Ottawa Sun, Sept. 29, 1993
ABOLITIONISTS HAVE ZERO INTEREST
Heather Bird
The newly-formed
Abolitionist Party of Canada will preach
its "zero interest" policy through eight
candidates in the Ottawa
area.
The party, which
will field 80 candidates nationally
believes in eliminating all interest in
the economy and turning
the Bank of Canada's computer into a billboard
for a gigantic
barter system.
The party is one
of several lesser-known parties that made
their presence felt.
The system would
allow plumbers to post notice of their
services in exchange for electrical work
on their house. The
party believes it could run an interest-free
currency economy
where interest previously earned will
be refunded to voters in
the form of dividends payable by the Bank
of Canada."
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Ottawa Citizen, Oct. 7, 1993
ABOLITIONISTS VIEW BARTER AS ECONOMIC SALVATION
Francine Dube
"Abolitionists
are easy to spot. They're the candidates who
wave computer disks in the air when they
try to make their point.
Their point is: Return to a barter economy
and Canada's economic
woes will be solved.
"I'm sure you
can't think of a problem that isn't caused by
a lack of money," says party leader John
Turmel when asked if
there's anything else on the platform.
Turmel and the
79 other candidates running in Ontario and
Quebec are logging onto a computer program
called Local
Employment Trading System.
LETS is similar
to an electronic bulletin board. Users swap
goods and services with others in the
community. Eventually,
Abolitionists hope the system will operate
nation-wide. Here's
how it works. Through LETS, an Ottawa
plumber learns that a
teacher needs her sink fixed. She tutors
the plumber's son for a
math test. In exchange, the plumber fixes
her sink. Or, the
teacher can pay him in LETS dollars, which
he can spend
elsewhere.
The system is
legal -- participants pay tax. Abolitionists
say the system will create employment,
and because no interest is
charged or paid on LETS dollars, it will
eliminate interest rates
that eat up money better spent on other
things."
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Granby Voice of the East, October 15, 1993
ABOLITIONISTS LAUNCHING THEIR FULL EMPLOYMENT SOFTWARE TONIGHT
Karim Benessaieh
As of 19:05 tonight,
the Canadian population will be able to
down-load the Full Employment software
put out by John Turmel,
the colorful leader of the Abolitionist
Party.
In one week-end,
says Turmel, we'll be able to create a
national network which could take us out
of the "hell of the 20th
century into the heaven of the 21st century."
Nothing less.
The principle
of the program is simple enough: it's a
communications computer software which
permits users to recreate
commercial laws. When we want to buy some
bread, we put a credit
into the baker's account; when we want
a case of beer, we send so
many credits to the store. A few more
complicated operations
permit the trade of employment.
Money becomes
an abstract unit and we avoid the intermediary
of the bankers, the anti-Christs of the
Abolitionists. "the day
where all of Canada is connected, we'll
be able to send the final
bill to the Bank of Canada," predicts
Mr. Turmel with delight.
SOFTWARE ON THE ATTACK
The invasion of
the electronic bulletin boards (BBS) present
no technical problems. Informations networks
like FIDONET and
ROSENET already permit their users to
transfer software. It's as
simple as joining a network and down-loading
the program.
This is how John
Turmel predicts the software will enter
100,000 Canadian homes. "I'll announce
it on MuchMusic tonight
and I'm sure the world will jump on the
software. "It's too bad
French Canadians won't get to hear about
it."
When several thousand
young computer hackers have the
software, what will happen? If you believe
the leader of the
party, it will be the beginning of the
realization of the
abolitionist program and the debut of
its greatest benefit, the
abolition of interest rates.
"In the final
analysis, even Jesus Christ was an
abolitionist, audaciously affirms Mr.
Turmel. He was the first to
say usury was a sin, an abomination, and
that's exactly what
we're saying. Only when it is abolished
will be no longer be
slaves to the financial system."
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Scarborough Mirror Election Notebook Vote 1993:
"ABOLITIONISTS FAVOR MONETARY POLICE SIMILAR
TO THAT OF THE
U.S.S. ENTERPRISE," SAYS RELEASE
On Oct. 19, the
following media release was issued by the
Abolitionist Party of Canada:
"Abolitionist
Party leader John Turmel announced today that
if elected, he would install a linear
monetary system like that
used aboard the starship U.S.S. Enterprise.
"Spock would be
proud of this optimal approach to monetary
reform. In engineering terms, 1/s (One
over s) is the only way to
go. It's the only equation for monetary
balance and stability,"
said Mr. Turmel, wearing his iron ring
and white engineer's hat.
"Remember what
Einstein said, "politics is for the present,
an equation is for eternity."
Is it just posible that the Abolitionists watch too much television?