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Social Credit
By
Clifford Hugh Douglas
M. Inst. Mech. E., Author of 
Credit Power and Democracy
,
 Economic Democracy
, etc.First edition, 1924Third (revised and enlarged) edition, May, 1933Reprinted July 1933, April 1934, 1935, 1937
“Major Douglas’s proposals have for some months occupied an important place among the various plans put forward to counter the economic crisis through which the country is passing. It is indeed possible that before many months have passed we may see them proposed. It would surely be a good thing, therefore, in a country that prides itself uponbeing a democracy, that such ideas as these should be canvassed publicly and somedefinite opinion formed on them.” – THE TIMES.
Made and Printed in England for Eyre & Spottiswoode (Publishers) Ltd.London
PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION
 
THE first edition of this book was issued in 1924 in order to correlate the financial
 
theories, which have since become widely known under the same title, with the social,industrial, and philosophic ideals to which they are appropriate.
 
At the time that it first appeared (in 1924), it was generally assumed that the world wasentering upon a period of increasing prosperity, and such prosperity in a material sensedid accrue in the United States to an extent never previously experienced.
 
It will be noticed that the view that this prosperity could be of long duration was not heldto be consistent with the theories of Social Credit, so long as the conditions imposed bythe existing financial system remained unchanged, and it was suggested that such prosperity would be followed by a crisis of the first magnitude. The same views wereexpressed in a long cross-examination before the select Committee of the(v) Canadian House of Commons on Banking and Industry in 1923, and have unfortunately proved to be only too well founded. The pressure of the world crisis, and the fear that it maydevelop into forms threatening the extinction of civilisation, have brought home to largenumbers of people in every country the instant necessity of finding an explanation of the paradox of poverty amidst plenty, with its accompaniment of social and political stressand strain, as well as the urgency of a remedy.
 
In every country of the world, and more particularly in the British Dominions overseas,the financial system has been brought to the Bar of Public Opinion as the chief factor inworld unrest, and there is little doubt that the jury has confirmed the Verdict somewhatrhetorically expressed by Mr. William Jennings Bryan in his famous election speech:"The money power preys upon the nation in times of peace, and conspires against it intimes of adversity. It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, moreselfish than bureaucracy. It denounces, as public enemies, all who question its methods,or throw light upon its crimes. It can only be overthrown by the awakened conscience of the nation."
 
The present edition of the book has been(vi)completely revised, and new matter has been added to amplify the meaning it was intended to convey, but the main thesis remainssubstantially unaltered as a result of the confirmation which events have supplied as to itsessential soundness.
 
C. H. DOUGLAS.
 
TEMPLE,.... 
May
1933.(vii) 
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
 
THERE is an ancient saying (which will bear consideration in these days of change andunrest) that the devil is God upside down. A consideration of many of the injurious andtyrannical practices which obtain support in Great Britain and America under the cloak of such words as Justice and Democracy, and the object lesson provided by Russia, and
 
 possibly by Italy and Spain as the consequences of their extension, may serve toemphasise the necessity for clear thinking in this matter.
 
In the following pages an endeavour has been made to indicate the general lines which, itwould appear, are essential in dealing not only with the concrete problems, but the perverted psychology which, in combination, threaten civilisation.
 
C. H. DOUGLAS.
 
TEMPLE….
 January
1924(ix) 
CONTENTS
 
PART I
 
CHAPTER 
 PAGEI.
STATIC AND DYNAMIC SOCIOLOGY
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4II.
INDUSTRY—GOVERNMENT OR SERVICE?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14III.
THE RELATION OF THE GROUP TO THE INDIVIDUAL
. . . . . 24IV.
FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34V.
SABOTAGE AND THE CULTURAL HERITAGE
. . . . . . . . . . . . 44VI.
THE THEORY OF THE SUPREME STATE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52VII.
THE NATURE OF MONEY
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60VIII.
THE COMING OF POWER 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
PART II
I.
 
THE WORKING OF THE MONEY SYSTEM
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
II.
 
THE NATURE OF PRICE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
III.
 
UNEMPLOYMENT OR—LEISURE?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
IV.
 
POVERTY AMIDST PLENTY
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
V.
 
WHY TAXATION IS HEAVY
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
VI.
 
TAXATION AND SERVITUDE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
VII.
 
THE BID FOR WORLD POWER 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
PART III
I.
 
THE STRATEGY OF REFORM
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
II.
 
SOUND MONEY
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
III.
 
THE CRITICAL MOMENT
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
APPENDIX
THE DRAFT SCHEME FOR SCOTLAND
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205(xi)
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