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The Golden End Game – A Thought Experiment - Part One
The Golden End Game – A Thought Experiment
Part One of Two
By
Cognitive Dissonance
With limericks by The Limerick King
This is part one of a two part exploration (part two found here) into what the world might look like after a total or partial collapse of the currency/economic system from the perspective of holding Gold. As the title explains this is a thought experiment, not a dissertation filled with footnotes and references. Consider it one man’s flight of fancy, so take what you need and leave the rest. Anyone who claims they know what will actually happen is a fool greater than me.
As markets are starting to sink
The end could be here in a wink
So should I prepare?
Should I even care?
My PMs will save me!!! (I think......)
(The Limerick King)
When I first entered the business 20 plus years ago the firm I started with had a mentoring program that paired the fresh faced rookie with a veteran for the first 6 months. The idea was that for a piece of the action paid to the veteran from the rookie’s commissions, the veteran would offer hands-on review, insight and support. While some on both sides of the office divide groused over this arrangement, from management’s point of view it made all the sense in the world because now the office was raising the rookie, not just one or two managers.
I found the mentoring system to be beneficial simply because I was coming in quite a bit older than the younger shark chum fresh from the diploma mills. Most of them felt they had the world by the balls, thus as long as they showed up the (fiat) spice would flow. But I knew these financial chop shops had a tendency to chew up the rookies, and then spit them out once they’d been used and abused. Since I didn’t want any part of the rookie churn and burn I relished the chance to work with a veteran and develop good habits early rather than be left with trying to break many bad habits later.
Luckily I was paired with an old pro who quickly took a shine to me and showed me the ropes, spending far more time with me then he was ever compensated for. In fact the experience re-invigorated him and he went on to become the top producer of the office two years running. The more I learned the harder he pushed, reasoning that since I knew this, I damn well better know that. So he took most of his compensation in the form of my spilled blood and an inner satisfaction that he was making his mark. For me, the processes, morals and methods he taught me are still paying sweet dividends two decades later.
One of his demands was the weekly ritual of a portfolio review of each holding in every client account. When Friday came round he insisted I justify why this or that position was in a client’s account and quite frankly it drove me crazy. I would complain that we had done the same damn thing every week for months and not much had changed. So why was he still asking me the same questions again and again. And every time I complained he would respond with a question of his own, often dramatizing it by looking out the window or throwing the Wall Street Journal on his desk. Prove to him that the world was the same one that existed when we reviewed the accounts the last time.
And of course he was right; the world was not the same and often quite different from week to week. This trial by fire is something I still force myself to go through every Friday afternoon. Knowing the client and the world situation, if I can’t justify the position, why the hell is it still in the account? But of equal or greater value to me were my mentor’s questions each time I tried to add a new position to an account. I hated his probing and poking and often I took it personally. And that bastard knew where all my buttons were and delighted in pressing every single one until I finally wised up and stopped letting him goad me.
After we had discussed why I was adding the position, and well before I was allowed to call the client and make the pitch, he always had one final question for me. How was I going to dispose of it if things went wrong in a hurry? Or in his words, “What’s the end game on that?” At first I felt his question was downright stupid and my rote answer was always that I would cross that bridge when I got there. But he never let me get away with my intellectual laziness and he’d ask the same question 6 different ways until I saw all the possible pitfalls based upon the knowledge I had at the time.
I can still hear him today. “Don’t ever take on a new position until you have thoroughly considered how you will dispose of it under the worst of conditions.” It forced me to look beyond my nose and consider how circumstances change, and with those changes the ability to sell something that, while saleable today, might not be tomorrow. Liquidity and desirability can dry up quickly and always when it is least convenient to you and your client. This perspective broadening exercise was extremely useful beyond my business world because it can and should be applied at all (not just major) life decision points.
As this Keynesian game nears an end
And the Banksters can no longer lend
What will we all treasure?
Will gold be our measure?
Or the love of our family and friends?
(The Limerick King)
So……what’s the end game here folks? Regardless of whether we are USA centric or more globally focused, the fact is that we ‘own’ a political, economic and social portfolio that is the foundational basis not only of our wealth and investments, but of our very lives and those of our family, friends and neighbors. So have we done a fearless and thorough portfolio review or are we simply buying Gold and other precious metals, along with guns and various food stuffs, and hunkering down to wait out the storm?
I don’t pretend to have all the answers, let alone the proper questions. So don’t look to me for instructions when the T-1000 HFT bots crest the ridge and cream our asses. But a little proactive introspection is well warranted here considering we are now entering uncharted territory. And it is uncharted territory; at least for plebs such as you and me, even though there have been fiat currency collapses throughout history. This time really is different (as were all the other times for each generation caught in the middle) if for no other reason than the massive use of financial leverage combined with the humongous explosion in global population over the last 100 years.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m basically a hard asset guy at this point in the great unwind. But as I have said in the Zero Hedge comment section several times before, it’s one thing to grow and/or protect your assets and wealth in Precious Metals (PMs) (and other hard assets) and another thing entirely to move those assets to the next game board when this one is reset, replaced or recreated.
I see and hear a great deal of cognitive dissonance in many of the articles and comments discussing PMs as the best vehicle to use when moving to dry land……….that is, when dry land finally does rises from the ocean floor to form the new capitalist capital called Atlantis Redux. I find that many are kind of fuzzy on how the actual transition/transaction will go down and nearly all just sort of insert “and then a miracle occurs” at some point in the discussion when they recite the precious metals (PM) mantra.
Let’s just say for a moment that our Gold, Silver, Platinum and Gold-plated Tungsten have all quintupled in price (as measured in whatever fiat is the favorite at the end) and we are now all sitting pretty. Do we really honest-to-God no-fingers-crossed cherry-on-top believe that the powers-that-be will simply allow us to mosey up to the cashiers cage and redeem or convert it all for whatever monetary unit reigns supreme? Really? Because from my point of view it’s just crazy talk to assume that the enemy of the state (Gold and other PM’s) will be welcomed home with a warm welcoming embrace.
Now before you bite my head off (remember boys and girls, this is just a thought experiment) understand who this essay is directed towards. Or rather isn’t directed towards. If you are capable of purchasing several LBMA Gold bars and are able to store them overseas and you can easily relocate yourself to where your Gold is, then this rant really isn’t directed towards you. While you may not be a power-that-be, you are in a class above the middle class regardless of your protestations to the contrary. I’m not saying you don’t share many of the problems others are facing, only that you have a great deal more flexibility to deal with them.
In the same respect, if you own several Gold Eagles and a couple hundred ounces of Silver, then you are also not to whom I’m speaking. Most likely you will run under the radar because your small amount of Gold and Silver is being held in the form of the U.S Eagle coin which, while not exactly produced as a numismatic, is a US Mint produced Gold and Silver coin that is considered US legal tender. So from my point of view, if Gold and Silver Eagles are held in small quantities, they will not be considered an investment, but rather savings or collectibles.
The people I am talking to are those who are converting a substantial portion of their investable assets into physical Gold. Or who are selling other assets or breaking qualified retirement accounts (IRAs, 401(k)s etc) in order to purchase relatively large amounts of physical Gold and Silver, though the focus of this essay is Gold. Their intent is not only to grow their PM assets, but to carry the bulk of their wealth over to the Promised Land when the current Ponzi Empire crashes and burns.
You know who you are and unfortunately so do the government goons if you have ever bought any quantity of Gold from an established dealer with a check, a cashier’s check, wire, electronic funds transfer or other traceable method. And because of Check 21 everything is traceable nowadays (even cash within a few degrees of separation) if you used one of these instruments to gather the cash.
The End Game is here so I'm told
Will the last valued asset be gold?
If so, keep it tight
From the thieves in the night
For they know every ounce that you hold
(The Limerick King)
Where I have a problem with the logic used by some is this. There seems to be a general consensus that Gold is the arch enemy, the Kryptonite if you will, of the out of control fiat creation by central authorities in order to extend and pretend while looting the executive bathrooms of the Gold faucets and monogrammed bathrobes. This understanding, along with a host of others, is always proffered when explaining the reason behind PM manipulation and the entire PM paper racket. And I don’t necessarily disagree with this general supposition.
What I don’t get is the idea that if Gold has been considered ‘contrary’ or ‘dangerous’ to the unfettered debasement of fiat in the past and present, thus the reason for the manipulation, then why would this suppression and resistance to the ‘Golden enemy’ by the powers-that-be suddenly disappear precisely when the powers (or more accurately their agents and puppets) are desperate and have the most to lose? It is clear to me, and judging by the comments clear to many others here on Zero Hedge, that these guys and gals play for keeps, consistently pushing nearly all their chips to the center of the table in an endless game of bluff and intimidation.
More important to me, at least for the purposes of this essay, is that those lovable sociopaths would rather burn to the ground than play to lose or walk away. This, by the way, is precisely why they rarely lose. They play for keeps and they’ve been doing so for thousands of years. They not only have the power, but they know how to use the power they have. Meaning they are ruthless cutthroat bastards who see you and me as cattle to be consumed or beasts of burden to be used. And I’m being kind for the sake of the weak stomachs among us.
As best as I can tell the general assumption is that when the partial or total collapse comes (not if because we are talking worst case scenario here) the failed powers that be, perhaps inspired by some public hangings and decapitations, will pack up their lawn chairs and vacate the levers of power, allowing more responsible adults and even some advanced children to take over and save the day. Or at the very least, the expectation is that the new kids on the block will clean up the mess left behind by those traitorous bastards and that they will do so in a reasonably fair, open and egalitarian manner. Let me take a moment to collect my thoughts before rendering my opinion on this matter.
I DON’T THINK SO!
Why am I so confident of this? Well, from studying history of course. And by history I mean good old fashioned world history dictated and approved by the Empire for high school or college textbooks. You see, from the perspective of long term history, while we may have a new production company and support system for the global Ponzi screenplay, as well as fresh faces to fill the role of puppets, enablers and useful idiots, and even a (relatively) new political system to emotionally and culturally unify us all as we labor away in our hamster cages, the Ponzi is at its central core the oldest con in the books.
Essentially we are all experiencing plantation living at its highest and most efficient evolution to date, where the sole purpose of our existence is to serve our immediate masters who then serve their masters who then serve their masters in an ever narrowing pyramidal hierarchy. This goes on until it reaches the point where at the top we find several hundred to a thousand elite scattered across a number of blood-line families that share the power and spoils. And there is serious evidence available to be examined by the determined researcher that there might even be another level (or two) above that.
BTW for the most part, but with certain exceptions, you will not find these elite of the elite on any list of richest people in the world. I personally suspect that many of those who you do see listed are in fact the public caretakers of the wealth of others and who are paid handsomely to play the role and weather the slings and arrows of public scorn in exchange for growing the assets and guarding the anonymity of the real owners of Mother Ship Earth.
The Powers That Be are concealed
Their identities won't be revealed
They will hide from the light
And continue their fight
Until all of our fates have been sealed
(The Limerick King)
History is full of examples of crumbling empires and nearly all of them seem to share several characteristics. First and foremost in my mind is that regardless of how dire things may seem to be, the collapse progresses much slower than expected. It always seems like today’s bad news signals the end of the world as we know it….until tomorrow’s even worse news hits the ticker.
Grab Mr. Peabody and fire up the WABAC (pronounced ‘wayback’) machine to travel a few years into the past, say to 2007, and consider some of the headlines we saw and the reactions they provoked. What were considered Earth shaking events back then are nearly routine today, no big deal really. This is a severely misunderstood and underappreciated, and thus under weighted, counter balancing force to the general insanity level. The (normalcy bias) force is strong in you young Skywalker.
I suspect this isn’t so much because the powers that be are holding it all up, but rather it is the common folk living on the ground floor of this insanity that are doing the heavy lifting. Never underestimate the desperate desire of those who are chained to the plantation to preserve that plantation even when it would be easier and saner just to walk away. This Stockholm syndrome conditioned mind is of course exploited by the masters to rape and pillage long past the normal or even expected expiration date of the Empire.
Also, collapse (partial or total) is a relative term. For the financial elite, politically powerful and top tier business people, collapse is just another word for a really severe business cycle downturn. When conditions become harsh, the script is always the same. Shed useless eaters, strip all usable assets and sell the estate to the last of the greater fools, then move on to a more favorable business location. So by the time the barbarians are at the gate, the rich and powerful are long gone and have stripped most of the wealth from the kingdom.
In the modern era this means that the rape and pillage of the middle class is the purpose and eventual outcome of any severe recession/depression. So of course it is the purpose of the ongoing collapse. See ‘The Great Depression’ of the 1930’s for the Cliff Notes on the coming fun and games…exponentially escalated by $708 Trillion (notional value) in derivatives. But always remember that the explosive firepower released back in the 1930’s is nothing compared to the massive potential energy that is about to be released. The real purpose of can kicking is to try to slowly release that energy rather than to allow it to go BOOM all at once. Consider it a form of extended game play for the elite.
When the global reset is complete
And the Kleptos are in full retreat
Secure family and friends
For their game never ends
And they'll never accept their defeat
(The Limerick King)
The true powers that be have a long history of backing all sides in nearly every conflict or collapse. So it is not a stretch to assume they are supporting the very barbarians who are beating the door down while also relocating their kin from the collapsing empire. If you spend any time studying the blood lines of the rich and powerful, despite our general indifference to this seemingly inconsequential subject matter, to Earth’s owners the blood lines are carefully massaged, managed and manipulated in order to maintain a balance of power and influence among the bickering kings and queens. Do not underestimate the utmost importance of blue blood hierarchies or of the interconnected web between supposedly bitter enemies and plantations/countries. If it is important to them, then it should be considered life and death to us.
Inside the sprawling plantation the conditioning of the slaves is ongoing and ever changing and relies heavily upon the older, more experienced slaves to indoctrinate and condition the new ‘volunteers’, thus cementing the bond that is often expressed as nation or community…..or more properly ‘misery loves company’. For several thousand years religion was the center of the indoctrination process and controlled by the blue bloods, all of whom had no aversion to donning priest’s robes to spout the all important rites and rituals. A close inspection of history shows that while the vehicles of power shifted and morphed, the methods used and the personalities involved always remained the same.
Closer to the modern era, there was a shift to the sharing of power between religious centers and blue blood families who presided over kingdoms. Again, there really wasn’t a divide, only the public appearance of division. Mom usually decided which son became King and which became a Cardinal or Pope, thus assuring her it all remained in the family.
Over the last several hundred years the center shifted once again to the façade of central governments organized under ideological memes such as democracy, communism, socialism and of course the more traditional blue blood families aka Kings, Queens and royal families, sometimes along with a quasi democratically elected congress designed to create a false sense of self control for the naïve native slaves.
Regardless of the method or ideology used today, they are all simply more sophisticated methods to organize and exploit the plantation and nothing more. In much of the so called ‘free’ world today, giving the slaves the illusion of freedom of (limited) choice has been found to dramatically increase productivity. An intelligent plantation manager will allow any work rules as long as they still maintain order while increasing efficiency because strip mining the human and mineral resources of Earth is the one and only goal of the ruling elite.
Preserving your wealth can be fun
The first thing you'll need is a gun
Trust no one you meet
Each night soak your feet
Just in case it is prudent to run
(The Limerick King)
Regardless of whether the financial elite remain in place or move on during or after the collapse, there will still be some type of procedure set up to exchange the old slave script for the new slave script. Without a doubt there will be different tiers or exchange rates depending upon which social and/or economic class you reside in. And rest assured the transition will not be fair and it will be used to extract whatever remaining wealth the middle class still holds. This is a given, but it will not be readily obvious or even visible since most of the dirty work will occur behind closed doors and well in advance of the general scrum.
There is also no doubt, once again predicated by a careful reading of history, that regardless of the leadership actually holding office, when the gates are busted down (or as is more likely the case pulled down from within, often via false flag attacks), in order to placate the increasingly restless slave population, fresh faces will magically appear from the cloning rooms to offer stirring speeches and heartwarming platitudes about how all the slaves must engage in mutual sacrifice and work even harder to ensure that the elite make a clean getaway before the cleansing fires are set and the system is finally rebooted. I can’t wait for the games to begin because I still have more cognitive room left over for that hope and change thingy.
Every crumbling Empire always reaches into the same bag of tricks when the heat is on and the slave nation becomes restless. After all, the elite must maintain order so that the fleecing can be completed. ‘Order’, especially near the end of the End Game, is usually maintained by a heavy handed police and/or military presence via outright martial law or the stealth version implemented by (executive) decree. Let the head bashing begin. Desperate puppet leaders will most certainly do desperate things, first to maintain their own illusion of power, then just to save their asses. Count on it.
Two tricks of the deception trade that often work hand in hand are scapegoat harvesting combined with war mongering, which usually leads to out-right-war in order to deflect attention and blame those evil elites over there and their supporting band of vicious baby eating enablers, indentured servants and wage slaves. And while it might be an old trick, even the oldest, it still works every single time it is used because we slaves would rather support the devil we know then to take a chance and actually live free. Spend enough time in a locked cage under dehumanizing conditions and the jailer no longer needs to lock the door anymore. We slaves will keep ourselves just fine, thank you very much.
While I could extend this list of common denominators for several more pages, let me cut to the chase and list the one commonality that is near and dear to my heart and the core function of every central government that administers the (crumbling) Empire……..to be a blood sucking parasite. The bottom line is that governments, Kings and religious orders do not ‘produce’ anything nearly equal to their consumption no matter how you measure it, unless you have been drinking their Kool-Aid. These entities will consume from all sources using one or more of the following strategies; regulation, taxation and ultimately confiscation.
In Chapter Two we will examine the third method as the end game worst case scenario draws ever near.
11-20-2011
Cognitive Dissonance
Special thanks to The Limerick King for his wonderfully apropos limericks. It is an insult to describe the process of condensing complex subjects into 5 lines of prose as ‘writing’. The term ‘stupid good talent’ just begins to scratch the surface of what The Limerick King has to offer. Thank you TLK.
I also wish to thank Dagny Taggart for the ongoing and wonderfully diverse conversation that always leads to further inspiration. Thank you Dagny.
PS: For those who just can’t get enough of The Limerick King, below please find some more of his work that just couldn’t be fit in. Momma always told me never to waste a single mouthfull of The Limerick King.
To those who think gold is the cure
For everything fake and impure
You may get your wish
If gold catches fish
By making an outstanding lure
As the great global reset draws near
Consider the things you hold dear
Will others agree
With the value you see?
If so you have nothing to fear
My wealth is so precious to me
Without it I just couldn't see
Life would be dour
I'd lose all my power
I'm spawn of The Powers That Be...
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Who are "they"? Names and address, please.
The Rothschilds, Rockefeller interests, and JP Morgan interests who have controlled American politics for more than a century--they would be some of them. If I give you their addresses, then I have to kill you.
Please give the addresses to Ben Bernanke then.
I wish I knew.
Then again, one must ask oneself "What would I do if I did know where 'they' lived?". This is where the rubber truly meets the road and many are left behind.
If you knew, then "they" would no longer be "they" and you/me/us could "occupy" their place(s) instead of Wall St. and other irrelevant locations.
Anyway, in my opinion, the sad truth is, the culprit(s) have the masses so mesmerized that the 99% wouldnt do anything about it anyway. And from our past exchanges, you probably know where I am going with it..
"Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites, — in proportion as their love to justice is above their rapacity, — in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of understanding is above their vanity and presumption, — in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves."
Edmund Burke.
We are, in this day, surrounded - nay, corralled - by some very dangerous knaves. Extremely well done, CD.
.....so someone should nuke NYC and D.C. to upgrade our civilization through the reduction of knaves?
What a wonderful perspective your Edmund Burke quote promotes. I had not seen this subject from that perspective. Thank you very much.
I like kicking around various scenarios in this regard. I have to concur with much of what has been said by other posters though. I'd say a windfall tax would probably be most likely although it would depend on whether gold was part of the new monetary system, which would result in a robust black market. Of course the whole premise of the elites hating gold could be all wrong here. What if they have been accumulating for years and years at cheap prices? Is there any instance where the elites grabbed EVERY available asset in the world or region? If less than 1% of the population owns gold is that not a pretty frickin decent heist by the elites if they were to revalue gold and make it an anchor for the next monetary system? Would the trillionaires really care that a few thousand millionaires were born with the revaluation?
You bring up an important point. What is the one thing that defines modern America, and the modern world? The love of money. Mammon. It's our God.
As the bull market powers ever higher, alot of big players are going to want a piece of the action. These same big players have disproportionate influence over our government. Which means that if the government tries to ban gold transactions, it's going to be going against the wishes of already wealthy people who want to become wealthier, or even to preserve their wealth.
And it's not something that you can easily have separate rules for the rich and the rest of us, unlike fiat money. Precisely because gold is weighted and physical. You either know where it is or you don't. So it's not something that they can, say, easily hide in the Caymans while denying it to us domestically.
So as the gold bull market resumes, I'm pretty confident that government confiscation remains off the table, unless they want to reintroduce it into the banking system, in which case you may very well be getting more valuable money anyway.
yeah
why were the worlds central banks selling their gold at the lowest possible price?
There are no coincidences, just strange ripples and nebulous connections under the surface.
YES! Why were the world's central banks selling their gold at the lowest possible price?
Have the Fed and Banking Cartel Attacked Iran's Central Bank?
If it begins to act like money, and it's no longer possible to manipulate the market, you can bet your ass they're going to illegalize and confiscate it.
I personally think if things go in the shitter as badly as this piece envisions, .22LR cartridges and antibiotics will be more useful for barter.
Someone mentioned on another thread about the ol' .22.
Most don't know but the weapon of choice during the middle of the last century for the mafia (US) was the .22 Woodsman. 8" barrell and subsonic load provided a range of 75 yards reliably (inside a quarter).
The victim's body simply dropped -- those walking adjacent wouldn't even notice or be alarmed.
Modern security "protection" is 100% for show (presence). It might stop an eye-poke but not the trained shot.
Completely ineffective against the above.
I prefer tar and feathers in front of their family.
I have been suggesting for sometime that the accumulation of ammo is a very good idea. Easily tradeable....308's for bigger ticket items, 223 for those everyday needs, and 22lr's to make change....
One wants to stick with popular cartridges that are used in many guns as they will be the highest in demand...9mm, 45acp, 223, 308, etc are good choices....avoid 22 hornet, and other offbeat relic calibers....
Like quarters, dimes and nickles? Trading ammo and firearms in a WROL world would be dicey at best, maybe at a swap meet with lots of people around? The biggest risk you face of confiscation of your supplies is from a man with a badge. I see communities encouraging their law enforcement to round up supplies from those whom have them. Why wouldn't the unprepared demand that you share your food, water, ammo, etc... with them through force? They take your income now, why would that urge change?
Government is used to using force to take what's yours for themselves and others, so no big change there. I have unprepared friends that would rat me out in a second, if I didn't share with them when they got hungry. Hide your supplies, and keep your mouth shut. If the SHTF, keep a low profile and try to survive the first few months of panic. Let's hope it doesn't get that bad.
Primers.
(Allow me to play devil's advocate here... AH! I kill myself)
What utter and complete load of hogwash. Utter tripe, complete shite, etc.
What you call blood-lines, I call greedy corrupt incompetent f*ckers. Most of the wankers in power will lose everything
What you call an ''end game'' I simply call the End of an Era. The American Era, to be more specific. And good riddance to that.
The fact is, the rot and the corruption at the heart of the US system is now plain for all those who want to see reality, and not be deceived by the common propaganda. There is no need for aristocratic blood-lines, wealth or massive conspiracies.
"Never assign to conspiracy what can be adequately explained by stupidity", or so said Napoleon, according to some.
What you are parrotting is, in fact, the same defeatist bullsh*t. If you don't like the situation, run for school President, then for County Commissioner, etc, on a platform of reform. People will vote for you. Or at least do something in public, and in person, and not over the Internet under a cheap "nom de plume" (yes, I know, says he writing under the effigy of a cynical bearded Satanist - but the real LaVey has STYLE, goshdarnit).
In the meantime, I'll accumulate PMs, knowing that I'll probably be able to sell them anyway, not matter what my .gov - or anyone else - says.
Sounds like you mostly agree with me, but are arguing terms and semantics.
Nope CD, sorry I am not.
You are peddling grand conspiracy (or conspiracies). I stay firmly on the side of stupidity. And Greed, let's not forget Greed - well, almighty Mammon, really, a meme for all ages. And that (stupidity+greed) comes from personal experience and simple human nature.
Repeat after me: these people are not the Masters of the Universe - they are just as dumb as the next man.
Here is an example: you mention blood-lines and people who accumulate wealth over several generations. I reply with a single name: Madoff. Bernie Madoff. His scheme was daring but it failed in the end. All Ponzi schemes eventually collapse under their own weight.
There are no secret masters of the universe, no trans-generational ''blood lines''. There are people who fail, all the time and constantly. I come from a country where you can see plenty of ruined aristocrats, for instance, people whose ancestors were the bluest of blue bloods, rolling in dough. These days? Not so much.
If history has anything to teach us, it is this: the first generation makes a ton of money. The second generation prudently increases the money (or tries to, at least). The third generation spends the money like there is no tomorrow. If there was a lot and a lot of money, maybe the fourth generation will get a stab at decadence - but that's about it. Then, the cycle starts again, very often with different people.
As far as I am concerned, the USA are right in the middle of the ''third generation'' - maybe going on the fourth. Corruption is rife, as well as antisocial (''let's nationalize all the bank losses!'') behaviour. So what? Welcome to decadence, dear old US of A. Here is your chance to experience what Europe (and China, and India, and Russia, etc) went through many times over. It sucks to be you, but, if that's any comfort, you are going to drag the rest of the world down with you.
But don't let me stop you, dear CD, at least your little fantasies are entertaining... In my humble opinion, they have a very tenuous relationship to reality, unfortunately.
CD, great post - pls excuse me on siding with Anton LaVey
The Napoleon Quote still applies - Conspiracies are difficult to manage. The best conspiracies don't work with secrecy, they are open, transparent, and therefore invisible for most people. Stupidity reigns supreme.
Take the Colonial Empire - how many realize that the US is the hegemon-leader of the biggest military-commercial-financial globalist empire that history ever witnessed?
How many realize that this Empire started with the appropriation of Cuba, the Panama Canal and the Philippines? That it incorporates other previous empires, among them the British, the French and the very first one that got gobbled up first, the Spanish? And we in the so called "First World" are all part and profiting from this current empire. You, CD, descend too from a bloodline that profited under the empire if your family is since three generation in the First World. And yes, the empire is showing signs of decadence and moral weakness, as Anton LaVey writes above.
The corruption of the empire is not directly in the people involved, it's in the institutions and their inner workings:
- The Great Corporations: in a global pond, corporation size swelled like goldfishes to the optimum for this environment, i.e. to the publicly traded stock multi-national company, not paying taxes, not being really answerable to anyone thanks to generous lobbying, legions of attorneys and a sharerholder population too diluted and disinterested. In fact, in most of them there is an "elite" of managers passing each others the cushy jobs of sucking out as much as they can - that's how their incentives work. "Elite": yes. Conspiracy:no.
- The Great Fiscal Throughs: one of them seems to be utterly invisible for most, the Military-Industrial Complex. Now, setting aside the fact that the hegemon spends half of the military budget of the world, one of the strangest side effects is how it also sells the most incredible amount of personal weapons to the population, fostering a culture of fear. Fear Sells.
- The Strategic Interests: the main one is energy, in particular oil. A wonderful hunting ground for the Great Corporations, of course.
- The Banking System(s): they are at the core of the "global/imperial resource allocation system", a bit like the blood system in your body. As Nixon brought a new era of fiat, part of this system could grow (like a cancer) to previously inimaginable size. By growing, they were able to develop parts devoted to maintaining this predominance and influences, including their hold on the FED, the Treasury and, by campaign financing, the Presidency. Not by Conspiracy, not by Grand Design, just by sheer pressure, like colonies of ants. Yes, some of the "elites" involved are constantly having some little conspiracies and thefts, but it's not by design, it's by opportunity.
About Opportunities and Grand Designs: 1950, the US boasted 50% of all the world's engineers, 50 years later, 50% of all lawyers. No Grand Conspiracy could ever achieve this. At some point, having a law degree gave you a better shot for the CEO chair, that's all.
What I'm trying to say is that it's an incredible simplification to think in terms of Grand Conspiracies - the rot is in the Very Small & Cumulative Conspiracies going on since - in the case of the USA - at least since the Robber Barons, which had their petty little conspiracies, including the founding of the FED, one of the institutions needed for an empire, btw.
Just look at the year 1913: everybody here just thinks about the creation of the FED. How many realize that it's also when the 17th amendment was formally declared, and how many understand how much this changed politics? Hell, it changed the whole structure of your Republic! I hear the Tea Party Movement is somewhat aware of this and it's on their list of changes - Do you? Does the majority? Does anyone realize, for example, how difficult it would be to lobby for certain laws without the 17th? How much more difficult it would be to "buy" Washington? How much it shifted fiscal authority from the periphery to the center?
"these people are not the Masters of the Universe - they are just as dumb as the next man" - indeed, some of them might even be convinced that they are "doing God's work"! There you have the poster-child of the non-existance of "blood lines" of sinister world moving characters. Born poor, worked hard, followed the path given by the system, believing to be doing good.
Believing in Grand Conspiracies makes you blind to what is really happening and why.
I do agree that, despite the obvious failures of the Euro, the overriding theme in world history right now is the collapse of American hegemony in the era of peak oil and peak population.
The dollar will go down with it, you can be assured. The currency is always the barometer of a mismanaged nation or empire.
"But don't let me stop you, dear CD, at least your little fantasies are entertaining..."
I have found that fantasies are very entertaining and most helpful when enticing the opposite sex into my bed.
Have I got some stories for you Anton. And for only $49.95 I'll be happy to share them all. :>)
But wait! There's more... tomorrow.
Great stuff CD. Can't wait for part deux.
Why does this need to be a thought experiment and not a simple history lesson. FDR grabbed citizens' gold, calling them "hoarders" and making it illegal to hold private gold. That law wasn't repealed until the late '70s.
It is also true that the law was invoked only once, in suitably egregious circumstances.
There is absolutely nothing to stop that happening again except public rejection.
Perhaps people during FDR's time actually believed in their government and thought that what it was doing was for the common good? Would that apply today? Let me hazard a guess, there are far more people today dodging taxes because they see the incredible squander of our D.C. ruling elite. Would not that same thinking process apply should the government attempt to get people to turn in their pm's?
I would never claim to 'know' how this will play out, thus my use of the term "thought experiment".
They don't even need to actually 'take' the Gold and Silver from the people as long as they can control the price....something they do today with the 'paper' Gold market.
Interesting piece CD. Unfortunately, it assumes a draconian ending. Possible, but not probable. People have matured as a race and totalitarianism is not to appetizing anywhere on the globe- thus the riots in Moscow, Arab spring, The taliban success and OWS etc.
Further, it isn't necessary. Just as the Weimar republic used the rentenmark to fool the people ONE more time, just as Nixon defaulted on our debts in 1971 and we went full fiat, the people will accept new forms of the same ponzi. Whether it is leveraged lending, derivatives, CDS or rehypothecation- the ability of people to recreate new forms of fractional reserve money creation is infinite.
There is no purpose in creating revolution, when the majority of people will accept the status quo if it resembles their expectations. With 1 or 2% of the people holding pm's, why create a problem by attempting to confiscate- especially as it didn't work last time?
The amount of gold and silver owned by the average pm investor is easier to discount through manipulation. What they really want is a currency system that allows for debt creation. As long as gold and silver are wealth substitutes, but not money, the revolution is held at bay.
If the Elites want to establish control over the whole population, it will probably be by controlling access to commodities, especially food and energy. Thus, we should be more concerned with the concentration in seed bank ownership, fresh water, oil refining and food distribution channels.
Many people survived the weimar collapse because they had swithched their holdings to gold and silver.
I explore your thoughts in Part Two which I will post tomorrow around the same time. In many respects they don't even need to take Gold as long as they can control the price and hoard the supply at the mines.
It really doesn't matter how scarce Gold becomes if they can control the price through manipulation of the 'paper' market. When influence fails, the gun barrel will be used because it is very effective. The ultimate con is that we live in a free country that respects the rule of law.
I'm all in favor of the idea of you experimenting in the realm of "thought". I reccommend the study of plane geometry as a way to get started off right.
In 1977's SURVIVAL GUNS, Mel Tappan opined that many would continue to trade futures even as the balloon went up....
It has amazed me that so many continue to have faith/confidence in their trading accounts, much less their "plan" to ride the Metals Wave up and then dispose of some of their inventory At The Top and then expect to find the gear, goods, supplies they need; of course at a bargain basement price.
Cognitive dissonance reigns wide and far in the weave of the American Social Fabric. People have no firm grasp on reality and have their cherished and invested expectations which they cannot be dissuaded from.
Guys seem to expect that their Way-Far out of the money options are actually gonna be settled and paid once the shit has overwhelmed the fan. Not much chance of that, but if dreams float yer boat, there is a sea of dreams out there to ride on...
Hell, even the USPS is in doubt. Not that it should be in jeopardy; it is all a contrivance and fraud that could be fixed with reversal of retirement liability recognition funding, but that would spoil the party our betters are tossing for US.
About the time you plan to redeem your metals for the Big Score, it is likely your dealer will have been shuttered and burned-out or closed by Imperial Decree. The time to work with your excess inventory is NOW while you can find the gear, goods, supplies and spares you need to see you through and into some mode of self-sufficient living. In 2004, Jim Sinclair was caught-up in the 2nd Big Terrorwave Expectations and therefore he advised his CIGAs to "take some profits and buy a hobby farm". Still damn good advice, but stock it with plenty of diesel fuel, tractor, diesel genset and other long-lasting energy products along with your solar and wind generation and inverter system gear.
Now is the time to buy what you may never see again. Defensive Rifles and Pistols, ammunition, spare parts and magazines, plus optic systems will never be more affordable or available. Lots of discussion at http://lesteronsurvival.blogspot.com.
MF Global has proven that your account statements don't mean jackshit. Still sitting on a cash-value life insurance policy? Might be time to take a loan... If you're expecting to cash out at the top and get a super deal on the last TRG-42 or AIAW rifle in-country then you must work to defeat your delusions right now. Just In Time inventory practices are your enemy, along with bankers not funding the cash-flow of clients to the extent they once did. And just maybe Big Brother decides to shut-down the gear retailers "just for the duration" of some cheesy declared emergency, or issues an executive order restricting gun sales or ammo sales? All sorts of shit can happen. Try to make sure it won't befall you...
Looking at the latest gun sales figures, it sure appears that folks are 'loading up' on guns and ammo.
I would not limit one's gun selection to purely the defensive stuff.....hunting will also be something to think about.
A good hunting rifle is a must to own.
Don't forget the hunting knives and fragmentation grenades. :>)
Nothing says "No Trespassing" like an improvised Claymore.
I am the master of JIT. I own it on 18 wheels.
(Bear with me here)
Meat rolls east. need about 2 to 4 days to get to the cities. Produce rolls everywhere, particularly from the south and the ports where ships offload imported fresh foods.
That stuff is hot load. You need to roll it.
Walmart distribution centers are generally surrounded by about 200 to 1000 trucks within a hours drive each day. All of which are inbound in one form or another.
These are not the walmart company trucks But just the regular 18 wheels you see all around you.
There are product that has to be delivered without fail by day's end or else the people wont have it and will fight to get it.
These are the kind of loads that eat drivers alive. They are to be there on time or before time or be fired for service failures.
Team drivers and team husband/wife are the best ways to manage JIT pressures of trucking. 15-30000 miles a month. And enough food in the cab (Tare 1000 pounds) to go one month for two people.
Yessir, Been there done that. 100 people wanna drive a truck. 10 make it past 6 months. 2 are alive after a decade. One of those two will be retired having lost some of those.
and when the trucks stop for some reason? what if? hmmm......
oh by the way, do you remember when snipers were shooting at truckers during a trucker's strike?
I remembered a shooting or two.
I sometimes think I am a product of a dead age, already obselete and irrevelant in a time when everyone seems to be going gaga on the shit and junk in the stores.
All that is left is tradition, memory and understanding of how things are and ought to be done and watching our Nation's Leaders publicly squabble and fight each other for this vote or that vote on something that is ONLY TEMPORARY and NOT pernament...
It makes me upset.
This too shall pass.
One more thing. Arkansas has required truckers who are renewing CDL's to have a active and valid medical Card to keep with the license at all times.
Due by 2014. I was able to renew on grandfathered status but after 2014 I would not be legally allowed to touch any vehicle without a DOT MEdical Card. (Those involved in ICC etc.)
Personally I don't care. There is still a generation of young, strong and hungry young adults who will be paid 10 thousand after orientation to keep the rigs going.
I have seen the Nation, the good and the bad. And it worries me that the... web that binds us all together and keeps us fed, sheltered and adequately living a decent life is all brought by truck at some point.
Stop the trucks, stop the Nation. No other nation does it the way we do.
There was a time long ago the railroads reached into every town, every little place, factory and mail. Even knew the locals by name in the areas they worked daily.
Now?
Those rusted tracks buried under the concrete of the dead factory being converted to a Condo no one but the very rich can afford. The condo sit empty awaiting sale while hundreds in the city go hungry and freeze unable to think about anything other than the constant and grinding needs of the body fighting to stay alive.
It seems Congress is about to cut off a few million more within a month coming into winter.
2012 is going to be very interesting.
Keep the dirty side down and the sunny side up and happy hauling!
These JIT systems insure a JIT collapse. Thanks for sharing your knowledge of trucking and JIT inventory systems. Sheeple take for granted that the EBT and credit cards will always work, computers will be up and running, trucks will make deliveries, store shelves will always be stocked, etc.... Most suffer from "it can't happen here" syndrom. We can debate the "value" of silver and gold investments, price discovery or whatever. In the end, it comes down to the essentials, and our dependence on a fragile system to supply them.
It's a convoy, breaker, breaker!
The good old days when a CB radio was all you had between you and the bad ass smokies. Some fine memories there my friend. :)
Yes, but maybe not so good. The convoys were not just for getting around smokies, that was a time of truck jackings and the convoys were protection for that, remember, the economy was not good back then. Which goes to show, BTW, when gov doesn't work, "communities" of all kinds are formed for common defense. CD, it is good to bring up this issue, I agree, most people stop thinking at the accumulation stage. We will need all tools at our disposal. Gold, guns, food and good people!
The avg. grocery store turns it's inventory in 3-5 days with no stock rooms anymore, in a SHTF situation it would be emptied in a day. I was in a store when the computers "went down", guess what? No sales, they had to shut the entire store down. People left full carts in the aisles. Was very surreal.
There is about 35 days of inventory in the "system" from farm to grocers shelves (not counting what is in the fields or livestock being raised). Food is ALWAYS in short supply in a collapse or crisis. My advice make sure you have some food, before you stock up on silver and gold.
I was in a grocery store in the day before Thanksgiving many years ago when the computers went down. I was only second in line from the checker in my aisle. Couldn't even go backwards if I wanted to.
After 15 min. the formerly harrased, but largely good natured shoppers became restless and vocal...some cart banging and shoving...inner-city...I didn't like the looks of it.
I picked clean the magazine racks of all trash newspapers and magazines and handed them back through the line. Other checker lines did the same. Everyone started reading about alien babies and laughing, swawpping issues etc...
Human behavior is by and large predictable.
Another 15 min. or so and the registers were back up.
The store manager offered me a job once I got through the line.
Having cash (or silver or gold) doesn't help, they can't "ring" up your sale without prices on the items. An EMP attack would destroy this Country in thirty days, with no radio active fallout to spread elsewhere.
Good book, hard to find.
I think that when the paper price collapses, that price, will be a standard fix price for anyone who sells gold after the paper collapse.
So it doesn’t matter when you bought your gold if you don’t have a paper trail you will be taxed on gains above that set price.
My last sentence in Part One is....
"These entities will consume from all sources using one or more of the following strategies; regulation, taxation and ultimately confiscation."
Unfortunately to keep the article "short" I spend no time talking about regulation or taxation. One area of control is through taxation, a point you nicely make in your comment.
Thanks, cant wait for part Two.
it’s one thing to grow and/or protect your assets and wealth in Precious Metals (PMs) (and other hard assets) and another thing entirely to move those assets to the next game board when this one is reset, replaced or recreated.
Yes. Instead of thinking in terms of "end game," think in terms of "beginning game." I've been torched and slashed red on some of GW's posts for basically stating that those trying to "fix" the current system are wasting their energy. As are those who believe that a singular person raised in the same system can correct it (Ron Paul or other). If it is truly a "mathematical certainty," as I believe it is, that the system is FUBAR and apt to meet its demise with still a large balance of my life in the balance, then my energy is best spent in shaping the next game.
Double thumbs up for drawing on The Limerick King - one of the most efficient posters on ZH.