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Insights Into America's Disneyland And Our "Neo-Feudalistic, Gulag Casino Economy" From Mike Krieger
Mike Krieger, formerly a macro analyst at Bernstein, and currently running his own fund, KAM LP, summarizies the pretend reality we are all caught in now, knowing full well America is set on a crash course with reality at some point, yet sticking our collective heads in the sand, as the collapse will be some time in the "indefinite" future. In the meantime, banks will continue to boost US GDP by peddling "financial innovation" and restructuring advice to countries like Greece... and nothing else.
Goodbye Disneyland, by Mike Krieger
In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right. For, after all how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable – what then?
- Winston Smith in George Orwell’s 1984
A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.
- Thomas Jefferson
We Must Move to a Free Market and Shun the Welfare-Warfare State or all will be Lost
Unfortunately for all of us, the primary economic policy of the U.S. government as well as many others around the world is an extend and pretend strategy that is economic suicide primarily in that it keeps the irresponsible in their assets and it makes the responsible shudder and shun productive investments. Whether it be a homeowner that is subsidized to stay in a home that he cannot afford or a bank that doesn’t want to come clean on the extent of its bad assets, the result is the same. Complete economic inertia. Now of course there has been a rebound in demand, but my argument has been and continues to be that this is the most unproductive rebound in aggregate demand that perhaps the world has ever seen. Whether it be in the U.S. or China, the demand is taking away spare capacity in many areas indeed but we must question the methods. This is where the whole idea of inflation comes into play. The whole reason why printing a million dollars and giving it to everyone doesn’t work is because this “liquidity” is not created through a productive process. It is purely an injection of new dollars into the economy. The basic rule of supply/demand kicks in. In the average person’s pocket, this money is unlikely to be “invested” in productive capital endeavors, rather the vast majority of it will simply be spent to consume the resources of that which can be supplied by the already existing capital stock. So in many ways it isn’t that the creation of the money itself that is the biggest problem, it is the distribution channel of that money. Only a small percentage of the population that receives the million dollars has the ability, drive and discipline to invest the money into something that will create economic value for the society at large rather than just blow it on a flat screen television. This is the entire premise of why a free market economy works when it is allowed to work (which I would argue is not possible under the current Federal Reserve system). The Fed is a socialist organization that SETS the most important price in the economy, the price of money. Even worse, when they set that price at say 0% as is basically the case today that 0% or anything close to it is not offered to all the small businessmen or potential entrepreneurs out there. It might not even be so bad if the low interest rates weren’t simply being used to gamble or play a carry trade with treasuries. Of course, the banks or anyone else for that matter playing a spread by borrowing at near zero to buy long-term treasuries is doing irreparable harm to this nation. They are complicit in the gross misallocation of capital to the government, capital that can then be doled out at will to favored interests. So all we have today is essentially a creation of money and credit out of thin air that is allocated to two major constituents. First, it has primarily been used to maintain the people of wealth, power and political connections (on both sides of the isle) before the crash entrenched in their socioeconomic roles. Second, is to pay off political favors. Those who supported the President in his campaign have been paid back handsomely and are today much more powerful and secure than before whether we are talking unions or the oligopoly banks. If we wish to have any hope of a sustainable recovery preventing the inevitable social unrest to come from truly getting dangerous we must restore the free market and end the union of big business and government, which historically has presented an extremely dangerous situation. For those that are in big business and think they have made a great move by joining forces with the state I suggest you go back and read your history. You never will possess the ultimate power, you will be seduced into thinking you do and then when the time is right government can eliminate you and your fortune with the stroke of a pen. Power is granted to you by this authority when you engage in this unholy union and it can be taken away on whim and your wealth confiscated. Selling out freedom and your fellow citizens for some extra money or government contracts will come back to haunt you. Your legacy to the United States will be as Max Keiser has called it, a neo-feudalistic, gulag casino economy that has already begun. Below is a link to an excellent interview with Bill Moyers on PBS about our financial oligarchy (I believe many industries here are becoming oligarchies but the financial one is the most powerful) and the need to stop its cancerous growth.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04162010/watch.html
There Will be Surplus...In 2050!
The above paragraph is meant to reach those that are actually faced with important decisions every day that can have a meaningful impact on our future. Decisions on whether to sacrifice their country’s and their children’s futures for an extra buck or to stop the game, stand up for freedom and make a positive difference in this world. This paragraph is meant for a much more broad based audience. Key to the entrenched elite strategy (whether in government or business) is to keep the public in an infantile state. What I mean by this is to keep the notion alive that big daddy government is going to be there to provide for you and protect you. Taking it one step further, they really want the public to believe the government’s existence is in fact necessary for the realization of all one’s hopes and dreams whether it be economically or with regard to security. If you remember from Orwell’s 1984, there is never-ending war in Oceania. Think about how useful a never ending “war on terrorism” is to those in positions of power. All this said, while I am a small government person, I am no anarchist. I think government can do a lot of good. I merely think government must be used a tool, a complement to the freedom, independence and individuality. Once the government becomes so big that is the primary driver of capital and investment we are in big trouble. This is where the individual’s economic creativity becomes stifled and things shut down. One of the key strategies being used by insolvent governments around the world right now are fantasy long-term budget projections. They basically read something like “well we expect deficits to GDP to be elevated for the next several years but there will be a surplus by 2020.” Sadly, many people actually believe this nonsense. As I have said before, the biggest wealth destruction in the next 1-2 years will be in my opinion without a doubt in the sovereign/municipal debt markets. Whether it be through inflation or deflation this stuff can’t possibly be paid back in real money or anything close to it. The biggest fallacy I hear from people I know that own government or municipal paper is they say they are “comfortable just collecting the yield.” Ok, they may be comfortable with that now, but what if inflation escalates in a major way which is in my opinion a one of the more likely outcomes to all this. It means that clipping 3.7% per year on a 10 year note will not be so comforting. The only reason people think it sounds good is because of what they just experienced in 2007-2009. Use some common sense and there is nothing comforting about it. In fact, it is downright scary. Here’s why. As inflation escalates the overall price of these securities will trend lower and then one day, whether in two months from now or a year from now yields are really going to spike and you will be sitting on a pretty hefty capital loss. By the time an owner actually comes to the admission that there is big inflation in the system (remember the big holders of long-term treasuries will be the LAST to admit this) there will be a major principal loss on the securities and the decision to sell or hold at that point will not be a pleasant one. Clipping the coupons wasn’t such a good idea after all…
Why Extending Unemployment Benefits is Inflationary and Why Food Stamps = Bread Lines
One theme I have focused on for years now is how the government and the establishment relies on disinformation and propaganda to keep this phony economy alive the populace distracted with “bread and circuses” as the Romans called it, or as we can say in the modern United States “food stamps and American Idol.” Before I get into some of the “bread” tactics used by politicians on both sides of the isle, I want to make something clear. I am not saying we should get rid of food stamps and unemployment benefits. In the current world where we allow corporate oligarchies to control all aspects of the country this would be unhelpful and immoral. However, I would be in favor of reducing them AFTER the oligarchy problem is dealt with. To do so before would lead to social chaos and would as I said earlier be entirely immoral.
Ok, so first with regard to food stamps. The latest data shows that 39.4 million Americans are receiving food stamps. One of the biggest spins you have heard on the media since 2008 is that this is nowhere near as bad as the Depression, after all, where are the bread lines? Well of course there are no bread lines, this is 2010. Food stamps are the modern equivalent. It is a convenient way to keep the suffering and plight of 13% of the American citizenry out of sight and out of mind. That way those that are benefitting from the corrupt crony capitalism of the current system can feel better about themselves. How about you join reality instead.
Next, there is the issue of unemployment benefit extensions. This situation is very similar to the simplistic scenario of printing money and giving it to everyone. Except this is worse. In that situation, at least some percent of those getting the money will be in a position to put that money to productive uses. Someone that is struggling with the severe trauma that is unemployment is going to basically use that money to pay the bills, pay down some debt, and if there is a little left over…well that IPAD sure looks nifty. All the while this is an unused asset of the economy. This unutilized economic asset is consuming on the taxpayer dime while not adding to the productive capacity of the economy. This is pure inflation. Again, I want to reiterate that dealing with this problem is not the first order of business. Dismantling the oligarchies and restoring a free market is. Then the welfare issue can be dealt with.
Next, to those that continue along this irrational line of thinking that without wage inflation there is no inflation (2+2=5), I see the first signs of it appearing despite U6 employment at near 20%. Let me give you an example. Here in New York City, we were just faced with a prospect of a doorman’s strike. At the last minute a deal was reached with the union which calls for a four year contract with a nearly 10% pay raise and no cuts in benefits for workers. First Wall Street bonuses rebound and now the unions. Entirely coincidental I am sure.
Say Goodbye to Disneyland
One of my old colleagues when I was at Bernstein and who is from another country described America to me with the following statement: “it’s like “Disneyland.” I never fully understood what he meant until the last couple of years. However, what I have also realized is this sense of delusional entitlement is extremely manifest in most other OECD nations as well. In case you missed it, earlier this week the European Union declared traveling a “human right” and is “launching a scheme to subsidize vacations with taxpayers’ dollars for those too poor to afford their own trips” (see link http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2923469). A friend quipped to me after I sent him that article: “I just realized that there no longer exists any need for political parody. The Onion is a short.” Indeed.
Mike
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That doesn't make me feel better, but I appreciate the honesty as a refreshing slap in the face. lol
Well I am Mr. Negativity :) But really the glass is half full. Those who see the disaster coming can take steps to mitigate it's effect on them. It's doubtful any of use will be a major world changing figure but we can all do things to make our lives and the lives of our friends and loved ones better.
Sure we may be moving into a shitty and uncertain world, but we have been living on borrowed time. Have to take the bitter with the sweet. I try to keep it in perspective by looking at history. Except for the technology what is happening in the world now has happened over and over again. It's all one long cycle up and down.
"And then, something happened. I let go. Lost in oblivion. Dark and silent and complete. I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom"
Through me you pass into the city of woe:
Through me you pass into eternal pain:
Through me among the people lost for aye.
Justice the founder of my fabric mov'd:
To rear me was the task of power divine,
Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.
Before me things create were none, save things
Eternal, and eternal I endure.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
Such characters in colour dim I mark'd
Over a portal's lofty arch inscrib'd:
Whereat I thus: Master, these words import.
- The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri
Hey CB
Wasn't that on the Bobby McGee song ? No plagiarizing now....
the lyric (as I recall) "Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose . . ."
Holy shit, has anyone seen this video of Traficant ??
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/171256-5
from 2002...how'd you come up with that one?
Wow.
jimmy's runnin again as an independent:
http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/13138
Rusty, you made my week. Thanks.
after listening & watching this video, i honestly believe that everyone here should do whatever they can to get this man back into congress this november, if only for sheer entertainment's sake.
Pompadour and 2-by-4. "Bangin' away."
I think the new political realm should involve boxing. I want Traficant vs. Obama for the main event.
Just read the piece on EU subsidized vacations. That's signal that it's time for Europe to blow itself up again, ASAP.
I wonder how much Bernankie has invested in the Stock Market? Even in a blind Trust. Is he trying to set himself up for life?
There is a role for the state within a economy - its role is not to subsidise consumption, fictitious stock market valuations or tamper with symbolic core capital but provide basic infrastructure and utilities that private enterprise will not provide since the reinvestment of a systems surplus reduces the profit of a company or enterprise.
This is a distorted twisted aversion to state intervention within the American system and has been adopted by Europe notably in its utilities sector. This has created a mutant corporate state which pretends to be free market but in fact is nothing of the sort.
There is nothing wrong with the state spending large amounts of money , money will be spent regardless of its source.
The corporate state that America has become is now defined by consumption - the non state actors in the system such as corporations have no interest in the maintenance of the industrial ecosystem since active intervention on their part would be counterproductive as their potential generosity would be exploited by other corporations who would realise that they have no financial incentive to maintain the economy.
Goldman Sachs is now a beautiful example of this ruthless Darwinism but thankfully it is not in the DNA of this organisation to govern
Now corporations have indirect control of the countries but yet there is a power vacuum has I believe they have no understanding or ability to rule.
Like pavlov's dogs the submissive secondary government gets its signals from the cooperative establishment who rely on increased consumption for their increased profitability - what both fail to realise is that the system is unsustainable and is doomed to failure as corporations are only actors within this strange farcical play and cannot run a country in their present form.
The one postive I see from this is the instability of this mutant state - eventually parhaps after much blood spilled it may revert to a more sustainable power dynamic between all these second rate actors.
Goldman Sachs already occupies all the key positions in government that matter to them.
It's not in ther DNA to govern past that point because they already have the money locked up.
I believe Goldman will fail because they are greedy - governing is more then about money although that is necessary , it is a subtle art and all the evidence I see from Goldman convinces me they will have a short but eventfull stay on the throne - their operatives are in deep trouble and if I was Larry Summers I would quietly leave the palace.
Treasury Secretary Geithner made his way to Beijing, he met with Chinese Vice Prime Minister Wang. The trip was in relation to US demands for a massive up valuation of the Chinese currency, the renminbi or yuan. This announcement has unleashed much gloating at the Associated Press and other pro-Wall Street news outlets, so it is important to issue a caveat at the very beginning: trips do not equal agreements. Obama made a personal visit to Afghanistan a few months back, and bilateral US relations with that country have been deteriorating in an alarming way ever since.
The question of the Chinese currency is this: for about 20 months, since about the beginning of the world economic depression in the late summer of 2008, China has been maintaining a peg or approximately fixed parity in relation to the dollar at a rate of about 6.8 renminbi per US greenback. Before that, the renminbi had been allowed to rise by about 21% between 2005 and 2008, largely in response to US pressure. The relatively fixed parity between the dollar and the renminbi has been an element of stability in a generally chaotic panorama of floating rates which characterizes the wreckage of the Bretton Woods system, which was demolished by Nixon and Kissinger almost four decades ago. Fixed parities among currencies promote world trade, because they allow exporters and importers to accurately anticipate the value of trade deals that take 6, 12 or 24 months to come to fruition. A rational US policy would be to maintain a negotiated fixed parity with China, and then invite the Japanese yen, the Russian ruble, the euro, and the Latin American regional currency to join such a system of fixed parities. This would amount to restoring one of the positive features of the 1944-1971 Bretton Woods system, which produced the highest rates of economic growth in human history before or since. Instead, the Wall Street puppets of the Obama administration are determined to destroy one of the few areas of stability which still persist.
The policy which Obama and Geithner are attempting to pursue is one of competitive devaluation of the US dollar. This is the policy of exporting the world economic depression towards China, which has been less hard hit so far than the Anglo-Saxon derivatives paradises of the US and the UK. This is a beggar my neighbor policy broadly similar to the one pursued by the British between 1931 and the outbreak of World War II. The US is demanding an upvaluation of the renminbi by something between 20 and 40%. This is another way of saying that the US wants to devalue or n value the US dollar by the same 20 to 40%. The idea is that Chinese products will then become more expensive on the US market, helping to reduce the astronomical merchandise trade deficit and balance of payments deficit which the US is suffering. It is a crackpot scheme.
The US Treasury under Geithner has been threatening to use a report on currency issues which is scheduled to be released on April 15 as a forum in which to brand China as a currency manipulator, opening the door to various kinds of punitive measures against Beijing being prepared by Democratic and Republican demagogues in the U.S. Congress in the context of the current congressional election season. That report may have been postponed, but the implicit blackmail remains on the table.
Every country has an inalienable sovereign right to manage its currency anyway it wants to. In response to the US demands, two factions have become visible in China. On the one hand are the elitists and globalists, whose spokesman on this issue is Governor Zhou of the central bank, who argues that a stronger renminbi will allow Chinese who already have money to buy more and consume more. This argument plays to the interests of the affluent elites in the coastal regions where this faction is based. On the other hand, the populist faction argues through Commerce Minister Chen that Chinese export firms are currently surviving on paper-thin profit margins, and that any appreciation of the renminbi will begin to put these companies out of business, causing unemployment and severe social dislocations. This argument seems to be supported by the Finance Ministry and the National Development and Reform Commission.
The Chinese rightly fear that increased unemployment will lead to widespread labor unrest, giving the Anglo-Americans the chance to run destabilization campaigns against China from the inside. At the same time, the Chinese leaders have an exaggerated fear of losing face if they are branded as currency manipulators. They can also see that many in the U.S. Congress would like to blame China for the Depression and take retaliatory measures.
Geithner has already proven in practice that he is incapable of seeing a large-scale panic bearing down on him until it is much too late. He should be careful what he wishes for. In reality, the Chinese peg represents an important support for the increasingly labile US currency. This is because of the way the peg works in practice, i.e. through the Chinese buying dollars and buying U.S. Treasury paper on international markets even on days when few others have been willing to do so. In some ways the peg amounts to a concerted support operation for the US dollar by the Chinese central bank. If there is no peg, China will buy less and less Treasury paper, and a key prop for the greenback will have disappeared.
This is the great danger of the US plan for exporting the Depression to China. Over the decades, Paul Volcker has spoken occasionally about his greatest nightmare, which was that of a dollar slide which, once it had began, would become almost impossible to stop because of the inherent weakness of the US currency. This is the kind of mud slide of the dollar which could easily emerge if the Chinese peg is abandoned or even attenuated. This is something that will make the Depression worse for everybody.
Chinese sources indicate that a likely outcome of the current controversy is that China may increase the value of the renminbi by 3% to 4% over the next year as a way to avoid more overt clashes with the United States, especially in the context of the US election. But, as Chen points out, even 3% to 4% in appreciation for the Chinese currency will deliver a death blow to a whole population of Chinese exporters, and the fundamental US goal of exporting some of the Depression into China will have been attained.
There is no way out of these dilemmas for the Chinese unless and until they abandon their policy of orienting towards production for the US consumer market, a policy which has been combined with the very unwise accumulation of between $1 and $2 trillion worth of US Treasury paper. It is folly for a developing country like China to hold such large reserves of an unstable foreign currency. If the Chinese simply hold these Treasury bonds, they are very likely to depreciate significantly in value. If they try to dump them, their value will crash overnight in a general dissent of the world into panic and chaos. One important way to utilize these currency reserves would be to spend in an orderly way by purchasing capital goods and infrastructure either from the United States or on the world market more generally for the intensive development of the rural and less developed areas of China. One obvious need would be the purchase of thousands of modern hospitals to increase public health in precisely these areas. Other areas of hard infrastructure and soft infrastructure could also be developed.
The Chinese currency reserves could also be used internationally. The Chinese have been intensely focused on Africa as a source of raw materials for their future growth. Beijing would therefore be well advised to solidify its position in Africa by launching an ambitious Marshall Plan for that continent in the form of comprehensive infrastructural, agricultural, and industrial development. This could involve the creation of a Sino-African Development Bank from which many states could benefit. In effect, the Chinese could offer the Africans an alternative to the hated and discredited policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which could not survive a competitor that would respect national sovereignty and offer the Africans equitable terms.
The result would be a new African market for Chinese exports, mainly in the area of modern capital goods. So long Amerika...
geopol,
I own all your books and I use them constantly as a reference. Thank you for popping in now and then here at ZH to spread the wealth. Unfortunately very few of the masses recognize what you say is of value because so much of what you say is contrary to the conditioned and programmed worldview that comes from the TV and "respectable" printed media.
Modern day China is an American creation. Corporate America in likes of Walmart and GE (hey- go Six Sigma yourself, Jack Welch) outsourced American middle class jobs and fed billions of valuable U.S. dollars in to infrastructure, such that their blind greed sold out their home country.
China is playing the U.S. for fools, doing the rope-a-dope with the U.S in Iran and North Korea (can anyone seriously suggest that Kim can fart without written permission from the Boss).
Of course, China is a currency manipulator. So why does the U.S. keep tip-toeing around the tulips on this matter.
Every day China gets stronger and the U.S. gets weaker. A backward country intent on political posturing and killing their female children, has now become a military contender. Thank you American politicians.
I just found out who geopol is, at least I think I did. I am impressed that he took the time and thought to recommend some books - not his - to me here a couple months ago. (I admit I need to follow through, haven't got around to procuring them yet.)
+1
Loved geopol from the very first posts. Extra commas and all.
Very good point, and it seems that China is going that way. What I hate about this whole affair is that as a country the US is melting down and it's happening before everyone's eyes. We will become a third world nation in the very near future and the only thing that we will worry about is our rich and leaders making sure that they are on top and are able to move about around the world, while the rest of the population have to sneak into Australia or Mexico or Canada for a better way of life.
Currency is a medium of exchange and a store of value in exchange for productive goods and services. To say that a country has an inalienable right to manage the currency of its citizens is a fancy way of saying "a government has the right to enslave its citizens". Perhaps you should rephrase your statement.
On a side note, for Geithner to claim that a country based on a fiat currency is a manipulator is a redundant statement. It is a statistical certainty that a system based around fiat currency is a system where the currency is manipulated; USA is no exception.
I agree with you (and shouldn't speak for Mr.Geopol) but a government has a right to set is currency with respect to other currencies.
Most people who live in the US probably have no clue what it takes to manage a country with a population of 1.5 billion people. I'd imagine that living amongst 1.5 billion others puts the value of your life into perspective. If you live on 10 acres in a McMansion, you may have have a tendency to project your situation upon the Chinese. (I am not saying you do, I am just saying that my reality is quite different than theirs.)
Very well said. Now here's someone who knows their ass from a hole in the ground.
To say that a country has an inalienable right to manage the currency of its citizens is a fancy way of saying "a government has the right to enslave its citizens". Perhaps you should rephrase your statement.
Explain to me how you leap to that conclusion?? ENSLAVE???? Sidestep IMF
+ a trillion, or two.
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1. BLONDIE - Call Me 2. KIM WILDE - Kids In America 3. KATRINA AND THE WAVES - Walking On Sunshine 4. DEBBIE HARRY - I Want That Man 5. DIVINYLS - I Touch Myself 6. TRANSVISION VAMP - I Want Your Love 7. ROXETTE - Dressed For Success 8. PAULA ABDUL - Straight Up 9. BANANARAMA - Cruel Summer 10. OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN - Physical 11. GLORIA GAYNOR - I Will Survive 12. PAT BENATAR - Love Is A Battlefield 13. MEREDITH BROOKS - Bitch 14. TINA TURNER - Private Dancer 15. ALANNAH MYLES - Black Velvet 16. THE GO-GO'S - Our Lips Are Sealed 17. WILSON PHILLIPS - Hold On 18. HEART - All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You 19. THE MOTELS - Total Control 20. GRACE JONES - Slave To The Rhythm+1,000,000 :)
Talking about who will write the history?
You my friends are writing history right here at ZH
Do we have a backup disk, or something?
"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder."
George Washington
It starts with campaign reform. Congressman get $250k to run. Senators get $1 million.
Terms: President needs to be 6 years. That is it. Congressman need to be 6 years, that is it. The Great Hollywood Campaign will be once every six years for just 6 months instead of a constant nightmare. Get to fuckin work.
The budget is balanced each year - and includes a "drawdown" debt figure every year hat will take 30 years to fix.
There will be government worker perp walks. Screw up - say you were the person who buried all the Madoff letters - then you get kicked out your office with the press to see you out. I just read about SEC workers who watched porn all day. Who are they ? I want names and I want them disgraced ASAP. No fucking pension, no fucking nothing. Why are they still there - they have proof ? Ahhhhhhhhh. As Congressman Ackerman said to a perfect example of dumb shit government in this case the head of the SEC, during the Madoff hearings “Your contribution to this proceeding is zero,” “We thought the enemy was Mr. Madoff. I think it is you.” (thank you Congressman - that outrage brought me my first minute of sanity in years).
Amazing things will happen as American ingenuity rises again...LALALALALAHHHHHLALALALALA (Chorus)...
...and it is all a dream because people, it is a Madhouse. We goin down.
+1
Cro Mags!
Mike, great read! thx
When associations are built with those whose loyalty must be bought, there is always a higher bidder.
Maybe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NLDMJW_gpk&feature=related
"I see the future, I cant afford it."
Well, you'd have to dismantle Capitalism, then. And just as a reminder, there is no such thing as a free market in Capitalism.
I guess that depends on your definition of capitalism, doesn't it.
Only because a commie invented the term "capitalism" as it is commonly understood.
There are such things as free enterprise and (mostly) free markets. I'd be fine if we just stuck to that.
You're enjoying the fruits of free enterprise right now. Isn't it nice?
Words ringing hollow.
The big issue is we are living in a civilization that dares not to speak about itself in true terms. This gives birth to this kind of fantasy.
Neo-feudalism? Big misrepresentation of the past. In the past, some people were free, others were not. Social promotion usually happened by taking property from others to distribute to one's own. A king conquering new lands distributed fiefs to his lords or commoners.
What has the US done? The US has taken lands from the Indians and distribute them to its citizens.
Entitlement, sense of: c'me on. The US has been built on a sense of entitlement. What not the US the first nation in human history to tie entitlements with race? If you are white then you are entitled to this or that. If you are black, you are destined to offer a negative in order to reinforce the sense of entitlement?
Was not the US government handing out to its queueing citizens lands taken from the Indians? The hand outs by the US government started nearly as soon as the US established themselves.
Guys like the author are allowed to speak and refer to a mythical past because in the western world, people do not want to speak about themselves.
The past this guy refered to never existed.
What is happening is that the conditions that allowed the illusion are disappearing. A freedom project, yes, why not? But it will be hard to find those generous Indian sponsors the 19th US benefited from.
by AnAnonymous
No, India was, one of the three oldest civilizations. The entire Hindu caste system was/is a racial pyramid with a conquering race from the North at the top, the mixes in the middle, and the conquered race at the bottom.
You'll find this pattern repeating endlessly in history. Athens, Sparta, Roman Republic, it is everywhere.
There will be no surplus by 2020.
There will be no surplus by 2050 unless the whole system is rebuilt.
Remember, there was no growth whatsoever in the past decade (or longer).
There was only borrowing, and tons of it.
And from now on there will only be taxes and inflation. And tons of it.
The writer is correct but i have a question: what happens if we don't pay back the debt? what really happens if we default? or just ignore it as having to be paid back? wonder if we can warp reality that way and just - poof - not pay it back. I see no inflation on the horizon except for the volatile food and energy - unless the numbers are being cooked. i see a 9.7% unemployment rate that has stayed the same even with major new layoff announcements. What happens if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to see it or hear it? Does it really fall?
*
Here's the problem with a trillion dollar budget year after year - it becomes meaningless across the globe and either the counter parties believe that the US government will tax the air we breath to bring in revenue and so they keep buying our useless paper or they don't care we won't pay them back.
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I mean really - who's going to ask us for their money back? and the treasury can just keep printing new money to buy bonds to keep the budget going. i know it sounds wack, like the gerbil in the wheel, but if the world is going this way, then everything is still equal and so nothing will happen as everyone is interconnected. Civilization will be at a standstill I think the author said. OK. What does that mean exactly? 1 loaf of bread for each person per week? Rationing for the planet? I'm 44 years old. I don't care about the 30 year bond. I won't be here for that. I have no children so I don't care about them having to pay off debts on what is being spent without my permission. I guess the world will implode economically and thus wars will start for the basics of life: water, food, shelter.
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When does the pain start that might knock some sense into us and get us back on track? Or will that pain be diverted by mind control of what is and isn't really happening. I'm getting lost to the zero's we owe and yet nobody seems to be stopping and nobody wants to give up something. Look at Greece and the unions. Look at the USA and the unions. Maybe China can weather this if it can get to a fusion state as it has 1.6 billion people. If I am to be scared, I should do something to fight - yet, what is there to fight against but illusions or your neighbor who is one of the 47% who hasn't paid their federal taxes, yet I have an old lady to one side of me as a neighbor and I have renters to the other side of me. What exactly am I supposed to do? I vote yet that doesn't seem to help, so I tune out and let it all swirl around me like the disneyland tea cup ride.
So what? What are you, John Q. and Jane A. Citizen going to do about it? Don't you know that protest and dissent is seditious, racist and just downright wrong?
It is time for us to admit that the 700 year experiment with freedom and capitalism was a huge mistake that has only led us to greater danger, and it is now time to quickly return to a feudal system under the protection of our new lords and masters.
BTW, if you think the cloud of the internet will keep your rage here anonymous, you can rest assured that the Regime already has ample records on your internet activity and can trace you down to your IP and physical address. If you dissent here, you are a racist biggot homophobe and therefore guilty of hate crimes ... the fact that you are still free to drive the SUV down to Starbucks is only a matter of prosecutorial discretion, and it is only a matter of time before they decide whether or not to reign you in.
Goodbye Disneyland?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100423/ap_on_re_us/us_powerball_winner_missouri
"A Missouri man who won a $258 million Powerball jackpot and plans to use some of the money to pay bills and take his children to Disney World says he hasn't decided yet if he'll quit his job at the convenience store where he bought the winning ticket"
Also, don't hold your hopes too high for the internet: "He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future."
We were always at war with terrorists. There was never any internet.
Class of 2050, repeat after me!
I wonder what sweet nothings BO is whispering in Timmah's ear. "You will not just be watching later. Tonight, Michelle wants it to be a proper 3 way."
we are the all-singing, all-dancing, crap of the world...
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