What are the sacred objects of an empire?

Consider that empires invent debts owed by the general public to the empire. Those debts may be called taxes or fees or fines.

Empires also can specify what form of payment they will accept for the payment of the invented debts. Those forms of payment are generally known as money or currency.

For instance, imagine that a casino opens in Las Vegas and creates some casino tokens (made of plastic perhaps). Then, the casino demands that someone several thousand miles away needs to acquire some of those casino tokens in order to pay the tax debts invented by the casino in Las Vegas as being due to the casino from the taxpayer (of course under threat of confiscation and imprisonment).

In that case, are those casino tokens inherently valuable? What is the source of the distant person's interest in obtaining some of those tokens? If they have no plans to go to the casino and use the tokens there, why would they still want to acquire and then hoard the tokens of that casino?

The creation of debt claims (taxes, fines, fees) owed by the public to the creator of the debts is the origin of the public demand for the sacred objects of a particular business operation. The sacred objects could be chips, coins, cards, or paper contracts (as in coupons or certificates of credit).

The sacred objects might cost the issuer an average of half a cent to produce. Whether the denomination printed on the sacred object is $1000 or $1, the point is that the actual cost to produce the sacred object is generally a tiny fraction of the official "face value" of the sacred object.

So, if the source of the public demand in the sacred object is not the material used in the object and not the beauty and artistic inspiration produced by the artwork on the surface of the sacred object, then what is the source of public demand for that sacred object? What causes the public demand for that sacred object to rise, to fall, or to totally dissolve?

As an example, if we take a specific currency issued by a particular extortion network, such as the confederate dollars issued by the Confederate States of America, how is it that public demand for such a currency can so rapidly rise or dissolve? Is the demand for Currency proportionate to the terror that the public feels in regard to the military superiority of the extortion network? When the public fears being targeted, kidnapped, and imprisoned by that extortion network, is that important? If the public respects the capacity of the extortion network to confiscate the property of the so-called taxpayer, is that important?

What happens to public demand for the old currency if the extortion network dissolves or is replaced by another, such as the US Government's Treasury Department or the Federal Reserve System's "Treasurer of the United States?" What happens if the same old extortion network replaces the old currency with a new one, even criminalizing the possession of the old currency?

(As a reminder, in 1933, Executive Order 6102 had made it a criminal offense for U.S. citizens to own or trade gold anywhere in the world, with limited exceptions for some professions (like dentists) as well as for jewelry and collector's coins. This forced US Citizens to sell their gold coins issued by the US government and exclusively use the private currency of the private Federal Reserve Banks. In 1964, the 1933 restrictions on possession of gold were relaxed and then reversed in 1975.)

When the possession of gold was criminalized, what happened to demand for gold by US Citizens (at least those living in the US)? What happened to public demand for the private currency of the Federal Reserve's "US Dollar" Notes?

Next, if tax rates increase, what happens to public demand for the sacred object of the extortion network (as in whatever they accept for discharging the tax liabilities that they invent)? In contrast, if tax rates decrease, what happens to public demand for the currency?

If we accept that public demand for the sacred object of the local branch of the empire is entirely the result of the operations of the empire, then we can easily conclude that governments can raise or lower taxes in order to increase or decrease public demand for that currency. Demand is generally equivalent to purchasing power (as in value or price).

It would be predictable that various governments might attempt to also influence the purchasing power of the sacred objects of competing branches of the empire worldwide.

So, governing systems can attempt to increase or decrease not only public demand for various currencies, but public perceptions about trends of future demand. When there is a general trend of optimism toward borrowing and lending, with a ballooning of borrowing activity, then the public tends to temporarily underestimate the value of cash. Then, after massive debts have been entered with no change to the actual amount of currency in circulation, a "cash crunch" is likely to manifest.

Suddenly, instead of targeting an ever-increasing amount of credit contracts, people may want to pay off old debts and only enter new ones very selectively. Instead of financing as many purchases as possible, they want to hoard cash, avoid debts, and decrease their overall purchases in order for them to hoard cash for future financial security and stability.

They may even use legal loopholes like bankruptcy laws in order to protect their accumulated physical assets and cancel certain legal debts. Or, they may use sheltering methods and trusts to insulate certain assets or revenues from collection actions. Or, they may combine both strategies and use asset protection methods as well as debt cancellation privileges.

Perhaps you can recognize that not only can governments manipulate demand for cash, but they can even encourage a temporary discounting of cash by allowing for extremely relaxed lending regulations. They can create wealth redistribution programs to favor a particular industry, such as real estate, by implementing price support mechanisms to give incentives to qualified purchasers of real estate. Typical incentives include tax breaks, government grants, or government-favored financing (like loans from FHA at below-market rates or for people who would not otherwise qualify for financing based on their actual financial stability).

What happens to demand when those incentive programs expire? What happens if tax rates are raised?

Democrats may complain that in the early 1980s, during the administration of Republican President Ronald Reagan, tax rates for the wealthy were reduced. That led to a boom in the prices of stocks and real estate, as cash that had previously been accumulated for payment of taxes was re-allocated to other investments.

However, for those Democrats who purchased real estate or certain stocks in the last few decades, they do not complain about any unearned gains that they have accumulated through the rising prices in certain markets. Why do the same Democrats complain when housing and stock prices fall, but not when gas prices fall? The answer is simple enough.

They are consumers of gasoline and do not buy it with an interest in reselling it for an unearned profit. However, they may be speculative investors in stocks and real estate who make purchased (financed or not) with an interest in the future resale value of their speculative investment.

People want price supports and favoritism for the markets in which they are already invested. They want taxes on someone else to pay for those price supports and subsidies and incentives.

However, the basic point here is not about government manipulation of demand and prices in various speculative markets, but regarding currency, which is the sacred object of all imperial governments. Why would governments ever intentionally reduce demand for the sacred object accepted by that government for the payment of taxes and other debts invented by that government? One reason would be that, in some cases, the public demand for a currency is being increased to redistribute wealth suddenly toward the institution that issues that currency (as in the privately-owned Federal Reserve Banks) and away from certain targeted populations.

These trends can be measured and monitored and forecast. By investing with a respect for the actual trends (and for the causes that produce those trends and reversals of those trends), massive gains can be quickly accumulated and immense risks can be avoided.

As noted before, my interest in respecting the empire is to minimize risks and maximize rewards. Those who similarly respect the dangers and opportunities presented by empires are invited to contact me now.

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