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An Orwellian America
Via Gordon T Long (pdf)
An Orwellian America
As a young man, I voraciously read George Orwell’s “1984”, Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” and Alvin Toffler's trilogy which included "Future Shock"', "The Third Wave" and "Power Shift". During the era of the Vietnam War, I wondered seriously about the future and how it was destined to unfold. Now being considerably older, I have the vantage point to reflect back on my early ruminations and expectations. Unfortunately, I am too old to alter the lessons that are now so painfully obvious. Instead, I pass the gauntlet to those who can understand and take action on what I have unavoidably come to expect for America.
A FRAMEWORK OF UNDERSTANDING
THE 'HUXLEY-ORWELL' TRANSITION
I recently read a perceptive paper by Chris Hedges that would have made any English Professor envious, powerfully philosophical but not something an Economics department would pay much attention to. I found it both intriguing and enlightening.
I have borrowed so heavily from it, that I am unsure where the lines diverge. Therefore, below I give full credit to Chris Hedges and take full credit for all the bad ideas.
Chris Hedges of TruthDig.com wrote 2011: A Brave New Dystopia, from which the following evolved.
The two greatest visions of a future dystopia were George Orwell’s “1984” and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.” The debate, between those who watched our descent towards corporate totalitarianism, was who was right. Would we be, as Orwell wrote, dominated by a repressive surveillance and security state that used crude and violent forms of control? Or would we be, as Huxley envisioned, entranced by entertainment and spectacle, captivated by technology and seduced by profligate consumption to embrace our own oppression? It turns out Orwell and Huxley were both right. Huxley saw the first stage of our enslavement. Orwell saw the second.
We have been gradually disempowered by a corporate state that, as Huxley foresaw, seduced and manipulated us through:
• Sensual gratification,
• Cheap mass-produced goods,
• Boundless credit,
• Political theater and
• Amusement.
While we were entertained,
• The regulations that once kept predatory corporate power in check were dismantled,
• The laws that once protected us were rewritten and
• We were impoverished.
Now that:
• Credit is drying up,
• Good jobs for the working class are gone forever and
• Mass-produced goods are unaffordable,
.... we find ourselves transported from “Brave New World” to “1984.”
The state, crippled by massive deficits, endless war and corporate malfeasance, is clearly sliding toward unavoidable bankruptcy.
It is time for Big Brother to take over from Huxley’s feelies, the orgy-porgy and the centrifugal bumble-puppy.
We are transitioning from a society where we are skillfully manipulated by lies and illusions to one where we are overtly controlled.
Huxley, we are discovering, was merely the prelude to Orwell.
Now that the corporate coup is over, we stand naked and defenseless. We are beginning to understand, as Karl Marx knew:
Unfettered and unregulated capitalism is a brutal and revolutionary force that exploits human beings and the natural world until exhaustion or collapse.
UNSOUND MONEY LEADS TO STATISM
With this as a backdrop let's explore how Unsound Money in concert with the Huxley-Orwell Transition leads to Statism, the path which I believe we are presently on.
THE CATALYSTS BEHIND THE "TRANSITION"
1- UNSOUND MONEY
• Removal from Gold Standard and adoption of Fiat Currency regime (in August 1971 during the winding down of the Vietnam War; the first War ever fought without tax increases to pay for it; the beginning of endless 'conflicts' and the War on "Terror").
• Creation and Fostering of a $67 Trillion Shadow Banking Credit Growth,
• Massive Securitization & Off Balance Sheet Contingent Liability Debt Growth.
2- POLICY FAILURES
• Failed Monetary Policy & Monetary Malpractice,
• Moral Malady,
• Failed Fiscal Policy,
• Failed Public Policy,
• Growth of Political Polarization,
• Entrenched 'Left-Right' Factions,
• An Un-Governable Democracy.
3- CRISIS OF TRUST
• Lost Respect & Confidence
• A Doomed Middle Class
• A Broken Social Contract
4- AUTHORITARIAN ACCEPTANCE
• Central Planning
• Growth in Regulations & Control
• Crony Capitalism & Corporatocracy
• Big Government
• The Huxley - Orwell Transition
CRUMBLING BARRIERS
• The Great Huxley-Orwell Transition
• From Manipulative to Repressive
ROADBLOCKS
• Financial Security through Sound Money REMOVED
• Reduced Personal Freedoms through a Crisis PENDING
• Reduced Personal Security through a Constitutional Crisis FUTURE
DRIVERS
• Globalization & Complexity
o Fragile versus Robust Systems
o Interconnectivity and Counter Party Dependency
• The Productivity Paradox
o Creative Destruction & Job Creation
Let's shift gears and consider what "greases the skids" in enabling this transition in our society to occur.
COLLECTIVISM
In The Road to Serfdom, F.A. Hayek showed how governments, supported by a collectivist mindset, always tend towards totalitarianism. Even the most libertarian government thus far created, the government of the United States, has slipped incrementally towards totalitarianism over the past two centuries. This is because it is an inherent trait of a government.
The degree of socialism in the United States increased substantially after the establishment of the Federal Reserve System (1913) and the measures taken during the Great Depression (1929-46) which it created. Ever since the early 1900's the United States has had a two-party system dominated by 'socialists'. The Republican Party has always advocated conservative socialism. The Democratic Party, which in the 19th century favored libertarianism, advocates social-democratic socialism. So long as people are divided by Left and Right, Democratic and Republican, the US is prone to being influenced by factions who transcend party politics and from behind the scenes could possible exert strong control over the United States. They could do this by maintaining power over public opinion and hence over the course of government. Steadily, the United States has been travelling down the road to totalitarianism, and many people have not noticed, possibly because they are only looking at the position on the Left-Right paradigm.
Upon further analysis, it is clear that Left, Right and Centre, are all forms of socialism. In particular, we may call them "social-democratic socialism" (the Left) and "conservative socialism" (the Right). They are both socialism because they both share the principle that the government should "run" and "mold" society, by using legal force and intervention to transfer property and personal wealth as part of the political scientists' process of 'redistribution of wealth'.
The differences are only in the particular ways the government should run society - the methods it should use, and who, exactly, should be the recipients of government wealth transfers and who should pay. In particular:
• Social democrats tend to prefer heavy taxation, large wealth transfers to the poor, and nationalized industries, and oppose price controls, regulations and behavioral controls.
• Conservatives tend to prefer lower taxation, a smaller welfare state, regulated (cartelized) industries, price controls, product and behavioral controls.
Nolan Charts: Personal Freedom versus Economic Freedom
The modern Republican Party is Center-Right on the Left-Right paradigm. As with the Democratic Party, this obscures the huge range of views Republicans hold on how powerful and how much control the State should be allowed. Their 2008 presidential nominee John McCain, like Barack Obama, strongly favored socialism, though with a Right-wing flavor. Barack Obama (blue circle) and John McCain (red circle) are positioned in the accompanying graphic. Thus, the two main candidates at the 2008 Presidential election represented a false choice - really no choice at all. One candidate, Ron Paul (yellow circle), stood in stark contrast to the candidates, favored by the mainstream media and political establishment. As would be expected, he was neutralized by the mainstream media outlets as a zealot with an unsound political view of America.
THE POLITICAL CONTINUUM
THE EMERGING ROADMAP TO STATISM
Let me now develop and explore the roadmap that outlines the path leading from Policy Failures and Monetary Malpractice, stemming from Unsound Money, to STATISM.
First we will build the outline for the basis of a roadmap on a number of observable continuums.
The more complex that issues become, the more collectivism will dominate and individual needs will be repressed. In turn governments will be forced to be more repressive to maintain control over increasing polarization and diverse views and opinions.
EVOLVING STAGES
When we arrange our various continuums we arrive at the representative grid model shown below.
We will quickly acknowledge it is not ideal, but it allows many concepts currently at play to be shown in relationship to others.
This grid is best described as the social forces at play within Globalization - Financial, Economic and Political.
DRIVER$ - VISIBLE & INVISIBLE
There are both visible and less visible forces at play that are forcing 'greasing' the skids in the movement towards Statism.
The roadmap integrates well into our roadmap from our THESIS 2011: Beggar-Thy-Neighbor / Currency Wars and 2012 Thesis: Financial Repression papers. ()
ORWELL'S 1984 IS HAPPENING
We are one crisis away from a police state. All the powers are in place. Someone will flip the switch. Whether a Cyber Attack, escalating Currency War tensions or a 'terrorist' attack by indebted college youth, it is only a matter of time and circumstance.
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And active-duty military (see: The Oathkeepers).
you guys are crazy.. WHO would be the target? you better go deeper than just naming names since this decayed society has 1000's of Jamie Dimon's waiting to fill his sociopathic shoes
At risk of sounding a bit redundant. In the past 5 years there have been any nummber of legitimate reasons to grab your gun and head to washington. It has not happened it will not happen. Occupy proved it! I had a number of weapons packed in plastic backs when I tipped over my canoe.
But they were not meant to go up against tanks, drones, helicopters, heat seeking missles and body armored thugs that will crush you with delight at a moments notice. They were for the hordes that empty the cities when the food runs out and will rape and pillage like a Mad Max movie.
Does anyone really believe the government is afraid of a patriot with a shotgun and/or deer rifle?
All that is, is a security blanket in the closet that one can fondle while repeating the mantra they won't get me, they won't get me when the truth is everyone sat on their ass fondling there weapons for so long they just went ahead and already got you.
So you got guns. You got the massive amount of ammo needed for a standoff? You got a strategy, you got access to medical care, food and water lines? You ever slept in the mosquito ridden Florida swamps? You got a plan?
Yepper! Im gonna stand in the middle of the road as them there troops and tanks come rumblin down the street and tell em, you can have my gun when you wrap my cold dead fingers from around the barrel. Boom ya, gov'ment has a new gun.
Bravado looks good in print. Difficult in practice, evidenced by the number of pussies who sat at home and cheered the oppressors who violated the constitutional rights of Occupiers. Yeah I know, they were a bunch of scum kid/hippies, by God they needed to have their constitutional rights violated, by God I woulda whooped up on one myself had I had the chance.
You have had many opportunities. But passed on them. Why> Cause engaging would have ended your ass in jail and if your in jail you can not participate in the system, i.e. drink a six pack and watch the football game, pay taxes to the kleptocrats in order to support the system.
Want a test. Live in the streets for about a year without a gun. Then we can talk!
Need around 3% to go 'wolverine' and the statist are completely fucked. A city state like Singapore is controllable. But the USSA is way to big with long supply lines and diverse geography it's an occupiers nightmare. Perhaps you can hold say California but then how to do you secure supply lines in, or the power grid and feed the Zombies within?
I guess they have some 1,000 Operational Plan documents at DHS based on game theory and complex modelling that say it's all manageable with acceptable collateral damage/losses. A bit like the planning for Iraq's reconstruction. Well we all know how that one played out. Still they always fight the last battle and any lesson's will also be next to useless. But who the fuck knows.
So a message to all the useful 'state worshipping' idiots when TSHTF who are reading these posts for the 'Man':
You cunts better pray you got no family cause there will not be enough seats on the exit Chopper from the roof of JP Morgue New York HQ to the secure airport facility and the waiting Gulfstream G5. Jamie Dimon & friends have all those taken and all seats have been pre-paid in Gold.
they'll poison your water... they don't give a shit.. the reptiles hijacking the show don't even give a fuck about this country or any country
they'll chemtrail your farm so bad that Satan will be pissing on it next rainfall
Non argument with that 'dark pool...'
they'll torture your family, relatives.... rape and chop up em up and then hang the peices in the square hoping you will see the consequences of opposing them.
Meanwhile, they will need to protect and provide security for the families of their kill teams that are hunting you down otherwise morale may suffer somewhat. While out on 'patrol' dodgin the IEDs an operation will be run at the 'secure' gated community. Perhaps a food supply and water convoy to one of the 'secure' gated communities will get hit and it will go on and on and on....
One day the protection team will return to discover that their family was hit the same way they have been htting the 'so called' enemy. I am sure many will reflect at that point if they have not done already...
How will it end... no one knows.
your thesis, based on your assumptions, is correct. however, you are forgetting one detail - the bilateral military co-op agreements between usa and canada where usa troops go savage canadian resistance and vice versa. you also fail to account for nato troops coming to usa to savage the local resistance in individual states. the point is, your analysis is simplistic.
That's why we have to go on the offense - search and destroy missions to take out those motherfookers.
We need SAMS to take out those choppers - they are also essential for neighborhood citizens militia for anti-drone neighborhood security defense. I am a former crime watch director of my city - I am ready to accept my commission in the war against tyranny. I have three grown sons who know how to shoot straight - my 10 year old daughter is right behind them.
.
And you have: "how many SAMs?"
I think you are gonna lose.
I am starting to understand how whole families get wiped out at once in Afghanipakistan. Thanks for your post.
The return of the Constitutional State Militia is a great start. This is a great book on the subject...
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sword-Sovereignty-Constitutional-Principles/dp/0967175941
Time to watch V for Vendetta again -and they did it with Guy Fawkes masks - immagine putting 300 million guns into the equation.
thanks Gordon, you can see it being implemented in Europe, US, Australia and even Canada in the last few years. Interesting to have brain dead manikins as the last couple Presidents (W - cocaine, O-pot, add Billy - porn obsessed). Controlling the Media was everything, soon the internet will go down. I had assumed it would take to the 2020's to get implemented, you may be right it's day by day now. Every day less freedom, worse standard of living for the 99%.
You can see how OWS ramped up their timeline, must be afraid of the grass roots coming together and the great awakening. It does come down to the military, that's why foreign troops have been practicing in the US, add blackwater or whatever their name du jour is, and robots, drones, you can see TPTB are taking no chances.
"the internet cannot be turned off." Egypt tried...and "that was the end of the regime"..."just like that." amazing. can we have a covert "police state" working without all of us even knowing it? absolutely. will it in fact actually work? absolutely not. QE is NOT a success...but an admission if ever one was needed of failure. i say "good luck running all that police state stuff" with that program "going on for time period 'unlimited.'" if the war machine is your irresistible force...clearly QE is your immoveable object. the folks who wrote the Constitution abided by its strictures...as well as most after it...for GOOD reason: "far easier way to run your so called Empire" when it's an "Empire of Liberty." my view is that the State spends the bulk of it's time fighting itself...not fighting its people. now that we all know the answer to the question "who's minding the store while the store keep is out" (no one)...well, "conjure me a great economic recovery Great Wizard." the irony of course is such a thing as seems more than just possible but quite plausible actually. "yet another thing going against the recovery from happening"? i really would like to say no to that...i really would. this is as close as i can come to it though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PXC574lzHA could be...nay...SHOULD be worse actually.
I sure hope you are right. One thing for sure, the feds are preping at warp speed for major problems soon, basically treating the US as a foreign nation needing to be dominated and occupied. They see something in the planning scenarios. I do feel it comes down to OWS and the tapping into the frustration of the young (especially the men) that scares them.
So many young men cannot get work, the good jobs we took for granted of the post office, entry level city/county/state jobs for someone only having a high school education are not there anymore. College grads overwhelming cannot get entry level jobs.
Add in the incredible growth of the underclass 100% dependent on the Government ( 48 million on foodstamps, 58 million on medicaid, 9 million on disability etc) is very unstable.
The tipping point for unrest for most nations is around 40% of income spent on food, maybe that is what the Fed's are afraid of.
It is amazing how fast things changed, patriot act, NDAA, militarization of police forces, war games in metro areas, military checkpoints being tested.
I second this thought,
"the internet can not be turned off"
It is too late now, it can not be stopped. It's impossible. If the governemnt took it down, Overnight, interconnected ad-hoc wireless networks would take it's place, using enhanced fidonet addressing schemes. There are people actually already planning for such an event. There would need to be a jamming truck every city block to stop this.
And such 'jamming trucks' would be targets... yet another asset to protect. Then those protecting this stationary asset would be come targets.. and on and on and on. Iraq will be reflected on has the easy days!
Maybe I'm missing something but I have a hard time keeping my internet up at my home and I'm paying for it. What stops them from just turning the cell towers off? The Chinese have been working at hacking all of our infrastructure for years now. The internet is just one more part of a fragile network of food, fuel, water, electricity and countless other vital components. We have put our berries in a vise and are just waiting for them to turn the screw. Individual actions will label us as common criminals, while organized resistance will be a national security threat. At this point any direction we take will be painfull.
@ Oldwood:
Why worry about the commercial infrastructure?
Are you familiar with the term Freenet?
Most of us have a stash of so-called 'obsolete' hardware laying around- old computers, WiFi routers and whatnot.. put them to use. Networking ain't too difficult... a couple of Linux CD's, some old hardware, a solar panel or two, a bit of setup time, some face time convincing your neighbors to get onboard...where there's a will, there's a way.
or you can just go talk to your neighbors like it is the 70's again
"You can see how OWS ramped up their timeline,"
I'd have to point out that tipping points are often sooner than otherwise figured. Reason being is that events speed up as more and more people see "it" coming. While one could argue whether a stampede occurring sooner rather than later is good, the reality is that the stampede WILL happen.
Somethings wrong with me.... I agree with Gordon Long. We have a totaliarian, statist future. So does Europe, etc.. All possible1984 style futures seem to be self distructive in the long run. I would have preferred the 'brave new world' theme over this. At least the plot 'Alphas' are permitted a future in that dystopia....
i don't think they will take the internet down. they took it down in egypt and everyone rushed into the streets.
They have it wired for sound, why would they take it down? They'll use it to target the leaders.
agreed.
Although I agree with you, Fonz, even if they did take it down, P2P nets would spring up in its place. Think pre-www BBS's except mobile, more plentiful, and with much greater storage capacity and rebuilding anew.
Ah, early 90's BBS's...to be 7 again...
why is everyone so worried about preserving the internet for the revolution? like 1776 had to have connected iPads to win the war
would they take the easiest ball and chain away?? free internet porn
OK so its time once again for a wag-the-dog event like a domestic falseflag [911 part deux], or a bank holiday, or both, another artificial "natural disaster" like a huge CA quake, or any bullshit excuse israel can drum up to attack syria then iran and drag us all into a very genocidal WWIII. But we are already in a police state; again anyone not realizing this just didnt get the memo.
Critical dates imho are 3-20 through 3-22, otherwise 4-20 [long live jacques dimolay] through 5-1 [beltane]. "its the most satanic time of the year..." [sung by sinatra].
ALL BY DESIGN.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR6YTuKiW5s
I was looking at a photo of these guys in full combat gear with assault rifles piling out of an APC...
I thought the photo was taken in Afghanistan or Iraq.
It wasn't, it was taken in LA. when you can no longer tell the difference between the military fighting oversees and the cops in your neighborhood then the police state isn't coming...
It's already here.
how many homes in the US have weapons? No way they have enough troops to enact a true police state. if there is an event that triggers chaos they will just let us tear each other apart and then pick up the pieces, if there are any.
Police states go bankrupt. Celine's First Law.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celine's_laws
thanks for the reply's 1C3
This is one playbook i have not studied well enough. so tell me what you see down the road?
Seems that I would be the one you'd want to consult...
BAD SYSTEMS FAIL, therefore, this is all coming down.
Our "virtual" world is collapsing- this shouldn't be a surprise. The ONLY thing to do from here on out is focus on the "physical" world (all else will fade in time).
i am pretty certain you are right. so back to a barter economy? a true reset? Or dystopian nightmare?
(I replied to your earlier comment but it showed up here ^, if the placement appears strange.)
Hey Fonz - I absolutely love reading the regulars here on ZH because they concretely confirm and detail a lot of shit that I've suspected intuitively, but I'm still just a kid, man. Like in Aziz's cohort.
All this spending is unsustainable. A lot of people think the .gov is going to throw the FED under the bus but I think it'll go the other way around. FED raises rates and USgov succumbs, perhaps liquidates a bunch of their shit. US splits into a bunch of countries, Soviet-style but the FED hangs around, unfortunately. This is based on nothing but intuition, though, the exact same intuition that led me as a teenager in the 00's to look around the faux-middle-class neighborhoods and suspect that housing would go tits up.
I try to add value here, but call my ass out on shit that's wrong, please. I'm here to learn.
it's a solid theory. push comes to shove and the fed starts hiking rates. bond crisis leads to currency crisis and thats when the real spending cuts get put on the table. massive massive across the board cuts have to be enacted etc. etc. to save the dollar.
I think it's possible. the dismantling of the ratings agencies seem to point away from that though. Everyone seems to be convinced an "event" is almost upon us. a cyber attack, a false flag attack etc. Maybe that is true. maybe it's wishful thinking by a group of people on here (me included) who need that thing to happen to validate our beliefs, because otherwise we seem to all be slowly going insane.
Haha, as long as you keep your sights set on those things you love in life -- and I'm not talking romantic, mushy shit -- I'm talking those things that inspire you to put your time and energy into in order to help them grow, and leave your mark on them, as long as you have that then you will never go insane.
I'm expecting some event soon as well. I've quietly followed ekm's comments recently. He thinks the time is damn near here. Who knows? But I pay attention to stuff like that, he's done mountains of research. I'm definitely onboard with LawsofPhysics when it comes to supply chains seizing up. I am absolutely convinced that there will be a bigtime shipping problem. I don't necessarily think the electrical grid will go down, at least not everywhere, but shit will get real local real fast. Know your neighbors. You're from NYC, correct? I'm in down-down-downstate IL.
I appreciate everyone's thoughtfulness on this forum, and certainly everyone here, including the contrarians-to-us-contrarians, have the wits about them to pull through regardless of what transpires. Trust your instincts and stay realistic but positive.
1C3-N1N3: Good for you young fella (I assume?). Glad to see some kids are waking up as most I have contact with are verging on full-retard.
You will also find useful conflicting arguments on this site. Make you think and question even if you do not agreed.
Group Think is the last thing we need here... Read Cognitive Dissonance's essay's of you have not already.
Rogue...
Yeah, I'm a milennial. But I know how to talk to other milennials. It is a loveless generation. They substitute amusement for love, nearly uniformly, and especially in the big cities. The only way to get through to them is to pique their curiosity.
I keep reading here on ZH that it's so hard to get the message out to people and everyone thinks we're crazy when we talk about important shit. I posted yesterday, buried deep in a thread, that I've actually had success with this. Including with young Obama voters, some of whom now visit ZH on at least a part-time basis.
I suspect the problems that ZHers run into is that 1) they explain too much off the bat and lose the listener, coming off as a raving preacher type, and 2) their body language likely sucks.
I give it to folks one line at a time, and no more. If someone is talking about "their money" and if I'm already involved in the conversation, I'll throw in: "The dollar ain't money." And just leave it at that. Of course people become curious and wanna know why the hell I said that, and I'll give them another single line: "It's currency, there's a difference." And so on. Never the whole story. Just what they wanna talk about at that moment, and they may come back later to ask more.
The idea is to make it THEIR idea to continue talking about it. And THEY have to arrive at the proper conclusions under their own power, because otherwise they'll just see it as YOUR conclusion which is much easier to reject. Between that and showing them what love really means, I've managed to get a few of the younger sheeple to at least stir around in their sleep.
Keep it up brother... one person at a time. Agree, never preach and let them discover each stage of this journey because the last thing anyone wants to hear is "I'm right and your a moron" so your point above is an accurate one. It is a long and painful journey for anyone (ask yourself this same question) to go through and each will go through a grief cycle in a different way. This will totally fuck up everything they thought was the truth, their reality and that they believed in.
Remember everyone suffers from Cognitive Dissonance. For some, even after much effort, it will be too painful a realisation to bear so just move on they are a lost cause.
Absolutely. Agree 100% man. I was raised by hardline liberal parents and it was a long, unsteady, even non-linear process to get to my current level of understanding (which still has a long way to go, most commenters here are light-years ahead of me, and the ingenious Tylers are light-years beyond).
But yeah, the underlying point is you can't just take someone who's still in the Matrix and show them a conclusion. It is a LONG process from passive entertainment-seeking to active value-creation, which, in the end, is all it is: a transition from passive fear to active love in whatever forms they take. An honest individual with the right info, in small doses and sans opinions, can take the right steps on their own and figure it out.
Keep on keepin' on.
Good work man. I use a similar approach to one you described over the past few posts...Very happy to see knowledgeable individuals trying new methods of waking up the sheep. Good luck, and carry on.
1C3 - It's so refreshing to see a youngin with his head on the outside of his rectum. I think you're exactly right about everything going local real quick. I'm making a concerted effort to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of my neighbors. The neighbor to the right knows a ton about gardening and crop zones; the guy across the street is a great mechanic, and so on. We've talked a bit about prepping without them thinking that I'm paranoid every minute of the day. I think we'll be ok.
I think the days of going to the store and choosing from 47 kinds of cereal will be gone for awhile and we'll be happy with our rolled oats and powdered milk while the country resets.
You're right about the ZH comment group. There are some smart mofo's in here. I skim the articles and look forward to the comments.
All the best to you.
Well said 'Meat Hammer'....
Thanks a lot, man.
I'll be straight-up here: most of the time, I'm broke (not living with my folks btw). I jump from temp-job to temp-job (many of which are "non-employee compensation" which comes with a 1099 instead of a W-2) but what I lack in gold and silver (I DO own a wee bit of silver bought at ~$30), I'm confident I have the able-bodiedness and a decent skillset to make up for it. My love of life and value creation will carry me through whatever's coming to us, even if this country can't afford another ounce of value. I'll make it work. I have a binder full of business plans that I'll act on once I save up the necessary cash.
I'm no Hedgeless_Horseman on the food front but I'll be planting a few things and I also brew my own beer. This small town is surrounded by farmland and full of friendly folks, so I'm feeling alright with the situation here.
Cheers, bud!
Glad you're still here because I wanted to piggyback what you said about not telling people what to think but helping them find their own conclusions. My profession is sales and if there's anything I've learned it's 1.) Every type of interaction where you're trying to influence someone is, in essence, sales, and 2.) The best salespeople ask open-ended questions designed to guide the prospect to arrive at the desired destination. For example, if I want to convey to my customer that my product is superior to what he's currently using and he tells me that it's too expensive, I'll ask him why he thinks we charge more for our product or what he thinks my competitor has to sacrifice (service, warranty, quality) in order to be profitable at a lower price. He eventually gets to the destination I wanted and he feels better about buying from me because I led him to believe it was all his idea.
I've found this is the most effective way to deal with people who are stuck in the big-government matrix. When they talk about how great Bernanke is, I'll ask questions like, What is money? or, If production is 90% less labor-intensive now vs 100 years ago, why does everything cost 10,000% more? You get the idea.
In Rich Dad Poor Dad, Kiyosaki details a discussion he had with a talented writer during which he advised her that if she wanted to be a successful author, she should learn sales. She was offended and refused and her writing career never went anywhere. She just couldn't understand that a great product, or in our case knowledge and truth, doesn't just sell itself.
I don't want to sound preachy and I definitely don't hold a candle to some of the brain power on this site, but I know sales and if you're trying to get people to really listen and change the way they think, read a sales book or two. Maybe it'll help you become the next Sierra Nevada Brewing Company with that homemade beer, too.
I agree with you that persuasion boils down to sales skills.
But you have to be careful about what it is that you're selling. Is your product better suited toward "Here, go amuse yourself with this" (which results in no net gain for the world), or is it geared toward, "Here, go do or make something useful with this"?
I'm peddling the latter, all the way.
And it all boils down to consumption (based on fear or apathy) vs. production (based on love). This world needs more love, badly.
And before anyone pipes up that my red ale (some have told me it's _the_best_beer_ they've ever had) is strictly consumption-oriented, I've had some of my greatest epiphanies and inspirations after a coupla pints myself. There's value there.
BTW, I'd much rather spend my Friday night having real conversation on ZH than blowing my fiat at the corner bar over stupid shit that doesn't matter. (Although, if I have a band playing gigs, I will show up to the bar, of course! And that's a far better way of acquainting oneself with the locals...)
Hope to see you around soon 1C3. What is being kicked around in this thread is where the conversation has really shifted amongst many ZH regulars. Evidenced by the volume of comments.
I'm screwed. I couldn't sell a tax increase to Barack Obama.
It's no measure of sanity, to be well adjusted to a sick society Fonz, so I think I'll stay insane for a bit yet.
Our government will not win anything over it's people, no matter how many weapons they have and we do not, simply because they have nothing, without us. They may although, create a situation where other countries, who do have plenty without us, can do us great harm, that's a concern for me personally.
I'm thinking more Orwell's Animal Farm... Napoleon the pig = Ben Bernanke? (or insert your man behind the curtain de jour)
In these days Napoleon rarely appeared in public, but spent all his time in the farmhouse, which was guarded at each door by fierce-looking dogs. When he did emerge, it was in a ceremonial manner, with an escort of six dogs who closely surrounded him and growled if anyone came too near.
ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL - BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.
There is a raft of good literature that has told us over and over about ourselves. Too bad that the most valuable ones point out our human arrogance. The reading that is conveniently forgotten... Hubris will do us in.
+1 Great point. Breaking down that ego is essential in naturally growing and coexisting.
"If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face...forever." - George Orwell
Now if only someone could convey this as a pictograph it would fit right in with the article. Maybe it could include a bottle of Soma somwhere.
The "boot" wants this to be "forever," but that is NOT possible given that BAD SYSTEMS FAIL (and change is constant).
Agreed. But, the boot isn't really on our heads yet. Desperate governments will do desperate things in order to attempt to stay in power.
When all else fails insert more fucking charts to confuse and complicate a relatively simple concept, which is.....
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to (and eventually will) take away everything you have.
+ a passel. The whole enchilada in that second line there!
Need a dollup of Atlas Shrugged for flavor.
And this is why any govt that can "protect" you can also kill you. Those of the small-govt mind that also wish to have their property rights maintained by a small-govt are wanting their cake to eat. I would wish it weren't so, but that's the reality/fact. By pushing for "small govt" it only means that we'll have to go through yet another cycle that leads to where we are now (and, unfortunately, people will fall for the same mistake again).
I govern myself. I protect myself. I bake my cake myself............
I will be what I will to be.
Plato figured that one out a LOOOOONG time ago. The more things change, the more they stay the same....
.
Those of the small-govt mind that also wish to have their property rights maintained by a small-govt are wanting their cake to eat.
Indeed one can only halve one's cake and eat it, too.
Well, I suppose that "halving" is one way to preserve the cake...
Perhaps I could have used a better phrase, such as: "having a small govt is like being just a little pregnant."
Thanks for the memories of Political Philosophy class in college.
The downward spiral was apparent in 1996, the socialists took over Wall Street completely in the 1990s pushing through a centrally planned corporatist structure with the goal of creating an economy fully dependent on the central government for its continued existence.
They needed to systematically destroy the economic prosperity of the individual and the business model of the private corporation. IPO mania and the subsequent boom of nobodies to billionaires, based on nothing but stock value, destroyed the notion of prosperity through hard work. The path to wealth was now the pump and dump. For twenty years corporations went public, attained billion dollar valuations without profit or even a business plan, and allowed corporate insiders to cash out with a cash hoard that would be the envy of every criminal on Earth. Legalized theft using leveraged worthless junk.
We even coined a new term, Serial Entrepreneur. An executive skilled in the pump and dump art. It didn't matter if he ran ten corporations that went public, attained a massive valuation, and then went bust with hundred million dollar debt loads in the span of just a few years. HE'S A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN AND YOU'VE GOT TO GET HIM TO RUN YOUR COMPANY. Not because he actually knows anything about business or turning a profit, but that he knows how to take your company public and make the executives rich.
Just rebrand your shitty manufacturing company using a catchy tech name, claim you are going social and hire a few UX designers. What the fuck is UX you say, well you don't need to know, hell they don't even know what their job actually is. Just that they get paid a lot of money because they have a degree in USER EXPERIENCE. They do make pretty charts that are absolutely useless outside a corporate meeting room, your team of designers and engineers already do that stuff anyway, BUT THEY DON'T HAVE VENTURE CAPITAL STREET CRED LIKE A SENIOR UX DESIGNER, OOOOOHHHHHH FANCY!!!!!
So now go and register a booth at the Austin Texas SXSW Interactive Expo. A week of panelists from tech firms talking about how the future will be interactive, yeah no shit. Listen to things like "content strategy" from twenty year olds that have never sold a real product in their life. Don't worry, Mr. Serial Entrepreneur has a plan. See that guy he's talking to. He's the fuckin man, Angel investor Extraordinaire, he's got Larry Page on his speed dial man.
So he's back and says, "Ok I've got you $250 million, all we need to do is sit tight, update your webpage with new logos and all kinds of other shit. We've got Goldman Sachs on board to underwrite the IPO, thinking next May or June. Just order a ton of equipment and lease a new building. Make it look good." He tells you later that he thinks you'll go out with a $350 million valuation. Post lockout you should be able to sell at least $25 million worth of shares. If you play it right you might even make $100 million by the time its all over.
Cut to a few years later. Your company is dead and Mr. Serial Entrepreneur is long gone. You did remember to sell off all your stock right? Yeah every employee you had is gone. Hopefully you're not being investigated by the government for the job your CFO did when Mr. Serial Entrepreneur brought him in. But who cares, you got rich. ISN'T THAT THE GOAL???
lol anyone who doesn't +1 this hasn't been working in tech the last 20 years... bravo, again +1
Ah yes, Austin....one of the liberal shitholes Texas needs to exorcise.
Agreed... plus 1000.
However, what did Kyle Bass say yesterday ___________ memory is 2 years ;)
+1 because it's so timeless.
Sounds like John Law. Only Austin and Cupertino weren't open in 1714, so he went to France. At the time he might have been called a cutting edge Serial Entrepreneur. Hard to know.
So wait, you think that the rush to IPO's during one of the biggest bull markets in the 20th century was a conspiracy? Wouldn't it be simpler to surmise that people love money and IPO's are a goldmine in market with irrationally exuberant participants?
Ever think that all this is pretty much an automatic response ([d]evolution) to perpetual growth on a finite planet? This very notion bred perpetual growth in "wealth" (ever-increasing interest rewards/payments).
All wars are about resources. Civilizations collapse when they cannot obtain enough resources to maintain their levels. The means of war are greater than ever. Resource shortages are looming large.
As scale increased margins squeezed (in order to make greater volume it's necessary to drive down costs so that more and more people can purchase products/services): only a handful of high-volume producers can operate. Actual "real" (physical) things became incapable of producing the returns necessary to keep stocking the Ponzi. Enter all the financial gimmickry. And it was the financial sector that leveraged tech more than anyone else (which is why tech got stoked). And now we're starting to see a reversal of "economies of scale"- it's going to get VERY ugly.
I know that it doesn't sound as glamorous, as flag-rallying as "the socialists did it," but the truth is, it was the fundamental design of perpetual growth that did us in. If you/we don't get THIS then we're only doomed to rewind this same tape and play the fucker once again (only the terms/words will be all changed to such an extent that it'll be near impossible to unravel this lesson for folks in the future).
Although I wouldn't say you're wrong, I also wouldn't use your exact language. Wars are over resources; no doubt. But why can some groups of people share scare resources efficiently, and some can't?
The answer isn't blowing in the wind.
I have my answer, but I'd like to hear yours...
Finally, some honest investigation from someone :-)
"But why can some groups of people share scare resources efficiently, and some can't?"
I'd have to have you first demonstrate an example of this, but I'll just utilize a general reply (everything depends- it's all situational).
"Scarcity" is a matter of recognition. Something can be scarce and still be plentiful enough to provide for existing needs. There can be scarcity in nature but not (yet) scarcity in utility to humans. Although some wars could be preemptive of scarcity (anticipating future scarcity), let's just operate as though there has been no awareness of scarcity until the moment that it occurs (mass awareness)... It is the "occurrence" part that's the key. Human nature is such that most do not wish to confront less-than-favorable things unless it's staring them in the face, unless it's THERE- it is occurring.
I would argue that in most cases of people "sharing" scarce resources the people are not yet hampered to any significant degree over the scarcity, but that when true scarcity does occur, should there be a major shift in their ability to conduct their affairs (live) due to something being made more scarce, then people would tend to appear to be a little less sharing.
I contend that it is ALWAYS predestined that reliance upon something scarce will ultimately lead to (as long as the dependency/reliance continues to accepted) increased friction. And the greater the mass involvement the greater the levels of friction can/will be.
You qualify using the word "efficiently." Without an example it's hard for me to reply to this. However, I do no view "efficiency" in the same way that most do: I tend to agree with Jevons Paradox.
If I don't post a follow-up to any reply that you make it's not that I'm ignoring you, it's just that it's kind of hard to hold on to these threads (and I've got things to do). I REALLY would like this subject discussed more (even should it prove my position incorrect).
Is just human nature Nimby. All a matter of perspective and timing.
From time to time I stop by and read Hypertiger's blog. The latest post has a very interesting conversation in the comments section about this. Takes the conversation right into physics (entropy).
We repeat history in cycles because the passions of men never change. This particular cycle is dangerous because we managed to take technology to such an extreme level. We found cheap energy. And the result was a population explosion that looks on a chart more like bacterial growth in a petri dish.
I once read a theory that maybe the reason we don't see the universe just teeming with intelligent life is that most civilizations don't live past thier technological adolescence. Is not hard to imagine how we can fail from here, is it? Yikes. Which is why I laugh that if we actually built the Death Star, it would be the smartest thing we ever did. Stephen Hawkins agrees (sort of) in terms of our needing to get off this planet in order to survive.
@adr The best comment I've read this year on ipos.
There's a chapter in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where Ford, Arthur, and Co. eat at a restaurant and the waiter shows them a cow that has been genetically engineered in such a way that it wants to be eaten. And that's where the sheeple are headed.
Wow! Eventually, yes - so long as everyone else is doing it.
What bullshit. Matt Lauer would've said something.
When growth cycles need to triumph returns, despotism accelerates. ;>)
Bullshit, the premise may be somehwat accurate but somewhere in that mess of an article you managed to lose yourself in your own hubris. Multiples fallacies and mischaracterizations. You appear to be promoting Marxism and Socialism in general with this article.
Really wish all of the Durdens were at least rationally consistent.
Please share your views on the inconsistent hypothesis amongst Tyler’s.. waiting with baited breath!
It isn't a Tyler article, wish people would read.
Cock blocking NidStyles won’t help on this site. Answer the above question.
Superfluous man.
Close, but no cigar. Brave New World is the third book of the trilogy. Atlas Shrugged is the first, and 1984 is the second.
Right now Atlas is beginning to shrug, and we are standing on the precipice of an Orwellian nightmare. Huxley outlined a world where the supremacy of the state didn't need to come from coersion, but rather was welcomed with open arms by the people. There was no need for Two Minutes Hate. Sex need not be repressed, either. So long as there is plenty of soma to go around, everyone is cool. Thank Ford!
BNW highlights a world where the state rules supreme. In 1984 the state isn't supreme; hence the need for the Ministry of Truth, et al.
I hope Bernanke starting printing soma soon!
For Mr. Long's reading list...the Book of Revelation. BTW....Obama is a Marxist.
Bring up the Military Defense Authorization Act (MDAA) and you will get the "glazed eyes" look 90% of the time.
The MDAA authorizes a military committee to detain anyone suspected of terrorism and to hold them indefinitely without bringing them to a judge and charged with a crime and without access to a lawyer.
That is, no "habeas corpus", the most basic US citizen right.
What good is the Right of Free Speech if you can be arrested at the will of the Military?
So this Constitutional Scholar, Obama, pledges to close down Guantanamo and instead he turns the United States into Guantanamo.
And do you hear any Liberal complain about it?
Fuck all of you.
Surely they would never arrest you unless you were a "bad man", right? I mean really, you would have had to have done or said something really bad about Obama before they would co
I've been around long enough to remember this basic argument given by those on the RIGHT.
The problem I see is with people continuing to play political football.
I’ve been around a long time as well. Does your statement indicate Lucy grasps the football for Charlie Brown to kick? Or does Lucy decide to remain at home to collect public benefits by refusing to teach Charlie Brown on how to make a field goal? What side of this political augment are you on?
I don't play. PERIOD.
It's a suckers game. I have more pressing things to do than to play politics. There are NO answers here, only means for division (and confusion- all set with the purpose by TPTB [who set the playing field that allows only the two ideological teams to play]).
I respect your answer. However, get your head out of the sand. They are elected public servants, not God’s. If your employee is under performing, do you sack or reward them? Think about that for a moment. These nitwits work for you. Time for you to play ball. Just advice.
They got a lotta arresting to do then.
NDAA...
It is the centralization of power that is the culprit here. It matters not what the ideology is, it only matters if it is allow to grow to a critical mass. Once the explosion in growth that this critical mass detonates is underway there is no stopping it. In history we have seen this happen many times. The thing that makes it different, or worse I should say this time is the scale and the technological tools at hand. We are now seeing virtually the whole world at the precipice, simultaneously at the point of large scale military conflicts in multiple parts of the world as well as full blown worldwide bankruptcy. This combined with the technology used in weapons as well as communication and general computing sets the stage for something never before seen. Huxley and Orwell have it right, but it still requires the majority of us to be complicit, and the very technology that may well be used to enslave us could yet save us, but we must not fear speaking out. Yes, we will be labeled as crazy but more importantly dangerous. We are dangerous and crazy. That is our weapon. While we can analyze all of this in the most pragmatic methods, ultimately it will be our willingness to fail, to look mad and maybe worse that holds the only chance of preventing something that could result in many generations of hell existing on this planet. May we all fare better than Winston.
The ONLY thing I'd change is to change "centralized power" to "concentrated power." The word "centralized" seems to be a Pavlovian bell for the anti-commie folks (who, while staring in one direction will end up getting blindsided from the other).
I think your political sensibilities are showing. Centralization IS concentration of power. You cannot centralize it without it being concentrated. This isn’t an issue of semantics. Concentration or centralization, when it gains enough power and dominance it is corrupt. Your liberal bias leads you to believe that you can have a centrally controlled society without corruption. This is what I am trying to point out. Most governments that have come to this end have done so with the support of their people, each and all in the full belief in their cause, only to have it end in the same way. Don’t believe this time will be different. Its people, not their ideology. Unfortunately, some ideologies just get us there more efficiently than others.
"I think your political sensibilities are showing."
Well, if you're looking to pick a fight...
No, I have NO political sensibilities at all. BECAUSE I don't do politics.
Concentration means having an increased density. This has nothing to do with "politics," it's physics (laws which control the universe).
Centralization means focus. It doesn't necessarily mean concentration, not as I see it having to do with power.
"Most governments that have come to this end have done so with the support of their people,"
How could they not?
"Your liberal bias leads you to believe that you can have a centrally controlled society without corruption."
And I said this where? Go ahead, feel free to review the many years that I've been posting where I've EVER said anything even remotely close to this?
It appears to me that it is a liberal bias that seeks to define concentration as something different to centralization, even by your own definition. You obviously hold the concept of centralization as an ideal or potential solution, when I do not. I see it as the means to an end, an end that never ends well. I’m not trying to pick a fight, just point out what I see as obvious. Sorry you find such insult in my observations. I wasn’t trying to cast insult on your parentage or anything. If we are not willing to figure out what the problem is or who the enemy is then where is the fight?
Don’t worry folks. Paul Krugman is a rampant psychopath declaring a new sequel of a War of the Worlds crisis.
Paul Krugman: An Alien Invasion Could Fix the Economy
BOO..
The Drones will be guided out of Israel over our soil. No kidding. E=MC squared and CIRCO., search those companies and what they do. There is no security anywhere private anymore. EMC Corp is partnered with DARPA.
Huge info grab and psy op going on right now. ACD in practice. Then look up what APT can do to your privacy under S-21.
Search how many dual citizens are your Represenatives on the Hill. There is your answer.
And no, Cass Sustine "NUDGE" didn't work, were not buying the BS anymore. Get ready for the "chip" http://www.biometrics.dod.mil/About/LeaderShip/Salo.aspx It's on page 1001 in the Obama Health Care Bill.
And this is EXACTLY why the wrong question has been asked of the US govt- whether it, the US govt, would spy or run drones over our heads (or <fill in the blank>). The CORRECT question would be whether the US govt would ALLOW/SANCTION these things to happen. I do believe that there's a loop-hole such that the US govt could use data collected from foreign operators: while it's not legal for foreign operators to spy ON the US govt on US soil, I suspect that there's no such penalty should a foreign operator spy FOR the US govt on US soil- technically it's not the US govt doing it...).
Bingo my man! Totally controlled offshore. Foreign entities shooting American citizens in the name of National Security. Search: DAA/EuroControl drone aircraft and where they operate from. Owned by Dirk Duytschaver from the IDF Mossad Military.. And ironically, he is tied into Sandy Hook. I can answer that at another time.
"The Drones will be guided out of Israel over our soil."
Bing-badda-bang!
Here's a drone that sees and no tells. Why?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT9FxR5c1A4
Could this be a vision of what's to come?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ2VXJpQ2Uw
They're Gonna Have To Reverse Split The VIX http://chartistfriendfrompittsburgh.blogspot.com/2013/03/theyre-gonna-have-to-reverse-split-vix.html
Kyle Bass' presentation on Japan might argue against this 'inevitable' outcome. A modern government is enormously expensive to run. It pays its employees well and it requires the latest and best creations of the private sector. However, in order to maintain its authority and legitimacy, it consumes an ever greater share of the resources of the nation, in particular, it creates entitlement and transfer programs. This is fine as long as the economy continues to grow but not so good when growth falters and revenues shrink. It then turns to debt to finance itself but this too has an upper limit. When government reaches its upper revenue bound it cannot continue to pay its subalterns and the parasite class. It has to do a Greece or Spain and it loses legitimacy AND power. Cutting the pay of the FBI by 15 or 20% or cashiering half the flag officers at the Pentagon is not going to 'strengthen' the organs of state control but cutting entitlements and transfer payments is even worse as it leads to civil unrest at the very moment the state is weakened.
Nice to see others break it all down logically. Good job!
Darn, I got to this thread way to late. This is the fundamental question that I cannot for the life of me understand why TPTB would get their planning so wrong. Eventually, feeding the Free Shit Army and paying the security apparatus in the style they are acustomed too will at one point not be possible. Either austerity is implemented or inflation gets serious.
So that implies we end up with total war... but against whom? I cannot see folks rolling their sleves up and joining a crusade like WW2 against the Nazi's. That conflict was generally thought to be a 'just war' (no judgement here on my part). However, would the sheeple back total war against say, China, the Norks or the Iranian's for that matter? People are not, in my view, going to volunteer for the new war, while rationing and sacrifice are called for in the homefront. Let alone people signing up for service before they get their draft papers.
Thoughts anyone?
I think you are right. And this is why the US government has used the draft after WWII.
Very well put Sangell. Thank you.
Makes one wonder about who could plan all this so well eh!
I doubt Americans capacity to protest in a serious manner. Most are still economically content enough to stay passive and try and keep their jobs and security. It will take round two of this recession, a round in which massive job losses and a shrinking safety net finally push large numbers into abject poverty. That point would allow for the rise of protest to a level that gets the attention of our corporate elites and the Washington powers that be. It is at that point that we are made aware that Orwelles 1984 and Stalin's Soviet are now the underlying basis for the elite's continued one party rule.
All the legal justifications and all the extra judicial forces are in place, like the patriot act and like the militarization of the cops and the legal bases for the US of regular Amry troops on American soil. Let just one protest movement get really serious, and then the state will expose itself for the horrible power mad killers that they really are. The US elites have had their revolution from above, the bank bailouts prove that. Now that they have won the revolution from above, watch how they smash any threat to it. Do not believe me, believe your eyes when cops and troops smash any serious protest movement on American soil. These folks are not playing games, they have the power, they have the wealth and they ain't giving any of it back.
You might call me paranoid, but I believe I am being realistic based on real evidence of the las t decade. This is not your father's America. You can be renditioned to a secret torture prision on the mere word from president Obama. You will by law be subject to torture and detention for life without legal representation. The patriot act enshrines these powers. Never before has this been true in America. This is a changed nation.
it does come down to whose side is the military on. That is why the white house has the litmus test of ' will you fire on US citizens if ordered'. If not you are removed from your position.
The US military long ago conclusively demonstrated 'which side' they were on, by willingly engaging in the brutal, unjustified, blatently aggressive and unconstitutional invasion of Iraq in 2003, by continuing to occupy Afghanistan TWELVE YEARS after invading it, and by continuing to occupy imperial bases around the world in more than 100 nations, without one single member of the American armed forces (that I have ever heard of, anyway) publicly standing up and refusing their unconstitutional and immoral orders. Where are all the deserters, the military protestors, all those who refused or refuse to violate their military oaths? There appear to be none, and if there are in fact any at all, they are vanishingly few .... and vanished.
I would suggest only that all of this has been think tanked and wargamed to death. Hard for us to see through all the smoke and mirrors though.
What I wonder about is this connectivity between the MIC and government. I can't imagine that somewhere deep inside some basement complex there have not been scenerios run that .gov would be upset to find out about. Is there a point where interests diverge?
I agree with you Jack. We're pretty much fucked unless something occurs to reset the balance. There's always hope.
One should be on the hunt for the Cheney-types who are populating the present government. These conscience-free people will be the progenitors of the public oppression and the hawks of war.
"These folks are not playing games, they have the power, they have the wealth and they ain't giving any of it back."
Well it looks like you nailed it Jack. They are definitely playing for keeps. I am amazed at how quickly this has come about. I'm more amazed how passively people have accepted it. We have a true fascist military dictatorship now. A lot of people seem to have an almost childlike faith that the military leaders will not go along with this...sad! It will be the military who arrest dissidents and fill up the FEMA camps.
You say that, but even in the most gun un-friendly state in the union (NJ) we had 1000 people show up at a rally at the state house in a blizzard and then had 300+ people show up at gun law hearings, packing the rooms, packing the overflow rooms, and standing outside. Hardly a word in the news, even the local news hid this stuff on page 12 or the moral equivalent of the web.
There is far more resistance then you think because it is not being reported to lead you to believe there is no resistance.
Hello Jack, nicely put.
There are more underlying plans that reveal those who have been used to attain these means we see set up and ready to go into motion today. We think back to 1995 when we all saw this document on a early yahoo groups page. It was just hard to believe then, that this all could ever come to pass. We read in this first part:
"3. It must be noted that men with bad instincts are more in number than the good, and therefore the best results in governing them are attained by violence and terrorisation, and not by academic discussions."
Of course, we are referring to the 'for educational purposes only' document, The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.
http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/przion2.htm#PROTOCOL%20No.%201
Many people felt this truth way before 911 and wondered until that tragic day, how this all could come into realization? Wow! Just as perceived. All this "change" is actually truly coming about because of the acts of pre-planned and pre-cognated terrorization by those who profit from the chaos and wars created in the name of the war on terror. This whole basket of pig slop has been watched in disbelief that here was a document with historical background that could accurately describe exactly what was being done. Little wonder those who are behind this want to discredit this document so much. There probably has been no document in history that has been purposely attacked as anti-semitye etc BS by those who wrote it like this one has. It paints the face of guilt BIG AND BOLD on those who try to discredit this so aggressively and makes more obvious WHO is responsible for this document.
There is only one good thing that can be embraced at this point. The nation sees plainly WHO the real enemies of America are. There was a time when the watchmen were few. Now there are many and there is still a chance to save the ship when the hundredth monkey finally wakes and just says NO MORE! No more of this insanity.
very nice graphics, but should include more of a conclusion/recommendation, 10 pages and a short 3 line conclusion. Old news but put in easy to understand that even the ignorant masses could understand, though we are too deep in Huxley's world and they don't read.
Also we cant really end up in an Orwellian system, Orwell neglects one basic fact. that his system is not economically feasible. USSR proved that. There might be brief periods but Americans are to resilient you try to take the guns you would have 1/3 of the population move to Texas and bunker up waiting for the feds to come try to take their guns, if it happens will see you there :)
" you try to take the guns you would have 1/3 of the population move to Texas and bunker up waiting for the feds to come try to take their guns"
You've watched too many John Wayne/Rambo movies.
WACO.
If the PROBLEM is centralization/concentration then the ANSWER ISN'T to do likewise, to pack more of the same in closer proximity.
It's a bad/dumb idea. It's just like packing people into cities, only on a larger scale. And, unlike in most US cities, Texas has one side completely blocked- US/Mexico border (all the "patriots" who helped block that escape route weren't very smart).
Resiliency through diversity. Group-think is dangerous...
Great advice Seer to the bunker/redoubt crowd: I wish more would take heed of this. The 'Alamo' strategy is going to end exactly the same way it did last time. Shit they can just use a drone on you r fortified 'bunker' or if your a bit 'dug in' and prove to be a bit of a tougher nut to crack then TPTB can call in a JDAM or two and your a footnote in history.
If you cannot read 'books' then try the orginal Red Dawn... it's a start.
EDIT: Just imagine the Russkies have 'Blue Helmets' and the Cubans around are dressed in Black TacGear and the movie will work in a todays setting!
jus' keep movin' and keep shootin'
Pause only to restock yer bandoleer.
"Shit they can just use a drone on you r fortified 'bunker' or if your a bit 'dug in' and prove to be a bit of a tougher nut to crack then TPTB can call in a JDAM or two and your a footnote in history."
I happened to be eating breakfast at a Denny's a while back (waiting for my tractor dealer to open up so I could get some parts) and I overhear this conversation in which this older guy was making this point- that military ops are more about this strategy than in simple arms. Heard all sort of interesting talk about ammo and whatnot, clearly some gun folks... AND, the guy who seemed to see lots of things correctly, well, he had his back to the door! Anyway, I was kind of smiling because I know about all these things (and these folks probably thought they are special, they're extra "smart"), and to hear it from folks like this, and at a Denny's (which wasn't in my small hick-town, but in a larger city).
I'm there. Waco was a political statement. So was Ruby Ridge. Easy PR tools. "Get ABC out here, pronto!"
Potential examples like that will be in high demand by authority in a breakdown. Bunkers are fixed targets. Roving splintered dissentors are an offensive force's worst nightmare. That's why terrorism is so feared by statists.
Case in point, a < $3,000,000 offensive attack carried out by what ever bugaboo's suit your fancy, has managed to bring down (financially) the worlds last remaining superpower. And we are still chasing Yak Herders around the hills of Afghanistan to the tune of how many billions a year, 11 years later. Oh, that was the same theater of operations the previous superpower was defeated in, as well.
Reason I knew that is, my friend on an outpost in Kandahar was resupplied by a Russian contractor chopper and pilot. He was invited to lunch. His classic statement was, "So, who are you guys going to resupply here, the Chinese?"
So, am I on the shit list now too?
There are several reasons why I live out in the country...
What did the Wicked Witch of the West say again? Oh yeah: "Poppy's...Poppy's...Poppy's...."
Oh Pleeze...It's 2013 bitchez. We don't be gettin' brought under no thoratarianism and shit.
Racist.
Raycessssssssss!
The historical turning point was 1865.
The all powerful federal government triumphed over the states that created it.
+100
Some dumbasses (US public school educated) still think it was about slavery. I guess that's why they say the winner get's to write the history books...
And sometimes when you think you have it figured out...
Perpetual growth on a finite planet. At what point did This become the mantra? that would be the point at which it was all set to run over the cliff.
The Civil War thing was about powerful, rich, white men controlling the masses. Any different outcome wouldn't have changed This fact. Unless you can show that the "South" was smarter and wouldn't be subjecting or enabling the notion of perpetual growth then I hardly see their position as being "superior" (it would still be FAIL).
NOTE: In NO way do I endorse the "North's" "victory (alongside its intellectual piousness [I utterly detest Hamilton]). And in NO way do I endorse the "South's" notion of slavery (alongside sheer opulence). Both the "North" and the "South" suck(ed). I'll stand with the view that the natives had...
'Tharr 'Tis!
What a pertinent,timely and truthful article.Gordon was 'preaching to the choir' in so far as this reader, but still, I feel compelled to sight him on an exemplary submission (as well for zerohedge for running it).
There was a time, just a few years ago when this site delved more on technical analysis of markets, but of course as we now know, 'markets' are hopelessly rigged to favor the corrupt insiders and the elite few who direct their minions. As such, those who partake of 'markets' are at risk of being cheated at best, or 'trading-with-the-enemy' if taken from a more extreme viewpoint.
I believe Gordon Long is correct in his general assessment in regards to the velvet glove coming off to reveal the iron fist. To all readers out there .... have you prepared yourselves for a police state? Did you note the new development of spy agencies having access to your financial activities. Do you think this will ever be rescinded in your lifetime?
Whether your solution is 'fight or flight', I trust you have put a solution into place by now. Certainly there has been plenty of warning.
We live in interesting times
The future is a boot stomping on a face. Forever.
Gordon, I was with you most of the way through that missive. Didn't really get the Karl Marx reference, but that could just be my bias against fucking communists. You also give the impression that the transition from where we are now to openly repressive totalitarianism is a foregone conclusion. Here's hoping that there are other possible outcomes for this transition period we're in.
Marx predicted the kind of Capitalism we now have - Commoditisation and driving down the Incomes of the population such that they could no longer Consume their output. The increasing concentration of wealth leading to Underconsumption and economic collapse. Funny he forgot to involve The State as the glutton eating everyone's lunch
"Funny he forgot to involve The State as the glutton eating everyone's lunch"
Where was everyone when all was seemingly going so grand?
And then PRIVATE ENTERPRISE, which had lobbied for hiding MANY bad things from us (externalization of costs), blew up. This wasn't the fault of "Govt" as much as it was a joint job.
Human nature. This is what you get when you attempt to promote the utterly insane goal of perpetual growth (on a finite planet). It's concentrated power, not "govt," that is responsible. NOTE: most folks on ZH should know that I am NOT a champion for "small govt," rather, a champion of NO govt; therefore, don't confuse what I'm saying as sticking up for govt- I'm sticking up for logic and facts (ALL "BIG" will end up creating a clusterfuck, it's not the sole domain of "govt" to fuck up).
Out of the mouths of babes....
Of all places, CNN International just conducted a discussion of JPM and the Whale Trade, and CNN Contributing Editor Todd Benjamin told it like it is. Benjamin said "Dimon doesn't feel bad about the loss, nor contrite; he just feels bad because it's a blow to his ego". Benjamin also said, in response to a question about whether anything will come of the hearings, "I'm skeptical, because Washington is powered by money, and the bank lobbyists are major contributors to the Congresspeople who would be the ones to take action." (Both paraphrased). Benjamin also noted the two year salaries of Iksil, Macris and Drew during the time the losses took place (Drew at the top with $22 million).
CNN. I had to check the calendar to make sure it wasn't April 1st.
One has to wonder if these people really think that they will evade justice forever. Idiots, really, as they're helping collapse the only system that could protect them... I shall not shed a tear when I see what happens to the them all (I just hope that it's slow and painful for them, just as it has for most of their victims).
I do hope you are right. Not all of them will get out via Chopper and waiting Gulfstream G5... if any of us survive then those days will be ones to remember and rejoice has those scum are eaten by the masses. Just one surviving smart-phone video would be enough to record such justice in memory to those that have suffered under the yoke of their psychotic tyrrany.
I, for one, would find it deeply ironic if the 'moment of peoples justice' was captured on an iPhone (X?).
I have a friend who is oblivious to all that happens in gov, banks etc. When I try to convey a story, such as MF Global, Corzine, etc, he cuts me off immediately, as he says he'd rather be blissfully ignorant, since there is nothing he can do to effect change.
He did make me feel a little better by sharing a recurring dream he has had several times over the past year. He's on a street corner watching as TSHTF. Mercenaries all running all over the place chasing fat men in suits, & slaying them with extreme prejudice, the people on the street were cheering them on. His sense was that they were probably bankers, or corporate criminals.
Mmmm, and why now?
Need to add Edward Bernays and the Propaganda/Madison Avenue Agit-Prop that moulds public perceptions just as Samsung gets more attention from $5 billion Propaganda Spend over Apple's $2 billion Spend. How much does The System spend on journalists to plant Infomercials and direct. Britain paid the journalist Mussolini in 1914 to advocate Italy joining the war.....just how bought is Media ?
"Media" IS the system.
Bernays was merely the right person at the right time. If not him then it would have been someone else. The "System" needed this part, it has been running along this path for quite some time.
NIN burn lyrics.
I don't believe in your institutions
I did what you wanted me to
Like the cancer in the system
I've got a little surprise for you
Something inside of me, has opened up it's eyes
Why did you put it there? Did you not realize
This thing inside of me, it screams the loudest sound
Sometimes I think I could
Burn
Burn
I look down at where you're standing
Flock of sheep out on display
With all your lives piled up around you
I can take it all away
Something inside of me, has opened up it's eyes
Why did you put it there? Did you not realize
This thing inside of me, it screams the loudest sound
Sometimes I think I could
I'm gonna burn this whole world down
I'm gonna burn this whole world down
I never was a part of you (burn)
I am your savior (burn)
Of your corruption (burn)
I am the angel (burn)
Of your destruction (burn)
I am perversion (burn)
Secret desire (burn)
I am your future (burn)
Swallowed up in fire