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This chapter explores the history of money and shows how, right from its origins to the very present, it has and will always be controlled by those in power. Different forms of money have been created, not from some neutral or scientific principle, but with the express purpose of making the rich even richer and more powerful.

We identify and follow the financial elite and their trail of money and see how they develop even larger networks and empires on the basis of networks and connections.

We see that laws are  created by the wealthy to separate you from your money and property. The military exists to go overseas and collect their money and property. The names of the 1% will not be found on Forbes 400 list. They don't want anyone to know who they are.

Vatican City

Until 1870, the city of Rome had been controlled by the pope as part of his "papal states". When King Victor Emmanuel II annexed the city in 1870, Pope Pius IX refused to recognize the newly-formed Kingdom of Italy. Because he could not travel through a place that he did not admit existed, Pius IX and his successors each claimed to be a "Prisoner in the Vatican", unable to leave the 0.44 km² (0.17-square mile) papal enclave once they had ascended the papal throne.

The impasse was resolved in 1929 by the Lateran Treaties negotiated by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini between King Victor Emmanuel III and Pope Pius XI. Under this treaty, the Vatican was recognized as an independent state, with the pope as its head. The Vatican City State has its own citizenship, diplomatic corps, flag, and postal system. With a population of less than 1000, it is by far the smallest sovereign country in the world, and widely recognized internationally as such.

Not only has banking been tied to political power throughout history, but also to religious power. Powerful religious institutions that we trust and take for granted such as the Roman Catholic Church are not only more corrupt than we can imagine, but also more powerful than we can comprehend. 

Interesting tidbits: the Roman Catholic Church is a "country" with its own government,laws, and international status, and even its own military. With this unbeatable combination of power and privilege, it has been the conduit for the incessant accumulation of money of the world's secret elite as well as its safe guarding from the public eye. 

Today, Singapore, Monaco and the Vatican City are the only sovereign states which bear any resemblance to the classical definition of a city-state.