Sunday Digest | #010

What I am watching 👀, reading 📖, and listening 🎧 to on a Sunday.

It’s Meseidy is a reader-supported publication. Please consider becoming a paying subscriber or making a one-time or recurring donation to show your support.

With all the discussion surrounding the Titanic recently due to the Titan submersible discussion surrounding it, an old conspiracy theory about the Federal Reserve has also resurfaced.

What could the Titanic have to do with the Federal Reserve? Let’s explore.

The Federal Reserve was established in 1913, the year after the Titanic sank, which has led many to leak the two together in conspiracy theories. Not simply because they both just happened to have occurred in the same year but also who was and was not on the Titanic at the time it sank, leading some to speculate a coordinated conspiracy to sink the Titanic.

According to a conspiracy theory, J.P. Morgan was a huge proponent and a key contributor to the formation of The Federal Reserve. The International Mercantile Marine Company, owned by J.P. Morgan, acquired the White Star Line in 1902, making him the owner of the Titanic. During the Bank Panic of 1907, Morgan allegedly orchestrated a plan that involved influential players meeting at his mansion and providing capital to stabilize the banking system. This event allegedly influenced the government to pass legislation and establish a central bank, the Federal Reserve.

However, millionaires John Jacob Astor IV, Benjamin Guggenheim, and Isidor Straus, who booked passage on the Titanic, were opposed to the creation of the Federal Reserve who else had passaged booked on the Titanic but the owner, J.P. Morgan. However, Morgan canceled his trip aboard the Titanic at the last minute, along with his friend Milton Hersey, yes, Hersey Chocolate.

The theory is that Morgan wanted to eliminate potential threats to his plans for the Federal Reserve and therefore orchestrated the deaths of wealthy individuals on the Titanic who opposed the formation of a central bank, including John Jacob Astor IV, Benjamin Guggenheim, and Isidor Straus.

Mind you, there is little evidence of this conspiracy theory, which is typically the case for most conspiracy theories. Also, there is no evidence of Astor or Guggenheim taking a position on the Fed, and according to two October 1911 New York Times articles, Straus was in favor of the creation of the federal reserve.

Oct 16 & 25 1911

Also, there is no indication of how exactly JP Morgan would have taken out the Titanic. Granted, there was no way to do a forensic analysis of the Titanic after it sank, and it sat at the bottom of the ocean for 70 years before it was discovered. So can we be 100% sure it was an iceberg? I mean, anything is possible, and there is no question that the Federal Reserve is insanely problematic.

What do you think? Was JP in on it? How did he do it?

Use this promo code and get 20% off your subscription forever! That’s just $3.33 a month!