And yet these binary oppositions persist; in the face of a mounting crisis, conservative Republicans seek a return to the gold standard and a reduction in deficit spending. The Federal Reserve, for its part, has committed to maintaining its $85 billion a month deficit spending habit. We are caught in a paralyzing oscillation, an endless back-and-forth.
What has been forgotten, neglected, or repressed, is that money was created as a unit of administrative measurement. Debt did not grow out of money, but just the opposite. Losing sight of this history, we are ruinously giving up our time, instead of looking for a way out. We should be searching, like Derrida was, for "a concept that can no longer be, and never could be, included in the previous regime." [11] Rethinking insolvency as a right, we might disclaim our inheritance, saying, with Berardi:
We're not going to pay the debt. [12]