Declarations To Unconditional Love
The language of “love” is a profoundly tricky business, because it is so often shaped by our own needs and desires to get what we want. Love that is truly selfless, truly unconditional, truly focused on the other, is rare. Read more…
