Money as Debt [1] (via The Mess That Greenspan Made [2]) is a 47-minute animation of how our money system currently works and how it got there, and is well worth watching. I don't, however, agree with the solutions presented in the video (the comments about the video [3] at “The Mess That Greenspan Made” are worth reading as well).
[1] http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9050474362583451279
[2] http://themessthatgreenspanmade.blogspot.com/2008/01/money-as-debt.html
[3] https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11719208&postID=4351332068607224151