From Plantation Scrip to the Global Dollar: Why Money Itself Is the Trap
By Direct Democratic Communist Confederation 1. The Lesson from Cuba and the Company Towns In 1880s Cuba, slavery was legally abolished. But the former slaves were not free. Under a system called el patronato, they became patrocinados — a kind of apprentice. They still worked for the same landowners. They were paid not in national currency but in fichas: tokens or scrip that had no value outside the plantation. The company store, where they had to buy their food and tools, was also owned by the same landowner. Prices were inflated. Wages were kept low. Debt accumulated. Leaving was illegal. They were legally free. They were economically enslaved. The same mechanism appeared in the coal and lumber company towns of the United States. Miners were paid in scrip. They lived in company‑owned housing. They shopped at the company store. If they tried to leave, they owed debts they could never repay — and local law enforcement backed the company. The structure was identical: a private issuer co...