103 The Real Game of Missing Money Trust Financial systems operate on trust—on faith in the laws and their enforcement as well as general morality. The growing loss of faith in the government is having a profoundly corrosive impact on the U.S. economy. From the point of view of many entrepreneurs, small farmers, and business people, the U.S. government offers them two options: complete dependence or financial warfare. The message is “crime pays” and “lawful people are a target to be kept in the dark and harvested financially.” This is hardly the basis for the kind of trust that leads to reinvestment in the long-term economy and the creation of productive employment. Who’s the Leader? Ultimately, we must each decide what kind of leader we choose to be and what leaders we choose to follow. Will leadership be defined by force—by those who have the ability to kill with impu- nity? Or will it be defined according to contribution to civilization and economy—that is, by standards of excellence in intention, performance, and ethical conduct? Ultimately, we must each decide who is the leader. Lest you consider that this is all a problem created by our leadership, examine the following story. In 1999, I was at a revival for Christian women. One of the presidential candidates made a guest appearance. A friend of mine, an Afro-American minister, who used to work for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), leapt to her feet to applaud him with tremendous enthusiasm. I was surprised at her response given that she under- stood his success in attracting narco dollars—not to mention his and his colleagues’ silence on Gary Webb’s Dark Alliance reports and the subsequent CIA admission of drug dealing by the government. She looked at me and said, “He is going to be the winner.” So I said, “You mean, I am a loser because I tried to stop the corruption and he is a winner because he profit- ed from it and helped it grow. So you will clap for him and not for me.” She replied, “That’s right. You are a loser. He is a winner.” Catherine Austin Fitts, “Narco Dollars for Beginners” There is no more important question than what leaders we each choose in our daily lives with our actions, transactions, and votes to support. One of the most important books I have ever read to inform solutions to our cur- rent dilemma was The Evolution of Cooperation by Robert Axelrod. It describes Axelrod’s research to determine whether or not it is possible to build an economic model in which cooperation is more profitable than other forms of competition. The book’s promotional description says: “The Evolution of Cooperation provides valuable insights into the age-old question of whether unforced cooperation is ever possible. Widely praised and much discussed, this classic book explores how cooperation can emerge