Answer: because of greed and the despair of those who suffer at its hands.

Who is responsible for this greed?

Answer: Practically everyone is, by nature, to some extent greedy. But, the degree of a person's greed can be measured by the price they are willing to exact from others to satisfy that greed. The heavier that price, the more intolerable is their unfettered control over others.

The greedy are often but not always wealthy; but not because they are especially bright or talented. They are simply ready, indeed eager to benefit from someone else's suffering.

There will always be extremely greedy people. But, they must not be allowed to control others, because if they do, their greed will consume whatever and whomever they touch.

Now, who profits most at the expense of other people's misery?

Defense manufacturers come to mind; they profit from death and destruction. Pharmaceutical companies and HMOs profit from illness; and banks profit most when their debtors can pay only interest, leaving the principal in place to continue accruing interest.

And, what exactly do these greedy people strive so hard to amass? What form does their wealth take? Dollars, Euros, real estate?

Answer: a mix of all, and much more.

But, how did they make all this wealth? From where do these items derive their value?

Answer: Interest is paid in cash; but cash derives its value from labor. The working class do not print cash or issue credit. They must work to gain access to cash in order to pay interest.

The monetary system is supposed to enhance the value of labor by facilitating its exchange. Money has no value on its own. If the monetary system is JUST, each individual through their labor has equal access to its benefits--work harder, get more cash; work smarter, get more cash. But as it stands, through INTEREST, those with money have exponentially easier access to it than those without. This is unjust.

I am not an economist. But, it's clear that every social dynamic can be explained by supply and demand.

Dollars are supposed to be controlled by our government, for public benefit. But, instead they allow private interests to dictate its supply and reap exclusive benefits from the interest they charge on its use.

Once that mechanism is in place, the stage is set for all other things of value, which can easily be exchanged for those dollars, to become concentrated in the hands of the few that control its supply. The few become obscenely rich, while the remainder become increasingly desparate to access that which they cannot get without paying interest.

Of course, our world is plagued with conflict. But for the abundant love and generosity of people of good will, this world would be a living hell. But they are swiftly being replaced by demoralized, dehumanized and desparate populations, increasingly unable to understand what it means to be human, because they have never been treated that way.

I cannot stress enough the importance of this one simple truth--a privatized, interest-based monetary system is the main source of our problems.

Money is a tool that must be used for public benefit or it will be abused to satisfy private greed.