Continuing with the discussion established in Part I, Part II will be focusing on the American Reciprocal-Reserve Banking System, Council State, and National Intranet. Like the American SSE and VCS Economy, the conduct and interactions of those other three institutional actors will also be influenced by the spirit of American Federalism. In stark contrast to the Jeffersonians’ pivot toward centralization enabled by Neoliberalism, Hamiltonianism will see to it that the Reciprocal-Reserve Banking System, including its Kontore and State Commissariats, are distributed among the States. Similarly, the National Intranet will be overseen by the States under the direct oversight of the Federal Government with regard to the Digital Enterprises. These arrangements are to be made possible by dint of applying Council Democracy to American Federalism, replacing Parliamentary Democracy in the process.
In Jeffersonian America, the Reciprocal-Reserve Banking System is predominantly concentrated in Washington DC and New York. The former creates the financial conditions favorable to the latter, allowing the Financial Markets in New York’s Lower Manhattan to generate the Kapital with post-Bretton Woods Financial Technology (Fintech). The Financial Markets and the privatized commercial banks expect conditions to favorable to them before the American people, otherwise there would be unparalleled economic downturn. The Great Depression and the more recent Great Recession have shown that the Fractional-Reserve Banking System is vulnerable to any instabilities emanating from the Empire of Liberty. Thus, they expect the Jeffersonians in the Democratic-Republican Party to ensure those favorable conditions.
There is a comparable relationship with what is colloquially called “Big Tech,” a term referring to various large technology firms in Jeffersonian America, the majority of which are situated along the West Coast, and the largest concentration situated in an area known as “Silicon Valley.” On the World Wide Web (WWW), most economic activities among the Digital Economies of the world are conducted by Big Tech, causing the Jeffersonians to digitalize the Empire of Liberty in the WWW. Big Tech prefers conditions to be favorable to them, which meant having to constantly reassure the Democratic-Republican Party why they are not monopolies or oligopolies and why they are violating any existing antitrust legislation. If something were to happen to the Empire of Liberty in the Digital Realm, they would be the first ones to be affected.
Federalist Financial Regime
As established earlier in the Section, the Federalist American Union does not rely on the US Dollar. Instead, it has the US Note (the “Red Seals”), redesigned and reconfigured to function as a Sociable Currency issued by the US Department of Treasury. The US Dollars employed by Jeffersonian America are issued by the US Federal Reserve and are distinguished by their distinctive “Green Seals”), hence their nickname as the “Greenback.” Unlike the US Notes that were once issued prior to the Death of Bretton Woods, these new renditions feature a notable notation that deserves to be mentioned:
“This United States Note is Legal Tender for all Works, both Personal and Federal, except for Federal Imports; all Works are Redeemable in the Amounts thereof as Payments on all Federal and Personal Debts to these United States.”
What is the significance of that notation? It states that the US Note is designed to a Sociable Currency capable of serving as Actual Geld in the Federalist American Union. Any Actual Arbeit that has been generated on behalf of the Federalist American Union will be paid for with US Notes at face value. Any contributions of Arbeit to the Federal Life-Energy Reserve will count toward the paying down of the US National Debt.
The Federal Life-Energy Reserve governs the Final TPP Value of the Federalist American Union. It represents the sum total of all Arbeit and Geld contributed by the Federal Government, the States, and the Union. Social, Municipal, and State Enterprises contribute Arbeit and Geld to the State Life-Energy Reserve of their respective State, which is then added toward the Final TPP Value of the Federal Life-Energy Reserve. Meanwhile, all Student, Digital, and Federal Enterprises contribute Arbeit and Geld directly to the Federal Life-Energy Reserve. Arbeit and Geld from the States are transferred to Federal Banks through State Banks established within each State in the FAU. These Federal Banks receive the Arbeit and Geld from the States, redirecting them toward the Federal Life-Energy Reserve.
In Jeffersonian America, there are a total of twelve Federal Banks scattered across the Union. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco contain a Federal Bank whose jurisdictions encompass multiple States. Each Federal Bank answers directly to the US Department of the Treasury in Washington DC.
Conversely, Jeffersonian America also has twelve Financial Markets, the vast majority of which are situated in New York. Smaller Financial Markets can be found in Boston, Jersey City, Chicago, Miami, and San Francisco. Their general locations correspond to the jurisdiction of the twelve aforementioned Federal Banks.
Hamiltonian America by contrast will envisage a Federal Bank for each State, whose jurisdictions only cover that State. Rather than centralizing the Federalist Reciprocal-Reserve Banking System in a handful of locations, the proposed Federalism of the Greater American Federalist Party (GAFP) is to distribute the Federal Government’s presence more evenly. The Union is more than large enough to facilitate that distribution.
Every conceivable means of making the Federal Life-Energy Reserve transparent and accountable to the American people should be pursued by the Federal Government. This includes providing technological means of knowing how much Arbeit and Geld are being generated by each State and the extent of their contributions to the Federal Life-Energy Reserve. The Federal Life-Energy Reserve should be made known to the American people through the Council Democratic process in the Real World and through the Social Forums of the Federalist Intranet in the Digital Realm. A smartphone application receiving constant notifications would be one example.
Each State in the FAU has its own Kontore and State Commissariats, both of which are accountable to the Council Democratic process. The Kontore are responsible for all issuances of NSFIs applicable to the State and Municipal levels and special Federal-State Financial Instruments for the Federal level. The Kontor of each State maintains local branches throughout its jurisdiction, ensuring that all residents will have access to their vast plethora of NSFIs and FSFIs. Fiefs, Work-Plans, Equipmentalities, Work-Tenures, Earmark Requisition, Priority Requisition, Apprenticeships, Scholarships, and Sponsorships will be made available.
Prices of goods and services are determined at the State level. The conduct of Mission-Type Economic Planning (MTEP) will also be conducted at the State level under the aegis of the Central Plan enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution. That Preamble should serve as the basis for the Central Plan of the FAU. The practice of MTEP in the FAU is prioritized based on Federal or State considerations. Economic planning conducted by the Federal Government is intended to affect only Federal Enterprises, Student Enterprises and Digital Enterprises insofar as all of their economic activities are applicable to Interstate Commerce. Any economic planning done by the State Governments needs to be identified as relevant to State Commerce.
An important area of interest for the Federalist Reciprocal-Reserve Banking System, one that bears immense implications for the Unified Federalist Student Economy (UFSE) and the American VCS Economy, is the facilitations of Specialty Department Stores and Specialty Shops that would be established alongside local Kontor and State Commissariat branches in Shopping Citadels, Shopping Arenas, and Shopping Arena Transit Hubs (SATHs). These Federal Post Exchanges (FPXs) facilitate transactional sales of goods and services imported from other nations.
The concept of the FPX has its origins in the “Trading Post.” In past centuries, European settlers and Native American Tribes bought and sold their wares there. Today, that tradition continues for any Americans interested in purchasing a wide selection of imported merchandise like luxury goods and cultural items from other nations. Most US military installations maintain them under different names, but the States will be able to establish ones for their residents. A People’s Surcharge allows the American people to mitigate the effects of Economic Foreignization by limiting how much Geld is allowed to leave the American VCS Economy.
Anyone interested in purchasing foreign goods and services in the US must convert their United States Notes (the “Red Seals”) into the Federalist Exchange Certificates (the “Black Seals”). These ‘Black Seal’ FECs are ornately designed to be distinguishable from the ‘Red Seals’ which most Americans will soon become accustomed to encountering in their everyday lives. They are meant to be spend on any and all imported goods and services, ensuring some amount of Actual Geld will remain in the Federalist American Union.
Federalist Intranet
Compared to the other four institutional actors covered in the SMP Compendium, the Digital Realm is arguably the one that has yet to be fully realized. In essence, the growing prevalence of the WWW in everyday life has shown that important questions of Personal Privacy and National Sovereignty remain unanswered. The development of National Intranets, including the FAU’s Federalist Intranet, is ongoing insofar as there are always new possibilities and capabilities that have not yet been considered. Their interactions with each other in the Digital Realm are tied to the development of the World State Organization (WSO) as an intergovernmental body. It is not one of the purposes of the SMP Compendium to contemplate on what those possibilities and capabilities are, however. An entire Treatise would need to be written.
Even so, the Federalist Intranet of the FAU will be designed to digitalize American Federalism in the Digital Realm, enabling the extension of shared social norms, values and customs from the Real World. Each State is responsible for their segment of the Federalist Intranet, which consists of the various amenities discussed in various preceding Entries throughout the SMP Compendium. Websites as well as computer servers, networks, and systems are registered and operated at the State level, their maintenance and governance at the Federal level. The latter becomes relevant in the LERE Process, where Digital Enterprises generate Digital Arbeit and Digital Geld within the Federalist Intranet’s Digital Tournament. Any Digital Arbeit and Digital Geld from the Digital Tournament gets converted into Actual Arbeit and Actual Geld at the LERE Refineries before heading straight to the Federal Life-Energy Reserve.
The Digital Tournament of the Federalist Intranet is designed to accommodate the actual Tournament in the American VCS Economy as well as the UFSE’s Student Tournament. Here, goods and services from both Tournaments can be sold on the Digital Tournament by any non-Digital Enterprises. A network of websites will be established to facilitate transactional sales and the deliveries of goods and services across the Digital Realm.
The governance of Digital Enterprises and the overall infrastructure of the Federalist Intranet are presided by the Social Forums. Each State maintains a number of Social Forums whose jurisdiction covers the digital boundaries of that State. The Social Forums are designed to fulfill a multitude of roles found back in the Real World, such as the Council and Chambers, State Commissariat, Kontor, and Social Media. Intranet Service Provider (ISPs) are responsible for the maintenance and provision of the Federalist Intranet to all State residents, in addition to facilitating access to the broader International Internet from a network of Internet Cafés. These Internet Cafés can be found in notable locations such as the Shopping Arenas and Shopping Citadels.
The digital borders of the Federalist Intranet are denoted by the presence of Digital Enterprises operating among the Social Courts. The Social Courts are also governed by the Council Democratic process, facilitating the flow of information between the Federalist American Union and the World State Organization. In the Digital Realm, Real Trade Agreements (RTAs) between the FAU and other nations go through those Social Courts before eventually entering the digital borders of the FAU and interacting with the Social Forums.
Categories: Compendium
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