[Posted July 11, 2007]

High Stakes Confidence Game

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

VHeadline.com June 18, 2007 - KEN MILLER

Russia wants payments in rubles, Venezuela and Iran insist on euros

A mismanaged war, the oil crisis and a flood of US currency are setting the stage for economic disaster.

So the printing presses are spewing out more US$, which are being collected by China, Japan and others. And those countries are showing signs of concern that they have too much of their foreign exchange reserves tied up in our currency. Likewise, certain other nations are evidencing a declining interest in accepting the dollar as a medium of exchange. It was in October 2000 that Saddam insisted that Iraq's oil be paid for in euros. But now Russia wants payment for the energy it exports in rubles. Venezuela and Iran insist on euros. Kuwait has recently un-pegged its dinar from the dollar in favor of a basket of currencies.

The dollar has indeed shown symptoms of its decline in popularity during the Bush years. The dollar has weakened against the euro, gold, copper and other hard assets and currencies. When Bush came in office, for example, you could get .987 euros for every dollar. Now you can only get 75. You could say that at $65 per barrel, oil is getting more valuable... or you could say the value of the dollar has declined as measured by oil. go to story

Sri Guru and Gauranga

"Believe in us, we trust in God"

excerpt from conversation, New Vrindaban, June 22, 1976

PUSTA KRSNA: Let's say a country takes full advantage of this slogan, "In God We Trust."

PRABHUPADA: Hmm?

PUSTA KRSNA: Let's say a country takes full advantage of this slogan.

PRABHUPADA: That is my question. Where is that full advantage? They are remaining in the darkness. Why do you trust, first of all. Why do you trust? So many questions there are. Why you are prepared to trust in God? If I ask, you must answer. If you cannot answer, then you are ass. It is good, even without knowing, but when the slogan comes from the government side, there must be full knowledge. Otherwise, the government is as good as common man. The government should be full of intelligent men. Why vote is there? You select an intelligent man. Otherwise, anyone can go. Cats and dogs, they also can go. Why the voting system? That you select some intelligent man. So if you cannot answer your slogan, then you are not intelligent, you are unfit.

PUSTA KRSNA: They've made the platform that the man himself can solve all the problems.

PRABHUPADA: Then why do you trust in God? Don't trust in God, like the Communists say, "We don't trust in God. We shall do it ourselves."

KULADRI: But the forefathers who made up our slogan "In God We Trust," they were very unintelligent, they were very backwards.

PRABHUPADA: But you are intelligent. Why you are putting the forefather's words? You avoid it. That means you are cheating people. You do not believe in, but you still write it. That means cheating. Why do you write such things in which you do not believe? That means cheating. Hmm? What do you think? If you write something which you do not believe in, are you not cheating? That means cheating. You take word, you are giving a piece of paper, and it is written there, "one thousand dollars." That means you are cheating, in the name of God, he will accept you, that's all. If you say, "No, I don't want paper. Give me gold dollar," then you are finished. Your currency will be finished. Immediately there will be revolution, that "The government is cheating us." Actually it is cheating. What is the proof, value, of this paper, little paper? Simply "I promise to pay, governor and this..." But it is on trust only: "Yes, government will pay me." They'll never pay, but so long the government goes on, it will go on, that's all, cheating will go on. And as soon government fails, you throw in the street, no one will care for it. It has been practically proved in the last war, in Germany. There was scarcity of food, and those who had bunch of currency notes, they went for one piece of bread, so many thousand marks, "Give me." Nobody supplied. So the paper has no value, but if we believe, it has value, that's all. Otherwise what is the meaning of this paper, one thousand dollars? So it is a kind of cheating, "We trust in God; we are very good men. You trust in me."

PUSTA KRSNA: How can this practically be applied to American society, this idea of trusting God? How would things change?

PRABHUPADA: By this Krishna conscious movement's propaganda. That is not for AmericaÑfor everyone.

KIRTANANANDA: How can you trust God if you don't know anything about Him? First you have to know something about God before you can trust Him.

PRABHUPADA: Yes. That is sense. If you do not know about somebody and you trust him, what is this? Yes.

RAKSANA: Through the distribution of your books, through the...

PRABHUPADA: That is distribution of knowledge. Our distribution of books means distribution of knowledge to these rascals, lowest of the mankind, bewildered. This is distribution of knowledge.