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The Morning After: What Happens When A Government Destroys Its Currency
Submitted by Simon Black via Sovereign Man blog,
Imagine this scene:
“Everyone in the country was in shock. People’s net worth had devalued more than 53% overnight.”
“The value in savings accounts dropped in half and neither merchants nor consumers knew how to react because they had never been through something like it before…”
This is how an American business executive described living through Mexico’s devaluation of the peso exactly 38 years ago on September 1, 1976.
Looking back, it was so obvious.
Mexico had a mounting debt, destructive policies, and a woefully unsustainable fixed exchange rate with the US dollar. All the writing was on the wall.
But most people ignored the warning signs and kept their money in pesos.
Mexican President Luis Echevarria even went out on the radio to reassure people that the currency was safe.
Finally, under intense fiscal pressure, the government reached its breaking point. And on August 31, 1976, they made the decision to devalue the peso.
People woke up the next morning on September 1st to a 50%+ decline.
Coincidentally today is also the 75th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Poland, the event that ultimately dragged the world into war.
Germany had already invaded Austria and Czechoslovakia in the months before.
By May 1939 Hitler had stated very plainly, “the decision remains to attack Poland at the first opportunity.”
Even a week before the invasion, Hitler told his military commanders, “I have prepared . . . my ‘Death’s Head’ formations with orders to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language.”
Germany had 60 divisions massed on the Polish border ready to invade.
Yet people in Poland were told to keep calm, remain in place, and have confidence in their leaders.
Finally, on August 30, the Polish government ordered a partial mobilization to meet the German threat.
Needless to say, it was too little, too late. Germany invaded only hours later.
This is a familiar story that repeats across history. Despite obvious warning signs, people almost universally allow themselves to ignore reality.
It’s human nature to want to believe that everything is going to be OK. And when our political leaders whisper soothing words of hope and optimism, we take the bait.
Looking back, it was plain as day that Mexico was going to devalue the peso. Everything about the economy and currency was totally unsustainable. Deep down people knew it.
Similarly, it was plain as day that Hitler was going to decimate Poland. And people knew it.
Yet millions allowed their confidence to be misplaced in leaders who assured them that everything was OK.
Are we so different today?
The raw numbers tell us that most banks in Europe are insolvent. Bank in the US are dangerously illiquid.
Most western governments are bankrupt. Pension and social security funds are insolvent.
Financial markets are at precarious valuations. And the dollar is beginning to unravel as the dominant reserve currency.
These are data-driven assertions. And my guess is, deep down, your instincts are also telling you that something is seriously wrong with the system.
Yet we’re all told to keep calm by our leaders. There’s nothing to see here, nothing to worry about.
Looking back, it’s all going to seem so obvious. If a major, global currency crisis hits within the next 12-months, people will think, “duh, how did I not see that coming?”
Unfortunately by then it will be too late.
It takes only a little foresight and planning to insulate yourself from an event that can have disastrous consequences.
If you knew the Mexican peso was at an unsustainable level, why would anyone continue to hold pesos?
Similarly, if all the objective data suggests that the dollar is in store for an epic decline… and that the entire world is on a path to shift away from the dollar, why in the world would any rational person base his entire life savings in dollars?
It takes little effort to actually do something about it. Hold stronger currencies overseas. Own real assets. Move your retirement account abroad where your bankrupt government can’t steal it.
These are common sense steps, just like putting on a seatbelt when you get into a car.
The time to act is now. Why play Russian roulette when the odds are clearly in favor of the house?
Don’t try to time it. Nobody has a crystal ball. It’s irrelevant whether the trend unfolds over weeks, months, or years. It’s pretty clear where this is all headed.
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Not to be overlooked... Transfer your home ownership to an IRREVOCABLE FAMILY TRUST*, to protect it from seizure etc.
The Look-back Window for all Parasites (Gov agencies, NGOs and Those-who-will-sue-you-sooner-or-later) is typically 5 years, but varies from State to State. So better get started, NOW.
* If you can afford a few bucks extra, keep said Trust offshore. Note that it's not always more expensive offshore, and sometimes actually cheaper. I was introduced to some "professional services" people like that during Simon's "Offshore Workshop" last year, and am impressed with the people and the results.
You bring up practical solutions.
However, what happened to property rights in Cuba when Cuba fell?
Not to mention Jewish Israelis are still suing to get possessions returned from WW2.
Not to mention Palestinians with title deeds dating back to the Ottoman Empire that had all that land stolen from under their feet well after WWII in most cases.
In the words of the immortal Helen Willis from "The Jeffersons": Negro please. Just BTFAH and doubly BTFD
False Labor: Pre-Occupation with Unfulfillable Expectations
If you balance your circuit correctly, the return line, an extension of gravity, is all but irrelevant. The net duration mismatch depends upon your development.
As a consultant, you want to know who is married to who, how the organization is circumscribed by other feudalist organizations, before you enter, and immediately determine whether change is required, or you are just looking at the latest round of anxiety begetting anxiety, needing a new dress, when you enter. If change is required, it can only come from those with children to see, because imbalance fails every time. You supply the energy of activation, to catalyze the re-alignment of spacetime.
The majority is consumed in the pre-occupation of unfulfilled expectations because its participants are fully vested in the peer pressure assumption that the gravity the committee sees is life, looking no further, and lock themselves into shrinking boxes by confirming probabilities in a closed system, with sidewalk surveys for the purpose, adjusting efficiency as the only option and making an example of those in the path, to justify their collective occupation.
The return line does no effective work, and its condition depends upon where you are in the empire cycle. Agency cannot work, but that never stops the critters from joining the gravity return line, and being preyed upon by previous entrants, trying to save themselves, promising that just one more tweak is going to provide salvation from the artificial emergency, regulating all into the lowest common, by demanding equal rights under the law, bring the closed distribution to a relatively dead stop, and eliminating economic mobility.
The law of civil marriage, feudalism, simply enforces increasing rent relative to busy work income and, without you, printing can only reduce purchasing power. Spending your life proving that life is unfair in the short term, the obvious, is a waste of time, and redress, prolonging the stupidity, has occupied the majority for all of recorded history. Train your children to affect NPV, instead of dropping them off at Nazi early childhood education camp, to confirm the status quo.
Whether the King grants monopolies, patents and licenses, or Queen, Parliament, or Congress, makes no difference in the outcome or duration. America simply appeared more stable, because its event horizon misdirection is multiplied in more irrelevant directions, producing more busy work. All the medicinal pot growers have done is hand those poor proprietary doctors another cartel to operate, along the curve of diminishing returns.
America is no less a peer pressure concentration camp than any other nation. At an arbitrary point in time, a snapshot taken for the purpose, it simply had much greater natural resources per capita to exploit with feudalism. Manifest Destiny, always the argument for its jurisprudence, that you are incapable of making an effective decision as an individual, that an irrational market outlasts all intelligent investors, has always been nonsense.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the duration mismatch in the trade sending redwoods and tuna to other global cities, exhausting natural resources, in return for tourism grants and real estate inflation, so San Francisco has a reason to exist, as a trade hub. All the dc computer is doing, net, is managing the extortion economy created by hot money, protecting the status quo, until collapse. Its media simply rotates the viewing lense, away, to symptoms of symptoms, creating economic activity.
So, you have a car, which in most cases is idle, wasting massive resources in the chain, because public transportation, built by the same feudalists, is worse, and rolling out more surveillance to ensure central control with yet another false promise, like Uber, is worser.
To increase the extortion rate of return, the critters replace, add and embed parts within the arbitrary software algorithm and chip hardware. Wire right around the chip, leaving it to compute itself, or replace it with your own controller, in a single, convenient location. AC is much more reliable than DC, for what, by now, should be obvious reasons.
From the perspective of labor, the only difference between capital and social feudalists is position in the return line, and you cannot stop them from killing themselves and each other, the only possible outcome. The critters have no foundation, other than a contract made to be broken, which becomes increasingly obvious as trade war becomes currency war becomes physical war, enemy becomes friend and friend becomes enemy, and no one can f- you like your family.
Life is not a science, but the critters keep trying to prove otherwise, in a competition to the end, with automatons observing automatons, pointing at each other as the enemy to fear. You cannot teach those that do not want to learn, and you have a unique purpose that only you can find. When you bring this episode of the sh-show to an end depends upon your development.
“The swelling cities swallowed individuals, erasing their faces and their freedom of action.” “Cities replaced country at the nation’s center of moral gravity. Frederick Taylor’s gospel of ‘scientific management’ boosted industrial output but deadened the souls of workers so scientifically managed.”
Labor Day, like all the other holidays, is a bad joke, reinforcing the mythology of the consumer supply side economy creating its own demand. IQ, like all empire tests, measures the test-maker, not the test-taker. And getting an A on a Bell Curve is like dancing with your mother-in-law.
That pendulum is a switch, that you choose to make or not, which is the only path to future choice.
In seeking control over the means of production, first by behavior normalization and then with the law, the majority subjects itself to predation, by sociopaths who are better at playing last to lose, because you, your spouse, your children and your grandchildren are the means of production, not the latest technology coming out of the sewer, stillborn.
Civil marriage has never worked, because it’s not life, and the only tool it has is extortion, with numbers repeated for the purpose, morons stupid enough to seek a short cut, inside the entitlement ponzi casino. Printing debt as money, against the future, and giving it to the progressive feudalist consumers to fight over in the present, is, by an order of magnitude, the most regressive tax.
If you do not protect your health, you have nothing, because the proprietary doctors are going to employ the MBAs and MPAs, as a convenient scapegoat, to take it all. A closed system is always fixed. The VA is about to get a whole lot worse, based upon a sidewalk survey, conflict surgery volume, a hammer looking for a nail after the horses have already left the barn.
If there is anything worser than a lesbian with an MPA running an ICU for university doctors with DC money, I haven’t run across it yet.
Mmmmmm - Lesbians....
tl;dr
@kevinearick, interesting. Can you tell me more about the "return line" and what it symbolizes?
Kevin, you are the smartest Guy that comes here, the only one that 'Really' gets it, I'm not on your level so I can't understand you that,s why I know you are Smart or crazy, unfortunately, for me, I'm not smart enough to tell the difference!
Years ago I knew a young Vietnamese girl. Her father was an officer in the South Vietnamese Army, and had a decent amount of money. He and his wife often argued about where to keep the money. He wanted real estate and she wanted gold. He prevailed. They owned a lot of rental properties in Saigon. When the city fell in 1975, they fled with the clothes on their backs. His wife got to say " I told you so", but they were broke. He ended up with a convenience store in America. If they had put their wealth in gold coins, they would have arrived here wealthy. This story sticks in my mind decades later.
I heard stories on an imperial french house sold for a few
ounces of shiny that would just pay a boat trip into nowhere to be picked up at sea ...
Apologies for the premature double click.
-SD
It's a nice thought but probably doesn't hold much weight in reality. When is the last time you picked up a monster box of 1oz rounds? Or an ammo can filled with them? How many could you carry? And what would you have to NOT carry in order to take it? And finally, provided you could get to where you were going without ever running into any military/cops/roving bands of whatever and you land on the side of whatever country you fled to AND the sharks there don't take it...then yes, you could have some gold coins.
Ever hump a full ammo can of .308? In addition to water, food, etc. it's impossible for the average citizen. The stockpiling of ammo, food, water, etc. only really works with shelter-in-place scenarios. Once we are forced to go mobile most of what we have will be left behind... Like all prep, one must first identify exactly what or which scenarios they are trying to prepare for and develop their plan(s) around that; those requiring mobility are always the diciest. The fact of the matter is, once we have to flee/leave our personal dwelling our odds of survival drop greatly, and odds of taking things like large collections of metals and ending up with them even lower.
I have a friend with dual citizenship (CA/US) try to bring his physical US Eagles into CA - what a nightmare, and that was with border cops whose corruption is kept somewhat in check by video cameras, etc. and at a time when it wasn't politically / socially unstable.
Just my $.07 worth.
-SD
Money can be moved with debit cards. Nobody checks them. Also wire transfers can still be made from US to other countries. Keep in mind that there will always be somewhere desireable to live. In WWII, when Europe and America and Russia were killing millions of people like flies, people were going to the opera in Argentina. The idea of holing up in a bunker and winning a firefight is a fantasy. Even if you win (which won't happen) it's no way to live. Forget about patriotism. It's all about dying for a particular piece of dirt. I am worth more than dirt. I am not cannon fodder. Many millions of people fled to America to avoid war and strife in their home country. When things get bad in America, you should already have your family in a safe and civilized place.
If the dollar drops in value by a large amount, does that make U.S. stocks cheap to the rest of the world and cause a major rally? Does a wild pope shit in the woods? Does a bear wear a funny hat? Inquiring minds want to know.
If the DOW is at 17,000, on it's way to infinity and beyond, I'd say the dollar already has dropped in value.
http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/news/ecuador-first-nation-create-digital-...
History informs us of the fact that government, being a criminal syndicate of theft and violence, can produce nothing more than poverty, misery, death and lies. Any evidence to the contrary is naiveté or insanity.
An American, not US subject.
"These are data-driven assertions. And my guess is, deep down, your instincts are also telling you that something is seriously wrong with the system."
Not exactly the prediction of the century here on ZH....
Simon just talking his book and playing to the crowd. It beats having to go door to door with a suitcase.
A controlled burn of the forest.
can a gov destroy a silver dime? a gold $50 eagle? or do they have worth in any world of business and trade?
1909-1982 pennies are one of the best investments one can still literally obtain through shear luck since still many are in circulation to this day.
The melt value of those pennies are more than the face value ~0.02 cents. If shit goes south copper will always be worth something for industrial purposes. If you go by weight there are about 145 1909 -1982 copper pennies per pound.
Nickels are also better off saving at the moment then spending also since right now their melt value is ~98% the face value.
If you are going to hold US currency outside the bank I'd hold it as pre 1982 pennies and nickels since if the peso scenario happens and/or the government revokes each as legal tender they will hold their relative purchasing power if you can find a smelter to trade them into afterwards for the equivalent in devalued dollars.
So for arguments sake I have 100 1982 pennies that right now if melted down would buy $2 dollars in goods and services.
I hold 100 pennies and 1 dollar bill.
Inflation hits that one I now need 2 dollars to buy $1 in goods and services.
If I hold it in a paper dollar in can only buy half as much now.
If I hold it in pre 1982 copper pennies, assuming I can get them smelted somewhere I can still that same amount of goods and services afterwards once I smelt them and get in return $2 in paper dollars.
You've just became rich in comparison to everyone else holding paper dollars pre-devaluation.
I've been saving my pennies for years now. I have quite a large amount of those old ones. Istarted saving all years when the Canadian Gov announed phasing them out.
I didn't know nickels were already 98% face value. I think I'll start collecting those too! :)
Poor man's investing I guess. *sight*
Nickels are the new silver dimes. The US has plans to dump the nickel, and replace it with steel or some other mixed metal, because it costs too much to make a nickel, just as it cost more than a dime to make a silver dime in 1964, the last year of circulating silver coinage in the US. That change could come as early as next year, because the plans have been in place for 3-4 years now. Hoarding US five cent pieces is something your grandchildren will thank you for. A silver dime today is worth over 3 bucks, and has been as high as 7 bucks back in 2011. Nickels will match or beat that in 20 years. Once the US begins replacing nickels, they will rapidly disappear from circulation, just as 90% silver coinage disappeared shortly after 1964.
to check prices (values) of metals, go to http://www.coinflation.com/coins/basemetal_coin_calculator.html
If you were living in the US, they would have taught you that life would pay you any price you want. If you argue with life for pennies, you will get your due reward.
Gold eagles anyone ? No takers ? I guess that`s always been
the game since the beginning of time.
I know it doesn't sound like much but if you have kids and start them young by the time they are teenagers they will have quite a bit squirreled away for that first car, college tuition, etc. It won't make you rich but you'd be surprised just how quick those pennies and nickels add up over time. It is a long term investment not short term one. Plus alot of those pre 82 pennies numismatic value is worth more than 0.02 cents if you sold them as is to a coin shop. I look at it like winning a scratch off ticket when I find one. It is like a value added bonus or reward points for spending money on shit I was going to spend money on anyways. It is not throwing money down a rat hole hoping to get lucky.
I like junk silver like pre 64 quarters and dimes also since they are still technically legal tender, so let's say for arguments sake if they ever did do a bullion confiscation those coins would probably be exempt.
One junk US quarter is about $3.47 in today's currency, about equal to a gallon of 87 oct. gasoline, so a quarter a gallon is a good gauge of value.
Technically speaking, the US "nationalized" gold coinage in circulation, it didn't confiscate it. See the difference? One is constitutional and the other isn't. Obama is already calling tax-paying "patriotic", so prepare to have many terms redefined to support .gov continuation or sustainabilty or "lawful succession".
Legal tender is a totally artificial construct, so don't add one red cent of value to anything currently denoted as such.
A very good, recent article on that subject:
https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2014/08/14/reprogram-your-mind-gold-and...
If the USD loses reserve currency status, there will be no safe place to have parked your money. It will be all-out chaos and financial armaggedon for everyone everywhere. Lest we forget that the US gov't confiscated the gold of holders in 1933. Today financial powers have an electronic footprint of your nest egg and it cannot easily be protected or defended whereever in the world it might live. Better to prepare to out compete for resources locally (or become a member of the protected aristocracy globally) than to try to find an illusory "safe" place for your money. That place very well may not exist.
It's almost certain that the $ won't lose its reserve status overnight. Its share will continue to decline as it has been doing for some time. If China or Japan decides to off-load lots of Treasuries that of course would bring about a rapid collapse. But there's really no benefit for them in doing that.
"It's almost certain that the $ won't lose its reserve status overnight."
As it has been said here many times, the dollar has lost
most of it`s credibility based value already. But you are right Monty it will not lose reserve status OVERNIGHT.
It has external value as a petrodollar, all other currencies you ever traded or hedged have only internal value.
Indexed by bigmacs, commodities or other loot, gangsters
paradise money is the ultimate black market currency everywhere you go.
It does NOT need to lose its "reserve status".
It has already lost 97% of its purchasing power since 1913 !!!!
China and Japan dumping treasuries isn't anything to worry about either. The fed soaks up almost a trillion a year. And extra 1-2 trillion sounds like a big deal to small frys like us, but it's trivial for the fed.
Find something else to worry about.
no benefit now, but tell your .gov if they do not immediatly stop to piss off the rest of the world, the falling could be way much faster than anybody is expecting it here.
when you read putin sayin " if i want, i can be in kiev in 14 days..."
this is just not provokation.. it a gently pat on the shoulder saying " my friend, pls, stop to shit in my shoes, or i will be forced to push it on your throat.
note that brics are not specially hot for immediate de-dollarization, it is a systematic stepped response to every messy move USA does worldwide to keep control...
leads me to say that usa is its own enemy, & will collapse by self pushing over the cliff.
It does NOT need to lose its "reserve status".
It has already lost 97% of its purchasing power since 1913 !!!!
To the average person world-wide ALL that matters is the PRICE OF FOOD.
In UKraine where I now live, food prices have risen about 30%, while the currency (UAH) has lost almost 50% of its value (relative to the U.S. dollar of 1 year ago). We are NOT affected since all our currency is in USD, Swiss Francs, British pounds and a few Euros kept in various countries.
Even though Ukraine is an economic "basket case" (it owes Gazprom $5.4 billion USD for gas already delievered), it is lucky in one respect: as the "Bread Basket" of Europe, it produces far more food than its people need. (Of course, who can say what will happen in the future, since the GIANT FOOD COMPANIES of the West are already "leasing" huge tracts of farm land, since the constitution forbids outright ownership of farm land by foreigners ... for now.
Historically, when the price of food exceeds 40% of a family's income, riots occur; at 50%, it's revolutions.
Whether or not the USD retains its "reserve status" matters little to most people of the world. What matters is whether they can feed their families. Everything else is "mental masturbation".
John-Henry Hill, M.D.
http;//JohnHenryHill.Wordpress.com
If it gets bad enough that the government comes looking for gold, I think there is a good chance that there may already be too much disfunction spread thoughout the system for them to accomplish this end. If the shtf, who is going to leave their home to pour over old databases of Visa transactions looking for Kitco purchases and then come around knocking on doors with a warrant?
This is certainly possible, but I don't really see it. If the collapse comes, it may well come too quickly for this. Still, it is a case for diversification.
What of you have purchased your GOLD and SILVER with cash? Or moved to another country, taking all your assets with you? Or purchased your gold and silver via debit cards and wire transfers, had it shippped and stored in a private vault in Europe, then withdrew it all from storage and then hidden it (literally, buried it in the ground) at sveral locations known only to you?
That is precisely what I did. So, living permanently in Europe with my gold and silver hidden, just HOW would the U.S. government ever find my gold and silver?
Hell, if I were to die, NO ONE would ever find it, much less the government!
I am an AMERICAN who left the U.S. forever in 2009 with all my assets and now lives permanently in 4 European countries, primarily Ukraine and Crimea.
NOT if you have gold and silver in your possession, along with some stored (i.e., buried in the ground) in various countries. What paper currency I possess is the amount I am willing (but NOT happy) to have devalued. But I will never surrender my gold and silver - it is my family's INSURANCE.
Jim Rickards and others took part in the Pentagon's "economic war games" a few years ago and have developed various scenarios for an economic collapse. The Pentagon and other nations have been preparing for an economic collapse for years now - it will NOT come as a surprise; and there will be several mechanisms in place to establish a NEW system of currencies. Estimates I have read state this "monetary re-set" should take place over a period of 4-6 months - but who REALLY knows?
I view Australian economist Steve Keen's plan for a special type of "debt forgiveness" as the ONLY solution to the economic and monetary problems. (If you do not know the details of his rather ingenious plan, he has written numerous articles and has many videos on YouTube.com.)
In many countries there will be riots and even revolutions. In the U.S. there may be some "social unrest" for which DHS and the military ALREADY have detailed plans. It will not be as peaceful as the 1933 "monetray re-set", but I doubt that the American people will declare all-out war against the U.S. government.
In my travels I have found (much to my surprise!) that Americans, as a whole, are far more trusting of their government than the people of most other nations. I guess the myths of "American exceptionalism" and "Land of the Free" are REAL for many Americans.
Ah, Simon and his going international thesis, again....just more blog bait
The difference is between now and 1987 is there really aren't any safe havens for your money...sure you can spread some to Singapore, Switzerland, South America (as Simon loves to pitch), but if you think having money in a foreign account is #1 safe from US authorities, or #2 safe from the foreign authorities who are going to be struggling with their own crises after the turmoil created by a US $ collapse, then I've got a bridge to sell you.
If the US $ goes down, and yes, it very well mnight might, then all bets are off as to where a US Citizen should and will be able to keep money without it being confiscated/taxed/seized etc. Your going to have to be much more creative than Mr. Black is implying.
Other than the endless arguments about Precious Metals and how they'll fare in a collapse of US$ and Uncle Sam finding a way to grab it
Sure, I've buried some PM's in the yard, and I even own a little property abroad (and that is a real PAIN IN THE ASS, let me tell you), and diversified my paper investments, but these arguments about diversifying internationally might make sense if you're in the $10M+ and up club..but to the rest of us suckers here at ZH, this advice is pretty much nonsense.
And what if SWIFT goes poof or has problems like certain countries or people's accounts won't transfer through the system.
That is where crypto-currency comes in.
http://www.coindesk.com/information/what-can-you-buy-with-bitcoins/
The creative can skirt all these problems with a little ingenuity without actually holding any physical and still turn it back into the equivalent physical assets they want to hold at location B even if location B doesn't accept these things as money yet.
Remember these things also serve as digital contracts/accounting ledger entries at the same time....
What if there is no /sarc tag in real life...
Been there, done that. Aussie Iraq mercenaries in a kiwi
pub : conversation went well because I knew all the lingo
from being trained by the very same guys.
Than them drunk (defensive?) they talked about defending democracy and got me started. Suddenly turning hostile,
here is what they said that really set me off : " if
they start to intellectualize, unlock and be ready to fire".
Dumb fucks were in a shoot to kill mission just as today`s brainless IS Cia zombies, "intellectualize" is what gets you killed by those guys. Ensuring pub fight cleared out the lot
with me myself and I and a bulky Polish Swiss acquaintance
backing me up . Ever lasting impression on me was potentially being shot for intellectualizing...
Crypto currency, without electric. Are you dreaming?
The U.S. “Deval” if there could be a deval, already took place back there. It was the day you, me and the others without pensions decided to bailout the people with pensions.
Not to mention the bailing out of the banks and large companies.
Recall, that's when the 401K's, home prices, etc. were chopped in half.
No deval currency for you, this is not about the debasement of currency no longer but the debasement of currency as a means of trusted exchange. Those warmongers only think and trade in monies of their own choosing whose value they could laugh away with all those future hope implied on the current value.
In a race to the bottom that all fiat currencies are engaged in, is the winner really defined by the currency or something else like the size of the army or possibly geographic boundaries?
Can you really time who will be the winner and in which order?
did you miss like a whole chunk of ZH. In what world is fiat printed in the East with a central bank load of yellow stuff the same as countries with empty central bank's except with IOU. The race to the bottom for the West maybe, but the creditors nations beg to differ.
All fiats are by definition NOT backed by GOLD. That is the definition of a Fiat. Oh and BTW, which world do you believe that they will sell their gold to back their paper? Are they going to do that out of the goodness of their heart?
Russia and China are gather gold in anticipation of a future need. They will not back their present currencies. Neither will the US, at least not to you and me......
All fiats will fail at different rates; I was asking what would drive that? Certainly not what they openly have in Gold, when there is no comittment to using that Gold toward an existing Fiat...
"In a race to the bottom that all fiat currencies are"
Ancient Rome and modern civilization being purportedly derived thereof, the resulting chaos for order will take
time and after the initial acceleration driven by momentum
time will significantly slow down, just like in the middle ages.
Reply to TheGardener:
In ancient Rome and Europe the fastest modes of travel (and thus the exchange of currencies) were by SHIP and by LAND.
Today we have computer networks capable of transferring Trillions of dollars in a millisecond. Further, the banks in various nations were much more independent and such monetary instruments as "derivatives" were non-existent.
You may be correct that currency crashes will take some time and be relatively slow.
BUT I am betting otherwise!
"Best to prepare for the worst;and hope for the best."
I agree, the internationalize your assets advice is for the millionaires.
As for me? I'm done agonizing over where I should move. I live about 15 miles away from a huge, densely forested state park. I'm sure a lot of ZH'ers live near some kind of remote wilderness. Get to know the various routes to it (secondary highways, dirt bike trails, snow mobile trails, hiking/biking trails as they usually lead to those places).
I don't have a simple cabin up there yet, but that's the big goal.
JZ, might I suggest something? You're right about your "bug out" strategy and the locations routes but you failed to mention to the readers to booby trap all of them once you're within! If it's not from locals trying to get it all, it'll be the Govt. Ours, China's or Russian (one of them if not a mix is coming). Bugging out only buys you time and you made no mention regarding airspace. Oh, by the way, don't build up (simple or otherwise) build down. Just MTC for what it's worth.
JZ, might I suggest something? You're right about your "bug out" strategy and the locations routes but you failed to mention to the readers to booby trap all of them once you're within! If it's not from locals trying to get it all, it'll be the Govt. Ours, China's or Russian (one of them if not a mix is coming). Bugging out only buys you time and you made no mention regarding airspace. Oh, by the way, don't build up (simple or otherwise) build down. Just MTC for what it's worth.
Re: building down- a cave is a grave, strategically speaking, unless you are like a NORAD Command with a continental superpower to make the cave for you- even then, what's outside when you emerge?
What most people forget is that for 95% of all people, their biggest assets are themselves, their health, and their earning ability and skillset.
So you can internationalise your assets by moving, learning another language or two, getting skills that work for the int'l market. If you can get a USA degree and not pay for it, that is ideal. USA degrees still hold high social value all over the planet.
A STEM degree and you are employable in many nations.
It is differnt this time, the Chinese already have unrest, how much more when American's don't spend at WalMart for Chinese made products? The players are bluffing, but each one knows the first one out of the game will get his throat cut by the spectators watching the game. So call in for more credit and print like mad because no one can leave the table, just higher stakes for the same cards that no one wants to show or fold, even though everyone knows are crap...just buying time... So who blinks first? The new guy at the table, Russia, knows everyone's cards are dogs, but has less to lose, and he's already picked the best of the worst loser at the table, China as a partner. So lets see how Europe (Germany) handles the game from here, if they fold their defacto partner, the US, will have to determine how the rest of the game is played...and unforunately, winning by showing a better hand is not an option.
unrest???? You must be living in kookoo land. I'm on the ground and everything is rolling along. Walmart could fold tomorrow and the Chinese could give a rats. They have Carrefour (France) and many local hypermarket chains.
The West cabal has unleashed these so called separatist and the cowards are trying to scare people through random killings at the train stations and recently in Beijing. They kille the previous lot via execution and now search high and low the recent criminals.
From your above comments I can unequivocally say you know NOTHING about the East.
Russia's currency is worthless. A ruble is worth 3 cents and you know what 3 cents is worth. China's currency is worse and they have out printed the USA.
But this time it's different
Its pretty obvious from some of the response people don't really look at what the BRICS are actually doing as we speak. Whilst the clown in the white house is playing golf, you have leaders of the BRICS busy doing deal after deal in different countries for the new economic order. Things like the Eurasia trade pact, alternatives to the Panama canal, African railroad projects, new silk road development, South South deal etc etc. The world has shifted people and you honestly really need to open your eyes to what is developing. That clueless moron in the White House is a complete disgrace to the American private sector and its business people, especially the SME businesses.
Articles regarding what you are talking about are posted here almost every other day.
I won't speak for anyone else, but I see that economic power is shifting to the grand alliance of these countries.
If you really honestly have opened your eyes to what is developing, what actions are you taking or suggest people take?
Not a challenge, just honest curiousity.
I've been cost average precious metals since the big decline (smash). I buy whenever there is a big clobber by the cartel. I've also purchased hard assets like real estate (flats and commercial property), diversified some fiat to ccy like the Yuan, Ruble and even have a limited edition M3 (CSL) that has doubled in price since my purchase just after the 2008 crash. Thats just me and family, not trying to make anyone feel overwhelmed.
The Shanghai Free Trade Zone is opening soon and you will be able to get some Yuan through some canadian banks as per swap arrangement. PM is a good choice especially silver. Its cheap and easy to get into as the price is quite ok even for modest means.
the metals part i've done, not the case with owning foreign currencies like yuan and ruble. thanks, i'll look into it.
I believe any strong eastern nation will provide protection like South Korean Won, Singapore Dollar should also serve your purpose.
Just got news from Jim Willie that Ukraine forces are against the wall are pretty much finished. Apparently special forces from France, UK, Germany have jointed with the anti-Kiev forces to achieve this success. He's noted that Germany is getting ready to shift East and leave the EU as the other choice is to be destroyed by the US through its current anti-Russian policy. He said the take down will be via letting some German banks go BK. He hinted to expect Lehman x times. Keep your eyes peeled and ear to the ground on any such developments. It will provide an opportunity of a life time as well as leave many completely destroyed financially. The direction is as per my understanding of developments but a very disruptive and ugly unfolding economically. I was expecting a smoother transition after the isolation of the US, but it seems they have given the Germany's no choice but to pull the rug under the cabals feet. Enjoy the ride.
I have no counter party risk with my PM as I've private safe installed for protection.
Diversify, both financially and physically.
Get a degree in the USA, have someone pay for it, do not use debt to get it, then work in another country. Learn a few languages.
The best bet for Americans in the coming years will to be diaspora.
It's sad, but mobility is the best hedge against uncertainty. In war, civil strife, those who could move survived. The ones who cannot or willnot leave Ukraine are the ones who are screwed. The ones who moved across country, or another country, fair better.
There is only one downside - if you do not work in the USA for 40 quarters you don't vet your SS and you will have a zero balance. If you think SS is going away completely, then it's no loss. If you are going to save for your own retirement or settle in another nation with a national pension, then it's no loss.
That is the one downside, but it comes with the IRS/NSA surveillance.
If you plan to renounce, start your savings account for it now. The fee will no doubt rise to punitive levels of 10,000 USD in a few years.
They wil blatantly make it too expensive to leave, overtly and without apology.
Get out now, while you still can.
No, the REAL icing on the cake will be his successor, another 2 termer no doubt. Hillary or worse. In 10 years, you can really kiss the USA goodbye, and then by 2028 the shift will happen whether the USA wants it, allows it, permits it, or not.
The USA is large, wealthy and powerful.
However it is just 4% of the planet by population, 18% and dropping by wealth, 6.6% of global land mass.
The USA is outnumbered when everyone else gets their act together.
Unfortunately my first passport is USA and Americans will become The New Palestinians in just a few years.
Its happening way way quicker than you think. By the end of the year, the US would have achieved major de-dollarization by its biggest trading partners, its neighbors shifting east, alliances falling apart (watch Germany and France outside of the fascists press releases), Saudi Arabia is no longer aligned with the US (wow - considering the so called petrodollar is partnered with Saudi), NATO is falling apart contrary to what you read in the trashy media, UK is on the verge of jumping ship (evident with its backup plan of the RMB trading hub and swap lines). Do I need to continue? Thats just in 9 months.
I'm afraid you will be given ONE HUGE AWAKENING. 2028?? I'm not even sure the US can advert prior to 2018 third nation status.
A Gov corrupt enough to devalue a currency is corrupt enough to confiscate hard assets... or much easier... to place a 75% tax on all precious metals sales. Vote Rand Paul... the alternatives are grim...
Why do you think he's any different? He accepts lobby money from every corporation, special interest, foreign country and murderous oligarch who has his price.
He's like the rest of them... bought and paid for.
You may be wrong, but I was definitely wrong voting for Dole, Bush, McCain, and Romney. Never vote again. Paul, like his pop, has little chance. If he becomes a threat, he'll be killed.
Anarchy Unrules
Anybody interested in investing in an online worry bead and rosary business?
On a long enough rosary, the survival rate for your knees drops to zero.
Historically , mobility with firepower was the only real survival chance .
Some tried flight only , most notably the Roman exodus from North Africa to Ireland at the fall of Western Roman Empire .
Unfortunately , they left the Legions behind
They fell easy prey to the Vikings.
A sea-going vessel as part of a well armed fleet is the most survivable option in conserving assets when currencies become worthless.
For a likely future scenario : see
http://andreswhy.blogspot.com/2014/02/neo-vikings.html
This time is somewhat different as it isn't just one country. When most currencies fail gold will also devalue....who would you sell your good to? Where would they get thier medium of exchange? Don't get me wrong i love PMs and hold. But those people thinking they will get rich off gold are insane, it will help you to maintain, but it isn't like you'll be moving on up.
Honestly I think the global central banks are killing all markets so that there really is no place to hide. Easier to resent when everyone is on the same level.
19 federal reserve notes for an oz of silver?
more please. mined in nv too.
The best strategy for dealing with sudden currency collapse, if we follow the Mexican example, would be to move to a country that's about to devalue, then set things up so that your income is in dollars. I was in Mexico in 1976 and watched the game play out. Any Americans who had foolishly moved all their assets into pesos were just as screwed as the Mexicans. But most Americans, including huge numbers of retirees, kept only a small portion of their assets in pesos, and lived off the dollar-denominated Social Security check every month. With devaluation, that check converted to a lot more pesos, and even though prices quickly rose, people with dollar incomes and peso expenses did OK.
i will add by the time a devaluation that size occurs, its already too late for a country. Its fate is that of debt servitude and its populations are to be mere serfs of the elites. The aftereffects of which will require many generations to come out of.
I'll bet you guys three Pesos the $US will get devalued three weeks after Obama says "the dollar is the solid foundation of the world economy."
Isn’t it usually about three weeks from Obama saying one thing and the opposite happening?
forgive my ignorance,im merely seeking answers, but are people in america really suffering i see people in newish cars driving all over the place, people with brand new iphones and macbook pros and renting apartments for(on average) 2 weeks of their salary. The malls are not empty. So am i seeing an illusion or people just struggling to keep up appearances or what?
There are people who are truly in dire straights. You don't see them much. The ones you are seeing are in debt up to their eyeballs. Most have a wallet full of credit cards all nearly maxed out. Most believe that "things are getting better" and "hope and change is going to happen". They must maintain their lifestyle or look like the other people that you don't see much of, except panhandling on a street corner. So, yes, most Americans are deep in debt to "keep up appearances".
Keep the music going, savers are now HOARDERS so declared by a Federal Reserve near you.
You are so right. There are no records, but I believe less than 1% have any gold to speak of except misc jewelery. 50 % are on some sort of government assistance. another 40% are living paycheck to paycheck, so maybe 10% are in good shape. If there is a shtf the actual suffering will unbeliveable. The looting and rioting will start, that why I like a small town, I also like being near like minded friends.
I'm old and this is the worst I have ever seen it.
response : both.
consuming is having pleasure by possession. latin minds.
having computer, phone, as long they have money for it, no problem.
some eat less to keep enough for hobbies - techs, whatever.
some ppl do not eat to get apple stuff. it is crazy, but it is reel.
when you see ppl sleepong close apple store for 3days to be on 1st to buy stuff... the society is really in bad shape, the degree of addiction is the only remain rempart to the insanity.
the guy has no life ? no job ? how the fuck can you sleep days in front iphone door ? wtf ?!
the ppl you discribe, are sheeple. they have no conscience of what the world is. they are objects. manipulated as oil to keep mecanism functionning.
they have no choice, system do not let em have a choice. virtualization of the existence is the key of the modern slavery concept .
try to find around you, someone who do not have computer, no cellular. then, look what others thinks about him.... you will loose you jaw on the ground.
wanna get the primary target for a good messy result on a war ? shut down power plants. self anihilation withing 7 days garantee.
( ppl call 911 after 20min facebook offline... imagine 7dayw without internet of tv... lol , poor americans. )
revolution is ony viable by going offgrid, having the luxe to bypass modern standard imposed by technology & go back to basic, the essentials, the right to grow your own food without fucking F1 seeds.
the right to possess lands.
there is not enough land for 7 billion ppl. will us be able to keep it at 9 billion in 2030 ? i dont think so.
F1 seeds produce. And how! Fear your food and hate the producer is just the rage with the consuming class.
Those folks are the FSA with their EBT's funded by us working schleps!
If you like your first world standard of living...
The US dollar is being devalued about 5% per year and has been since 1970. This will go on until the end of time.
The writing was on the wall when the US went to "sandwich" coins.
Thought they were talking about the American Peso.
No wonder Ben Bernanke told his son, who was in medical school, to load up on over $400,000 in debt.
Many of us the are far from optimistic. While the future is hard to predict, as in politics the people who watch and study the economy are becoming more polarized as to the direction of the economy. Many of us are slipping into one of the two distinct camps, one that sees this as an economy slowly on the mend with the worse behind us and the other who clearly takes the position that things are not working.
Not only have things gotten worse but the distorted economy and manipulated markets only mask the fact that a day of reckoning is fast approaching and we are facing a bigger and meaner economic set back then any the world has witnessed in modern times. More on this subject in the article below.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2013/08/after-big-crash.html
I contend the primary reason that inflation has not raised its ugly head or become a major economic issue is because we are pouring such a large percentage of wealth into intangible products or goods. If faith drops in these intangible "promises" and money suddenly flows into tangible goods seeking a safe haven inflation will soar. Like many of those who study the economy I worry about the massive debt being accumulated by governments and the rate that central banks have expanded the money supply.
The timetable on which economic events unfold is often quite uneven and this supports the possibility of an inflation scenario. A key issue being one of timing. If the price of gas jumps to $8 a gallon overnight do you buy gas and not make your car payment or stop driving the twenty miles to work? Answer, it could be months before your car is repossessed so you buy gas.
It is important to remember that debts can go unpaid and promises be left unfilled. If this happens where does it leave us? Chaos and major disruption would result from such a scenario. As we have seen from the economic crisis of 2008 and following many other unsettling developments legal actions can continue to drag on for years. More in the article below.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2014/04/inflation-seed-of-economic-chaos....
The ironic part is the inflation of gasoline to $8 doesn't count as inflation, now, ain't that the manipulating shits?! Wait!! You mean they are actually clever enough to cook that insidious shit into their formulae?
"Excluding food and energy......"
Why look so far back. Spare us the Simon Black Cube propaganda and just re-post this story without comment and the headline.
2013 Cyrpus; 2014 ?? TBD
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-29/oooops
Lets not let a good crisis go to waste. Let the rest of the world toil in war, while we take the opposite stance for once. Once they are done fucking themselves we rest back to post world war 2 boom.
Yeah, I've been thinking about asking my employer to pay me in another currency. (as if) But which one? Aren't they all basically fiat currencies?
All curriences are fiat, the dollar is the best one.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101963821
Tyler(s) no devaluation scenario will help the USD or any other significant currency at thls juncture in history....no ,what is coming is clearly a game changer...one that will be both revolutionary and evolutionary...and the pyramidal power structure continues...only much much bigger...
agreed. in all history of change of societies, the pyramid form always reformed.
What would you, all, advise someone with serious (American) wealth to do?
Ask yourself what Reggie would do. The answer: Bitcoin.
BitGroin.
I am an AMERICAN, probably with far less money than you, who faced the same choice several years ago.
Get out of Dodge! Now!!!! And transfer ALL your assets, diversifying into gold, silver, various currencies (U.S. dollar, Swiss Franc, Euro, Russian Rouble, etc) and foreign stocks. When you buy your gold/silver, have it sent and stored in a PRIVATE VAULT in Europe (preferably Switzerland), then withdraw it ALL immediately and hide it in various places known only to you.
I did this from 2006 - 2009 and permanently left the U.S. in 2009. I have homes in 4 European countries: 2 in western Europe (Scotland and Switzerland) and 2 in eastern Europe (Ukraine and Crimea - now part of Russia). We plan on selling our house in Scotland very soon, whatever happens in the upcoming "independence" referendum. (I simply do not trust the British government or the probable future Scottish government, since the latter said it will seek EU membership.)
Many European banks allow you to specify the currency in which your money is held. For example, I have bank accounts in Ukraine UAH, the U.S. dollar, the Russian Rouble, Swiss Franc, etc. Each account is SEPARATE, meaning that all withdrawals I make from a particular account MUST - by law - be in the original currency of that account. The bank can NOT mix currencies. HOWEVER, I suggest that you keep as LITTLE CASH as possible in such bank accounts, with the exception of Swiss banks (which are very reliable) and many of whom (some Swiss banks) are now withdrawing from the U.S. FATCA reporting program.
"Currency controls" have been in effect in Ukraine since the February 2014 coup d'etat; and the UAH has lost about 50% of its value (against the USD) since then. Why it has not completely crashed is unknown to me, by I suspect the West (e.g., the Federal Reserve) has been buying up UAH in exchange for USD via so-called "currency swaps", which are "off-the-books", as Ben Bernanke once testified before Congress.
Currently, we keep NO UAH on hand - we exchange USD for UAH as needed each day. On the other hand, we keep a LOT of USD, Roubles and Swiss Francs on hand - along with a small amount in Euros.
I have NO advice re: which foreign stocks, since I still consider myself new to that area. However, I personally have invested in Russian stocks dealing with natural gas, oil, mining of precious metals and lumber - to name a few. I am still researching reliable Russian MUTUAL FUNDS similar to Vanguard's S&P 500 Index, one of my favorite American mutual funds.
On a personal note: Why Odessa, Ukraine? It is a very ancient port city on the Black Sea, whose population consists of people from just about every Mediterranean country and beyond. Ethnicity simply does not seem to matter here. Odessa is shaped like an enormous semi-circle around a huge bay, with the port and city center in the middle - but does not extend very far inland. To the north and south are gorgeous beaches running for miles; and the city center and beaches are tourist havens. You will hear many languages spoken (mostly Russian, of course), but also English, German, etc. Many people (most businesses) speak English, but I am still learning Russian - not an easy language to master. We live some distance from the city center, but the people are extremely friendly and helpful. Even the police are very friendly and it is rare to see a police officer carrying a firearm. When we arrived I estimated the cost of living at about 10% of that in the U.S. (just outside of Boston, Mass.), but with the devaluation of the UAH it is probably more like 5% now.
Why Simferopol, Crimea? In 2009 it was still part of Ukraine, Crimea but shares all the characteristics of Odessa. Plus along the south coast is a narrow range of mountains, beyond which on the coast are magnificently beautiful and historic cities such as Yalta and Alushta. Our house is located on a high hill on the southern outskirts of Simferopol, with beautiful views of fields and forests to the east, a mountain ridge to the west and the coastal mountain range to the south. We are about a 1/2 hour drive from beaches to the west and south. The people are extremely friendly- even the police are very helpful and friendly. The cost of living is about the same as in Odessa, EXCEPT for the southern coast (especially in Yalta and Alushta) where property values were already very high - and with the recent influx of people fleeing the battlefields of eastern mainland Ukraine, housing costs are rising rapidly.
Why Scotland? We liked the scenery and our proximity to Edinburgh and the ocean. But, in retrospect, it was a financial and political mistake. The British government is becoming too repressive.
Why Switzerland? That’s easy. Safety, stability, excellent banking system, de-centralized government based on cantons, and a well-armed populace. Plus it is simply beautiful!
John-Henry Hill, M.D.
retired physician
Web: http://JohnHenryHill.Wordpress.com
If you were an MD in the USSA, you have a LOT more money than most of us. You benefitted from a whole host of government-mandated dictates that force people to go to official doctors and hospitals, penalize them when they don't, make medications grossly more expensive, thwart safer, better and cheaper natural alternatives, etc. I'm not saying you supported those policies, but you did benefit from them, putting you in a much better position than most people.
Most gringos are lucky if they can move themselves to ONE place on the planet (abandoning their former "home" country in the process).
I planned to do that 8 years ago, then 6 years ago, then finally got outta dodge permanently about 3 years ago. I chose the southern hemisphere, and I advise everyone to do the same (or at least consider this option). Most chaos and nuclear materials and fighting will be in the northern hemisphere, you can be certain of that.
DO NOT trust ANY corporations. Not in Switzerland, not in Singapore, not in Panama. Bury your precious metals deep, shielded, and where nobody else knows where they are. My approach was to choose locations based upon GPS coordinates, which got written down in other formats (like international telephone numbers) and [easy-to-remember] encoded form so nobody could even recognize those numbers, much less choose which ones, much less know how to decode them.
When the SHTF big time... EVERY SINGLE bank account, financial account, safe deposit box, Perth Mint account, allocated and unallocated PM account on planet earth WILL BE CEASED. That is CERTAIN. Do not take any advice that claims you can hold ANY of your wealth in paper form, or in any official way, or in any account, or in any corporation or organization. If you believe that, you WILL lose everything.
Go find a place to live as far in the boonies as possible, make your place as invisible and self-sufficient as possible, and create impossible to notice or find places to stash everything of value. Have lots of weapons. If you can't have guns, be creative and recognize how many other kinds of weapons you can buy... or build. Be CREATIVE.
When the SHTF, people have no idea how disasterous life will be for some time... because never before has the entire planet been based on fiat. Life will be very nasty and dangerous for most folks (but not so much for you... if you go "all in" to prepare), until humans re-instate the policy of only accepting physical gold, silver and other durable goods as payment, and refuse any form of fractional reserve, and refuse to have any interactions with ANY kind of bank or financial company.
Better get real soon too, because the clock is closing in on midnight.
Nice post the sumation is spot on. That fiat thing has gone on long enough.
Why would anyone in their right mind leave the USA and move to a country where you do not speak the language and also stick out like a sore thumb. Does anyone really think the USA is the only country that will have problems. There are thousands of small towns in the US that are practically off the grid. If you want to prep, thats fine. As for me I have believed the US currency would fail since 1970, but it has not, so I was wrong for 40 years. I hold gold, income property cash and no stocks or bonds. It would be stipid for me to hunker down, because I will probably be dead in 5 or 10 years. I am thinking about laying in food, and supplies, and water purification tablets. What will you do about medications, You can only buy a 3 months supply. Just saying.
I live 125km from the nearest human being, and my self-sufficient digs cannot be reached by land vehicles. Exactly who do you imagine I look like a sore thumb to?
About once every month or three I fly my little airplane to a small town to pick up supplies. Typically, I take supplies off the shelves, put them in my cart, then once I have everything, place them on the counter next to the cash register, look at the total that appears, hand them that much money, take the change, and leave.
What do I need language for again? Quite often I don't say a word. When I do encounter people (125km or more from home), they don't bother me at all, don't seem bothered by me (just curious about my airplane parked out back of the store), and so I have no idea what you think I should worry about. These people I meet are one hell of a lot more relaxed, happy and friendly than gringos I knew... and I lived in Wailea, Maui for a great many years, once of the most friendly "aloha" places you can find in the USSA.
40 years ago you could buy a gallon of gasoline for 17.9 cents per gallon. And you think the dollar has not "failed". Okay, keep on thinking that. And when it fails even worse sometime in the next few years, you can keep thinking that again, even though you won't even be able to pay for anything in cash, because they make anything but plastic money illegal (so they can track every last freaking penny). Though barter of basics in the boonies will always work to some extent, rational neighbors permitting.
If I want medicine, I can get medicine... without a freaking ripoff doctor visit or prescriptions. But I've found natural food and natural herbs are much more effective at keeping me healthy than the modern addictive but destructive poisons pushed by doctors in the USSA. I do keep a supply of three types of antibiotics around, and a few other precautionary items. If I wanted to, I could by 10 year supplies where I live, just one more reason living in the USSA leaves you at the mercy of the predators-that-be. Besides... who needs doctors! Certainly not doctors USSA style!
If you are 5 to 10 years from death, staying in the USSA might be a wise decision. Not because the USSA is better, but because you may well succeed at dying before the police state kills you... if you stay away from populated areas. You seem to be holding your assets in wise forms.
Fiat currency the FUEL for the sleeping dead. It's just a matter of time the FUEL is so diluted that the sleeping dead will not want to go any futher.
Form a posse all legal like and go get the bank robbers? Like John Fucking Wayne.
Or pull the plug until? They shoulda done that in Cypres!
Or sit back and watch it all go to hell? Like Mexico did.
How would you feel playing a game where the rules change every ten minutes and you're the last to know? Protect yourself, you know how.......
The scum gorvernments get taken over by Bankers when the currency is devalued. We had to sacrifice all our bankers on Q99X2. Took them to the pyramids and beat the shit out of em till they jumped. Its was great. When a bankster jumps off the pyramid he hits the first 20 foot drop, splats, then rolls over the edge of the next, until finally the goey mess drips over the last of 500 steps and seeps into the ground at the base. Crowds love it.
OK, Tyler, I hear you and agree 100% but please don't just state the problem and exit the podium. What do we disciples do? I've taken some drastic steps and are going forward on 4 more fronts as I write this. Shirley, you can't be recommending running to other unstable fiat toilet paper.
So, what do your loyal readers do? This is of utmost importance, so what to do? Help.
Invest those $$ in food, PM's and a gun(s) and ammo.
Bah.
Don't worry about money.
When you get your chip implant, all those tiresome decisions will be taken care for you. You won't need a wallet, coins or any barbaric relics of the past.
A credit will be automatically put on your account and bills will be automatically paid and you still get to choose your food.
Because people like a little freedom.
The soda and snack taxes will help you make the right decisions.
The new carefree Obamanation.
IF dolar is not strong, what else is ? besides gold...
I think the decline already took place. If you are saying buy gold, silver, commodities or tangible stuff, then it's already happened. Oil and gold prices are through the roof. If you believe that gold holds its value, then the 150% increase since 2008 tells the story of the real value of the dollar. This would also explain the stock market at all time highs. Why it's different this time? Well, everyone devalued their currency at the same time. It was a race to the bottom. This race seemed to offset or cover up that the value of every fiat currency had declined.
Ominous choice of words ZH - Russian Roulette!
What currency is better than the dollar. Oh, maybe buy a bunch of rubles.