"The Fed isn't one bank, it's a system. There's a Board of Governors in Washington. That part is actually government agency, fine. But there are also 12 regional Federal Reserve banks, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and so on. And those 12 regional banks, the ones that actually do all the work, that handle the money, that run the plumbing of the entire financial system, those 12 banks are not government entities. They are private corporations, and they are owned by their member banks."

… Federal, like the FBI. Sounds like a safety net, a reserve, money set aside for you, for emergencies. It's neither. It's not federal in any normal sense. It's a hybrid, and there's no actual reserve sitting somewhere waiting to save you. The name is marketing. It's gaslighting. Here's what it actually is. The Fed isn't one bank, it's a system. There's a Board of Governors in Washington. That part is actually government agency, fine. But there are also 12 regional Federal Reserve banks, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and so on. And those 12 regional banks, the ones that actually do all the work, that handle the money, that run the plumbing of the entire financial system, those 12 banks are not government entities. They are private corporations, and they are owned by their member banks. By law, the 12 regional banks that actually run the system, owned by JP Morgan, Citi, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, the very banks the Fed is supposed to regulate, those banks are the legal shareholders of the regional Federal Reserve banks. Required by law to buy stock, pay the dividend on it up to 6% a year off the Fed's earnings. Listen to that …