Researching for book three - Shining Sword.
Genre: Fantasy
I don't like politics, never have, but for this book, I wanted to play with various ideas on how a society can be manipulated by a self-indulgent minority and at what point the people would start to rebel. Obviously just looking around at the world at present stirred many thoughts. Money is power, so that's where my research started.
Did you know?
The word for credit comes from the latin word 'Credere' meaning to believe.
Banks really do create money out of thin air.
I found a fabulous video that explains banks in a non-complicated way. Usually, the jargon puts me off, but this video managed to hold my interest. I've learnt a lot from it and wanted to share it with you.
97% - 98% of money created (digital) is bank 'debt money' by private banks.
Electronic money has 100% profit as no production costs.
Money doesn't come out of economic activity - meaning employment
i.e ~ the process of people doing things.
Isn't it odd that we buy products that during their manufacture have destroyed forests, polluted seas, and contaminated the air we breathe just because we can't afford the more expensive product. Money is at the heart of all our lives and it's a good time to understand what money is and how it works.
By understanding how money really works, we can become more socially and environmentally conscious which can make a positive difference to our world and financial well-being.
~ The Money Reform Party
Tolkien and Industrialisation
The industrial revolution, a period of rapid change beginning in Britain around 1750 and lasting well into the 1800s, transformed the cultural and physical landscape of England.
Handmade products crafted in small-town shops gave way to urban factories and mechanised production. Textiles, shipbuilding, iron, and steel emerged as important industries, and the country's population increasingly migrated to urban areas to work in the factories. Coal fueled these industries, polluting the air with black smoke and dotting the countryside with mining spoil.
The Black Country in Birmingham. The foundries, the forges, and the ironworks glowed – sheets of sparks, 50 foot high. The fires never went out. It looked like hell. That may have inspired Lord of the Rings, Mordor. Tolkien could have been writing about how the industrial revolution turned the Midlands from Hobbiton to Mordor.
Although born well after the industrial revolution, Tolkien witnessed the lasting effects of industry on the environment, first as a child in Birmingham and later as an adult in Oxford.
Tolkien's concern for nature echoes throughout The Lord of the Rings. Evil beings of Middle-earth dominate nature and abuse it to bolster their own power. For example, Saruman, the corrupt wizard, devastates an ancient forest as he builds his army.
The Elves, in contrast, live in harmony with nature, appreciating its beauty and power, and reflecting a sense of enchantment and wonder in their artful songs.
Read more HERE
Love and light,
Trace
xoxo
