Hello everyone, it really is a great honor to be able to stand here at the front. Thank you Ivo.
I think it's really good to be here today. It's always good to be in the right place at the right time, isn't it?
I've often been in the wrong place at the wrong time. In minor traffic accidents, you usually say
to yourself, oh, I wish I'd driven differently.
But today I just feel that this is exactly the right place, the right time. And generally I feel something like, maybe
you know this feeling too, winter is over and there's such a spring air in it, these first warm days in March.
I sense something in there, that we have benefited from a change, as humanity, as a people.
I was recently in Vienna again - I sometimes go there on business - and walked through
the streets and also visited the parliament.
And there were busts of the founders of the republic who proclaimed the Republic of Austria. And somehow it moved my heart
so much that I thought that perhaps at the time - I don't want to evaluate it now, the proclamation of the Republic of Austria,
that's not the point - but perhaps at the time when they were fighting for it or whatever it was that moved them, they perhaps
didn't think that it would ever get that far, that it would ever succeed, that such a different world would ever be possible.
And then they actually ended up as a bust.
I hope that none of us end up as a bust, but that we can still experience this new world. That we can experience this change
that Christoph Hörstel mentioned. That we don't just talk about it, don't just dream about
it, but that we can actually experience change.
Yes. The title of my presentation is: "Interest on debt, what you should know about it!"
Maybe you feel the same way I did when I was young - even if I only borrowed money for an ice cream, even if
it was only one Deutschmark back then - I was always really happy when I could pay off the debt.
That's still the case today, whether it's 10 euros or not. I was only ever really relieved in my
heart when I simply got rid of this stupid debt.
Does anyone else feel that way? I'm not completely alone, okay.
Then you know this feeling. It's simply nice to be able to live without debt.
Our politicians, the business leaders, the finance ministers, the heads of government, they
somehow seem to have a different perception of debt.
If you look at how government debt is developing, you would rather think that being in debt is
part and parcel of a flourishing economy today.
And about repayment - I don't know, there's no talk about repayment at all.
All I ever hear about is new debt, higher interest rates that would have to be paid, but the idea of perhaps
paying it back somehow escapes me. I don't hear that.
I have therefore brought along a graphic as a first overview. We've already talked a bit about Europe and the countries of the
world today, as well as a bit about debt and the financial system. How much debt do
countries actually have? In Europe, for example.
And I have shown this - using official figures from the International Monetary Fund - the
debt ratio in relation to gross domestic product.
Gross domestic product is the sum of all goods and services produced in a country.
Everything that is produced there, everything that is received in terms of work output, is recorded there, and
the debts that this country then has are put in proportion.
And I have taken the liberty of making an assessment.
A rating that says "no debt" is dark green for me. I can tell you right away that there is no dark green country in Europe.
I once thought "10%", i.e. if a country has 10% debt in relation to what it generates in a
year, then I called it light green and marked it.
"10 to 25 %" has a yellow color for me, "25 to 75 %" is red and "over 75 %" is dark red.
Let me give you an idea of how I rate this.
If you imagine that you pay all your bills for a month, you don't receive a salary, but your salary is transferred directly
to the bank with the aim of paying off our national debt.
If you do this for a month, but at the same time pay your rent, pay for gas, pay for groceries, pay for clothes, and
the gas station attendant or tenant does the same, he takes the money from you, but also gives it to the bank.
If you use this as a model - we want to get rid of our debts quickly - then you can manage to
pay off 8% in one month without doing anything.
And from that I derived the colors, so I said, okay, I could still imagine that such a people could manage that.
Yellow I said, okay, one to three months, there may not be a civil war yet if all the money goes to the banks.
But I'm no longer sure whether we wouldn't have a civil war or vigilante justice or whatever in Germany if we only ever
had to hand over the money we earn to keep the banks happy.
So let's look at the countries, what does Europe look like, the much-loved Europe: Portugal 124% national debt, Spain 97%, France
92%, Great Britain 93%, Ireland 119%, Italy 128%, and it goes on like this, Luxembourg with 25%, still quite
well in it actually - I'm freaking out here - there are practically only red countries.
We have Bulgaria with 16%, I'll go into that again, Turkey. A few are defaulting, the whole Scandinavian
region. Estonia with 10% national debt also really stands out, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan.
And then the big bear, Russia, 10% national debt, green, light green, not dark green, but still light green.
To be honest, I would be embarrassed if I were responsible for it.
Because that's actually ..., you don't normally live like that. You don't live on credit and be proud of it.
But we'll come back to this later when we answer the question, has it always been like this?
You could also assume, well, it probably looked different in the past and maybe it does now, is it related to the economic
crisis in 2008? Let's take another look at the development.
But let's take another look at the whole world first.
Only a few countries are not in debt; 171 of the 173 countries covered by the IMF are in debt
today. There are very few that are dark green.
We've already discussed the country, I'll come back to it.
You can hardly see it, I can't hold my hand that steady, Kuwait is still green, Brunei is
perhaps not known to everyone, Malaysia is green.
And the rest are in some form of debt, at least light green, that's still possible, we can already see
Iran here. But the rest is red, red to deep red in debt.
And the unpleasant factor with debt is that it comes with interest.
And now the question arises, who actually pays the interest on the debt?
To answer this question, I would like to look at three groups.
Group 1 consists of private households,
Group 2 the companies
and Group 3 the state.
Group 1, that's you, for example, if you go to the bank and take out a loan to pay for your fancy new car.
In this case, the matter is actually quite clear. You are responsible for the debt interest.
So now you go to work diligently to earn the money to pay off your debts.
However, you could also say that I'm avoiding this debt madness, I'm not taking out any loans or credit.
I don't want to evaluate that at this point.
But investigate: Can you escape this personal decision, this mechanism of indebtedness?
Let's take a look at Group 2, the companies.
In my case, I will now introduce you to a farm that grows cereals, among other things.
The farmer has bought a fancy new tractor.
He financed it through the bank, so interest is charged.
If we now look at the cost situation of this agricultural business, we have the personnel costs for
the agricultural assistant who helps the farmer.
On the other hand, we have the material costs. This can be the diesel fuel for the tractor or, as shown here, the seed.
And, as already mentioned, thirdly we have the interest costs.
The farm will pass on all three of these costs as total costs in the selling price of the grain - to the grain buyer.
In my case, the grain buyer is a mill. The grain is ground into flour in the mill.
And so that the grain can be ground into flour, hard workers are needed here too.
The plant technology of the mill - let's assume - and the mill itself are also financed by the bank.
This means that interest accrues here too.
Let's take a look at the cost situation of the mill operation.
Then we have the personnel costs for the hard workers, we have the material costs, which is the grain from
the farm, and we have the interest costs for the mill.
As a baker, I buy my flour from this mill, and the mill will pass this cost item on in the price.
This means that as an organic baker, I buy my flour from the mill and again have hard-working helpers who help me
turn it into bread and rolls that I pass on to my customers.
Because the interest rates are so favorable at the bank right now, I bought a new oven.
And of course this also leads to interest costs.
Let's also take a look at the cost situation in my bakery business.
Then I have personnel costs for my baker's assistants, I also have these material costs, I bought the flour
from the mill, and I also have interest costs, namely from the fancy new oven that I bought.
I will also calculate the price of my bread and rolls in such a way that these three costs are reflected there:
My personnel costs, my material costs and the interest costs.
And I pass this on to the end consumer in the price. And that's you and me.
Let me summarize briefly:
The farm will pass on its interest costs together with the personnel and material costs in the
selling price for the grain to the grain buyer.
The milling company will pass on its interest costs together with the material and
personnel costs in the sales price of the flour.
And as a baker I do the same, I pass on my interest costs with the personnel and material costs in the sales price of the bread.
We pay all of that. In other words, we as the end consumer pay the entire costs of the value chain, including the
entire interest costs. And that is the case everywhere.
Regardless of whether you book a vacation trip or pay cash for a car, you pay at least indirect interest to the
bank - even if you just buy an ice cream, there are interest costs involved and they go to the bank.
All in all, we pay for everything we buy, for every bill we pay, whether it's for clothes, food, vacations, vehicles,
musical instruments, it doesn't matter, association fees - we pay the interest costs included in the value chain.
And you can do the math. This is an amount that is on average no less than 40% of the purchase price.
If you're now wondering whether you're a winner or a loser, let me explain a little more
plausibly. 40% purchase price, what does that mean?
So you can do the math. If you know your monthly costs, let's say you have monthly costs of 2,000 euros, then 40% is 800 euros.
This means that you indirectly, or perhaps directly, pay 800 euros to the bank.
Extrapolated over the year times 12, that's 9,600 euros.
And now all you have to do is take your bank statement at the end of the year, which shows the interest on your credit balance.
Then you can take a look and see if you can find 9,600 euros.
And if you find an amount that's higher, then you're a winner, and if you find one that's lower - in my case it's
woefully lower, I don't think I get any more interest statements - then you're a loser in this system.
But that's not all. The state is also becoming increasingly indebted in order to protect its interests.
And you also pay this debt interest - in the form of duties and taxes.
So it is also worth taking a look at this state model, which we have already heard a little about in
the presentation - you have already hinted at it.
What does it look like when the state gets into debt?
In Germany, the German government borrows around two thirds of its credit volume from independent banks and credit institutions.
And a third via government bonds. Two thirds! How does he do that?
Where do the banks get the money from? Quite simply, we have already heard the term: fiat
money. The banks are allowed to issue book money.
The state has allowed the banks to do this: You are allowed to create money.
In principle, when you get right down to it, a money printing machine. The banks are allowed to print money.
The only advantage of book money is that you don't even need a printing press or coin minting machines.
They still save the money and are allowed to invent money.
And then the state comes along and says, yay, I need money, takes out a loan and is good and pays it back with interest.
So, I have no idea, but for me this is potentially a bad deal.
To make it really clear - I've added the little money bag - the state gives money to the
banks in order to borrow it later and pay interest.
And I think you might be able to manage your money better.
And now, as announced, national debt.
Is this actually a stable issue now, or is it still going on - what is the actual development of the national debt?
Let's take a look at this. If we are responsible for the interest on debt, then perhaps we should
also know roughly how the state handles the money.
Government debt 1995 to 2013, all values again from the International Monetary Fund.
Again shown as a percentage of gross domestic product, which we already know.
Then we have a rising national debt over the last two decades in Germany.
And I can promise you that this has not only been the case in the last two decades.
I looked back - the records I found start in 1950, when Germany had a national debt of 9 million Deutschmarks, 9 million.
I don't know exactly how much, how strong the population was, five years after the end of the war.
But if we assume 70 - 80 million. That would have been no more than 20 pfennigs. Not even 20 pfennigs per head.
Where were we in 2011 - this is the latest figure I found - at no less than 24,771 euros per inhabitant?
Not per salary earner, per inhabitant, i.e. for every baby.
So you can simply add up your budget, then you will know your share of the national debt.
Embarrassing, I think. Embarrassing. To actually lead a country like this.
France, permanently rising from 55% to 92% national debt, almost doubled in 20 years.
England, more than doubled its national debt.
Greece - already well known in the press - enormous national debt.
So I ask myself, why do we actually need finance ministers, why do we need all these people?
I think we could still manage that, or to pick up where you left off, the drug addicts you
rehabilitated would have managed that too, Ivo.
They could have managed such a financial policy.
And then there are a few other countries that show that it is possible:
Bulgaria. Probably also influenced by Bulgaria's intention to become a full member of the EU, they also
managed to fall from 75% to 16% in a relatively short period of time between 2000 and 2013.
And Russia has also managed a fine line in reducing its debt. So it works.
And then let's take a look at our big brother, who has experience in "causing economic crises".
112% national debt, 112% national debt!
China, on the rise, but we have already heard it in a lecture. The kink is probably serious.
The Chinese have probably also realized what's going on here.
I also noticed this in passing.
They are no longer enthusiastic about doing business in the USA, exporting and receiving dollars.
You are now quite busy buying real estate and companies in the USA. Let's hope it does you some good.
And then, of course, the three major economies of at least the 1980s and 1990s must not be without Japan.
A real kamikaze pilot from the Second World War shows how it's done here too.
That is madness. 245% national debt.
If a creditor comes along and says, I'd like the money back, then the Japanese can work for
two and a half years without earning a cent.
Everything to the banks, everything to the banks.
And the problem is that they would still have to pay interest over the two and a half years,
and that's not even included in the calculation.
Yes, and then I took the liberty of putting a few countries down there, perhaps without any great political assessment, which we
have already gotten to know well from the latest press releases:
Here we have Syria, let's see how Syria handles the money.
They also know what 183% national debt feels like.
And from here it collapses, Syria no longer provides any information about the national
debt, I suspect that it will continue to go down.
We can look at Iran, which is not exactly making itself popular with its international partner,
which for some reason seems to be going into debt.
And then the country, the dark green country, Libya, since 2003 I think it was, 0% national debt, no
more debt, free, debt-free. It works, doesn't it?
Let me summarize briefly. So, what are you supposed to know about debt if you didn't know it before?
Sure, you pay the interest on your personal loans, but you also pay - via taxes and levies - for the national debt.
And what is perhaps new to some of you, with every single purchase, you pay interest, interest on debt.
And since only a few are allowed to create this money, we have also learned and have already heard that there will be
a redistribution, there must be a redistribution of wealth.
And that's why I think it's also important for us to think about it - and I'm already slowly entering
the landing phase - do we want to change anything?
I don't want to present a solution, also because I don't necessarily want to appear as a
know-it-all and think that the solution is actually clear.
If you catch a thief stealing, he has to return the loot, right?
There is no need to discuss any other solution.
But I could imagine that in our case it's not necessarily a purse snatcher.
What we have heard from Christoph Hörstel is of a very high caliber.
Or what we saw on Kla.TV - the 50th anniversary of the death of John F. Kennedy - you can see that this is not a purse snatcher.
So it could well be that the single hint - we've seen through it, give it out - might not be enough.
Then I brought two more quotes.
Joshua Stamp, who was also a director of the Bank of England, has said: "If you want to continue to be the slaves of the
banks and pay for your own enslavement, then let the banks continue to create the money and control the credit".
You can say something like that and the people are somehow still a bit asleep. That's the crazy thing about it.
And Henry Ford is also well known, the car brand:
"If people understood the monetary system, we would have a revolution before tomorrow morning."
You can read about these things on the Internet, they are well known.
I do ask myself the question: why is it so difficult, as this young girl has shown here with
her song, that it is so hard to inspire people?
And I would like to take a quick turn at the end and ask the question: who is actually responsible now?
Who is responsible for this situation?
Are the banks responsible for this misery?
I would answer the question with "No", because they are acting in accordance with applicable law.
Is the state, are the governments, the politicians responsible? Here, too, I would answer the question with the answer: No.
Because they have your mandate, they have our mandate.
So who is responsible now? Us. Ah yes, gotcha, you. Me too. We are responsible.
But what is the key to change now?
And I would like to pass on two or three thoughts that are absolutely in line with what
we have already heard from Christoph Hörstel.
How is sustainable change possible?
From my point of view, it is only possible if we see ourselves as a people. Understand ourselves as a people.
I once coined the phrase - wait a minute and see if you like it - "The people can live very well without a tyrant.
But the tyrant has a hard time without the "people", doesn't he?
We as a people need to understand again that we give power to whom we give it. That we have it in our hands.
And now, of course, the question is: But how do we become one people?
How does that work? And I can really speak from my own experience. If I highlight three points again,
it's just to show what it takes to become a people.
It has something to do with understanding, comprehension. It has something to do with coming to terms with things again.
That you don't take things, swallow them and do them, but you start to think them through.
So why do you become a people? I can explain it quite simply.
We have had several S&G contacts, several AZK contacts and every single phone call I have made, perhaps you can
confirm this, has led up, it has connected immediately.
There were people there right away where I realized, oh, they're thinking. They are also thinking. They also want to understand.
They are also not quick and say everything wrong, but: Wait a minute, how is it connected?
And from wanting to understand comes understanding. From understanding comes togetherness.
For example, we have to understand, we have to learn to understand, that money cannot work.
Just as an example. Money does not work.
You can also, I'll pick up on the previous speaker, a little homework assignment for you.
Why don't you put a 10-euro bill next to the dishes you didn't do in the evening?
And then close the kitchen door and go in the next morning.
Then you will see whether the money has worked.
There are several people in our household. I would probably lock the door, otherwise the 10-euro bill
would be gone and I'd still have to do the washing up.
Becoming a people has a lot to do with change and the willingness to change.
For me, willingness to change also means taking responsibility again, or something like
the closing words, I wrote them down myself:
Together we can make a difference. Start with yourself, change something for yourself.
It's such a different relationship of the heart. I can really say that for my couriers.
This is the topic of Strategy 2+, which Ruth mentioned earlier. We are building a network with couriers.
There is a heart connection with each individual because I realize that everyone wants to change something. Everyone
works on themselves, everyone starts with themselves first.
It melts together. You don't have to make big speeches, it just happens.
And this melting together, this becoming a family, leads to networking. I think that's new.
There really have been many charismatic leaders in the world.
With good ideas, with a genuinely visionary approach, with the ability to inspire a people.
But what I feel our time is getting now is a people growing together from the bottom up.
This is also original again, what I wrote down from the previous speaker:
Growing together from the bottom up. Change must come from the bottom up.
It's the networking, it's this people who feel themselves as a people. Which suddenly realizes that we don't build our contacts
on Facebook, but with real contacts who have arms and legs.
We are getting more and more to the point. We're not lamenting.
We enjoy discussing political issues with colleagues at work.
But we quickly channel it into the question: Are you willing to invest time?
Are you ready to invest yourself? And that's how you become a people.
And all of you, I think, or most of you, know the S&G, the "Stimme und Gegenstimme" newspaper. That's the
strategy of the S&G. And that's why - I don't have my own speakers' table - I'm advertising our S&G table.
Go there. If you don't know it yet, S&G is more than just a newspaper.
For me, S&G is a way, yes, a way of becoming a people.
A way to gather as a people. And that's why the last thing I have to say is, join in! Thank you. Thank you.