Burning Money?

Good thread. Whether you believe in the superstitious or the psychological power of "destroying your idols", (or both), I think it's good symbolism. Plus, I like to burn things.

All kidding aside, here is something I posted before:

Originally posted in another thread by Teratoma
I have read that the alchemists' concept of "lead to gold" was never intended to be taken literally. That it was a metaphor for using 'sorcery' to get rich and powerful. I can't remember where I read it but it was suggesting that all along it was some kind of formula for a fiat economy - money from nothing, and that this was perfected and set in motion with the institution of the Federal Reserve. It went on to talk about the whole thing being based on the American dollar, and how every single one dollar bill is actually a worthless talisman, giving the bearer or receiver the 'illusion' that he has "money".

And like I inferred above, this doesn't necessarily have anything to do with hocus-pocus, yet I think it's possible the PTB may have been playing on people's superstitions in creating the "dollar". Or perhaps the overall weirdness of the symbolism on a dollar bill really is some kind of 'spell'. I lean towards the former, but I'm not afraid to speculate.

Saying that money could be used to feed the poor is like telling someone that the time they spend here could be used better by volunteering for some kind of organization.

I think I'm gonna make an effigy - a little doll or something out of a dollar, partly in 'protest', partly as 'art', partly just to see what happens - and set it ablaze. I'll make a video, for posterity.



[edit on 9/8/2008 by Teratoma]

Originally posted by dave420


And it's illegal to destroy currency in many countries around the world.

See, the fact that it's illegal to destroy money shows that it is bondage and slavery.
If it is a good thing, and it belongs to you, why can't you destroy it if you like?...You can scar your looks, you can ruin your health, smash up all your antiques, sabotage your own career, crash your car, damage your reputation, abort your fetus, waste your life, strain your brain, lose your mind, grind your teeth, spoil your kids, forget your manners and lose your friends...All those things of yours...
But you can't burn your five dollar bill...
Now, why is that? Why should that be?
I don't know, but to start guessing...maybe they don't want you to symbolically or mentally or even for a minute distance yourself from the yoke that they have laid out for you...You can't start thinking wrong...and disrespect the system...the multi-level-marketing of the banks, and you are the down-line, way down...
You can burn a Bible, you can burn a flag...
unlike money...
maybe compared to money (in the eyes of the reality-show writers) those are not the symbol of anything important...

Oh yeah, so, here's the video "WATCH THE K FOUNDATION BURN A MILLION QUID"

[video.google.com...]

(Oh yeah, plus, so as not to violate the ATS Terms And Conditions, now that I have been made aware that burning money is against the law in many areas, no one should ever break the law, nor would I encourage or advocate it...And when I seemed to be saying that I had burned money, that never really happened, I was confused when I wrote that because I got in a bicycle wreck and I suffer from migraine hallucinations, sorry, but I am feeling much better now and I will be careful not to post except when correctly conscious, now, I know better)

You seem like a smart fellow, but you haven't really been tested yet. Allow me to raise the bar.

You say that when money is burned as opposed to being given to charity, the homeless, thrown on the street for someone else to find, etc. that it completely and utterly loses its intended purpose, its very essence.

A good thought, however I conject that burning it still serves another purpose and creates a different reaction. Everything has a cause and effect.. If everyone began to burn money, there would be less and less currency floating throughout the system, and the government would inevitably have to print more. I understand that they do this anyway, but if you take it to an extreme, and millions of people began to burn a little bit here, and a little bit there, you create a crisis, a breakdown of the system. They would have to continually print money, the value of currency itself would change and fluctuate like the wind, this would have mass implications for other currencies worldwide, etc. I could go on.

Now those ideas are just taking it on the surface, if you dig deeper and also consider the potential ramifications that burning that dollar may have on a separate person watching you, you get even more causality. That action could be either positive or negative. If someone watches you burn the dollar, and it does have a positive effect on your life, it may unwittingly have a negative effect on someone else's. This could lead into a series of subsequent events, or a chain reaction of something far worse.

Just some food for thought.

(Mind you I'm really only playing devil's advocate, because I think you may be on to something...)

[edit on 10-9-2008 by Ajax]

reply to post by Ajax


I feel I need not worry about another person having a negative reaction to something that is positive for me...because I have less control over another person's reaction, another person's area, than I have over mine...and you shouldn't worry about what you can't control, like the past, or the weather, or other people's choices...(I'm oversimplifying, obviously, because one can control others a little, and I don't control myself perfectly, but it's a principle, to apply attention efficiently it should be applied to what attention can effect)...

I think we should have a national show of unity. Therefore let me say if I can get enough people to agree, I'll give out my address and you can all send your money to me (no checks alowed). I will then stage a money burning show to be posted on youTube and here!

What says you? are you willing to send me your money so I can stage a hugh money burning video?

reply to post by nine-eyed-eel


Yeah... I was just re-reading some of Iain M. Banks "Culture" science fiction...specifically the short story " A Gift From The Culture", but I have seen this stated (as a proverb) in other places, somewhere in that linked body of his works:

"Money is a sign of poverty."

...and I thought I should append that in support of this thread...

Well, let's look at it this way, the burning could be used as a form of sending your thanks to the heavens for all the times that you FOUND money rather than earning it.

Then again, I don't think that the greater good (God) created money, so who are you really sending thanks to?

If you ask me, I feel that we need to have a Burn Baphomet Day.

I'm just sayin' ....

reply to post by Afterthought


I've actually found money a lot, lying in the street, by the side of the road...

I used to look real hard, when I was homeless in Florida...thinking that I might find a Burger King bag stuffed with twenties, or something...but it turns out my higher expectations of found-money in Florida did not pan out...

Awesome thread, S+Flag (My first flag ever given out, but only because Im a dumbass and thought starring flagged it auto )

What you say is true, especially about gambling. Its called "scared money" in poker terms. Scared money doesnt make money, because you are too afraid to risk anything. Playing scared leads to bad luck.

We, with our own mind, are in control. We create what is called Luck with our actions and interactions, and our mindset plays a huge part, positive or negative. We form reality, and if your are constantly negative, you will have a negative, or "bad luck", reality.

All the people replying "SEND IT TO ME!!!1" definitely dont get it. As you tried to explain, their longing for this physical thing just leads them to further enslavement. You all know the feeling....you want something REALLLY bad, and it takes you forever to get it. Then you use it for a month, and forget about, because you are entranced by "the next big thing". Pretty soon you are surrounded by a bunch of toys (like computers, tvs, gadgets, cars) that you are bored with. You are a slave to the BUYING.

It is not until you have nothing that are free to experience everything.

Originally posted by aching_knuckles


It is not until you have nothing that are free to experience everything.

Thank you for the kind words...scared money for sure, bad luck to gamble with the rent money (and then gambling with stolen money is another interesting subject - that I will pass over) and you hardly ever win with the twenty bucks you borrow from a friend after already losing your stake for the day...and I am speaking of disciplined actual gamblers, students of the subject, not randoms on vacation...

And your quote reminds me of Fight Club...

Hmm.. Interesting.. In asia money (hell notes) is burned for people who have died so that they have money in the afterlife between incarnations. Also everything else ie houses, clothes, cars (all made of paper) are burned on the anniversary of when the person died and during ghost month when the gates of hell open and the ghosts are released from hell for 30 days every year. In return the ghosts may give the living blessings of prosperity in the year ahead.
(Short vers. would take much more to fully explain)

reply to post by nine-eyed-eel


" ( All that this anecdote really shows is that I freely give bad advice and I have an answer for everything). So he did, and he did. No doubt he would have found the keys eventually anyways. "

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Thank you for the chuckle i always respect people who can poke fun at themselves .

interesting theory, but im not about ready to go burning up my beer money just yet.. i think ill just sacrifice the braincells instead..


~meathead

reply to post by Expat888


Thank you for replying, I had forgotten hearing about this (I think I read something many years back) until you mentioned it...I went to look for a video of it -

and I wondered if it looked quite real...so I checked Wikipedia on Hell money - which states that it is not regular bank notes, but specially printed ritual "joss paper"...But it does seem to harken back to some past time when real actual money was burned, just like in those various archaeological kingly burials all around the world where they killed real actual slaves and buried real actual treasures to accompany the king in the afterlife.

Then I found this game theory video...a little technical -

but the bit about burning money to win an argument - a "costly signal" as the video refers to it - is something I have actually experienced...although the money was thrown away, not burned...We had like a thousand bucks total in the world, I was holding it (mostly small bills), I was driving the van, we were arguing, I was angry, to punctuate and express my anger I started throwing like four or five bills at a time out of the window of the van...quickly enough I won the argument...Hmmm...

And then here's the Joker using the same technique to indicate his sincerity, win the argument, get his way...


[edit on 28-6-2010 by nine-eyed-eel]