A Little History for Framing Our Desire for Fair Banking

What if the financial system we trust today was never designed to serve you in the first place?

In this episode of the Weekly ROAR Podcast, Dustin Hedrick and Brandon Billings take a step back to examine the historical foundations of the modern financial system—and how we got to where we are today. From early resistance to centralized control to pivotal moments like the creation of the Federal Reserve and major policy shifts, this conversation connects the dots between past decisions and present-day challenges.

As financial power has become increasingly centralized, new technologies like cryptocurrency are emerging as a response—offering the potential to restore individual ownership, transparency, and control.

•  How the U.S. financial system evolved from decentralization to centralization 
•  Key historical moments that reshaped financial power and policy 
•  Why crypto and emerging technologies are pushing toward a more balanced system 

Resources & Links:
 https://www.r0ar.io/

If this episode gave you a new perspective, follow the podcast, share it with someone interested in finance or history, and stay connected as we explore the future of fair and transparent systems.

Weekly ROAR Podcast with Dustin Hedrick & Brandon Billings
Sponsored by https://www.r0ar.io/

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
Welcome to your weekly roar.
We're going to break down whatactually matters, cut through
the noise, and give yousomething you can use right now.
I'm Dustin, and the gloriouslybearded one with me is none
other than my best friendBrandon.
And today we're diving intosomething deeper than markets,

(00:25):
deeper than crypto.
We're talking about how theentire financial system evolved
and what that means for youtoday.
So don't get bored out.
We feel like this is gonnaactually go viral because
honestly, you're gonna hear somestuff you probably haven't heard
before that are connected to ourwhite paper.
So if you've ever wondered whymoney feels harder to hold on
to, why systems feel morecentralized, or why crypto even

(00:48):
exists, this one's for you, solet's get into it.

SPEAKER_01 (00:55):
This week's Spark is simple.
Was the system always designedthis way, or did it change over
time?
Because if you go back to thebeginning, the founding of the
United States, it was actuallybuilt to resist centralized
financial power.
The goal was clear limit federalcontrol, avoid concentrated
banking power, keep economicfreedom close to the individual.

(01:19):
Even Thomas Jefferson warnedthat banks could become more
dangerous than armies.
But here's the shift.
That system didn't stay thesame.
Over time, through wars, crises,and uh policy decisions, the
structure evolved, and not insmall ways, in foundational
ways.

SPEAKER_00 (01:38):
So good.
Alright, quick take.
Here's the thing that mostpeople get wrong.
This didn't happen overnight.
It happened gradually overgenerations and mostly during
moments of crisis.
We're not even covering all ofthe different parts where crisis
was used in this recordingbecause we don't have time.

(02:00):
So the first major crack, let'sgo back to the first major crack
that we can point to, is theCivil War.
And that's when we saw the firstfederal income tax and the
introduction of fiat currency.
Even though it was temporary, itset a precedent.
And remember, inside of ourgovernment, precedents actually

(02:21):
matter for the future.
They're not just a small thing.
We should be very careful whatwe do new, because when a
precedent is set, presidents andcongress and judges will point
to those and say there was aprecedent.
So the government actually coulddirectly tax income and control

(02:41):
money supply.
So once that door opened, itnever fully closed.
So before we get in the nextpart of this, this might be a
good moment to grab a coffee orreset for a second because what
we're about to get into goes alayer deeper.

SPEAKER_01 (02:57):
The deep dive.
All right, this is whereeverything changes because
there's one year you need tounderstand it's 1913.
The double shift.
Two massive things happened.
That created a dual system.

(03:18):
The government taxes yourincome, and a central bank
controls the money supply.
That's a structural shift, notjust policy, it's power.
The shift in who pays before1913, government funding came
mostly from tariffs.
Foreign goods carried much ofthat burden.

(03:40):
After 1913, the burden movedfrom domestic workers through
income tax.

SPEAKER_00 (03:46):
Guys, this is not a joke.
This is the framing of a shiftthat came without the large
citizenship of America agreeing.
The shifts we just talked about,they were not really agreed on.
They were imposed.

(04:07):
And they were done throughwhether it was EO, congressional
movements, or whatever.
But things happen in waysthrough this season that were
not by the agreement of theAmerican people.
We need to remember that it'skey.
When people redo a precedentbecause it's a precedent, that
doesn't mean it was a passed lawby Congress or an amendment.

(04:27):
Very important.
Now we have some amendmentswe'll talk about in a minute,
uh, but even those were withlack of oversight or thought,
foresight for the future.
So 1933, there was a definingmoment.
We cannot go any further.
A lot of stuff will skip thisall together.
We want to make sure youunderstand what happened in
America because sketchy of it'san understatement for what this

(04:50):
was.
So here's one of the mostcontroversial moments in

financial history (04:53):
gold confiscation in 1933.
Think about when 1933 was theGreat Depression, World War II
starting to stir up, you've gotHitler and whatever going on.
And here we are in America,we're doing something that

should have never happened (05:10):
gold confiscation.
Americans were required by lawto turn in gold, and they were
had to do it at a fixed pricethat the government set.
Then shortly after, when thegovernment had control of all
gold, the government revaluedgold higher than the very

(05:33):
currency they had put outagainst it, which means citizens
were paid less, the dollar lostvalue, and purchasing power
dropped significantly.
So individuals that had done theright things and holding on to
gold, even in their currency orin their regular gold store, it
could be your jewelry, whatever.

(05:54):
They were deemed illegal.
And people went to jail forthis, people.
People went to jail because theydid the right thing in saving to
protect their family againstwhat could come.
I mean, I just need you to hearthat, that this really happened.
So, real talk moment.
Let's be honest for a second.
Whether you view these decisionsas necessary or overreach, the

(06:17):
result is undeniable.
Power became centralized, and wecan't argue with it.
Even the most woke AI out therewill not argue with me on that
point.

SPEAKER_01 (06:27):
The modern system.
Let's fast forward to today.
National debt is about 34trillion, roughly 100,000 plus
per person.
At the same time, fractionalreserve banking expands credit,
inflation reduces purchasingpower, savings lose value over
time.

SPEAKER_00 (06:46):
You know, I want to even go harder on this a little
bit.
Banks take in your$1 and theyloan out$8 to$9 against it, and
you get no percentage return.
What happens with that?
Well, guess what?
That goes out into credit forms.
It offers ability for peoplethat maybe shouldn't be able to
buy things, to buy things withcredit.
And then guess what happens tothat?

(07:07):
That raises the price againstyou, the consumer, who put your
money in the bank.
Guess what you just did?
By saving, you got less returnand you just taxed yourself
higher on your buying power.
I'm just saying, this is real.
Let's get real.
Another way to do it is print abunch of money if the Federal
Reserve create a massive debt,reduce the spending power of the

(07:28):
dollar, and then just blow thatmoney everywhere, send overseas
or whatnot.
Guys, this is real.
I want to take it deep so youknow what we're talking about.
This really happened.
We got to blow the whistle onit.
We got to call it out.
We can never repeat this again.
So, hot seat question.
Right now, here's the questionyou've got to ask yourself.
If your money loses value overtime and the system expands

(07:51):
through debt, who benefits most?
Oh my goodness.
I'm not gonna answer that foryou.
I'm gonna I'm just gonna take amoment right here before we land
this and take a second and thinkabout how this actually shows up
in your world because the nextpiece is where it all starts to
connect.

SPEAKER_01 (08:09):
Now let's get into this right now.
It's time for the roar becausethis isn't just history.
This is context for what'shappening today.
Why crypto exists.
Crypto didn't just appearrandomly, it emerged as a
response to centralized controlof money, inflation, lack of
transparency, and financialgatekeeping.

SPEAKER_00 (08:32):
I mean, seriously, the white paper bit written by
Satoshi goes over this, but evenmore so, in the Genesis block of
the Bitcoin blockchain, which iswhere crypto really got its
genesis in this current era, inthat Genesis block, it puts in
the New York Times uh post thatsays that the chancellor just

(08:53):
bailed out the banks and thatthere's money printing from
reserve federal or centralizedbanking.
So, folks, it's it's literally aresult.
It's not a joke.
It's directly tied to it.
And since 2008, when thathappened, it's gotten even
worse.
Let's be clear.
So the shift back.
How do we get back?
Now we're seeing somethinginteresting.

(09:15):
Decentralized finance,self-custody wallets, tokenized
assets, and AI-powered financialsystems are all pointing towards
returning control of finances toindividuals, returning the
returns to the individuals,returning the rewards to the

(09:36):
individuals, returning theability for anything to
fluctuate in the value of thatcrypto to the individuals, not
some person that's going to massprint.
So, what this really means,we're at a moment where old
systems are still dominantmoment.
It's about to change, theClarity Act happens, and you

(09:58):
know, and as this stuff rollsout, boom.
New systems are rapidlyemerging.
And for the first time indecades, people have options.

SPEAKER_01 (10:09):
That brings us to our one-minute insight.
In one minute, here's what thisreally means the system started
decentralized, shifted towardscentralization over time,
expanded through taxation, debt,and monetary control.
And now the technology isopening the door to rebalance
that power.
The roar line, if there's onething to take in from this, it's

(10:34):
this.
When you understand how thesystem evolved, you can decide
how you participate in whatcomes next.
This isn't about fear, this isabout awareness.
And awareness, that's where realpower starts.
Yes.

SPEAKER_00 (10:51):
Ha ha ha ha.
That's this week's roar.
If this hit for you, share itwith someone who needs to hear
it and make sure you're tappedin on X and other platforms
where you can hear us.
So you don't miss what's comingnext.
We've got more conversations,more clarity, and more real
insight coming your way.
Until next time, stay sharp,stay curious, and keep moving

(11:14):
forward.
This is your weekly roar.
Thanks for being on.
Take care, everybody.

SPEAKER_02 (11:21):
Thank you for tuning in to your weekly roar podcast.
See the show notes to learn moreabout the topics in today's
episode, and be sure tosubscribe so you never miss out
on the latest high impact trendsand strategies shaping the
future of decentralized tech.