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Paul Farrell Explains Why The Fed-Wall Street Complex Will Self Destruct By 2012
- Barney Frank
- Bear Market
- Ben Bernanke
- Ben Bernanke
- Bill Gross
- Cohen
- Deficit Spending
- Fail
- Fannie Mae
- Federal Reserve
- Fisher
- Freddie Mac
- Global Economy
- goldman sachs
- Goldman Sachs
- Hank Paulson
- Hank Paulson
- Irrational Exuberance
- Jeremy Grantham
- Jim Cramer
- Krugman
- Mad Money
- Main Street
- Marc Faber
- Meltdown
- Moral Hazard
- Nassim Taleb
- new economy
- Nouriel
- Nouriel Roubini
- President Obama
- Recession
- Reserve Currency
- Robert Rodriguez
- Robert Shiller
- St Louis Fed
- The Economist
- Tim Geithner
- Wall Street Journal
- Warren Buffett
- White House
- World Trade
Some rather scary predictions out of Paul Farrell today: "It’s inevitable: Wall Street banks control the Federal Reserve system,
it’s their personal piggy bank. They’ve already done so much damage, yet
have more control than ever.Warning: That’s a set-up. They will eventually destroy capitalism,
democracy, and the dollar’s global reserve-currency status. They will
self-destruct before 2035 … maybe as early as 2012 … most likely by
2020. Last week we cheered the Tea Party for starting the countdown to the
Second American Revolution. Our timeline is crucial to understanding the
historic implications of Taleb’s prediction that the Fed is dying, that
it’s only a matter of time before a revolution triggers class warfare
forcing America to dump capitalism, eliminate our corrupt system of
lobbying, come up with a new workable form of government, and create a
new economy without a banking system ruled by Wall Street." And just like in the Hangover, where the guy is funny because he's fat, Farrell is scary cause he is spot on correct.
Handily, Farrell provides a projected timeline of events:
Stage 1: The Democrats just put the nail in their coffin confirming they’re wimps when they refused to force the GOP to filibuster Bush tax cuts for billionaires.
Stage 2: In the elections the GOP takes over the House, expanding its strategic war to destroy Obama with its policy of “complete gridlock” and “shutting down government.”
Stage 3: Post-election Obama goes lame-duck, buried in subpoenas and vetoes.
Stage 4: In 2012, the GOP wins back the White House and Senate. Health care returns to insurers. Free-market financial deregulation returns. Lobbyists intensify their anarchy.
Stage 5: Before the end of the second term of the new GOP president, Washington is totally corrupted by unlimited, anonymous donations from billionaires and lobbyists. Wall Street’s Happy Conspiracy triggers the third catastrophic meltdown of the 21st century that Robert Shiller of “Irrational Exuberance” fame predicts, resulting in defaults of dollar-denominated debt and the dollar’s demise as the world’s reserve currency.
Stage 6: The Second American Revolution explodes into a brutal full-scale class war with the middle class leading a widespread rebellion against the out-of-touch, out-of-control Happy Conspiracy sabotaging America from within.
Stage 7: The domestic class warfare is exaggerated as the Pentagon’s global warnings play out: That by 2020 “an ancient pattern of desperate, all-out wars over food, water, and energy supplies would emerge” worldwide and “warfare is defining human life.”
It gets worse: Farrell postulates that the closer we get to the Mad Max moment, the less those in charge will discuss this "optionality" of the end of the world trade.
In this rapidly unfolding scenario, the Fed cannot survive. Why? Not because the Fed is at the center of America’s economic problems, beyond repair, a dying institution. But because the Fed is a pawn of Wall Street’s Happy Conspiracy, which is incapable of seeing the train wreck that it set up.
This out-of-control, conspiracy of greedy Wall Street bankers, corporate CEOs, corrupt politicians and Forbes 400 billionaires will, in the near future, trigger the third catastrophic meltdown of the 21st century, a collapse that paradoxically can transform America into a new, stronger post-capitalist economy … but only after a revolution and brutal class warfare. But few will talk about what’s coming.
The problem is that by using a simple metric suggested by Nassim Taleb, there is nobody Americans can trust to be the bearer of bad news, which is why everyone is and will be responsible for their own well being.
Here’s Taleb’s “simple metric for judging whose economic opinions are worth his time: ‘Did someone predict the crisis before it happened” in the past? “If the answer is no, I don’t want to hear what the person says. If the person saw the crisis coming then I want to hear what they have to say” about future crises.
Taleb target No. 1: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who spoke just before Taleb at the forum. Of course, experience tells us you really can’t trust anyone in government. All politicians fudge the numbers, cherry-pick data to suit their personal goals, biases and political rhetoric.
Remember Hank Paulson, Wall Street’s Trojan Horse inside Washington? Earlier he had made over half a billion as Goldman’s CEO. Back in July 2007 before the meltdown he bragged to Fortune that this is “the strongest global economy I’ve seen in my business lifetime.” Never trust anything “leaders” like him say. Never. Worse, he and our clueless Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke later lied to the
public that the subprime crisis was “contained.” No, my friends, you
cannot trust politicians and government insiders. Never.
Others whose opinions can be summarily dismissed include economists and authors:
Taleb warns: Nobel economist Krugman not only supports Keynesian deficit spending, he favors the “transformation of private debt, with all the moral hazard it entails, into public debt” that’s toxic from a “risk standpoint.” Worse, it’s “immoral.” Our “grandchildren should not bear the debts of the grandparents.” OK, add Nobel economists to the list of people Taleb says you can’t trust to speak “the truth.
Actually, using Taleb’s “metric,” you can’t trust any economists. Why? Because all economists, even the best, are capable of making catastrophic errors: Remember Greenspan’s sad apologies during congressional hearings after undermining America for 18 years. And remember Michael Boskin’s classic $12 trillion error? Bush Sr’s chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, a respected Stanford economist, attempted to justify some cockamamie logic that his newfound Social Security savings would lower America’s debt, giving a political boost for his party. He was $12 trillion wrong.
No, folks, you can’t trust any economists, they’re just average humans. Most have strong political biases. They’re hired mercenaries who say whatever their employers ask them to say, pawns working for some Wall Street bank, corporation or politicians.
Yes, Allan reveals another character Taleb can’t trust for economic advice. Prizewinning authors like NY Times columnist Tom Friedman who’s book, The World is Flat is “very bad for society,” misleading, having failed to “assess risk.” So scratch celebrity authors from the list you can trust to tell you the truth about the future of America.
The circle of mistrust obviously includes all the corrupt idiots who control over the sheeple:
Taleb is merciless when it comes to politicians like President Obama, Congress and The Fed chairman: You can’t trust any of them. Earlier Bernanke’s reappointment “stunned” Taleb: He “doesn’t even know he doesn’t understand how things work or that the tools he uses are not empirical,” wrote Taleb in HuffPost. But it’s “the Senators appointing him who are totally irresponsible ... The world has never, never been as fragile,” and we’re stuck with an economist running The Fed whose methods make “homeopath and alternative healers look empirical and scientific.”
Obama’s reappointment of Bernanke left Taleb so distraught he “withdrawing into the Platonic tranquility of my library, to work on my next book, find solace in science and philosophy, and … structure trades betting on the next mistake by Bernanke, Summers and Geithner.”
Taleb’s “metric” essentially warns Americans to trust no one, certainly not Washington and Wall Street insiders. The vast majority fail his simple metric, “Did someone predict the last crisis before it happened? ... If the answer is no, I don’t want to hear what the person says. If the person saw the crisis coming, then I want to hear what they have to say’.”
Follows listing of some of the biggest hypocrites in the world:
Bernanke: “I don’t anticipate any serious failures among large internationally active banks.” Wow, was he ever wrong.
Billionaire Ken Fisher: “This year will end in the plus column ... so keep buying.” Main Street lost trillions on advice like this.
‘Mad Money’ Jim Cramer: “Bye-bye bear market, say hello to the bull.”
Goldman Sachs’ Abby Joseph Cohen: “The fear priced into stocks is likely to abate as recession fears fade.” Soon after, Goldman was essentially bankrupt.
Congressman Barney Frank: “Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are fundamentally sound.”
Barron’s: “Home prices about to bottom.” Three years later they still haven’t
Worth: “Emerging markets are the global investors’ safe haven.”
Kiplinger’s: “Stock investors should beat the rush to the banks.” Costly advice.
Bernie Madoff: “It’s virtually impossible to violate the rules.” But it’ll happen again.
To be sure, some continue to spit in the face of docile complicity and warn the world about what will happen:
These twenty did
warn America between 2000 and 2008. Although few listened: We reported
on warnings from economists Gary Shilling, Marc Faber and Nouriel
Roubini, the St. Louis Fed president (Greenspan ignored him, just as
Bernanke is ignoring the Kansas City Fed president today), former Nixon
Commerce Secretary and SEC chairman, billionaires Warren Buffett and
oilman Richard Rainwater, institutional portfolio managers Jeremy
Grantham, Bill Gross and Robert Rodriguez, and major cover stories in
Fortune, Harper’s, Vanity Fair, The Economist and The Wall Street
Journal.
However, at the end of the day, everyone has an agenda:
So who can you trust? Nobody, not me, not even Taleb. Why? In the final analysis the Buddha said it best: “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
The problem is that if left to the average American, the looting will not finish until well after the end:
Unfortunately, America is losing its capacity to reason, its common
sense, its values, its vision of the future.
Which is why the silent minority is best advised to stock up on popcorn, and watch the cannibalization and the race to the bottom resume at an unprecedented pace, as everything unravels: the best we can do is hope for some amusement as the endgame approaches the finale.
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Thinking is hard work, which is why so few engage in it!
South Park explains:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u875UoZHEaw in 1 1/2 minutes.
not to mention its not even new, this little ditty is months old
Written in 2007.
Seems it was a little prescient, as it were. Sucks to be ahead of your times, I bet.
Or perhaps it ends up meaning something after all.
What's with all this sniveling "you're so not hot, dood" bullshit I'm catching today, anyway??
JFC.
I'm gonna run right out and get a MF tatoo.
With commentary from the gutter, Americans show their true class.
Perhaps "class" is a means of keeping people quiet.
I see it as calling a spade a spade. Of course, that is perhaps the definitive "populist" shortcoming.
if it is a bad system , of course, it will self destruct...
I want to start thinking along the lines of building self sufficient communities ( like they are doing in Barcelona, Talinn etc), to protect ourselves from the collapse of capitalism.
By this controlled demolition...they hope to create a Mad Max society...but we have a chance to prove them wrong ( again) :-)
Minor correction: "...to protect ourselves from the collapse of croneyism." Only then can capitalism be practiced after its lengthy absence from the US.
I am interested in knowing what it is that prompted your junker to junk you. Perhaps it was a drive-by junking?
I don't think capitalism is collapsing per se. Rather, I believe markets are forcing us to come to grips with the limits of our physical world.
As for Mad-Max...we got very lucky with our first dictator (Washington). Not so much with our second (Lincoln). I am curious to see how the next one will work out. Unfortunately, it is always darkest before dawn, and the sun may only be setting.
Petraeous?
"I believe markets are forcing us to come to grips with the limits of our physical world."
THANK YOU!
I get way the heck down in this thread before someone FINALLY identifies the root of the fucking problem! Socialists, capitalists, you do NOT have a "solution." There's only two possible directions: 1) increase the available raw materials [includes habital land mass, water etc]; or 2) reduction in demand (which WILL result in a reduction of population- sadly the "adjustment" will be borne by those who have the least impact [not oging to hack out TPTB whose production to consumption levels is far below the lowest classes]).
Farrell, Talib, ALL of them don't talk of this! I mean, how insane is it that all the folks who are supposed to understand economics don't tie economics to the physical world? We've quit measuring stuff because we're affraid to see that there's nothing behind the curtain, we're destitute!
<RANT ON>
I implore you people to stop pinning this murder on capitalism and/or listening to the propaganda of the Marxists in this place. I constantly see educated people on this board that seem to "get it" in almost all aspects, yearn for the collapse, so that evil unfair capitalism will be done away with.
True capitalism has very little to do with our predicament today. We haven't had capitalism in this country since that POS Woodrow Wilson put in price controls in 1917, and our government has picked winners and losers ever since. You can call it cronyism, you can call it what you want, but the real problem is the rule of law in this country is gone, not just broken, gone. Market forces would have cleaned this mess up many times over, and my tax dollars wouldn't be going to prop up insolvent car companies like GM so that the government's union cronies could be happy (and I don't even want to go into how bad bondholders got f...ed on that little fascist rape job).
Now would the whole country be watching big screen TV's paid for by the Chinese? Probably not, but I wouldn't be staring over the edge of the abyss while my half retarded neighbor watches his big screen TV and smokes dope all day why I work my ass off to pay his bills. Where the idea that everyone has a right to a big screen TV and a giant house originated I have no idea. It's a complete farce and somebody is going to pay for it in the end. I can already tell you it'll be the responsible, hard working, savers that made this country great.
The part that really scares me, comes from the idea that if half the "educated" among us are running around bad mouthing capitalism and pontificating on the unobtainable utopias of socialist theory now; all while blaming the last 100 years of robbery and deception on capitalism, what the hell is going to happen when the SHTF? Society on the edge, with hordes of the lazy and ignorant that have known nothing but entitlement their whole lives, pissed off and deciding the future of our economic system, all because they can’t watch Dancing with the Stars. There are going to be no easy choice or answers. No Chinese money falling from the sky, and your kind, with your thinly veiled attempt rebrand communism as "self sufficient communities" will probably seduce those lazy ignorant masses into sealing our demise. Oh how they will fall for your Marxist Utopia. Problem is if you’ve ever read a history book you know what will happen; this will end with decades of pain and suffering at the hands of a different and more brutal master.
<RANT OFF>
And you're happy to consume a bunch of captitalist propaganda?
You've obviously been massively programmed. It's a bitch when one discovers that one has faulty programming. I see this kind of behavior by all the pro-war folks...
Always the wealthier proclaiming the miracles of captialism, and the poor proclaiming the miracles of socialism. Hm...
I go down to Speaker's Corner I'm thunderstruck
they got free speech, tourists, police in trucks
two men say they're Jesus one of them must be wrong
From Industrial Disease by Dire Straits
We have not had free market capitalism in this country for a hundred years. Stop blaming shit on it. We've had nothing but socialism since, though often wearing the skin of the capitalists it has slaughtered through the years. Look to socialism there for flaws. It is full of them.
I remember going to speakers corner as a kid (30+ years ago). You could say anything, it seemed. Not any more. In the UK if you say something that "offends" another's religious beliefs, even if you did not intend to cause offense, you are looking at potential jail time.
Thanks Tony, for all you did for our country
Well said. No need for the rant antecedent.
I am not against capitalism but corporate socialism. If you want a free market to work there can be NO corporate structure to protect individuals from prosecution or having their wealth taken from them . Once people are responsible for their actions they will act responsibly or lose everything they work for .
There are 406 billionaires in the US and there are 987,000 people with a net worth greater than 5 million dollars excluding their homes . The population of the US is 306 million . This .0004% of the population needs to be watched and under constant scrutiny as well as the S&P 500 for there are some in this group who are certainly responsible for almost every problem in America today .
Foreigners with this type of wealth should also be put under a microscope to .
I sort of agree, but it still comes back to the rule of law. You are correct that the ability of the powerful (not necessarily just rich) to play by their own rules is the rotten apple at the bottom of the barrel. This along with the trial lawyers turning the judicial system into the lottery ticket of the redistribution of wealth party you have a messed up situation. I agree about 100 life with out parole sentences needed to be slammed down on some of the elite and a few CEO's paraded to the guillotine on CNN, but unfortunately the corporation as an entity is almost a necessity in the world we live in today. If I was a small business that made auto parts, and they told me my only choice was to convert to a sole proprietorship, I'd close shop tomorrow. I wouldn't trust my families well being and the roof over my head to twelve uneducated "I'll get mine someday" jurors. Unless alot of things change in the tort world, doing away with the corporation would cause more problems than it solves.
<deep breath>
I realise anger is rising for many people, and with that comes outbursts. . . but I seriously question your raging against "self sufficient communities" - unless, of course you have an odd definition fed you from some ideology. . .
if I and my "friends & neighbours" decide to produce our own food, and trade amongst ourselves, offer each other support while shit goes down - be it armed or otherwise - which is a basic definition for a "community" that might not "need" your assistance, and is how I define "self-sufficient" - how is that something you (appear to) hate?
"your kind" - well, sometimes I am, and sometimes not so. . .
This guy is joking, right?
I just wish they'd f*"king hurry up about it.
+1. My attention span is too short for all of this.
+1. I am running out of Ritalin.
Stop crushing them up and snorting them. Yes, I know it's much more fun and all...............
I think 2012 self destruct for FED/Wall St is highly a optimistic generous best case scenario amount of time till this pile of crap implodes.
Sheepdog do you think you are ignoring that with the print press that the ink can be changed from fiat to fraud?
I do and there is endless supply of ink for both when taken from the flesh of suckers.
'Printing and pressing'? Who is that fooling anymore? Not the insolent peasantry obviously, as Obamas approval just dropped another 2 points over the month of Septembers BS 900+ point DOW fraud ramp.
Sick isn't it? This isn't about Obama (he's gutted), it's about protecting corporate failure and fraud, illustrated perfectly by your example of the DOW.
+1
I, for one, printed this story...to keep for posterity.
försilvrad hyndas!!!!!!!
Sorry, my Swedish (or whatever language this is) is a bit rusty. Did you just say "silver dogs"? Is this something I should know?
http://www.woxikon.com/swe/hynda.php
LOL! I should have guessed that ;-)
+1
The junkers have gone multi-lingual, and see right through you. Keep moving east and...well how's your cyrillic?
Plata Putaz!
100% correct, when you print $ so that people work for nothing & 150K is the new poverty level... when people have nothing to lose, they revolt, ALWAYS have through history
I don't care. My liver will be dead by 2012.
Exactly. 2012 is a long time. Plenty of time for Dow 36,000. In the mean time, Rally on.
Parasites don't usually destroy the host,I'm pretty sure the animals that control the Fed have worked out how they are going to come out of this still in control of world government.Those who are predicting the demise of the Fed seriously understimate their power to control governments and economies,they are not likely to rescind those powers without one hell of a fight.One thing is for sure,no matter how all this shitball ends,the banksters who control the Fed and the western governments will still have their hands on the levers of power.
Parasites are not usually arrogant and contemptuous about the host. That's the difference with today's bankster class. The parasites will kill the host this time. Poor sheeple. How many so-called conservatives will beg for gov't aid? Being proved right about their true hypocrisy/humanity won't give me any comfort. Maybe the demagogues will save them?
Actually plenty of parasites kill their hosts, as many bats, bees, and many extinct species wish they could tell you. I weep for thee, American chestnut tree.
+1. everybody loves a smartass, ITG. :)
AmericanChestnutTree "The Redwoods of the East"
Sheila Bair will eventually sell the Fed to the BIS for right to create the next currency.
Depends on the 'parasite'. Yes a moquito or tick rarely destroys its host, unless theres some disease transmitted. But this parasite on the face of the world is full blown cancer, which always destroys its host unless targeted and agressive chomotherapy intervention can be administered. And it isnt.
It'd be a good thing to end the Fed. Audit the vaults for gold first, with guns to their heads.
The democrats and the Fed are both acting like someone running up the credit card right before they declare bankruptcy -- do they not? All the big banks have a 10 year foot print in China, anyway. They could just move on like alien locust.
Jim Rogers says we've had 3 Feds before, all gone. This one should go, too. They don't help anything and rip us off.
The author thinks we've had a free market sometime in the last 90 years. What a maroon.
+1
Stage 6A. The Pentagon goes belly-up and we begin on a "Fullerian" path, so no stage 7!
As one of my first posts here, I offer a little mood music.
SIRENIA - The Path To Decay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouZQ7rgAq-I
Great article.
It will self destruct. Greece was the early stages of what occurs when people come to the realization that the free money party can no longer continue. You are seeing the civil unrest ferment in Spain...today Iceland and last week the IRA officially announced that bankers personally were now targets .
The people were fooled for the past decade but all the market ramps in the world will not pull the wool over their eyes since more are now educating themselves on the Federal Reserve, it's origins, who benefits and who inevitably and historically suffers which is always the citizen of the middle class. The Federal Reserve and Wall Street are fighting for their very survival and are losing. It is easy to sit back and throw stone at Americans and say they are too entranced in their Candyland for the past half century to ever revolt but that is a myth.
When America revolts it will be swift and bring the status quo to an end. Luckily we still have the ballot box and the ability to peacefully purge the system. Currently the mainstream media is on overdrive trying to present us with THEIR two choices. This is why the most important message to get accross to friends and family is to seek out indepedendent media. This is what makes Zero Hedge so valuable for the future of our nation among other websites. Truth has only one version and information when proven true is the most powerful tool to ending corruption. Vote for your moral and honest neighbors.
"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." -Yamamoto
When the globalist criminals finally discover that change is inevitable and charges and lifetime sentences are imminent they will attempt to destroy the markets to create panic and cause imbalance and disorganization. That is why were are seeing an escalation in the liberty thieving legislation, internet wiretapping and Islamic terrorism rhetoric. They are desperate and they will fail.
" When the globalist criminals finally discover that change is inevitable and charges and lifetime sentences are imminent they will attempt to destroy the markets to create panic and cause imbalance and disorganization.."
Change that to " change is inevitable and guillotines, death sentences and public executions are imminent ..."
The "Globalists" and their Wall Street and Washington henchmen deserve the Benito Mussolini and Clara Petacci solution..
Some required reading for ZH'ers: "The Anti-American Manifesto" by Ted Rall
"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." -Yamamoto
That was a very different America. Today's America is comatose and I fear that rather than waking up, the plug will be pulled.
No, it's people like you who are projecting their own dawning enlightenment that are fighting for their very survival.
Let me repeat once again, while you and others were directed towards traditionally rigorous professional careers, the Chosen where provided with two simple lessons:
Math of course was necessary to understand the underlying principles of usury, while history is important towards understanding unvarying human emotions. In both cases, the Bible is the Bible, because it lays out in perfect detail what happens when usury is deployed as a weapon, and also conveniently lists the seven cardinal sins (which drive the underlying need for debt):
I'm still amazed that people seem to thing the power-elite didn't see the meltdown coming or are in some ways unprepared. Nothing could be further from the truth. After all, it's their fraud; they know the end game comes every fucking time. The Fed/Wall St were just mere conveyances for a particular time & place ie USA circa 20th century. They are expendable - the key is to preserve the core so that it can be repositioned.
Some of us are positioning ourselves for what's coming next. As someone else mentioned on another thread, lists are being kept. These guys might think they've got it all figured out, but Black Swans come in many different shapes & sizes.
Hmmm this made me think, since the big boys are clearly passing down knowledge, what of those who see it coming and too pass down knowledge and assets. It seems that since the system works in much the same manner in time/place that one who understands what is going on could profit. Now the profits made in one lifetime will be limited particularly if this individual started with nothing. However taken from generation to generation the effects could snowball.
In our culture we are clearly not geared to think in a multi generational time frame. Wonder if that is a mistake.
B9K9's incoherent ramblings:
"The Power elite must hang on to their precious USD reserve system at all costs as this is crucial to maintain control"
3 days later
"The Power elite is short the USD system. Fuck they are absolute 150 IQ geniuses"
3 days later
"America is a spent force. Control over cheap oil and open frontier enabled a power base that no longer can continue. They have moved to China"
3 days later
"Doesn't matter what energy situation is, the experts at money base + credit derivatives can always adapt to the underlying reality. They are 150 IQ geniuses"
Now B9K9 claims he positioning himself for what comes next. The only problem is that he has no idea what is coming next.
You should review some of my other posts where I describe what it's like being caught in the most recent chapter of a millennia old religious/ethnic civil war. I have a pretty damn good idea what's coming next - it's the same exact thing that's about the only constant throughout human history.
And here's a word of advice: get a haircut. Also, wear inconspicuous clothing, strip off whatever bumper stickers you may have on your car (if you drive), don't voice opinions, don't shout slogans, refrain from joining open demonstrations, etc.
IOW, go dark. Because when the (regional, class & race) blood hatred begins to boil, the tall grass gets cut first.
Excellent post. May I also suggest, as an addition to the Bible: "The Compass of Zen".
B9K9 this was all planned over 100 years ago, and thats what people cant wrap their minds around.
Actually, I think people have had so much superficial symbolic patriotism and feel-good bullshit crammed down their throats, up their asses and "educated" with trite watered-down fairy tale-centric history that they no longer recognize much less believe in the Dark Side that is consuming them.
Exactly. Very, very well put.
Friend: "ZH news is too pessimistic for me."
Moi: "The system is dying. Plus you didn't buy any silver like I told you."
waterboarded down fairy tale-centric history
well-said or at least, I hope you're right
I'd like to see where exactly in the Bible any of those things are laid out.
I say this because the Bible does not mention Cardinal sins (don't give me that crap about Proverbs, as Pride is the only one that made it from that list onto the modern one), as they were invented by the Church in the 4th century AD.
I started to lay it out for you but I think that that would be unfair to you. I don't see why a man shouldn't eat steak rather than baby food.
Find it yourself. There are abundant resources. Your sloth is your undoing. Start with google. You might even want to pick up the Bible as B9K9 appears to have done.
The undoing of this nation will be the ignoring of God's word.
who's "god"?
there are so many to choose from, almost as many as "nations". . .heh.
Freak. Leave God out of this you piece of filthy excrement.
The undoing of this country is ubridled, unprincipled greed. Forget decency, humanity, all the qualities that a normal upbringing with loving, good human beings gives you.
You are quite a freak, you know. I wish I ran into you during the coming Apocalypse so I could deal right smartly with your pompous, scumbag ass.
They are desperate and they will fail.
I would like to think you are correct and maybe you are, but my faith in the American people is pretty low right now. I do believe our "culture" has reached such depravity and lacks the moral values required to make the necessary sacrifices.
It is the nature of man to take the easiest and least painful way out of difficulties unless he faces no other choice. Hitler was a great example as the world saw clearly for years his nature, yet did little to avert the catastrophe until they had no other options.
In the end TPTB via Fed/Fed like institutions, knowing the nature of man, will always offer a less painful option out of the morass. Enough people will trade their freedom for slavery for the few morsels offered and we will all be victims of our cowardice.
There is no next American Revolution, we no longer have the moral fiber to make it happen. Hope I am wrong. Very depressing.
sschu
you may surprise yourself, sschu.
You are wrong SS. Close to the end States Especially Southern states will want no more of this bullshit. Bailing out union pensions, being overrun by the illegals, Being told where they can drill etc etc....
well put, JM.
Look to Greece and Ireland -- they're in a race to see which one will collapse first. All it's gonna take is one domino...
More importantly...when does American Idol start and can I get ring tones with it?
...the Roman Games.
the shit is hitting the fan right now
we won't make it to 2011
I concur.
You think this is bad?
The shit is just sitting in the bin fermenting while the V8 twin-turbo powered fan is getting warmed up....
It's gonna get a lot worse. After all, they still have beer at the Qwikee Mart.
Destruction isn't a problem as long as you have sombody else to blame...
American's are too docile to revolt due to their high intake of anti-depressents. No one gives a shit anymore.
As long as American's have money for food, fuel and anti-depressents there will be no violent revolution.
Violence may not be needed. In fact, I was propositioned at an End the Fed rally a few years back. I made friends with one of the individuals in the group and after congress passed another piece of horrific government decree I received a call from this chap I met earlier at the rally. This mother offered me access to weapons to finally do what is necessary to stop the government. I didn't take the bait and neither should you. The truth is leaking all over the fucking place and more are paying attention that you are willing to believe.
Writes Michael Pannone:
Sad, but true. Yet another exponential curve. And this is old data too... http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2009/08/us-antidepressant-use-doubled-i...
Then it is time to line them up against the wall and on behalf of 300,000,000 American citizens and shot these fools in the head. At what point does the wholesale shooting of banksters, politicians, and economists start? These people are clueless and insane and doing much more damage then they are worth.
This is insane. If any other industrial complex did this, there would be howls of protest and demands for somebody's head on a platter.
"At what point does the wholesale shooting of banksters, politicians, and economists start?"
It already started, only it's youth taking the bullets in the head for the banks and corporations. Wholesale sacrifice by the military has the pedal to the metal working for corruption and fraud (the business may be dirty but the money is always clean).
The rich refuse to sacrifice even a dime by helping to pay.
Like greed? Thank a vet - they pay for it (all).
The sooner the better in my opinion!
And like napolean they eventually run out of suckers.
How can it be that wall street professionals don't recognize this as extremely destructive? why aren't they screaming bloody murder? This is destroying them too!
Destroying them one record bonus on Christmas at a time.
It starts whenever you make the first shot. The point of the current situation is to get rid of everyone who tells you when to start, when to end, how to do it, and how much to pay. It's up to YOU. There's no one else to rely on.
The author is a left wing nut. However he is half right. Bush/Obama/Clinton same shit. Gold is the only protection.
You could have done a lot worse than traded alongside Taleb since 1987.
The Fed is on a suicide mission and they are going to take America down before they go. Bernanke = Jim Jones
It's not suicide if it's other people's sacrifices.
America? These guys don't care about America, they care about money (thats all).
Why would they care about money? They can print as much as they want. It goes deeper...
Power my friend -- read "1984" by George Orwell
2012 is my guess.
December 12 perhaps?
July 2012. Stiglitz says that Fed actions have no impact on US economy while exporting chaos and noise to rest of world. While I agree with him to some extent but he was also the man who kept saying EUR will be extinct. So he has been wrong by a wide margin.
Bernanke vs Mark Twain
" it's not the thing you know that does you in. It's the thing you know for sure that just is'nt so" (Twain )
+1
The only point I really want to take exception to is the one about the Happy Conspiracy not seeing the train wreck they are setting up. Rather, I think ego and the worst parts of human nature play roles here. Likewise, these things combine to produce a vicious cycle of power and corruption that is near impossible to break out of without an ensuing collapse. The race to the end is on - knowingly.
Stage 1: The Democrats just put the nail in their coffin confirming they’re wimps when they refused to force the GOP to filibuster Bush tax cuts for billionaires.
Stage 2: In the elections the GOP takes over the House, expanding its strategic war to destroy Obama with its policy of “complete gridlock” and “shutting down government.”
Stage 3: Post-election Obama goes lame-duck, buried in subpoenas and vetoes.
Stage 4: In 2012, the GOP wins back the White House and Senate. Health care returns to insurers. Free-market financial deregulation returns. Lobbyists intensify their anarchy.
Stage 5: Before the end of the second term of the new GOP president, Washington is totally corrupted by unlimited, anonymous donations from billionaires and lobbyists. Wall Street’s Happy Conspiracy triggers the third catastrophic meltdown of the 21st century that Robert Shiller of “Irrational Exuberance” fame predicts, resulting in defaults of dollar-denominated debt and the dollar’s demise as the world’s reserve currency.
Stage 6: The Second American Revolution explodes into a brutal full-scale class war with the middle class leading a widespread rebellion against the out-of-touch, out-of-control Happy Conspiracy sabotaging America from within.
Stage 7: The domestic class warfare is exaggerated as the Pentagon’s global warnings play out: That by 2020 “an ancient pattern of desperate, all-out wars over food, water, and energy supplies would emerge” worldwide and “warfare is defining human life.”
WHY IS IT THAT EVERYONE HAS TO PREDICT THE END OF THE WORLD (ON THEIR WATCH AND IN THEIR LIFETIME) WHEN THIS HAS NEVER, EVER BEEN THE CASE?
Seems like we ought to consider that the human condition has been improving since the beginning of recorded history. Change is inevitable. Deal with it, and be happy for your decisions, since you made them. There's always a right way to do things. What happens when you combine wisdom and perception?
Shawn Mesaros, Pamria, LLC
Yes, the world HAS ended. Several times. You've probably heard of the Romans. Take a look at the Bronze Age Collapse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age_Collapse) as another case where civilization simply "fell apart", and was followed by XX00 years of darkness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Dark_Ages).
Ayep.
It's one of those realizations that's very difficult to achieve for most people.
The world has always been about to end.
Inertia is not only a Physical force, but a Psychological one as well! Unfortunately, we don't have enough velocity to get across the abyss!
Shawn, if centralized money planning causes another world war then that is 'the end of the world' for anyone caught in the literal crossfire.
i'm glad you are 'above it all', but wake up and smell the dogshit, my friend. World wars do happen as a result of global depressions. Centralized money planning, fiat currency, and fractional reserve lending have serious structural flaws that are becoming evermore revealing by the day. do not take my word for it, just look at the fiat price of gold to understand that we are in a fiat bubble and it is disintegrating.
just because it has been peaches and cream during your lifetime does not mean it always will be.
its always been ridiculously competitive. from a global perspective its never been different. same flavors of the same, frankly. in the 1980's it was the USA lending to EM countries to bail them out. in the 1990's it was Tequilla crisis and then Asia financial crisis. Japan with 20 years of deflation wrapping the whole thing up. there's always some form of centralized planning. this isn't new. what might be considered new is the multinational form of planning that is being orchestrated today. this makes it more likely that it succeeds rather than the failure most predict. if I am around to witness the failure of that system, the USA will be the prime beneficiary.
when you've acquired the world's assets utilizing borrowed money, and you default on those obligations---- no one forecloses on the real-estate. if the "buck" becomes toilet paper, the USA will have greater global share of everything on the other side of this scenario, simply because we have the infrastructure in place and knowledge to run the assets we own. this cannot be said for Great Britain who owned a ton of stuff and who effectively gave property back around the world--- after a 100 year spree of accumulation in the name of the Queen--- returning it to its rightful owners since the Crown lacked the rersources to populate all of it and effectively manage it. what's left is the legal infrastructure and the trade partnerships. it will be another 3 generations before those are used up.
point is simple--- the USA will emerge victorious. inflation? the guys in Italy carried more Lira to buy coffee after Moussolini debased the currency. fine. had Italy had the nuts to go deeply into hawk--- and borrowed more money and acquired the infrastructure known as France--- Italy would be richer today.
hopefully when we're done borrowing funds at 3.75% on 30 year paper, we have acquired more assets that will serve to enrich the American citizens of the future. how the government decides to pay the interest is their problem. how I invest for clients is my own separate issue.
our society is full of "how people" and "why people" --- Americans are all about creating more effective outcomes. the value of asking why--- and the power of entrepreneurial thinking are standout traits that will guide even the most depressed people a reason to seek improvement of their condition.
people need what we offer. now more than ever before.
shawn mesaros, pamria, llc
Good points. We need diversity of opinion in ZH.
There is only one truth for the vast majority of humanity who's no "in" with the banksters.
thoughtful response, Shawn. by your own optimism you should be shorting gold for your clients. are you?
i question whether or not you actually read and thought about my previous comments before you launched into your flowery dissertation (by the way, i did enjoy reading it).
are you serious, Shawn? Loaning Argentina any money anytime soon?
I do have faith in America, Shawn, but not at these prices. I'll stick with buying food and precious metals for now. feel free to take the opposite bet at Pamria, LLC.
your arrogance is going to be the end of you, my friend. happy trading.
people need what we offer
Like what? Toxic debt? Weapons to the CIA installed "elites" to oppress the rest of their countrymen, for that is the way of most client states of the banksters. Central banking? War? What??? Please enlighten me with your hubris.
I wouldn't be so sure that all the banksters who used the funny money to gain possession of valuables overseas will get to keep them once the natives realize they've been gipped. Besides, how does the bankster elites getting richer help the vast majority of Americans?
Vast amounts of hubris !
Oh, I am. You however, might not be - with my decisions that is.
cover your bases. that's all you can do. this isn't a discussion about what it POSSIBLE it's an articulate discussion about what's *PROBABLE* and more importantly--- over what timeframe.
own your stocks globally, multiple index securities work the best. own some US and EURO-TIP's globally--- real estate in more than one country, maybe some farmland along with your physical gold and silver, most people I know have some skeet-shooting stuff in a safe at some--- you own some income producing assets like real-estate (paid for) and probably some foreign bonds (assuming there's a decent yield on it) and save more than you spend.
no one I am aware of has (ever) failed utilizing this model.
no matter what country we're talking about or in what period of history--- those who followed these principals were a generous cut above those who spent their time complaining about the relative atrocities of the current government at hand.
consider what happens when you combine wisdom and perception?
shawn mesaros, pamria, llc
who is complaining, Shawn? this government is making us richer, albeit at the expense of our countrymen.
'average into' food and precious metal futures contracts. roll accordingly. keep the stops wide to avoid shenanigans. its pretty straigtforward, Shawn.
pssst, don't tell your clients or they may not need you. ;)
PAPER BUGS BURN!!
WHY IS IT THAT NO ONE CAN FEASIBLY DESCRIBE HOW FEMA WILL SUPPLY CALORIES TO THE 41,000,000 FOODSTAMPERS?
For the same reason that no one's giving up the equations for Aerodynamic swine!
What happens when you combine wisdom and perception?
Of which you have neither.
Chart: EUR/USD
Europe anyone? Before the party ends for all?
http://99ercharts.blogspot.com/2010/10/eurusd_05.html
it wont collapse, unless they make it "collapse".
Its already been collapsed, theyre just blowing smoke up your ass a bit longer until the show starts. Will that be with the Oct 13th alien invasion? Who knows, but it is coming sooner rather than later.
Sensationalism at its best. All this type of writing accomplishes is higher ticket sales. Americans will eventually right America. You can either be a part of the solution or a part of the problem. You choose. I choose to be a part of the solution. This style of writing is a great example of being part of the problem. Taleb has been eating too much swan shit. He is delirious.
There is no doubt that we are up shit creek without a paddle, but you know what...Sometimes in life you have to buck up and get dirty. So quit supporting the ultra fear mongers Tyler and put your fucking hands back in the shit and help us paddle out of this mess. There is no value in this article. NONE.
RSDallas, don't be blinded by your own arrogance.
What if both the problem and solution was purposefully out of your reach (and getting farther)?
Take a look around, when was the last time a corporation paid "fair" taxes? How come they can vote with money and influence and are protected as such?
NO TAXATION EVEN WITH REPRESENTATION?! Give me a fucking break.
Very few things are completely out of our reach Widow. They may seem light years away, but eventually you can reach them. I prefer "when" not "what if".
Stroke , stroke, stroke!
What, is this a nation of girly men? And weak women?
No. I refuse to believe that.
Pickup the bullhord, RSD, and get them back to their oarlocks. We have a ton of crap to go through. I am sick of the sniveling.
And what, exactly, are you doing for the cause of righting America? If you aren't preserving your wealth for the coming see change, then you'll be dead in the water at that point. Or just dead. But either way, you will be ineffectual. Those of us who have managed to preserve our wealth will be able to reorganize the economy, and rebuild the system in a way that more closely resembles how America first came into being.
TM I am thankful each and every day to have been guided to preserve my wealth throughout all of my adult life. I am but a slave to my own mind, not you, Taleb or any of the other cooks out there who sit around waiting on the world "to be". Wake up, slap yourself and remind yourself that you are ALIVE TODAY TM, as none of us are guaranteed this blessing tomorrow.
An old college buddy of mine so elegantly said...If if and buts were candy nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas. Get over it. There are people who are already participating in the reorganization of the economy. The opportunities will be long gone when it becomes public knowledge that there is "a new economy". What am I doing you ask? I am participating.
TM, I have to devote some time today to the reorganization of the economy by turning a foreclosure loss into a profitable gain. I hope it wasn't your property.
I see. You are "righting America" by buying still greatly overvalued real estate and flipping it. I bet you are paying your taxes too.
Welcome to 2007. Enjoy your 2008 redux. You make me think of a guy who escaped from the Titanic in a rowboat, but tied the boat to the sinking ship thinking he could haul it into port and make a profit. What a maroon.
Sycophant asswipe is what he is.
FASCIST FED loving scum.
Sea change.
Do you have any magnetic ribbons for sale that I might place on the rear part of my automobile?
+1000 Touche'.
Mine says: "I support jingoistic cliches!"
"Americans will eventually right America."
Because the majority of the American population thinks this way is exactly why it won't happen.
You must be from Europe.
Thank you Mr. Munger.
Asshole.
I don't agree with the 2nd revolution/doomsday, but soviet style collapse, and then turnaround faster than Russia because we have free market experience already. In crises we can shake the bullshit and socialist controls & Tort lawyers need not apply. It will be a tough and 'no country for old men' but civil society will prevail -- riots yes by the usual suuspects.
2010 -2012 GOP takeover house, spending cuts, soc sec modifications, medicare modifications, health care replaced with private insurers, housing crises continues, tax reduction coupled with structural changes
2012 GOP President + both houses, fiscal austerity continues. Gas prices high, but drilling oil shale oil approved and natural gas, coal approved. Global warming declared fraud. unrest, shortages, social breaks downs some urban areas.
2016 energy prices come down, USA exporting coal and oil to China and Europe, balance of trade positive everybody loves us again
China will emerge as the new superpower, BRICS going strong. Political leadership and energy resources need to be exploited to get ourselves out of collapse. We have trillion bbl oil in shale, nat gas trillions, and coal too.
It will take a crises and collapse to shake the socialists into doing what is required. But there are too many private citizens and veterans who have guns to maintain the peace and prevent fascism from taking over in the transition.
.
Thats assuming the socialists are the ones to turn us into a fascist society. With the recent anti-immigrant and anti-muslim hysteria it would not surprise me if it is the tea baggers who end up making America fascist.
I see you've accumulated a few junks (none mine). Funny how the truth is difficult.
You put teabaggers and fascist in the same sentence. You are brave!
He's right of course. The Tea Baggers want the government to protect their wealth at any cost. They are united on that front.
. <- Dup Dot
i would suggest that 'tea-baggers' is a broader stroke movement than you imply, as many of the disenfranchised don't identify with the silly mouthpieces being paraded around by the MSM (palin, etc.).
but... if you consider the classic conserviative religious element (falwell/buchanin/etc.), your point stands. i've always found it interesting that the first thing a right-leaning religious person does with his/her freedom is *surrender it* to their faith and the rules of their god of choice.
maybe we all do that to some degree, and i value the freedom to do so, but i would bet that most don't see that as being slightly ironic.
junk away...
Let's face it, the "broader stroke" image of the teabaggers is that of the media which mis-covers the visible element of the movement. Even the term has its own element. They would much prefer Tea Party, of course. Nomenclature is all-important as we discussed with the sheeple issue. As is the case with any ideology, only the upstarts and miscreants (sorry, Missy) are the "face" of the true core. That "face" will be adopted by the detractors and dreaded by the adherents. That's just the way it is. No wonder the Christine McDonnells of the right do not face the "media". Nor would I.
A note to potential junkers: Your comment would be appreciated. How else will I know how far off base I am? Otherwise, I call you out as a coward. So, there.
That's a ballsy position, I like that, too.
We need some Patton people here, for crying out loud.
No chance in hell the reds cut spending, none. Cutting the handouts is impossible, good luck on the SS cuts, the blue hairs will revolt. The reds by their nature are unwilling to cut corporate welfare or touch the Holy Pentagon. If anything thy will increase corporate welfare and military spending. Look for deficits to increase not decrease. There is a strong chance of a dissolution Soviet style but only after a currency collapse. When that happens like for a real wild time in the cities as the goody train ends. JIT systems are a bitch when there is a hiccup or full stop in the movement of goods. Also the US won't be right back on it's feet. After the collapse there will be limited capital and a radical reduction in the standard of living.
Right right. The Republicans are going to implement fiscal austerity.
Just like Reagan did...er, wait...Bush I? Um...no no...for sure Bush II was a conservative spender...uh...well.
The Democrats have a history of raising taxes and increasing spending and expanding government.
The Republicans have a history of cutting taxes and increasing spending and expanding government.
There appear to be some common elements there.
...politicians continuing to expand their roles to 'solve' problems? increasing centralization of power in D.C.? when did this start happening?!
Yo, everyone, look! Rip Van Winkle just woke up! :>D
+1
:P