I believe a commenter on Boston Gal’s Open Wallet had recommended "Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country". I started reading this book a few days ago since its due back at the library next week (I’ve already renewed it past its limit). The book is over 600 pages along but its a fantastic and very informative read. The author, William Greider, describes the spiritual malaise that usually precedes a huge change. Karen Armstrong also wrote about this general discontent that more or less led to the founding of the religions: Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. According to Secrets of the Temple, many people are suspicious of the motives of the Fed primarily because its a large, secretive body that has a great deal of influence over a wide variety of people. This lack of control and knowledge causes some to come up with…some sort of idea (however bizzare) to explain this entity. An excerpt that explains the theories of these people:

To modern minds, it seemed bizarre to think of the Federal Reserve as a religious institution. Yet the conspiracy theorists, in their own demented way, were on to something real and significant. Economics was the essence of scientific rationalism; the Fed’s analytical techniques were the opposite of metaphysical speculation. But the Federal Reserve did also function in the realm of religion. Its mysterious powers of money creation, inherited from priestly forebears, shielded a complex bundle of social ritual, transactions so powerful and frightening they seemed to lie beyond common understanding.

I think people seem to want a few things in life whether they are able to articulate it or not: happiness, cleanliness (as described by George Carlin) and some semblance of order and control over their own lives. When these desires are in any way threatened people try to regain those desires in a manner that makes sense to them.

Coming with ideas and believing them without a context of history seems a bit foolish. I don’t know what to think about the Fed. I have no idea what it is they actually do. Its seems a bit silly to be fearful of an entity if their presence has been a constant in one’s own lifetime. I can see fear coming arising from new things or developments…but something that is old?