Money quote

This is a staggering thought. We are completely dependent on the commercial banks. Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in circulation, cash, or credit. If the banks create ample synthetic money, we are prosperous; if not, we starve. We are absolutely without a permanent money system.
When one gets a complete grasp of the picture, the tragic absurdity of our hopeless position is almost incredible, but there it is.

–Robert H. Hemphill, Credit Manager of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Georgia

Full quote here (bottom of page).

Found in the fine animated educational movie Money as Debt: