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This Crisis Was Foreseeable … Thousands of Years Ago
We’ve known for 5,000 years that mass spying on one’s own people is always aimed at grabbing power and crushing dissent, not protecting us from bad guys.
We’ve known for 4,000 years that debts need to be periodically written down, or the entire economy will collapse. And see this.
We’ve known for 2,500 years that prolonged war bankrupts an economy.
We’ve known for 2,000 years that wars are based on lies.
We’ve known for 1,900 years that runaway inequality destroys societies.
We’ve known for thousands of years that debasing currencies leads to economic collapse.
We’ve known for millennia that torture is a form of terrorism.
We’ve known for thousands of years that – when criminals are not punished – crime spreads.
We’ve known for hundreds of years that the failure to punish financial fraud destroys economies, as it destroys all trust in the financial system.
We’ve known for centuries that monopolies and the political influence which accompanies too much power in too few hands are dangerous for free markets.
We’ve known for hundreds of years that companies will try to pawn their debts off on governments, and that it is a huge mistake for governments to allow corporate debt to be backstopped by government.
We’ve known for centuries that powerful people – unless held to account – will get together and steal from everyone else.
We’ve known for hundreds of years that standing armies and warmongering harm Western civilization.
We’ve known for 200 years that allowing private banks to control credit creation eventually destroys the nation’s prosperity.
We’ve known for two centuries that a fiat money system – where the money supply is not pegged to anything real – is harmful in the long-run.
We’ve known for 200 years that a two-party system quickly becomes corrupted.
We’ve known for over a century that torture produces false and useless information.
We’ve known since the 1930s Great Depression that separating depository banking from speculative investment banking is key to economic stability. See this, this, this and this.
We’ve known for 80 years that inflation is a hidden tax.
We’ve known for 79 years that war is a racket that benefits the elites but harms everyone else.
We’ve known since 1988 that quantitative easing doesn’t work to rescue an ailing economy.
We’ve known since 1993 that derivatives such as credit default swaps – if not reined in – could take down the economy. And see this.
We’ve known since 1998 that crony capitalism destroys even the strongest economies, and that economies that are capitalist in name only need major reforms to create accountability and competitive markets.
We’ve known since 2007 or earlier that lax oversight of hedge funds could blow up the economy.
And we knew before the 2008 financial crash and subsequent bailouts that:
- The easy credit policy of the Fed and other central banks, the failure to regulate the shadow banking system, and “the use of gimmicks and palliatives” by central banks hurt the economy
- Anything other than (1) letting asset prices fall to their true market value, (2) increasing savings rates, and (3) forcing companies to write off bad debts “will only make things worse”
- Bailouts of big banks harm the economy
- The Fed and other central banks were simply transferring risk from private banks to governments, which could lead to a sovereign debt crisis
Postscript: Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it … and we’ve known that for a long time.
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Are you "Vox Populi", or did you just not credit the author?
I ask because, for a fellow who, in an article here a day or so ago, was whining incessantly against "inequality"
(which sort of begs the point: so, you're promoting a powerful State, since that's the ONLY way to enforce "equality"?!?)
why he would also write - AS IN THE LINKED ARTICLE:
http://voxday.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-refusal-to-learn.html
EXCERPT: And if you're still a Republican defending income inequality because communism or a Democrat defending big government because poor people or a Libertarian defending open borders and free trade because individual, your entire political perspective is outdated and irrelevant. That world doesn't exist anymore.
Other way around ... they just didn't credit me.
To paraphrase Gruber..."the stupidity of the proles allows/encourages all of this to continue"
Our American Jeremiah, GW, warns us of disobeying the Laws (of economics, of Justice perverted, of absolute power corrupting absolutely, of lesser power corrupting, of elites degenerating, of man's nature learned from history). Americans imagine a superman comes, a new Washington leads, a messiah appears, as a God saves His and their Shining Country upon a continent.
GW, you speak to those who wish not to hear. It's a noble quest which may succeed. Also, "Praise the Republic and pass the ammunition and gold," in case.
As the book of Ecclesiastes says... "there is nothing new under the sun".
No mention of the idea that the actual building of debt should be avoided. And that growing dependence on the government eventual bankruptcy by that government. Ultimately, it simply cannot afford the welfare checks, grossly over-promised pension checks, etc, etc., etc.
Does it mention buying foreign goods, and hollowing out one's own country's manufacturing sector, never seems to work.
The above list pretty much skimps over these problems central to our predicament. Its not thought out and more of a simplistic screed.
well said all around.
All very true, and yet.. the show goes on and on and on and on. It almost seems like we are hell-bent to reap the wrath of our continued wrongdoing. And it will be a doosie.
You are not dumb 'beaglebog' just like the rest of us you were deceived by those who promised to look after us. Now we have woken up and are aware of the depths of their deception. Lets all be thankfull we have come alive again and can do something about it.
If you don't do so already goto http://armstrongeconomics.com/armstrong_economics_blog/
Its mostly about finance but some interesting politics as well, go to his archives you may learn something, I did.
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/category/articles/
Another interesting site
And lots more
Very well said George
I have a confession to make.
I spent at least 40 years, blissfully unaware of all those things. Pretty much.
I had thought myself to be quite well-educated. Too dumb to even recognise the depths of my own dumbness.
Cheers to internet, and even more to 2008 !
Good Post. We buy it. They do the P.T. Barnum number on us.
Who do we Blame? When we crash, lose the Family Fortune, lose the Kids Education Money, Lose the Retirement, ...
Well what do we do?
- Ask for permission to have Referendum Elections??
- Ask for Bail outs for Retirees or Households??
- Mail Letters to US Congress??
- Set up Local City Debates on National Issues Like Banking, Accounting, Taxes, Monopolies, Lobbying, and War??
- Ask for Tax Breaks
- Maybe Ask for Forgiveness on Medical Bills
- Ask for Social Security Increases and Fix
- Maybe we should visit Town Hall, Visit the Capital, Visit the Police Chief, Visit State Representatives, Visit Senators????
No, We will Die in Bankruptcy, Broke, and as Failures as far as Finances go... unable to help kids unless we give up Restaurants or Steak.
This was the Cheerful Version!!
Most likely outcome is that you and yours will continue to be robbed by the same Tribe over and over and over again. They will continue to send your/our children to War to be sacrificed on their Altar of Hate. They will continue to say the opposite of what they really mean like the "Department of Defense" instead of the "Department of Murder, Theft and Lies", the "Patriot Act" instead of "Terroist Act", "Affordable Healthcare Act" instead of "Screwjob and Taxes for the Poor"
"The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. -- J. EDGAR HOOVER (DIRECTOR, FBI)
Thats why we are in deep poo, no one Believed it could happen. Now reap the whirlwind, and prepare for civil war, all over the world; whats that!? you don't believe me, see parragraph one, and keep your powder dry.
Well my Father Believes what he reads.
He is a Scientist, but believes what is in National News Papers and Main Stream Media.
There is a Clue here:
- Propaganda is very Effective, Spoken Word, Written Word, and backed up by Main Stream Movies & TV
- We need to Reassess our Generational Differences, the tendency to Support Foreign Wars like WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Gulf War, Iraqi War
- US Foreign Policy stinks and only supports Economic Pieces through Giant Corporations, See Monroe Doctrine
- Assassination in the USA, Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 9-11 were false excuses to go to war... Cost Benefit of War over 600 Miles away is so thin you can hold it up for the wind to blow it away
- US Is a Military Republic, Foreign Policy is Aggressive, we support Economic & Corporate interests around the world and these interests have placement in the US Government as well
Bleat?
the greatest common thread of the human time line : its ability to forget lessons of the past.
"This time its different", sing the Machiavellians and we fall for it, 'cos each generation forgets the "cui bono" lesson of the past.
Life is one Sisyphus ride on his hill.
I knew that!
We’ve known since 2007 or earlier that lax oversight of hedge funds could blow up the economy.
Disagree. It has been self-evident since Long-Term Capital Management in 1998
In the same way Securitised Bonds blew up at Penn Square Bank in 1982.
So just why did Americans pull a bag over their heads and jump off a cliff in 2007 ?
Because Leaders & Patriarchs Spread Confidence and nothing Else!!!!
- Lip service
- Spin
- Propaganda
- Advertisements for Consumerism
- We separate funding flows/Add funding requirements to keep national secrets, allow fees or other revenue generating Schemes
Great oogely-moogely!! You mean they're NOT going to make king sized Snicker bars ever again?!?!!!
... and yet, THEY do it anyway ... and are able to do it anyway, UNIMPEDED. THEY are powerful and perverse.
So, before a strategy can be created, we really need to understand the environment. IMO, we have a false understanding of the environment in which we live and so have not been able to get a solution right.
However the toadies in the way will do everything in their power to prevent us from knowing the truth, one that they claim to know and say would shatter society if generally known.
Since 15 August 1971 the world has - "temporarily" - been brainwashed quite thoroughly. 2 generations of sheople have been bamboozled under by faulty believes, lies, and systemic fraud. The bill is about due.
Excellent post. It also shows that humans are stupid and make the same mistake over and over again (the mistake of letting psychopaths run and ruin our world).
It is my belief that we have little choice about "letting" psychopaths run and ruin the world.
Evidence seems to be piling up that the psychopaths are merely toady-priests and toady-slavers for a greater and more malignant power.
Yes but ignoring all of this is good for the people at the top, until it is not!
How do we get to the point of it not?
food for thought ok here we go...if orwels 1984 is to be referrenced as a "blueprint" to the unfolding events (which seems to be the mainstay for all this crazy .gov/banking NWO ) then why is fight club not seen as its solution... since both means lead to a feared end why not go for broke rather than waiting slowly for it to come? simple ...same reason we build swimming pools with spring boards 18 inches off the water rather than cliff diving..its less fearful. Fear is a double edged sword that can be a motivator and a pacifier. The sheep are pacified and it is going to be thier/our fucking undoing. The other thing is there is no cohesive trust among people NONE, The reason we are loosing is simple the scum at the top are FAMILIES these inbred dynasties are 80% blood related and inbreeding is the key they cannot be infiltrated nor influenced by foriegn entities. Now we on the other hand can be...... think it through do the research and come to your own conclusion ...like Radical Marijuana stated I also can't figure a way out of this.. Its said we as a society hit peak happiness in 1950 who knows all I know is I'm not anywhere close to being happy and I don't believe I can get much more angered
You need to start organizing with real people in your locale. Small numbers mean nothing unless there are a lot of them. Start now. Be prepared for the day they implement the next crisis. They will try to take advantage of it. We must be ready and beat them to the punch.
We've known for two thousand years that a satanic cult would take over the world. We even have some idea of who the main players are.
"I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of satan". -Jesus
Talmudists or Khazars? Both? And yes, I know that many Goyim are along for the ride, and many Jews are not.
Luke said 'the Kingdom of Heaven is within'. Why should we look anywhere else for the Kingdom of Hell? Satan is just a metaphor that excuses personal responsibility.
Christian voters continue to give their personal approval to a state which engages in murderous military adventures, whilst pretending to observe commandments such as 'thou shalt not kill'. I'm pretty sure that also means killing by proxy, unless of course the state is more important than god.
Personal responsibility is a big factor in all of this mess, we don't need any further excuses to have less of it. I've never met a voter yet that feels personally responsible for state backed murder at home or abroad, yet they will quite happily grind on about 'my representative'.
We readily hand over our personal sovereignty and intellectual curiousity to anyone who happens by with a good story or some thin promise of security. We take responsibility for nothing, we cower from the very idea of responsibility. We are perpetually in search of a Mommy or Daddy to take us by the hand so that we don't have to face the world alone with only our own resources of knowledge and spirit to survive on.
Then we have the audacity to wonder why the world is as it is and cry about being taken advantage of. It's laughable.
Satan is not just a metaphor, my friend. He's as real as you and me only moreso.
Are you sure you're not thinking of Santa?
These statements are true, but how they are told is misleading. They lack nuance. Words such as "tend to," and "often are" are missing from the sentences. The author tries to lay out an argument for each, but he doesn't understand economic reasoning well enough to do so. Nor does he state what the causes and effects are.
There are different economic schools of thought. These statements do not conform to a single school. Many of the experts he cites are Keynesians or politicians. The author doesn't know enough to be so certain of his conclusions.
I could pick holes in almost any of these propositions and list the exceptions to his rules.
Take prolonged wars and the destruction of an economy. This relationship is true, but only in complex societies. What happens is that a government tends to cheapen its currency to pay for a war. This causes price inflation which is a hidden form of taxation.
When any government taxes too much, that destroys the economy, but not immediately. Wealthy merchants fled the Roman Empire when Diocletian demanded arbitrary and ruinous taxes to pay for his bread and circus' at home and his wars on the border.
The Mongols never had such a problem although they warred for over a century. They tended to get richer as they pillaged. The people they conquered were placed at the front of the war band, so they tended to do the dying.
UrbanBard
Though presented as a "nuanced" clarification,
your comment essentially suggests that we should dismiss the article because
this time it could be different.
[Why? Because according to your analysis, Mongol society was not "complex".
Or perhaps because if an economy is not destroyed "immediately", or a warring society at least within a century, then your (arbitrary) time frame for historical developments has not been met.
Or perhaps because of your ad hominem argument that neither the author nor those cited "know enough". Unlike you, whose word we have that you could "pick holes" in their propositions.]
No, the post is about critical thinking.
Critical thinking Critical thinking Critical thinking
selective ignorance selective ignorance selective ignorance
This is standard from GW. A lot of sweeping generalizations and nothing revelatory.
The problem is that, for a small brain to accommodate to much variables is overwhelming, we have to account with social/psychological/Physics because energy is fundamental, Economic etc. the author puts one idea and not the all truth, war remove resources from health care that affects the well being of the population, that removes persons from productive production, that implies the remotion of knowledge from the group, etc, this is only one of the implications. sorry for my english
Money from nothing; so that means that integrity, honesty, oaths of office, private properties, rule of law, our nation's and world's resources, contract law, moral code, everything, that a once great nation was built on, was absolutely trashed, predominantly by the 547 Club and various agencies for naught.
Here look, money!
Hundreds of thousands of individuals know the system is corrupt, but very few actually know how to fix corrupt systems without incurring the wrath of corrupt individuals at the top of the food chain. Yes we have known for centuries that we would eventually find ourselves in this mess. I get the point you are attempting to make, GW. Whistleblowing is not a healthy
way of life with the costs of food going up and all, eh. Groupthink on Wall Street gets manufactured on K Street when Glass-Steagall gets deinstitutionalized via the K Street lobby. If the lobby could be stopped we would all be better off, but the K Street lobby lines the pockets of the American Government administration and their legislators every year. The banking industry has the most individuals dedicated to their lobby. Some calculations put the lobby at 10:1 for each member of Congress. The problem is not what we have known, but more importantly, the problem is how to get what we know to be legislated
into existence and not out of existence like Glass-Steagall. Phil Graham
was lobbied and caved to the pressure. Congress sold the idea and passed the legislation. Its not like they did not have a chance to think about their actions long term. Greenspan assured them all he knew what he was doing and the American people believed him for thirty years without fail. Today we know Greenspan was the weakest link in the chain of command, but this does not make us act on that knowledge whatsoever. Occupy Wall Street was the only planned revolt against the knowledge base and the CIA nearly assassinated the leadership. In brief, we attain small wins and keep up the good fight
without rest until the reality of doing nothing forces us to collectively act.
"Knowing" that the real world is controlled by lies backed by violence does almost nothing to stop that from continuing to happen.
As an intellectual, I thought that was another excellent article from George Washington. However, from the point of view of practical politics, it makes no significant difference. Understanding that human civilizations operate according to ways that correspond to the principles and methods of organized crime does not stop that from continuing to work, since real systems of lies backed by violence do not care about anything but being able to back up lies with violence.
After thousands of years of civilization based on systems of lies backed by violence, developing at an exponential rate, there appears to no longer be any practically possible way that enough people will ever read and understand anything like the article above, because the established systems are already built on enforced frauds, and dominated by those who benefit from those enforced frauds, who can continue to do so, by rewarding those who agree with those enforced frauds, while punishing those who disagree with those enforced frauds.
Although I may well attempt to communicate similar points to more people, there is no reasonable doubt that most people do not know, and have been conditioned to not want to know about the history summarized in the article above. As far as I can tell, the only thing that actually happens from learning about that is that the more one knows, the worse it gets, especially since one of the things one learns about is how history was written by the victors, in ways which distorted what most people learn.
The majority of people continue to "fail to learn from history" and so, "are doomed to repeat it!"
Massively defrauding people tends to be fantastically successful, while attempting to wake them up to the ways that they are being defrauded tends to be a dismal failure. So far, I have never been able to think of any way to stop the established systems of lies backed by violence from automatically getting worse, faster ... despite all the efforts ever made by various groups of intellectuals to reveal those social facts to more people, the basic realities of the application of the methods of organized crime to the political processes continue to be quite successful.
In the longer term, I believe that will produce terrible consequences, however, I have never been able to think of anything practical to do in the short-term to prevent that happening. I too tend to think that the only thing we can do is attempt to educate enough other people to understand the degree to which they are being defrauded by systems based on the long history of backing up lies with violence. However, as far as I can tell that is not possible to ever adequately do, because generation after generation of backing up lies with violence has resulted in the majority of people adapting to become so ignorant and afraid that they feel afraid to stop being ignorant.
I like to daydream that enough people will finally understand enough of the more radical truths about human history, as was summarized in that article above. However, I am not able to believe that is anything more than my irrational hope for some series of political miracles.
..."'Knowing' that the real world is controlled by lies backed by violence does almost nothing to stop that from continuing to happen..."
Shadow boxing never results in the shadow being defeated. Stop shadow boxing.
.."As an intellectual, I thought that was another excellent article from George Washington. However, from the point of view of practical politics, it makes no significant difference"..
Great observations once again RM.
History has proved again and again that realization is the only rational viewpoint any thinking person could come to, yet we witness people around ourselves actually believing that consequences might somehow be avoided by convincing others to vote for the either of the two same parties.
Some in their own minds see themselves as good honest people not deserving of what's coming so they won't; with even a greater degree of self delusion many convince themselves that we have evolved beyond the baser instincts common of man in light of overwhelming proof of evidence to the contrary.
History indicates otherwise, the overall history of man is that of brutish tyranny and squalor, I imagine initial normalcy bias will prevent those who succumb the ability to react rationally and that alone will take it's toll when people are confronted with what has to come.
Some of us old enough have lived a whole lifetime within what now appears a comfortable lie. We were assured by our leaders this new era was the was the permanent new default setting for civilization; effortlessly riding the waves of one artificial boom on top of the other we witnessed and benefited the birth of a new optimistic phase of an ancient repetitive cycle that has evolved from hope to despair, unearned bounty to debtor and good times to misery throughout history.
I guess the reason many gravitate to these sites that still allow discussion of issues in an open forum is we simply have to reassure ourselves that we don't live in a vacuum and more importantly that there are others who as we do prefer to view life in the stark light of reality no matter how painful it is.
.."Off goes the head of the king and tyranny gives way to freedom.
The change seems abysmal.
Then, bit by bit the face of freedom hardens, and by and by it is the old face of tyranny.
Then another cycle, and another.
But under the play of all these opposites there is something fundamental and permanent — the basic delusion that men may be governed and yet be free".. Henry Lewis Mencken..
..he had a point.
PoliticalRefuge...
When I started reading your reply, the first thing that occured to me was a quote from Mencken, who you explicitly referred to at the end of your reply:
"The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable." & PoliticalRefuge... I particularly agreed with your view:"Some of us old enough have lived a whole lifetime within what now appears a comfortable lie. ... I guess the reason many gravitate to these sites that still allow discussion of issues in an open forum is we simply have to reassure ourselves that we don't live in a vacuum and more importantly that there are others who as we do prefer to view life in the stark light of reality no matter how painful it is."
ah, so nice and comforting to know i'm not alone in thoughts, but what about that PAIN you speak of? (for not compliing with the lies).
hmmm, pain or eventual pain. eventual as in you can have your pain tomarrow by incremental compliance...
frustration is the truthfull outcome intellectuals must deal with. truely we are not equel and the systems that embrace that reality seem to survive longer(market based). but along comes a socila construct to gain favor by taking(threat of violence)the toils of another.
Good stuff bro.Remember the majority have to be governed,ergo you have type type of governance that has always been in power.The elite will always hijack the revolution and or best intentions and instincts of the citizenry.Adam Smith's invisible hand theorem works for the power elite of any society.The utopia is an attractive fallacy that entraps the idealist.
The truth is the truth - and you stand up for it just because of that. At the rate things change, I'm sure I'll die a slave. At the same time I'm also certain that the truth will prevail in the end. When you think about it, it really couldn't be any other way.
Easy to see how Satan has been in control of the world for a long time. No one else could have so easily messed it up as badly.
casting the blame on satan relives men of the burden of responsibility for their actions. Its not a supernatural entity that is inflicting the status quo, it is our brother and sisters, our tribe, our humanity seeking unequal distribution of resources not by skill and effort but by chicanery and deceit.
it is not satan that caused greed, it is baked into the cake. we all want what we can't have and some of us want it so bad we'll fuck over our own to get it.
Lets not make it easy and pretty and blame it on anyone other than ourselves.