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Guest Post: What's Real? What's Fake?
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,
Is the unemployment rate real or fake? It is obviously fake, but we want to believe the fake is real for a variety of reasons.
We like to think we know the difference between what's real and what's fake. When we're fooled by a fake Rolex watch purchased for $20 on some humid Asian street corner, we shrug it off: it's no big deal because the fake isn't harming anyone.
And when it's difficult to discern the fake from the legitimate, as in fine art paintings and financial policy, we rely on experts to differentiate between the two.
But what if the "experts" are as clueless as the rest of us? What if they've been corrupted by easy money to authenticate the fake as legitimate? Consider ObamaCare, an extraordinarily complex policy that "experts" assure us is a phenomenal advancement that is "working well."
But what if ObamaCare is a fake? What if it is really not insurance at all, but a giant skimming machine designed to enrich and solidify the power of the state-cartel that operates the sickcare system?
"Experts" (PhDs and Federal Reserve economists) assure us our financial system is the core engine of "growth" in our economy. But what if this assertion is simply a useful illusion, and the reality is that the U.S. financial system is a giant skimming operation that harvests immense profits off the real economy to the benefit of the few, the financial cartels and their lapdogs in the Central State?
"Experts" in the Federal government assure us the unemployment rate is 7%. But if we include the 91.5 million people of working age who could be working (and would be working in a work-fare economy), then the real unemployment rate is double the official rate: 14% or even higher.
Is the unemployment rate real or fake? It is obviously fake, but we want to believe the fake is real for a variety of reasons.
The 1974 Orson Welles documentary (recommended by correspondent K.K.) F For Fake helps elucidate this peculiar dynamic of human nature.
The master art forger who plays a central role in F For Fake noted (self-servingly, but amusingly so) that his addition of a few fake Modigliani paintings into the world's collections did no damage to Modigliani (long since deceased) or the collectors, who benefited from the opportunity buy a Modigliani masterpiece.
We want to believe the fake unemployment rate of 7% rather than the real rate of 14+% because the officially sanctioned forgery feeds our belief that our bloated, corrupt Empire of Debt is sustainable, fair and working well. To accept that we've been bamboozled, ripped off, taken advantage of and ultimately cheated out of an authentic economy and life by swindlers is too painful.
How is the Federal Reserve's creation of money out of thin air not officially sanctioned forgery, a forgery we accept because we are like the collectors who are willing to buy forgeries as masterpieces, as long as they're good forgeries, rather than forego the joy of owning a masterpiece?
Just as the belief in the provenance of a masterpiece creates its value in the marketplace, so it is with money: if it is created by a central bank and ultimately backed by the State's right to tax its citizenry, we consider it legitimate, even though it is clearly an intrinsically worthless forgery of real value (i.e. gold, silver, land, cans of beans, machine tools, etc.).
And just as the value of a masterpiece is shattered by the loss of faith in its value, so it is with money: should the belief that creates the value fade, so to will the practical utility of the money.
Any doubts about the value of the euro, yuan, yen or dollar are dismissed by the mainstream as the confused ravings of a lunatic fringe, because maintaining the faith in the provenance of paper money is essential to the power created by financial engineering. But it's worth keeping in mind that this belief in the value of money created out of thin air by the conjurer's wand is just that, a belief.
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its all really fake, starting with federal reserve notes.
Don't fake it!
It appears that most Americans view FRNs like big titties. They don't care if they are fake or not, they just want them.
Yep. As fake as them tities.
Pretty sure my stack is real!
“The quickest way to devalue a currency is to stop believing in it.” – Kai, The Hatchet wielding homeless hitchhiker, while on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Government is the real fake. There is no government there is only an armed gang. Do as thou wilt is the whole of the law.
"Do as thou wilt is the whole of the law." ~ "The Satanic Bible", Anton La Vey
The Government is placed in Authority by God Almighty and therefore exists.
The Word of God, Romans 13: 1- 3 states, "13 1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended."
Of course this is an instruction to the Church at Rome about Rome. Yes we are as bad as Rome.
It is my understanding is that it is only when you are ordered to do, compelled to to by coercion, something which is contrary to the Will of God that resistance is justified. This means lying, cheating, stealing, murdering, swindling and other sin, sins which violates conscience.
But my understanding may be mistaken. Yet I do not believe that it is.
So there are Satanists who are celebrating the LIES? They celebrate the LIES of our Government and participate in them. They celebrate the LIE that it is a FAKE. They celebrate the LIES promoted by the Government.
I want to see our Government fail as I want to see the LIES fail. Lies are ANTICHRIST, all LIES. I want to see the Truth reign supreme, as it is the Truth that sets one FREE. I want to see Liberty.
Well IT IS the Season to be Lying...Our Society even LIES about Christmas.
Then a quote from the Satanic Bible is offered and it has numerous Green Arrow approvals?
This is for you...
TIS THE SEASON TO BE LYING
(An Ode To Satan Claus~Sung to the tune of "Deck The Halls")
Tis the season to be lyin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
The Republicans folded and Boehener's cryin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
Obamacare is funded. the economy's crashin'
Fa la la...Fa la la...la la la
Unemployment soars with lots o' hunger happenin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
The threat of Taper's here with the Markets fearin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
It is a lie of course that investors believe in
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
The Fed won't do it as they're led by Yellin
Fa la la...Fa la la...la la la
She sings Satanic rhymes as the Dow is plungin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
This whole season is built on lyin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
Socialism thrives as Capitalism is dyin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
Stores will close as their Balance Sheets are bleedin'
Fa la la...Fa la la...la la la
Few will have while the rest go needin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
There are none so bad as the deservin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
The results of choices which they've been makin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
Laying on their ass while others are workin'
Fa la la...Fa la la...la la la
Watching Miley on TeeVee doing her twerkin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
They lie to their kids as they go on drinkin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
Booze killed their Brains so they do no thinkin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
Dressed up in Red like their master Satan
Fa la la...Fa la la...la la la
They believe a lie is worth celebratin'
Fa la la...la la la...la la la
Fa la la... la la la... la...la...la
Bah Humbug to all...Bah Humbug to all and have a really fucked up Christmas.
Enjoy your Family Fights and all of your deserved disappointment that you did not get what you really wanted.
You deserve it all for celebrating LIES.
Just FYI, you've mis-attributed your "..Do as Thou Wilt.." quote .. it was actually written 65 years earlier.
In 1904 Aleister Crowley (early 20th-century British writer and ceremonial magician) wrote and released "The Book of the Law," a text outlining the principles of Thelema (a primarily philosophical law). Crowley made " Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law " the central tenet of Thelema, an ethical code.
LaVey, whom you quote, simply lifted it from "The Book of the Law," and used it in his own unrelated book that LaVey released in 1969.
The More You Know !!
Well you do use FRN's to buy them. At least until some plastic surgeon accepts Bitcoin. Then they'll be Bit-tities..
Speaking of those, got a couple of the new $100 FRN. I am afraid to present them somewhere. Almost laughable. We are fast approaching Latin America in color and value.
pods
I got one the other day and immediately broke it. Looks like Monopoly money. I heard Canada was going plastic. Fake as fake can get.
I paid for a small purchase with a new C note.
The lady clerk held it up to the light for 30 seconds...
I said "I don't think it buys what it used to, Ben is beating up old Ben pretty good now."
She frowned and gave me change.
I like the way cashiers question the Federal Reserve Notes being handed over to them, but yet, don't seem to bother wondering if the Federal Reserve Notes in the cash drawer they hand back to you as change are counterfeit or not.
Whenever a cashier checks my FRN's I always ask if they bothered checking the one's they're handing back to me as change.
And then when they give me back a frumpy look I always say, don't worry about it they're all counterfeit anyway.
You mean that I am not the only one? I actually describe the process of Bleaching the One Dollar paper as the Government is so nice to provide that paper for you.
Then I ask them if they are sure, are they certain, that I did not use it as Toilet Paper before I handed it to them. (I tell them that I did not but I want that seed of doubt impressed upon them the next time that someone hands them Currency. I want them totally disgusted, lacking in ANY Faith and Confidence in that Currency, any desire for that Currency, whatsoever.
Maybe I will bring my portable Blacklight and Scale, next time, to really be an inconvenience to all of those lined up behind me.
The Currency is a LIE FROM HELL.
Yes, Monopoly money, has a cartoonish look to it, must be some good counterfeiting going on.
I'd bet that will be the stated reason they go all digital; stop the terrorists and drug dealers, even though the TBTF banks are money launderers for them.
Real reason will be to track every last cent for taxation and bail-in's; no mattress money allowed.
I scored some new Cs the other day at the local branch of ShittyBank and the cute Latina teller told me the ink was actually turning her hands blue. Of course I had to say that they weren't dry yet! :-)))))
The Canadian paper cracks me up. It looks like McDonalds bucks.
If you haven't seen this before, here it is:
FRN looks like Monopoly money
http://www.humblelibertarian.com/2011/09/monopoly-money-and-federal-rese...
You know the problem with fake titties?
No, me neither.
The most wondrous part of the tit, the nipple and aeriola, become less sensitive.
That may very well be true, but I suspect that, ultimately, they will still be received with greater acceptability than FRNs, beauty being in the eye of the beholder and all that.
I like where this is going. Two things:
And finally, as I said before... Both the illusion and reality are true, disregard either at your own peril. (Yeah, that's three things, but this is thread is about duality.
This thread is about DUPLICITY.
Duality is a construct of coinherence, where both attributes are shared and equally as valid. Duplicity means that an attribute IS a falsehood, a FUCKING LIE FROM HELL.
A woman who gets a Silicone Beef Up demonstrates a Duplicitous Nature. She loathes her true appearance and desires to promote an inaccurate, a duplicitous, image to the World. She is a narcissist suffering from a low self esteem for which she overcompensates through a mutilation of her body.
That is not attractive. It is REPULSIVE. Those types of women are truly PATHETIC, worthy of PATHOS, worthy of HATRED.
Men whom desire these "Trophies" to announce to the World that they scored such a "prize", will get exactly the "prize" which they deserve. They are "Image Oriented" and not interested in celebrating, or dealing with, anything Truthful. Men like these are to be avoided in Business deals as their word is as meaningless as their Woman's Fake Tits.
Thereis a lot to be written about image. When something appears "Too good to be true" it generally is too good to be true. If it is not true it is a lie. One needs to avoid the dishonest in all Business Dealings as it will be a losing proposition for one in the long run.
So keep on writing and exposing the truth about yourselves so I know whom to avoid.
That should be a crime against women. I can't believe women are trading their flesh and sensation for lifeless rubber. You men should be ashamed of yourselves for wanting this. Only fake women get fake rubber boobs ( with allowances for mastectomies). I'm happy I have a man who loves my natural 36D top even after 30 years of marriage. And I love and celebrate him and his delightful body as well.
Old vs young. Women vs men. The divisions are killing us.
Miffed;-)
That is false, ebworthen. The fakes are indeed a bit plasticene, skin not withstanding, and I don't really like them, overall, but the fact is that the implants generally put considerable backpressure on the "titular" vascular and nerve bundles, compressing them against the skin, and most women describe a resultant increase in sensitivity, which they tend to enjoy.
faking it ....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCbfXDNyycg
Tell me those aren't fake...
You didn't fake that.
Based on your picture it's not the only thing fake
Took a cab this weekend and the driver was listening to NPR
He proceeded to tell me how Obama cut the deficit in half and Obamacare was reducing the cost of healthcare
The last thing he said was America is the richest country on the planet
I told him I hope his fantasy has a happy ending
Talk about propaganda and an ignorant electorate
That's why he is a cabbie.
But he thought he is an intellectual because he is listening to NPR . . .
-30-
thats why he is an illegal immigrant cabbie....
BS Bernanke says, "Fake it 'till you break it!"
shake it, don't break it,
took yo mama 9 months to make it.
I can spot the fakes here.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-03/are-things-falling-apart-us-asia-foreign-policy
I think those are actually real.
pods
Actually, the rounder they are, the more likely hood they're fake.
Unless that sweater had cups that provided the necessary lift and support, they're fake.
Unnatural shapeMost breasts aren't perfect orbs and they usually aren't identical. Be on the lookout for the way they hold in place as she moves around (especially her arms), and how they stay almost the same dimension — instead of flattening out — whether she reaches back or even stretches. Furthermore, when she bends over, you should see them fall if they're real.
Watch out for women wearing a constrictive bra to make them come together. The overall shape will still not look right. With such a bra, you won't be able to notice the outer circles contouring the breasts.
Bubbly lookOn the topic of odd breast shapes, the top of her breasts are bubbled up — just like bubble butts. Fake boobs defy gravity, so they might look like they're bubbling up. Natural breasts follow a more natural sliding curve line from top to bottom.
Overly firmReal breasts are mostly fat, which gives them a jiggle quality; if they look more like solid muscle, you may be in the presence of a pair of fake ones.
If they look like balloons that are about to burst, beware. Real boobs do grow with weight gain, but the skin has time to grow with the fat.
You seem to be a breast man or a plastic surgeon. Thanks for the info.
Can't get enough of that jiggle quality
Thanks for keeping us abreast on this subject, which is a real handfull...
I applaud those ladies that enhance themselves for the enjoyment of mankind.
This post makes me feel funny in my secret place.
Every implant has essentially a perfectly circular cross-section. It is unmistakable, not to mention the scars.
Fake it 'til you make it.
It's officially fake.
This gal wasn't faking...anything.
But this guy was.
(I'll let you figure out how.)
Real tits
Fake tits
"All is fair in love and war."
Modern society is in love with Central Banks.
Central Banks are waging war on the individual.
tits
I stand corrected.
My wife's tits and face are real. I guarantee those of the people who gave us QE 4EVA are not.
Pictures, or it did not happen! ;)
The American Constitution must be a Genuine "Fake".
In Fake we trust.
Santa Claus is real...... Start there and work your way to adulthood.
If you like your fake then you can keep your fake.
As for me I will choose the Truth...no matter how inconvenient.
This warm yellow coin in my hand is real.
i just opened up a box with 10 of these really nice 1 oz panda silver coins .. highly recommend them. $27 with free shipping.
http://www.silvertowne.com/p-23368-2014-china-silver-panda-1oz-bu.aspx
Lame.
Buy Eagles, Maples or Philharmonics in that order. Unless they are gifts avoid China coins. Why pay more and submit to higher risk of forgery?
Or buy rounds...
99% of what i have are simple bars and rounds. the china coins are gifts, but i have been using silvertowne for years and have never heard of them selling anything that wasn't legit.
and pay more? eagles are significantly more than the china coin ... but w/e, you like them or you don't ... the silver content is verified, and that's all i really care about.
All the world is a stage..... Start there and work you way down
All the world's indeed a stage
And we are merely players
Performers and portrayer
Each another's audience
Outside the gilded cage
Head in the sand...aka normalcy bias...alive and well here in the ol' USSA.
What's real is GM making all-time highs since the JOB situation is getting so much better. Only in a "real" economy can a stock like this rise. You know the company that went belly up 5 years ago, the one that stuffs its dealerships with cars only the middle and lower economic class buy. The same one that is closing up shop in Australia, no longer selling Chevy's in Europe, and selling every asset it has on hand. It is however all good cause the government just sold their final share and now they can offer a dividend. Only in a world where everything is make believe and unicorns, can GM be up 70% in a year where nothing is improving for 99% of America.
Yeah - the government sold all their GM shares so they can bail them out again down the road - because it worked out so well the first time.
That or they'll merge GM with GE since tanks are obsolete and the next war will be decided by nukes.
"What's good for General Motors is good for the 1% of the USA." This famous 1955 quote has been slightly modified since 2008.
"But what if ObamaCare is a fake? What if it is really not insurance at all, but a giant skimming machine"
It's
a
fucking
tax.
Got it?
BREAKING: Sandy Hook a Conspiracy WITH LOADS OF PROOF!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrngdgUixYg (30:19)
SANDY HOOK - The Documentary (Part 1/2) 2013 OFFICIAL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EwIvy1GXRU (1:29:26)
SANDY HOOK - The Documentary (Part 2/2) 2013 OFFICIAL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE5Gpwwrblc (1:27:24)
~//~
Anchorman - "You Stay Classy San Diego"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgGCIZi1UjY (0:08)
To accept that we've been bamboozled, ripped off, taken advantage of and ultimately cheated out of an authentic economy and life by swindlers is too painful.
I thought this was a joke, but apparently the author is serious!
I'm not saying there aren't some clueless sheeple who actually think this way, but I doubt more than a few frequent ZH.
But take that statement seriously for a second and think about what the statement says...
... that actually being abused for an entire lifetime is less painful than recognizing you are being abused (and thus become able to do something about it).
Only someone with extreme psychosis could believe anything remotely like that for even a nano-second.
All I can figure is... this author writes for a lame-stream audience, or elementary to junior high school students. Otherwise, it assumes people are just too naive to believe.
The predators-that-be, predator-class and mainstream media are far from clueless. They know government statistics, federal reserve, Obamacare and the entire system is absolute, complete, utter fraud.
I'm not so much criticizing this article as... confused about who is supposed to be the reader. Maybe it is for 4 to 14 year olds.
-----
Wait a second. Maybe I better take that back. We all know that a large percentage of people counted as signing up for Obamacare never took the final step - paying the premium. Well, I just heard that someone did a survey of a sample of these folks, and the response from most of them was: "What? Obamacare is free healthcare. No need to pay".
Now I'm really confused. Now I don't know whether the article was sarcasm, part of my reply should be sarcasm, or human beings really have reverted to the intelligence of amoebae.
Ann - yeh take that back. Most people in the USA would find it hard to accept that they have been lied to and stolen from for at least since 2008 with TARP, the "stimulus" and then QE ^ .
It would be too much and would suffer from severe cognitive dissonance from that reality and the smiling, supportive, selling stuff faces that they watch and persomalize all day on TeeVee.
In my own experience however, people are starting to wake up just a bit. Maybe thats why Boehner and Ryan panicked and are now rolling back on the Sequester.
honestann, it's now clear you are a woman, rather than a man blogging as a woman. not that there's anything wrong with that!
1988 - GE - We Bring Good Things To Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHObWiM79OA (0:45)
1994 - Commercial - GE Profile Dishwasher with Smart Rack Design - We bring good things to life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md_6G_7cF1E (0:38)
BEAUTIFUL VINTAGE 80'S GE COMMERCIAL WE BRING GOOD THINGS TO LIGHT LIFE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5ZLbwvQ1Ec (0:30)
My reality is my own until someone or thing imposes itself on it. AS far as I know, we are all still accepting dollars in exchange for value. We know the dollars are not real in the sense of any intrinsic value, yet if the gas station accepts it as value, who am I to say they are wrong? All of this is, if not an out right delusion, at eh very least a perception. We see people that are huge yet still can't get enough to eat and yet others who are starving themselves to death because they think they are too fat. What the fuck IS reality anyway, really? We are manipulated for a reason...because its easy.
"belief in the provenance of a masterpiece creates its value in the marketplace, so it is with money"
That's a common belief but I'm not convinced it's the same with money. People don't need art, and most people have no sense of good or valuable art. But everyone needs money as a perceived means of exchange. A large part of the value of money for the average person is simply that it buys things, any thing, anywhere and any time.
The actual monetary value of money is determined far away from those purchases -- by bankers and their spawn -- and most people never understand the process or care either way. Now it's true that the monetary value of money during inflationary periods undermines how much stuff money can purchase, but that's a slow enough process of boiling-a-frog that most people don't notice and even if they do they don't understand that something is happening to money and not to something else.
They won't know what happened to money even when they cannot afford to feed themselves. In fact, they blame farmers for the inflation of food cost when of course farmers were equally the victims of bankers. But they raid the food stores and kill the evil farmers anyway, and the bankers tut-tut behind their hats and retreat to their villas in the country to ride it out.
Sorry, the value of money will never rise to the front of anyone's thoughts. Likewise the debasement of money as an act of systemic fraud will never gel in the minds of average people. If the global economy completely implodes and the vast majority of the people of the world are cast 800 years into the past -- digging with sticks in the dirt, eating berries, and giving birth in straw beds -- they'll never know what hit them.
If the global economy completely implodes and the vast majority of the people of the world are cast 800 years into the past -- digging with sticks in the dirt, eating berries, and giving birth in straw beds -- they'll never know what hit them.
If they can not google the meaning of stick most will lose the desire to live.
Great post.
The Baby Boomer sheeple were instructed in the Bernstein/Woodward delusion that media's reporters will expose corruption and government lies. The fallacy of Bernstein/Woodward media delusion is that Berstein/Woodward weren't anti-government; they were the mouthpieces for the acting head of the FBI. The brilliant Bernstein and Woodward were just FBI stooges. This Boomer delusion was passed on to later generations. The government lies. The media lies. The sheeple trust and/or hope that all is well. Trust is not a virtue; it's vice.
AND WHERE’S THERE A FUNDING? http://youtu.be/EYa_fhLkg5c?t=10s
excellent communication. Your high on unemployment was woefully low, but, it was a good posting!!