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Guest Post: A Former Marine's Outlook On Inflation, Life Expectancy, And Future Returns
Submitted by Hedgeless Horseman
A Former Marine's Outlook On Inflation, Life Expectancy, And Future Returns
The details of the federal employees' pension system are not something that interests me, nor do I understand exactly how the US Treasury is borrowing money from it, and with little or no mention of it in the press. Thanks to Zero Hedge, at least I do understand why the US government is forced to borrow money from its own employees, as both the monetary and political reasons have been covered on this site extensively.
Recently, I have been thinking about a former marine I know that recently "retired" from the federal government after a couple of decades as an US postal inspector. During his entire career in government service, he carried a weapon, and spent most of his time conducting narcotics investigations. He has photos of himself beside giant mountains of cash and drugs that he had seized on raids.
Several months ago, before he retired, he shared a little bit about his financial situation; specifically that he has several hundred thousand dollars in a federal retirement account invested in U.S. treasuries. He said it was essentially all that he and his wife had saved, and that he knew it was not going to be enough for him to truly retire, especially because they still have kids to put through college. However, he said that if he went to Afghanistan for one year as a security contractor, then he could make enough money so that he would not have to work doing landscaping for the rest of his life, which is what he saw as his second option.
Being a bit of an instigator, I asked this ex-marine/postal worker what his assumptions were regarding inflation, his life expectancy, and future returns. He stared at me silently for an uncomfortably long time. Please understand me when I say that this is not the type of man anyone would ever really want to piss off. Think more R. Lee "Gunny" Ermey and less Cliff Claven. I then realized that I should be more careful what I say, or risk being the messenger that is shot delivering bad news.
His response, when it finally came, surprised me. He said, "I don't trust the government." He then went on to explain that although he and his buddies were just a bunch of government hacks that had put in their time, they did risk their lives on a regular basis. For that, the primary reward they were all promised, and did expect, was a federal pension. We talked a little about the idea of his pension being denominated in US dollars, and the history of the US dollar's purchasing power, but it was an uncomfortable conversation for both of us, so we moved on to other topics.
A couple of months later I learned from the man's family that he had in fact deployed to Afghanistan. I do not know what he is doing there, but I expect it is dangerous. What I wonder is this. Does this man know that the government is paying him (albeit indirectly through Xe or the like) combat pay by borrowing from his own retirement...the very same retirement fund with a NPV sufficiently small to cause this man to leave his own kids to fight other men's' kids half way around the world? Does he realize that because it enables the Federal Reserve's QE and ZIRP policies, the government is responsible for the inflation and low treasury yields that will likely make it so that even with a year's worth of combat pay this man will very likely still end up mowing bankers' lawns for the rest of his life? If he does not know this, now, I most certainly do not want to be the one to tell him.
He said, "I don't trust the government."
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I hear you all; it would be a tough spot to be in, and real change has to come from the masses.
Exactly. Couldn't agree more.
Having served from '88-91' (ARMY-AMEDD) you first need understand military think and the SNAFU everyone participates in.
This is a man who has seen "both sides the trade" so to speak. If he is working for a private contractor, he will make more than he did during his entire career as a government hack, in one year. If properly invested, his family compound will be quite secure. This is someone who understand very clearly risk/reward. Nature makes no promises and you are correct not to want to be the "messenger", because he would most likely shoot you and then feed you to his family if need be. Everyone has to play for a team (whether they like it or not) this guy has more control over his fate by making sure his team wins (FYI - don't think for a second as a civilian and American that you are necessarily on his team). Screwed up, I know, but that is the nature of military training.
BullShit. The article above rings true and I think it's a fucking tragedy, not something to crow over. This is not someone who clearly understands risk/reward. Especially as the risks happen to be his life and his family's future without him. It does not matter what the rewards are, if you are six foot under or paralyzed for life, it's game over. The so-called control over his fate you envy so much is the delusion of the desperate. There is no control over your fate in a war zone, no matter who you are and you should have known that if you have any experience. The going rate for private security detail in a war zone in this market is not great either. A good outfit pays less than USD120k a year for high risk security work, and qualified specialists who get USD1000+/day take home less than USD300k after a year, tax free on average - there are plenty of military/security forums on this subject. Would you risk your life and your family's future for the price of a Bentley? Is that smart?
Ask yourself, what is the nature of a rewarding life? Being able to care for your family, if modestly & living to a ripe old age to see your children all grown, or risking it all just so you can spend a bit more on stuff? It really saddens me that after a lifetime of service, this man feels that he has no choice but to do this for his family near retirement. Utterly tragic and pitiful, not a story to envy.
the man volunteered to kill people for money, nothing patriotic about it, he is willing to kill other people so that his kids could go to college? so that he could retire with more money than he currently thinks he'll get?
how is that fucking admirable?
+1
Exactly. I left that bit out deliberately, but I completely agree.
People like this will always be slaves. Whether to a banker or king. There's little you can do for a person who 'doesn't trust the government' but goes off risking his/her life for it's elite controllers.
Bad read, dw. Man is doing what he thinks he must. His situation indicates he once did trust, and now is wrestling with that loss of trust.
Man is putting blinders on for pecuniary gain... didn't see bandits to the left and robbers to the right... didn't see the thief in the mirror. No honor amongst...
Everyone sits and judges.
BTW, R.I.P.
In heaven, it's wrestlemania every day.
PS, we can't sit... money is taken from us under the threat of the gun to pay for scrubs like this guy... I'd say that gives me a seat at the discussion table, at the very least. Judging is an inherent part of the human condition...
everyman "shit's and giggles, too."
Yup. Same story everytime. As long as he is getting his then life is good. If he is killing somebody for combat pay or locking up some small timer for his govt paycheck. He and others like him will step on you to get his food and beer with his govt paycheck. The private sector is not that much different. If someone can fool the customer for a few bucks - more power to them.
Now his govt master is about to reneg on his deal. Tough sh*t pal. He is a double dipper POS. Honor? LOL! 95% of the idiots in this country are brainwashed by TV. The TV who loves the islamic. All channels, all networks, all the same including the mindless ball games for idiots. It is just like the f**king Matrix. Just as relentless as those Aussie guys in suits with ginger hair.
Maybe he has lost trust, but he'll never do anything about it. That's the point. He'll continue on working for the 'king' until he's too old. Then some young pup will take his place and the cycle will start over.
Yeah, he could sit in a closet and pound a keyboard all day taking anonymous swipes at others. Please catalog your (false) bravado for us, Mr. dw, sir.
Oh here we go... I think you need to slurp some more fluoride and calm down. I'm merely making an observation. And I don't have to explain what I've done for the cause to some anonymous keyboarder.
Me too. My observation is that your's is way off the mark. This guy is all about action, not a "slave" that "does nothing". HH's struggle here is an honorable one - how do you help a guy who may not realize he's contributing to his own welfare erosion.
I wasn't looking for you to explain anything, dw. It was a rhetorical comment - I already know what zip plus zilch equals.
No, I think we're pretty close. Which is why you're so sore.
I would argue to the contrary. Men like this can knock kings off their throne quite easily. The pendulum swings and just because you are considered "valuable" when pushing paper has a premium, don't think America won't become Pakistan overnight. How valuable will you be then?
He will adapt and overcome. Others, not so much.
Where should he put the money he gets in Afghanistan?
A nice place in Belize.
Where's Mitch Rapp when you need him...
We are fighting for freedom in Afganistan! Were guarding the freedom of the poppy fields, and the right for a good old fashion Junkie to get his/her/its fix. 300 billion dollars can't be wrong!!!
Say it ain't so - /sarc
http://current.com/news/92513756_geraldo-interviews-marine-who-admits-opium-fields-guarded-by-u-s-troops-in-afghanistan.htm
He should have stayed home. I hope he stays safe.
However bad it gets, defined benefits to federal retires will be the last shoe to drop - so he has a lot less to worry about than most in that regard.
Politicians may dicker over their debt ceiling credit limit but they will miraculously unite and do whatever it takes to keep public sector benefits flowing. They've just turned the problem with the former into the sure thing of the later.
My career military friends call it the Milkitary. And the post-mil government jobs? "Working for Uncle Sugar." I will never in my lifetime feel sorry for someone who seeks the security of government pensions and healthcare, and then STILL professes worry. What does he want? That the tax-payer should offer him a currency hedge as well, against their own currency? What rubbish. I served in RVN, and did a stint with the feds. The lifers in both know why they chose that life.
The serfs labor in the fields, pay taxes, create more serfs, and die in battle......it is not their place to know these things.
J
Wow, both stocks and bonds are up.
Bernanke Nirvana.
Yesterday's afternoon plunge totally erased.
Never before have financial markets been so expertly choreographed.
i prefer "choreographed" myself. obviously "it can't be done"--but here's a pile of gold and "yes it's for sale, too." what to say when an economy ends in tears? somehow btfd doesn't cut it though it is what we do.
+1,
Today headlines abounded with 'What can QE do for you?' in th MSM.
and you still couldn't get laid in a whorehouse...nothing new.
well, "gotta be careful there, too" these days. "whose to say when an irrational exuberance...
his own mother........ imagine what the critics say LOL
My bologna has a first name
it's R-O-B-O-T ....
Got GLUU .... ????
Up 48% over the last week, ho-hum .....
These thoughts are becoming more pervasive in this country. As it spreads then unrest and social disorder may start. But, as posted, it is going to take time. I posted earlier that it is ok in this country to rape senior citizens, whose only crime is saving American dollars and trusting their govt. It is ok that these good older citizens have to struggle so GS and the rest get there multi million dollar pay packages.
This is OK here. What a sad nation we are becoming. And a rapist can stay out of jail and rent a $50,000.00 town house in Manhattan. Makes me sick. Some justice.
Who are you to judge those old people as "good"? Fuck them. They worked for 20 years or so, contributing fuck-all, and now want us to carry their asses with freebies till they die at age 100? They're just another class of subsidized leachers.
Agreed.
But many of them are delusional and dont understand finance and think they " earned" those benefits. I wonder if some of them might think differently if they really understood how SS and medicare works.
It's the same as saying that you earned that fiat in your trading game that you play.
Troll bastard
Hey Army, Navy, Airforce, and Marines.. your government is actively corn holing you (and us), reaching into your bag (and ours) and stealing your epics. When the fuck are you going to do something about it?
the minute you do.
I'm doing my part.. but I don't have the "friends" of size that they do and recently my votes really haven't counted much. The moment Chucky Schumer gives a shit about what a libertarian has to say, a unicorn that shits skittles will be born. Until that time, we civvies rely on those who have the power to do something becuase no law matters to those pols in power.
So don't giv me that "the minute you do" crap.. don't wait on us.. please.
haha don't hold your breath my friend. I dont think the solution is going to come from the public sector where the hand that feeds is never to be bitten, let alone snarled at. And you are right, "the minute you do" excuse is crap, but it goes both ways.
it goes both ways up to a point. I wasn't born wtih a document signed in the womb that said anything like "...to protect against enemies foreign and domestic". That line falls squarely upon those in the armed forces who clearly signed on the dotted line or they wouldn't be in there. Or did I miss something?
You've missed nothing, on the contrary i believe you get it. The whole purpose of the pledge of allegiance in school, or swearing in for the millitary is to assert a sense of obligation in the individual citizen to give a damn about their country. My point was to expose the misconception that there is a division between millitary and civilian in this obligation.
Gotcha! Sorry for the confusion. Glad someone else gets it.
You do not have to join the Military to take the Oath to the Constitution.
It's all of ours.
don't forget the "stuff that moves 'em" tough guy cuz "they're all over there" in case you're wonderin'.
...Says the coward behind his computer screen. Nature makes no promises regarding your survival.
When the timing is right, it will be a military leader that steps into the power vacuum left by inept and corrupt politicians and banksters who ran away because there was nothing else left to steal. Then the culling will begin in ernest.
yeah, easy to say when you're sitting behind your own keyboard, you fuck-stick. Pot, kettle..
Don't take the bait.
No kidding. Once someone has confronted death and truly accepts it, then they know how to truly live. The ass doesn't know I served (ARMY-AMEDD).
The homeland contains total morons.
What can you do? It is still where our families live.
I hope to sift out as many out as we can. This will be a very rare opportunity to educate and re-task a great many.
Thanks to a 1978 Malibu and a drunk driver.. I couldn't. So don't give me that "I served and you didn't" shit. I was geared up to go.. would have exited basic (Airforce) as an E2. So yes, I have confronted death. I was launched 20 feet onto Rte 52 (NY) after getting hit DIRECTLY by the car. Just becuase you were "in" doesn't mean other people don't have their own experiences with nearly dying.
You give servicemen a bad name, you arrogant asshat. You signed the dotted line.. I didn't. What's your fucking excuse now?
Thanks for the thought?
If you did not serve, you don't know.
Perhaps you could...you know...stfu instead of showing your ass.
I expect that shit from the commies and other trolls.
death is death.. doesn't matter if it was a car or a bullet. Ever been nearly killed by a car? no? then you don't know.. see how this goes both ways? the only difference here is that you signed the dotted line and pledged an oath. You keeping it or what?
Are you?
The duty of the population is to vote in good people, not socialist pimps.
Don't look to veterans to start anything short of the Feds actually firing on civilians.
I vote as often as is allowable by the law of this land. I contact my critters often and the only one who gets back to me is Buerkle. Everyone else is a shit head.
Whenever I get those NRA post cards to send out, I send those out too. I'm certainly not watching the parade.
I look to military to keep their oath. We have federal officials breaking the law and no AG seems to be doing anything about it. No one seems to be doing anything for that fact. Is'nt one of the stages of the transformation into totalitarianism the compete ingorance of the laws? Doesn't that consitutue .. you know.. an attack on the people?
It is complicated. The nation has the right to suicide if it is done mostly democratically. This is not an academic exercise.
Sometimes, the war is lost. Defend what you can. Cry later.
And I apologize for being an asshole.
Live free or die. I aim to live free..
Don't apologize on my account..
I suspect you served 4 and then got out thinking yourself a hardcore killing machine.
I'm a non-violent supporter of Gandhi, dude.
What can you possibly the thinking?
I love my fellow man.
Lots of people didn't, who could have if not for bad luck. We all will experience challenges in life, how we respond to a crisis and recover is the important bit. You response speaks volumes about what you are made of. Arrogant, maybe, but I know several 100% disabled vets who went through hell and returned to go on to law school or medical school and have moved on quite well. Again the "experience" is not the important bit, it is how you overcome. Pretty obvious where you are at. Nature makes no promises and we could all be dead tomorrow, there will always be winners and losers, get the fuck over it.
I'm doing quite well and have moved on. But what pisses me off is people saying "I served, you didn't..." without knowing a single,god damned, thing about me or my trajectory in life. I expect examples and not exceptions. I've done the death thing already and the only thing that keeps me from not giving a shit is my kids...period. Anyone who's been down that road knows what I'm talking about. It's like death is no big deal until your death matters to someone else. That's where I am..
"Anyone who's been down that road knows what I'm talking about. It's like death is no big deal until your death matters to someone else."
Look at that, now you are making some sense. Precisely why I put my kids in a safe vehicle when they started driving. Nobody knows what is in store for them. Teach your children to learn from their mistakes and hedge accordingly. I have personally failed more than I have succeeded in individual efforts. I changed my strategy and moved on. Overall, that is how one succeeds.
You're correct. No one does. After my experience, I didn't bother thinking about it, until my children entered this world. I should be dead 5 times over. Until 2003, I didn't give a crap about politics and I was bitter because I couldn't serve. It took my father (who served) to wake my ass up.
So I, in fact, just got off the phone with with my congress critters office in D.C. to tell them that I am extremely opposed to the patriot act. It's all I can do with in the law. So that's all I can offer.
I agree with your conclusion regarding failures. Too bad the lefties want to remove any notion of failure, so one can never know success. Hail mediocrity.. hail..
another welfare queen. boo hoo.
Looks like LNKD is starting to bleed a little. And Friday, options start on this well managed, highly profitable company with a PE of 500.
SOL, welcome to the club.
No one who has worked for the government trusts the government.
Not that it is evil, mostly that it tends to bureaucratic arrogance and incompetence.
Bureaucrats run a welfare state.
It was exactly his voluntary service to the federal government that allowed it to peg the dollar with oil and, thus, ultimately gain/retain reserve currenct status... So we're supposed to feel sorry for someone who required others to grab their ankles when the executioner pops a viagra tablet for him? His problem isn't that he'll end up with a devalued purchasing ability, his problem is that he has a conscience and he's figured out the folly of his life's work... of course, the problem is that it is likely all he knows and, thus, must continue to do so, despite despising his actions.
Just another ninny created by and wasted on the nanny state.
Must admit am impressed with miners today. Gold, silver down a little and the dips on miners bought today. Way to scared and early to call it a trend change but worth watching.
There will be a day, and not to far down the road where we will rule and "the brilliant ones" will move on to annoy some other blog.
Picked up a little oil yesterday also.
I got out of the Marines as soon as I realized that I did not trust our government.
They offered me embassy duty in Sweden to re-up...followed by three friggin years on a carrier.
I was tempted, but...nawww.
Surprisingly, I was contacted post 911 and offered a commission as a captain. Having left as a corporal I guess they thought I would be tempted. Sorry, the captain's salary (with benefits) was not even 1/5 my current income.
I understand the reasons.
All the kids are out of college.
I'd kill for one more walk through the fire before I die of a cheeseburger overdose.
;)
That's strange for little jewish-nazi you are.
I'm not Jewish.
I just hate the idea of dying in the hallway of a socialist medical facility.
That's very honorable for Freikorps, and for rodents - they don't distinguish between socialist or whoever.
Rodents are the majority of all mammals on this planet.
The Freikorps have a long history. Don't judge them on one single point in time. They originally opposed the commies. They thought socialism was a lesser evil. Turns out they were wrong.
We learn from history, or we repeat it.
neither pure socialism nor pure capitalsim is socially sustainable.
I voted for it before I voted against it. Congrats!
The KKK Empire strikes both ways, bitchez!
Without a thriving entreprenurial middle class the pie just simply isn't big enough for prosperity. The KKK banksters gave you empire but in exchange for the American Dream.
That ex-marine was a cheap "drug warrior" (95% of all "drug offenders are blacks and hispanics - Rockefeller's Margaret Sanger: "We want to erradicate the Negro race"!). He is now a mercenary for #BigOil banksters and their nightmare New World Order.
I'd say his karmic odds of a peaceful retirement are slim.
Love the fly-by junkers. When I junk, I will try and dispell a post (unless its hammy, harry, hanny - that fucking guy).
I would say his odds for peaceful retirement are high. Those with the most guns backing their actions tend to do very well over the long haul.
Those with the most guns....
Yes, with a return to the dark ages. Is that to be Amerika's grandest achievement? Yes, it sure looks that way.
The most guns.
We live in a world where your enemies have nukes. Shit, this whole Pakistan thing is a game of cat and mouse with their nukes. You think that's a good thing? They wouldn't be your enemies if your bankster bigoil oligarchs weren't over there drug trafficking funded raping and pillaging in order to control the world.
Billions would rather be dead than succumb to the death empire.
Do you truly believe yourself immune to attack from a committed group?
Shit, from what I understand this CIA Davis guy who killed two ISI agents was the one passing on nuclear, bilogical and chemical secrets to al-CIAda for a false flag according to Pakistani intelligence.
Small tactical nukes.
Either way you lose.
"They" are coming for you, you know.
Get out now!!!!!111!!!
ROFL. I love me that eleventy stuff.
You spastic little pansey, exactly which CIA briefing did you read that from? Billions are liable to be afforded their desires, too, before it's done.
And send that idiotic raping and pillaging meme back to Oliver Stone. Goddamn, didn't they wear that out enough on the Vietnam Vets?
....and I'd say you are wrong.
If he has a double govt pension - Military & Postal Service - he gets tons of benefits that will become more valuable the longer he lives. He will be far better off than most....but we don't know what kind of lifestyle he is trying to support, do we?
That would be true under the assumption this ponzi holds together. What are the odds of that? Where is the "money" going to come from (besides the printer)? Who is the next batch of greater fools that can take on debt (after the college bubble pops)?
Is the money liquid, and in the hands of the people it is owed to in some way they can hedge, buyu land, or PMS? No. Damn, that sucks.
The "fiat money" in the system is going to vaporized. Not future money... but past and present money. In fact, if you just run-out the balance sheet for Uncle Sam without lying, the money is already vaporized many times over. So, either we get an outright default, or we hyperinflate. Either way, the dream of retiring with a pension is about to turn into a nightmare... not just for government workers, but for everyone. I have parents that rely on SS - so by no means do I wish this on anyone. Just looking that data and telling it like I see it. Unsustainable math coupled with lies to keep the ponzi going a little longer.
So if this country is so terrible you got any suggestions of better places to live with better opportunities for you? Maybe emigration is a good idea.
Manhattan has always been a stronghold of the KKK. BWAHAHAHA
That dude would happily grope me at the airport, beat me at the protest, steal my drugs then kill me for his fascist commanders, Fuck him. Don't kill any children on my account bozo.
and send you the bill for it!
Sadly I think your read may be correct.
Freedom damnit. They are fightingfor our freedom because the muslim hate us. Don't you watch TV? Lulz
The muslims hate us for our freedom fries.
I heard that Islam is the religion of peace and we need to grope the Swedish grannies and 3 year old kids who are the biggest terrorist threats.
"Don't kill any children on my account bozo."
and then demand that you thank him for your freedom...as if calling in drone strikes on afghan goat herder weddings is making us safer...when it is the exact opposite.
I feel no pity for that fascist pig mercenary baby killer.
If only he knew the real truth. China is restraining themselves from dumping treasuries/buying and spiking gold prices, to sustain the illusion the US Treasury market is stable. That enables US and its leeches on the military-industrial complex (eg Carlyle Group) to keep gorging themselves at the taxpayer funded military trough (no trough to small for that snout...yet) . The benefit to China is that while the US plays world policeman, China gets to pick up nice assets. Like Iraq, where the US oil companies didnt have the stomach for the risk-reward on those drilling contracts, but China did. China enjoyed the American security presence though. Bottom line, he is enabling the Chinese in their securing of world resources, the very same resources this dude is going to be priced out of on 10yrs. The rural standard of living in China 5yrs ago is a good picture of where many Americans standard of living is going. No protein int he diet, can't afford heat etc etc
Ben ran out of money a few minutes too early. Nice drop.
Did you tell this guy to buy gold and silver? (I assume given his level of dangerousness you would not add the "b*tch*z" part).
I did ask if as a postal inspector he ever investigated any mail fraud involving gold. He said no, nothing ever having to do with gold, then looked a bit puzzled.
@ILikeBoats
Very insightful. Most of this post has devolved into a military/govvie pensionier harangue but the Joke may be on all of us since Benron is trying to kill our national currency, not just the government pensions.
The few people that I have opened up my opinions to who are government workers all looked at me with the same stare (in silence). My interpretation of the "stare" is that they knew I was right, but absolutely could not let the idea into their brain. Too painful. Too devastating a thought that their retirement accounts could be vaporized in various ways - and depending on perspective may already be dead money walking. I have since stopped voicing my views on this.
But, their service, at this juncture, has helped ensure they have jobs while the rest of americans go without or face cuts... it's easy to make up that gap with the private sector when your opportunity cost is flipping burgers. Getting a higher salary AND a pension? Ok.... good luck with that one...
It's not their fault the USPS runs in the red several billion a year(w/increases).
Anymore than anyone elses company going into the shitter, because of suck ass mgmt.
Worker bees get no say.
You forget the fundamental distinction... this man should have never had a job in the first place. Let me restate that, this man should never had a job in the first place. (at least not on the public coffers). While worker bees may not have a say, without their support, the cogs break down and the machine dies. "I was just following orders" is no longer acceptable.
Worker bees get all the say in the world. The problem is that they settle for nothing as collusion never works on a long enough time line. Hence, our wax and wane between capitalism and socialism.
one "lobbyist" I know and I had this talk the other day. I said there's not a whole lot of honesty out there right now. He called me a cynic and said, "I see the world as more shades of gray than these absolutes." I replied that shades of gray is just a euphemism for dishonesty. That was an effective discussion cloture.
Judging by the "junk" I got, it seems there is someone in the room who may suffer from what I was talking about. LOL.
One of the greatest lies that will eventually become widely known is that we could trust the government with our wealth (retirement, social security, etc.). While intentions may have been good (at least at lower levels), the math was flawed from the get-go. It was based on perpetual growth. Sorry to break the news to the junker. The truth is going to hurt. The world operates in cycles, and our entire lives have been spent on the upslope - till now.
Worker to retiree ratio for Social Security was 160:1 in 1940
Worker to retiree ratio for Social Security was 3:1 in 2009
Avg lifespan in US in 1940 was 63
Avg lifespan in US in 2009 is 79
Yes, it is a ponzi scheme. I hope nobody under the age of 55 is planning on SS being a major part of their retirement.
"We have met the enemy and he is us."
If this guy has "several hundred thousand dollars" saved, he has a hell of a lot more than many of us! Kids find a way to get themselves through college, or they recognize that college may not be the way to go right now. Situations are changing fast. Stay home with your family, invest in PMs, food, clothing, etc. These are not the good old days when you just do what people have always done.
Except that those several hundred thousand are tied up in Treasurys. Little hope that they'll hold much value for this guy long term...
A small group of motivated kids working their way through the MIT open courseware would probably do as well or better in life than most with a proper college education, and without all those annoying tuition bills.
Except nobody could verify that they completed the coursework
No doubt. I'd bet he's doing better than 75% of people his age. Boohoo...
In the early 80's I worked 6 months for "the government" as an intern at the E.P.A. I also worked a night job and went to school. But my days were comprised of riding 50 floors up to the dallas EPA office and watching what the government calls "work" .... I was 21 then and had grown up in my family's small business doing real work. And we worked very hard. We didn't have paid vacations or sick leave or all those other benefits. We didn't have endless coffee breaks and "Free fridays" .... oh this was office wide.....the whole department was one non-stop waste of TIME. I started a memo.... don't remember about what now......the day I started there, and 6 months later it wasn't finished due to being revised and rewritten so many times by multiple layers of beaurocrats above me.
You would think that I would have found my life's work there...... I mean, who wouldn't love to just be paid for wasting time? With a guaranteed increase every year if you sucked up to the guy or gal above you. Not me. That was the start of my long awakening regarding all things government. Today I am anarchist to an extent that I have considered many times of truly going off-grid with a bunch of folks in a planned community. I cannot stand that I pay taxes on every single thing I buy and own.... Last month I got a surprise in the mailbox from the City-wanting me to pay the new dog license fee for my three dogs....... $50 for a non-altered dog and $20 if they have been spayed or neutered! Then last month we got a fee increase where the water bill also has a "sewage" fee attached to it........ in essence they charge you when you run the water to your house and they charge you when they drain the water away from your house. Also, a few days ago I noticed one of the new "smart meters" magically appeared where my old electric meter was. No notice, no how-do-you-do.......... just marched on my property and put it in.
I feel bad for the man going to Afghanistan, but somewhere along the line he had to stop and think about what he has sold his soul to. As far as I'm concerned, knowing all I know about the USG........ they deserve exactly what they have coming.
May it come soon.
+42329483
90% of the millitary is no different than your experience at the EPA. Unless you are with an infantry battalion, your days are filled with bureaucracy and busy work.
Don't feel bad for the contractor. Hes probably got his own air conditioned trailer with T.V. internet and 4 meals a day. What more could you ask for?
You sir, would not believe how much worse it is than you describe.... If govt. agencies operated like a normal company, with a bottom line and a need to produce profit... they'd be bankrupt within a year at the latest... But when geopolitical crisises and global economic collapse just increase your funding.... why waste time being efficient and productive ;-)
because they increased the dog license fee?
He doesn't know any better. His whole life he's been said that the government is never wrong, and he did what was asked of him. These kind of people are the backbone of a nation, and when the system brakes down he'll never believe it to be the governments fault.
Yeah... I had the foolish notion that maybe if i was inside the system i might be able to change it... 6 years later (my minimum time to serve) I left feeling cheated, lied to and used by my government (UK)...
I've since removed myself from the main stream BS figuring its better to just step aside when it all falls apart than be caught in the middle of it... At least i got some free survival training and weapon skills... if you count being shot at for less than minimum wage as free ;-)
No, the backbone of our nation are the people that think critically, that ask questions, that are skeptical -- not the ones that believe every bit of propaganda on TV and cheer on their local sports teams. The backbone of our nation is the entrepreneur who takes risks and creates value, not the government worker or entitlement recipient feeding at the trough as our government taxes away that value.
Exactly.
America’s wealth comes from the middle-class: her traders, small businessmen, professionals, highly-skilled craftsmen, innovators... Destroy America’s middle-class—the petit bourgeois--that employs 50% to 70% of American workers, and you will destroy America.
He is "the petit bourgeois, the epicier--of the class that does three-quarters of the world’s work and keeps the machine going and the working man in a job--which the world ridicules”--he and only he is the answer to America’s ills.
Says a persecuted princess, Saskia, fleeing Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution in John Buchan’s novel, Hunting Tower (1922): "You will not find him in Russia. He is what they call the middle-class, which we who were foolish used to laugh at. But he is the stuff which above all others makes a great people. He will endure when aristocracies crack and proletariats crumble. In our own land we have never known him, but till we create him our land will not be a nation."
America is morphing into fascism and socialism, into serfdom. The Federal Reserve isn't the solution. Big Government isn’t the solution. Small businessmen are the answer, they are the "canary in the coal mine" that will determine if this system survies. They, not Obama, not the Fed, not the globalists, not the TBTFs, not the enjoined economists... determine when recessions begin and end. They, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, the small community banker...not Benjamin Bernanke and his paper currency and computer entries... will signal if and when the recession has ended.
Fuck that. He doesn't know that putting citizens in jail for putting something in their body without infringing anybody's rights is wrong? It's not a "libertarian" view; it's keep your fucking hands off of me, motherfucker!
Nope. Let all the AmeriKKKlan "drug warriors" and mercenaries eat shit along with their families. Who seriously thinks that this whole oligarchy thing is going to end well for America???
you forgot to add "and i'm MOVING TO SWEDEN NOW."
Hedgeless,
Betcha got a whole bunch o' stuff you weren't 'spectin, eh???
Nice piece.
Somebody’s got to pay the bill.
There are two sides of Socialism – the oligarchs’ and the peasants’, both blaming capitalism for their straits. Obama needs “rich” people to support his people’s needs and the insolvent oligarchs need the US Treasury for bail money; IOW, both sides need a middle class with deep pockets.
Socialism cannot pay the bills. So who’s going to pay? It’s not the people who didn’t pay their mortgages; it’s the people who did pay their mortgages. And they’re maxed out. Unfortunately, Marxism doesn’t work. Fortunately, we have many examples of Marxism.
Among the many daily headlines of cities and states facing financial problems on PublicSector Inc., this one is typical :
San Jose Pushes Ahead With Pension Proposals | SJ Mercury News | 05/24/11
In the national spotlight since Mayor Chuck Reed this month called for a ballot measure to curb runaway pension costs, the San Jose City Council put off calling a fiscal state of emergency Tuesday while voting to study various proposals for reducing retirement benefits.
The council's 8-3 vote after a three-hour afternoon meeting set up a June 21 showdown in which the council would vote on formally declaring a fiscal state of emergency and deciding which pension reforms might be taken to voters in November.
"We're already in a crisis," Reed told a pack of TV cameras Tuesday, noting that the city cut about 800 jobs last year and will slash about 600 more in the upcoming budget as pension costs shot from $155 million to $250 million.
"We can't just wait," Reed said. "We have a tsunami coming toward us."
San Jose is among a number of cities seeking relief from employee pension costs rising faster than revenues, siphoning funds from basic services. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee this week announced a November pension reform measure crafted in talks with labor and business leaders, while critics who felt it didn't go far enough continued gathering signatures for a possible competing initiative. …
http://www.publicsectorinc.org/headlines/
You are right.
I hadnt thought about it in such a way but it is the peasants and oligarchs (and others who see a personal advantage) who support socialism and the middle class and professionals dont oppose it as linf as it is paid for with borrowed money.
There is no middle class. If you think you're middle class, you're actually a peasant.
He's a little Eichmann who derives some benefit from the KKK Empire. He thinks he's going to flee the Titanic when the SHTF and retire in style in Colombia.
ROFLMAO
We'll see.
Bogota is a great place for middle class americans to live the good life. Security is great. Legal system allows justifiable homicide defense and americans can own guns, you got plenty of servants, and everything is cheap. It has great nightlife too if you know where to go. For an ex military guy wanting to live rich it is an excellent place to go..
JR, figure it out man. It's not socialism, it's fascism. There is no left and right. Obama is not a Socialist, he is a fascist. Expand your horizons, read up on socialism, fascism, capitalism. The Repubs/Dems are just the two different branches of the Fascist party.
The road to Fascism is paved with socialist pretensions. – Grant Singleton
Have you ever wondered why some of the wealthiest people in the world – the vast, interlocking power structure of the London-Wall Street combine - have been financing Communism, Socialism, and many other forms of violence and revolution in America and throughout the world, using to a large extent the Fed and its satellites, the IMF and World Bank?
It is to gain the necessary economic and political power to seize the human and natural resources of the entire world. It is to destroy the backbone of what in essence made the American miracle function – the family and the middle class and individual opportunity.
Dr. Carroll Quigley, Bill Clinton’s mentor at Georgetown University, in his book Tragedy and Hope shows how the Establishment reached out to control the leftwing press, among many other institutions as well, such as the tax-exempt foundations which are the base of its operations.
He names the Wall Street fortunes which established the New Republic, and says that “the original purpose for establishing the paper was to provide an outlet for the progressive Left and to guide it quietly in an Anglophile direction….This latter task was entrusted to…Walter Lippmann…the authentic spokesman in American journalism for the Establishment on both sides of the Atlantic in international affairs.”
In the beginning, J.P. Morgan and Company (Rothschild) was the inner core of command of the Eastern Establishment; the Council on Foreign Relations remains its principal front.
Obama is a socialist and a puppet; he believes in using the government’s money to spread throughout to the non-producers. He is run by the bankers, as was their puppet Bush, a fascist. The international financiers want socialism to downgrade the producers, to make them equal with non-producers in terms of their reward. Socialism is the road to serfdom, to ultimately one world governance.
As you say, the goal is the same.
I submit there are differences between left and right, the primary being do you want to bankrupt the country by giveaways to the rich or poor. Middle Class be damned.
For the record agree wholeheartedly this is quasi-democratic fascism. This form has not made it into the history books yet.
And Obama is giving away to the poor? Laughable.
You, sir, talk like a socialist.
Just admit it. You vote democrat.
As ex-military and having a wife still currently serving (and due to deploy to afghanistan) we have even less faith in the govt of any country... We're actually working out a 'lost legion' contingency where my wife is going to take some physical silver/gold with her as a means to buy her way back if the SHTF really badly... Most people will think this would never happen... but then most people don't look at the ZH page lol
She only has 19 months left and isn't re-enlisting... morale right now in the forces is so low... just about every soldier we chat with is fed up with it all and not re-enlisting... I wouldn't be surprised if in the next 1-4 years conscription is enacted in the USA to make up the loss in troops that is being experienced...
Can't fight for oil with no 'boots on the ground'...
Might not need too. Robots baby. I left the ARMY in '91' and a good friend of mine just retired from the Air Force at 45 because they took him out of the F-16 cockpit and put him in a seat in Nevada flying drones. He races mountain bikes now and is doing quite well. Guess he still needs that adrenalin push. thanks to you and your wife for your service. God speed.
Dreadker, I would suggest a few gold coins, whatever you can afford, and a roll or two of pre '65 quarters. The quarters will get her through most situations, the gold will buy the way home. Hide carefully and tell no one.
Here is what our goverment thinks of its vets. Depleted Uranium apparently causes too slow a death!
http://abcnews.go.com/US/family-demands-answers-fatal-shooting-marine-swat-team/story?id=13640112
Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez
If the rule book is followed the way it's been for generations....it's the firing up of the "War Machine" that becomes the distraction.
If what you say is true....they may very well have to one day raise the draft age significantly higher.
Wouldn't that be a trip? All men 40 yrs. old and younger....please report to MEPS
If the worst happens hopefully whoever she is trying to bribe knows they are holding gold and what it is worth.
Just a guess here, but I suspect that those here who pay the least in taxes complain the most about it...
If you mean that government workers make more than their private sector couterparts and therefore pay more in taxes, you're probably right.