This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.

Lord Of The Flies: Dystopia Is Arriving

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Dave Kranzler via Investment Research Dynamics,

Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value – zero  – Voltaire

I was driving around Denver yesterday doing my “boots on the ground” due diligence scouting of the local housing market.  I continue to see some “sold” and “under contract” signs but I’m seeing a pile-up forming in new “for sale,” “price reduced,” and “for rent” signs.   The traffic update on the sports radio reported a back-up at an intersection in Denver caused by a fist-fight that had broken out between two drivers.  This country is sliding back into neanderthal times.

The U.S. economic system is slipping into dystopia and the Government/Fed is doing everything it can to try and prevent the process.  The two most obvious signs of this are the perpetual market interventions by the PPT to prevent a stock market dump and the relentless propaganda flowing through the mainstream media which originates from the policy-implementing elitists (business and political).  Both efforts are insidious attempts to force control over our system

Overnight this week, the S&P 500 e-mini futures were halted twice.   The SPX mini is the Fed’s choice intervention tool because it can direct the market with minimal capital requirements.  The e-mini is hyper-sensitive to big orders and tends to lead the big SPX directionally because of this.   The emini trading was halted after a sudden plunge in the futures at 5:51 a.m. EST, after which a massive buy order (the PPT) hit the tape and spiked the eminis straight up. The market was halted again after the spike up stalled and the emini was about to plunge again.   You can see the action here:   E-mini Market Halt

The graphic linked above was provided by Nanex’s Eric Hunsader.  Prior to the market’s first market halt, Hunsader tweeted:  “emini getting tossed around like a rag doll:”

Untitled

I found Hunsader’s allusion to “Lord of the Flies” to be quite haunting. For me it encapsulates the societal, political and economic direction in which the United States is headed. Rule of Law has been completely eroded by corrupt Presidents and citizen nonchalance. Many beside me have alluded to the fact that the U.S. political system now resembles that of a Central American Banana Republic. That’s no secret to anyone who cares to peek at reality.

But where this whole process starts to get scary is when that needle heads toward “Lord of the Flies.” That is the point at which we will see and experience the truly dark side of humanity. Too me the outbreak of fistfights at traffic intersections and the herds of panhandlers standing on busy urban and suburban corners reflects the movement of that needle past Banana Republic to the left…

I’m not an e-wave theory advocate but there’s merit to some of the analysis.  Robert McHugh is probably the most skilled practitioner of it these days and he’s run 5 different “wave” scenarios – all of them suggest a high probability of serious market crash coming soon – he specifically references the August sell-off as “gentle” in comparison.

If this stock market does what we all know it will do eventually, which is seek a level that reflects its true underlying intrinsic value, all hell will break loose in this country and we’ll start hearing reports of much worse occurrences than fist-fights at traffic intersections.

What is the “intrinsic value” of the S&P 500?  Based studying the earnings of enough S&P 500 companies using the GAAP accounting standards that were in place 20-30 years ago – vs. non-GAAP, adjusted-GAAP, and new GAAP accounting applications used today – I would suggest that S&P 500 has “fair value” around the 500-600 level.  A large portion of reported net income/EPS is income that is non-cash and is manufactured by new accounting gimmicks.

The S&P 500 hit 666.79, which is in my “fair value” range, intra-day on March 6, 2009 (no, I don’t read any significance into “666”).  We saw how the Fed and the Treasury responded: they began dumping trillions of printed dollars into the banking system and drastically altered some of the GAAP accounting rules – i.e. they changed the rules of the game.  This was in response to the S&P 500 seeking fair value.

What is frightening to contemplate, in the context of Eric Hunsader’s haunting Tweet, is what the Government’s response will look like this time around when the PPT loses control – which I believe is occurring now – and the S&P plummets again in an attempt to seek it’s proper level.  Remember:  just like water, the stock market eventually always finds its own level.

 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:33 | 6544366 knukles
knukles's picture

Only problem is that like all fairy tale systems, the unicorn poop eventually quits smelling good.
I double dare you to load up the boat with risk assets.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:40 | 6544383 BigJim
BigJim's picture

 "What is frightening to contemplate, in the context of Eric Hunsader’s haunting Tweet, is what the Government’s response will look like this time around when the PPT loses control – which I believe is occurring now – and the S&P plummets again in an attempt to seek it’s proper level.  Remember:  just like water, the stock market eventually always finds its own level."

Why should the PPT lose control? They can just keep buying with out-of-thin-air money until they own everything. This time really may be different. They may be planning to go all the way.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:44 | 6544407 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Shmita Shmita Shmita
We made it out of clay
Shmita Shmita Shmita
We'll turn the goyim gay Oh!

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:51 | 6544442 J S Bach
J S Bach's picture

"That is the point at which we will see and experience the truly dark side of humanity."

 

We can already witness the "dark side of humanity" by merely observing the machinations of the counterfeiters in charge of our world today.

Well... on second thought... maybe they're not really part of "humanity".


Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:56 | 6544469 r101958
r101958's picture

Just as a side note of interest: Mt Aso (a super volcano) in Japan is erupting. As if they don't have enough problems over there already!

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:13 | 6544522 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

"The U.S. economic system is slipping into dystopia and the Government/Fed is doing everything it can to try and prevent the process"

Yes to the first part, no to the second.  If they were trying to "prevent" the process from happening they've sure found a funny way of doing it.  

Threy are trying to preserve the oligarchy, not everything else.  Do you think it's by accident that essentially ALL wealth (read: ownership) is being concentrated in the top 0.1%? 

Small number of rich, large number of poor and just enough middle class to service the rich.  As it has been in most societies throughout most of human history.  One giant reversion to the mean.  The 20th century was the anomaly, not the norm.  Now we're reverting to the norm.

 

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:20 | 6544721 SoilMyselfRotten
SoilMyselfRotten's picture

"The U.S. economic system is slipping into dystopia

 

I'd argue it's tripped and is falling headlong

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 00:54 | 6544904 All Risk No Reward
All Risk No Reward's picture

Falling into the possession of the Debt-Money Monopolists' various corporate fronts, that is.

All by happenstance, I'm sure.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 01:30 | 6544939 All Risk No Reward
All Risk No Reward's picture

The Fed isn't trying to prevent the collapse of the bubble they criminally created by taking credit and monetary aggregates exponential to the realized national productive capacity contrary to the SINGULAR mandate of Section 2A of the Federal Reserve Act (read it!).

That's like saying the guy who threw the ball straight up is trying to prevent it from falling back to Earth!

No, the Fed is trying to supercharge the eventual collapse that they engineered so that the mega banks that control it can turn their trillions in paper money and paper assets INTO REALITY for PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR!

The Grubered don't stand a chance.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 06:50 | 6545261 newdoobie
newdoobie's picture

They are trying, as long as it doesn't effect change in the flow of wealth. They want to change the view of the lower class that its no longer possible for people to become wealthy, or just be middle class (those jobs are gone and they are not coming back, America has to get used to a new standard of living. B. OBAMA)

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:10 | 6544512 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

BigJim, I hate to tell you, but the PPT does not run around in red and blue longhandles with a big'S' on their chest. As much as people love talk about the FED creating money out of thin air, it's not quite that simple. There are set of laws they have to work under and they can bend them up, but if they try to really break them the whole system will collapse very quickly, and what's so funny is they had the laws written to give them advantage.  Treasury has a few advantages but their leader is an empty suit. We're running up to the limits on the system and soon, something is gonna break.....

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 09:18 | 6545635 BigJim
BigJim's picture

The Fed isn't audited.

But thanks to a more recent FOI request, we know that back at the height of the GFC panic, they opened windows worth tens of trillions to bail out banks, most of them overseas.

What's to stop them doing it again? But to tell the recipients to use those funds to buy eMini futures... or whatever? Seriously. I'm concerned that even the scant rule of law we had 10 years ago is completely gone now - all that remains is its (rapidly fading) appearance.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:05 | 6544679 DeadFred
DeadFred's picture

The PPT can't buy the whole market. They can't just print enough money that they would own controlling onterest in every company. Up to now they have been able to encourage willing sheep to get on board the buying program. The sheep aren't willing now. Every rip is being sold hard. I don't think they can get the flock back in line now that they're spooked. Tell me I'm wrong when the 2000 is crossed again and stays crossed for a week or so. It won't be long until even sideways moves will take out support lines. They have a month max to make it work and I'm betting they fail.

They can't buy it all themselves.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:53 | 6544784 frankly scarlet
frankly scarlet's picture

DeadFred, So what is the market worth?  More than the 26 Trillion the Fed handed out in the aftermath of the 2008 meltdown? If the Fed can pull that kind of money out of their hat they can certainly pull even more . The only question is when do the believers in the Federal Reserve Note not believe in its value anymore....that is the only thing stopping them from buying the whole world. Why the Fed could cut down every tree on the planet to print beautiful green colored bank notes but at what point does the rest of the population not bankers stop exchanging real assests for pretty paper and demand something that has value or is exchangable for something of value?

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 08:02 | 6545367 SerenDip
SerenDip's picture

"If the Fed can pull that kind of money out of their hat they can certainly pull even more"

 

Fallacious reasoning.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 08:50 | 6545535 Arnold
Arnold's picture

Yup, just checked it.......still broke.

 

 

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 09:20 | 6545646 BigJim
BigJim's picture

 "If the Fed can pull that kind of money out of their hat they can certainly pull even more"

Fallacious reasoning.

Oh yeah? Why? They're not audited. They can do pretty much whatever the fuck they want, seems to me, and have increasingly been doing exactly that.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 10:06 | 6545861 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

No, he's right.  It is only a matter of confidence and obfuscation.  Most people have no idea how much fiat has been created in the past several years.  They still have confidence in the dollar and, inherently, everything behind the dollar (yeah, kind of a joke there). 

The thing you forget is that this is their system.  They can damn well do as they please but it is easier if people don't see the reality so that is why they obfuscate what they do.  PPT working nights and weekends is part of that.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 20:38 | 6548770 nohomehere
nohomehere's picture

as the fed goes so goes the rest and they cannot bail out the world!

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:59 | 6544477 scrappy
scrappy's picture

Do any of you know about our true history regarding money and banking?

http://www.peoplesmandate.iinet.net.au/debt_free_money_in_america.html

Where's Cognitive Dissonance when I need him? Jeeze.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:20 | 6544718 Big_Hitman
Big_Hitman's picture

Great freelance work opportunity for anyone... Work for three to eight h a day and profit in the range of $5000-$12000 each month... Weekly payments... Here is what i do... www.wallstreet34.com

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 02:11 | 6545004 EurGold
Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:35 | 6544377 erg
erg's picture

Yellen=Piggy

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:57 | 6544391 weburke
weburke's picture

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:43 | 6544395 Calmyourself
Calmyourself's picture

Not sure a fist fight qualifies for a slide in to neanderthalism ( yeah I made it up).. But, I am noticing more aggressive behavior in many social situation whether it be a check out line or stop signs, people are angry and are being so manipulated into it by the media and politicians.  Something wicked indeed comes this way, what I cannot say yet.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:53 | 6544452 general ambivalent
general ambivalent's picture

Fist fights are awesome. Stupid fist fights are stupid. But sometimes you just gotta punch a guy in the mouth to see his reaction.

Or he might just have a douchey face.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:05 | 6544503 Calmyourself
Calmyourself's picture

I do occasionally enjoy a good fight, but then I stay in shape for them and have the nose and ears to prove it.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 07:15 | 6545293 jughead
jughead's picture

 I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.  Why?  Because I lead with my nose! 

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 11:25 | 6546235 Ctrl_P
Ctrl_P's picture

Great movie.

 

 

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:26 | 6544578 MilwaukeeMark
MilwaukeeMark's picture

Watch the way people drive on your way to work tomorrow. People weaving across 3 lanes, cutting people off, excessive speeds, no regard for the safety of others around them, just for their own path. It is an indication many have lost all connection to a larger society, all that matters now is their own needs.
I see everything I need to know about how people will react when times get stressed by how I see them drive. There will be no cooperation, no charity, no compassion, just an orgy of self survival.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 03:26 | 6545090 Illegal
Mon, 09/14/2015 - 05:36 | 6545194 vulcanraven
vulcanraven's picture

Been noticing alot more road rage lately in my city, you could be on to something.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 09:29 | 6545683 mc225
mc225's picture

i've been delivering pizza, and see some crazy manuevers out on the road... also, a ton of tailgating/impatience on the part of many drivers. seems like after 9/11, obnoxious driving really took off...

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 12:31 | 6546557 DC Exile
DC Exile's picture

...not to mention the passive-aggressive drivers who drive so slow they create a safety hazard.

The Los Angeles City Council just approved a massive transportation project to, get this, "slow the speed of traffic."

I tell you there isn't much to rouse the clueless, self-absorbed Angeleno out of his moronic reverie but.....slow the traffic even more, there might just be a revolution here! All part of the plan:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/us/a-los-angeles-plan-to-reshape-the-s...

 

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:06 | 6544506 venturen
venturen's picture

Don't insult Miss Piggy

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:43 | 6544393 Chuck Knoblauch
Chuck Knoblauch's picture

Government/Fed has done everything it could to cause it.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:44 | 6544406 Calmyourself
Calmyourself's picture

Exact same time...

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:43 | 6544394 MASTER OF UNIVERSE
MASTER OF UNIVERSE's picture

The collapse will be much worse than the Lord of the Flies, eh.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:17 | 6544541 ZoroAustrian
ZoroAustrian's picture

When you destroy the value of the currency in which it's denominated and the moral foundation of the system in which it operates, 'fair value' of the market is pretty much zero.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 01:40 | 6544957 tarabel
tarabel's picture

 

 

Perspicacious summation.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 08:53 | 6545546 Arnold
Arnold's picture

Nice, hadda lookitup.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:44 | 6544398 Eahudimac
Eahudimac's picture

When the announcement comes later this week that interest rates will remain at current levels and they hint at more QE, we will be hitting new all-time highs in all indices within 2 weeks. IMHO

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:47 | 6544403 conscious being
conscious being's picture

We've seen The Fed. We know enough already about distopia.

Got a laugh out of this. Thought they forgot the /s ...the Government/Fed is doing everything it can to try and prevent the process. WTF?

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:51 | 6544404 hoyeru
hoyeru's picture

 
"dytopia"? My new English word for the day. Proofreader day off? Well, it IS Sunday.

Funny how doom and gloom is being predicted but it never occurs. Lemme give you a clue: the handlers just keep on swaping the cream off the top, leaving just enough for the plebs to survive on. yes it feels like the end of the world but they WILL NEVER allow the system to collapse cuaz after all they got THE MOST to lose. For example, USA has had Federal Reserve for the last 102 years, meaning the US economy hasn't been Capitalist for almost 2 generations. Yet the systenm hasnt collapsed. This is a definite proof Centrally controlled economies (Socialst/Communist) are actually very sound. Too bad, Libertarians!

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:54 | 6544454 palmereldritch
palmereldritch's picture

I think its pronounced DIE-topia. LOL

 

Your last statement is right on point.  More and more I think that will be the tack. They are all about incrementalism and they don't want to leave anything to chance.

 

If you're going to boil a frog you do it slow.  And you boil it until it is completely dead and ready to be eaten.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:06 | 6544491 i_call_you_my_base
i_call_you_my_base's picture

"This is a definite proof"

LOL, yes, definite proof. Because no economy or country that has lasted for a hundred years has ever gone under. You're a fucking idiot.

Also, your grammar sucks.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:20 | 6544554 Spiritof42
Spiritof42's picture

they WILL NEVER allow the system to collapse cuaz after all they got THE MOST to lose.

You give them too much credit. My money says, they finally lost control. These things take years to work their way through the economy.

I paid close attention to collapses in the past. Estimates vary around half of the work force had jobs.

Too bad, Libertarians!

That's what what they said when libertarians predicted the economic collapse of the Soviet Union.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 01:14 | 6544921 Reichstag Fire Dept.
Reichstag Fire Dept.'s picture

Hard to argue with your total, abject stupidity. Libertarianism is the counter weight to centrally planned, "comand and control" society. You draw your conclusions from your wishful thinking.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 05:24 | 6545182 MSimon
MSimon's picture

The counter weight to centrally planned, "comand and control" society is different people in charge with more command and control?

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 10:14 | 6545904 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

He/she said libertarians, not librarians you retard.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 08:10 | 6545390 SerenDip
SerenDip's picture

"This is a definite proof Centrally controlled economies (Socialst/Communist) are actually very sound."

 

Fallacious reasoning abounds in this thread.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:46 | 6544410 davidalan1
davidalan1's picture

Steve Liesman...

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:48 | 6544417 One Eyed Jack
One Eyed Jack's picture

We piggied some Folks.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:48 | 6544418 grunk
grunk's picture

Dytopia (sic?) Is Arriving?

The last peg is losing the reserve currency status.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:55 | 6544465 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Yeah well, when we have our own blog we can correct spelling errors without anyone noticing too ;-)

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:19 | 6544548 grunk
grunk's picture

Dude, I'm an idiot, not a spelling Nazi.

I looked it up the spelling to see if I missed some Urban Dictionary shit.

 

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 01:38 | 6544956 tarabel
tarabel's picture

 

 

You were thinking of dyke-topia, that short happy time for certain folks just before the hammer comes down.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 05:27 | 6545184 MSimon
MSimon's picture

Lesbians are easy to love. You just use your tongue.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 10:16 | 6545909 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

And lesbians are faster than gay guys.  They get there lickity split while the guys are still at home packing their shit.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:48 | 6544422 i_call_you_my_base
i_call_you_my_base's picture

I don't think the US will fall apart because of a stock market crash specifically. Remember, not many people have any savings at all, let alone money in the stock market. The people with the most to lose from a market crash are the wealthy. And we all know the wealthy don't fight in the streets. The bigger concern is a government debt crash. It may follow the market crash, but the stock market crash itself will not tear the social fabric. And the people who say it will are those who generally want to save it at all costs.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:55 | 6544459 Global Hunter
Global Hunter's picture

pension and retirment funds will be hit, it will affect the housing market further hurting "normal" working and middle class people.  I think when those people with retirement or pension funds start being hit the shit will hit the fan.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:04 | 6544496 i_call_you_my_base
i_call_you_my_base's picture

I don't entirely disagree, my point is only that it'll take some time. In many faultering economies of late, they just let people stay in their homes even though they've defaulted. And the pensions can be pared back and go on. The markets took a massive dive in '08 and things went on. It hurt many, but there weren't riots in the streets.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:13 | 6544526 general ambivalent
general ambivalent's picture

One person mentioned the refugee crisis as a true black swan event. Some of us did see that coming but we didn't know when, and now that it's here it was such a wave that the world seems completely different now. It is very hard to predict where that situation will go; one day Germany was protesting to bring in as many people as possible and convince their neighbours to do so as well, and the next they closed the borders and instituted military control.

If the algos start their own wall of refugees then the markets go into crisis mode and cease to exist as we have come to view them.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:16 | 6544536 Global Hunter
Global Hunter's picture

agree with you there, I have been amazed at how long they have been able to keep it going with all the manipulations.  I think those manipulations though can't go on forever, I have learnt to not make predictions about the timing of it all.  I grew up in the suburbs and younger adult lived in the city but now I live in a rural area.  When I go back to spend time with family in urban areas I sense tension and aggression that feels like it is increasing to me, but that is just my "gut" telling me that, or my senses. I also notice a lot of posers, middle aged adult posers who are trying to play like they are superior to everybody else.  It boggles my mind, I think reality is going to come back and kick a lot of people in the teeth.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:21 | 6544564 lasvegaspersona
lasvegaspersona's picture

and...stock market losses mean fewer dollar coming into the treasury. All around it speeds up the destruction of the dollar.

As long as the dollar buys imports it will just be ugly. When it can't buy imports look out.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:06 | 6544501 general ambivalent
general ambivalent's picture

But isn't the problem that the economy is now tied into the illusion of the stock market like a knot? As in, the debt is tied into the market and the market is being elevated as part of the manipulation to keep the dollar up and therefore debt manageable. For example, many of the big companies which maintain an illusion of wealth are propped up by market manipulation an money injections.

If people lose confidence in the illusion of the market then they may just add to the groups of cynical people, angry people, or political groups calling for war, further manipulation, or a populist leader. In any case it quickens the political tyranny and social destruction. Oil and gold are just two examples of the extreme manipulation and once they are let go won't there be potential consequences which could cause economic collapse? Or even worse, the drive to war is deepened because the market in its manipulated form seems to be at the level of war games with China and Russia.

With the racial tension in the US it won't take a lot for events to become unhinged. I think the stock market crash could have effects which lead to that.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:13 | 6544523 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

The "wealthy" are the ones who hire people. They are the ones who buy things that don't require credit. You can beat down the poor forever and not see as much change as kicking the top1% in the balls. They're the ones that don't HAVE to do anything.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:48 | 6544424 colddirt
colddirt's picture

Love the Lord of the Flies reference - those little bastards were mean !

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:49 | 6544429 colddirt
colddirt's picture

And we're fucked

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:49 | 6544430 colddirt
colddirt's picture

And we're fucked

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:49 | 6544426 wareco
wareco's picture

Who the hell is Dave Krantzler, and why the fuck should I care what he says?  The same thing goes for the bloggers Tyler keeps trotting out here.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:55 | 6544462 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

Perhaps your captors will allow you to view something else.......?

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:15 | 6544533 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

Don't like it? CNBC is thataway>>>>>

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 01:36 | 6544952 tarabel
tarabel's picture

 

 

Actually, I think CNBC is thisaway v v v v v v v v .

Of course we could just be standing on different parts of the world.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:32 | 6544547 KansasCrude
KansasCrude's picture

Kranzler is a U of Chicago MBA,  Traded Junk on Wall Street.  Paid his dues watched the rat's nest in the Junk Bond market in the 90's and saw the corruption first hand.  Beyond that he is a tireless and brilliant observer of the clusterfuck that is our financial system.  He has co-written several of Paul Craig Roberts  observations of our political/economic systems.   He is a smart ass and an unapolegetic critic of our evolving train wreck.  We are lucky to have him making the effort to keep the BS  in real time with quantitative measurement.  If you have a functioning brain you are paying attention to what he is saying

Tune in to his website Investment Research Dynamics.  A top stop for those that want to hear the truth.  A REBEL with a cause.  Dave makes some money selling his investiment reports.  Well done and worth the $25 he sells them for. 

 

http://investmentresearchdynamics.com/

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:24 | 6544574 Jackagain
Jackagain's picture

An even better question...then why have you been coming to read them for over 6 years?

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 09:01 | 6545572 Arnold
Arnold's picture

My name and time is still for sale.

$110,000 US

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:49 | 6544431 davidalan1
davidalan1's picture

this collapse I/we have all been awaiting. Where learned men post survival skills...prepare...food, guns ammo...seems surreal...I dont doubt it but damn its so hard. My wife wont go for it..so I have refrained from doing things knowing I will glean maximum satisfaction.."what bitch"? I warned you

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:50 | 6544436 general ambivalent
general ambivalent's picture

I think a more important question is, 'Does Brawndo find its own level?'

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:52 | 6544444 Global Hunter
Global Hunter's picture

Fistfights at traffic lights?

Happened to me today pulling up to a red light, pulled up slowly and in the process of coming to a complete stop some guy was making a left turn to travel down the road the opposite direction I was coming, he nearly hits the front of my truck, then stops by window and starts yelling and swearing at me.  I kept repeating "look at the lines, I am within my lane, look at the lines".  I actually really wanted him to get out and try something because I knew he was looking for a fight and I felt like I was going to win this one.  Fear came across his face and he drove off.

I am in Niagara Falls today because of my wife's idea, but I really hate to go into cities now because almost everybody I see seem very tense and stressed the fuck out.  I never thought of it as lord of the flies, but this gives me another reason never to return to any urban areas again!  I won't miss them.

 

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:55 | 6544466 davidalan1
davidalan1's picture

I am in Niagara Falls today because of my wife's idea,---- ruined the whole story soldier

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeQ2gQHOZRE

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:53 | 6544453 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Too me the outbreak of fistfights at traffic intersections ...

What a woos this guy is. Like nobody has dver seen a road rage fist fight before??

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:55 | 6544460 Government need...
Government needs you to pay taxes's picture

Fuckin' A.  I'm sharpening a stick at both ends.  Where you at, traitor?

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:56 | 6544470 buzzsaw99
buzzsaw99's picture

the maggots are in charge so the lord of the flies analogy is fitting

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 21:59 | 6544483 khnum
khnum's picture

Friend and I were on a trip in Cambodia visiting the killing fields,processing centres and the like and the guide was giving us all the stories of horror about Pol Pot,simultaneously we asked 'why didnt someone just shoot the prick',the guide was at a complete loss,Americans like Cambodians seemed hardwired to comply with authority no matter how bad it is.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:07 | 6544508 nmewn
nmewn's picture

It's against the law to shoot oppressive leaders!

Why, what on earth are you saying? ;-)

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:05 | 6544502 matermaker
matermaker's picture

So often, I wonder how disingenuous or hypocritical the writers of these posts actually are.  If you want to pinpoint where our society started to decline, look into when baseball stopped being the national sport and football took it's place.  You never watch a baseball game and scream, "get 'em!  get 'em!"  I just had a debate with my mother who was over for dinner.  I explained to her that ignoring all the gloom and doom going on in the world is fine, but watching young men be modern gladiators on a television, while you scream violently at it, is nothing different from watching gladiator slaves in the Colosieum.

As a farmer, I understand the importance of planting seeds.  One can very readily plant seeds into masses of people around you just like Eddie Bernays did with his woman's torches of freedom way back when... [when he was trying to get women smoking]  You'd be amazed at how easy it is to sway the public opinion and habbits of those around you.

 

This site would be far better if folks took off their masks of violence and fear and started to think, logically, critically about how they would like to see things come out in the spring.  Albeit, winter is a bitch, there is always a spring.

Quit getting on with the orgy of destruction and start planting seeds for spring.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:16 | 6544534 Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer's picture

matermaker, the only reason you plant those seeds is because you have faith they will grow.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:24 | 6544561 matermaker
matermaker's picture

No sir.   I am aware of what they need to grow and I work my ass off to get them that.  It is has been said that every society has the seeds of its own destruction.  There is always something that grows in the field after that.  and if not?  WTF do I care, we'll all be dead.  My point is that zerohedge will soon die if it doesn't start to offer something more than, "were' all totally screwed and every man for himself."  I live in a community where I know it will never be that way.  Humans may thrive better in smaller tribes but they never were able to go it as indivuals.  Build a new network if you want an answer.  Things are fucked, that a given.  If this site wants to live, it needs something beyond that.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:32 | 6544575 Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer's picture

My comment was meant as a compliment. Not many have faith in anything, and you do. 

Well, you always have to bear in mind, they do have another name for ZeroHedge... "Fight Club".

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:35 | 6544595 matermaker
matermaker's picture

Arthur, what point is there to life if you don't have faith in it being good or better?  I will admit that i read this site way too regularly.  However, I choose to keep the belief that their is always room for imporvement.  Like I said, if we all nuke each other, who will give a crap then?    Whatever turns out[by the way I am quite aware of how fubar things are] there will be those that plant the new seeds that will grow on a burned forest that is now virile meadow.  Why not have a little vision in the longer term?

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:00 | 6544645 Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer's picture

Financial analysis is why most people frequent this website, I suspect. Every once in awhile we all get annoyed and write comments about it. It seems the more this crap is exposed the crazier it seems to be, and nobody has the ability to put a stop to it.

But you keep coming here, I keep coming here, we all keep coming here don't we?

Maybe its because everyone is looking for a sign that somehow this will turn out okay... at least some have faith that it will happen. Maybe we're looking for a leader?

At any rate, I'd try to get the thought out of my mind that self-flagellation as part of a religious ritual is the primary reason people like coming here.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:29 | 6544748 o r c k
o r c k's picture

I discovered ZH only a few weeks ago. It's the only site I know of where breaking news appears as it happens. I'm but a neophyte "money person" but reading things sans propaganda is a rare pleasure.   Stack the halls with la la la la ---oh, wrong month.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:46 | 6544780 matermaker
matermaker's picture

There is one good answer to that.   It's good to know what the temperature is, outside.    Some do find themselves in a perpetual cycle of doom and gloom.   Maybe, they just don't ponder far enough into the future.  Maybe, they are so disenchanted that they are putting their energy into a 'reset' so where as they feel things will change FOR them.

I don't really understand most people, personally.  If my life or world sucks, I do something about it.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 01:12 | 6544917 Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer's picture

The word 'fool' today... usually means “a senseless person, a dullard.”

It used to mean a person who lacked moral integrity. It used to mean that when a person said they had been a fool... they were admitting to doing evil things, mostly to themselves and those around them. And they resolved to do something about it - to not commit foolish acts again, and to not bring harm to themselves and those around them.

All of us fallable, and that is probably about as good as it gets.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:10 | 6544689 Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer's picture

hey matermaker, you being a farmer, what do you think about this?

Reality Check: Is Supporting Corporate Welfare A Conservative Position?

In an exclusive interview with Ben Swann, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee weighs in on ethanol subsidies, corporate welfare and the need for limited government and a free market.

http://truthinmedia.com/reality-check-corporate-welfare-conservative/

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 00:04 | 6544735 matermaker
matermaker's picture

Huckabee was not a bad Gov. actually.   He was actually quite progressive and libertarian at the same time.  He's gone total retard with his religious zealotry, since then.   I have extreme diffiuclties with these guys that understand, on one hand,  how a free market is supposed to work.  Then on the other, tell me how I should behave and what is moral.  It's an anathema to me.  Why is it the so called right doesn't extend it's mantra of do your own thing as long as it doesn't mess with my rotation.  I said a long time ago that the two party system has been manipulated that way.  You get two or morre flavors in each.  Maybe, you don't really care how the free market works, but you'll pull your pistols over a flag, some gay guy being able to visit his partner in the hospital or having a miltary base in like 200 countries across the planet.

They do that on purpose.   If there was much more polarization, you'd have another civil war.

It amazes me how organized religions demand obedience by society while displaying voices that always encourage free will.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:32 | 6544589 Government need...
Government needs you to pay taxes's picture

OK, I'll play.  You start with 100 seeds.  Then .gov takes 45 away, cuz they have to keep the banksters fat, drone some folks and give some of your seeds to some shiftless and rapid breeders.  Then you've got to sell another 35 seeds to acquire the necessaries for what 'they need to grow'.  Now you've got to eat 20 seeds just to stay alive long enough to struggle to keep the worms, varmints, and weather from taking the 10 you planted.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:07 | 6544603 matermaker
matermaker's picture

Simple.   SOMEONE must know how to grow the seeds.  The lowest common denominator since the 'great flood' and mankind discovered agriculture 10k years ago, or so..    Food and energy. This is what so many folks don't understand.  The entire concept of wealth came from agriculture.  I got good at growing food so you don't need to.  Therefore, you can go make art or become a banker.  NO government can force somebody to feed them under duress.  I simply say FU we both starve.  Now, the percentage of farmers in this country?  like less than 3%.  Think those wizzards are going to keep the increasingly unhappy masses their 4 meals away from revolt?   Will you kill me and seal your own fate?   The back bone of this nation and the entire planet are those of us who are the highest on the food chain.  Us gun toting, independent, stubborn, grubby class that keep the rest of you alive.   Piss the farmers off, you are done as a nation or government.  Within 4 meals your cities will revolt.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 10:56 | 6546093 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

You make it sound simple and absolute.

Aren't most commercial farms owned by corporations these days?

Individual farmers can be bought off with a bullet to the head and used for compost.  Machines can take over the chores.

These are not the days of old.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 02:17 | 6545011 PrettySkulls
PrettySkulls's picture

The reason I never watch a baseball game is because its about 3 minutes before im screming "Just Fucking Get on with it!"

Seriously, its worse than test cricket.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:05 | 6544504 Macon Richardson
Macon Richardson's picture

Right! I read the article. So what else is new? By the way, Neanderthals were quite peaceful. Not too many skulls found with hatchets buried in them. It was those monkeys called homo sapiens that showed up with BORN TO LOSE tattooed on their foreheads who were the problem. Still are the problem!

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 00:56 | 6544905 Ungaro
Ungaro's picture

Maybe homo but not very sapient.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:06 | 6544505 Barry Mckokiner
Barry Mckokiner's picture

So tired of doom and gloom. So tired of reading the world is going to end, again. Just like 12/21/2012 this Sept BS is just the same. Who cares if the world ends, or is ending. What can you do about it? The psychology behind this baffles me. What difference does writing the 5 millionth article about your take of how this will end horribly and we all and end up slaves and people are going to eat other people and zombies are coming with their alien friends to eat our souls? At this point who cares anymore really?

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:12 | 6544520 khnum
khnum's picture

One very rich Rabbi doommonger is probably all that will emerge out of September

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:33 | 6544761 o r c k
o r c k's picture

What ? You don't believe in Zombies ?

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:46 | 6544781 Lost in translation
Lost in translation's picture

My neighbor, just last night, expressed the same view.

Apocalypse Fatigue

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:13 | 6544524 lasvegaspersona
lasvegaspersona's picture

The 'real' value of the S&P? That would depend on how you value the dollar. If the Fed prints more OR if all those potential dollars currently living in Treasuries are released we could have Zimbabwe levels. If the Fed tightens...? below a thousand sounds right BUT...only if the dollar holds up. Ultimately our dollar is overvalued.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:22 | 6544567 Jackagain
Jackagain's picture

Lord of the Flies? What does Obama have to do with Denver real estate?

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:39 | 6544611 PoasterToaster
PoasterToaster's picture

We've had a dystopia in the US for a long time now.  It's just the wage slaves that were unaware.  Now that we have reached a tipping point and a large percentage of the population are being left out of the system, talk about dystopia is more common and doesn't bring the tin foil hat accusation as it once did.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:43 | 6544620 Ima anal sphincter
Ima anal sphincter's picture

Dave Kranzler, along with Rob Kirby are two of "the" best voices out there speaking the truth about what is currently happening and what most likely "will" happen in the not to distant future.

Dave thinks we're heading towards a Mad Max situation...... I agree with him. A lot of people joke here on ZH about a market crash. This will be no laughing matter.

Shouldn't everyone just take a deep breath and pause to think about their own personal situation if "everything" that you rely on in your daily lives..... stops???

If people haven't, maybe they should.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:36 | 6544767 o r c k
o r c k's picture

Why do you insult anal sphincters ?

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 01:31 | 6544941 tarabel
tarabel's picture

 

 

Well, I hope it'as a decent Mel Gibson Mad Max scenario rather than that recent abominable cocaine-fueled travesty with an incomprehensible plot.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 22:54 | 6544651 ZombieHuntclub
ZombieHuntclub's picture

More doom porn promises with zero delivery ????

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:30 | 6544751 q99x2
q99x2's picture

we will see and experience the truly dark side of humanity

Look at the bright side of it. Everyone will become very alert and experience life with new meaning.

We are all doomed. Matter that thinks has a problem. I attribute it to a negative side affect of intelligence.

Being somewhat conscious of the oneness with the word of God helps. Even on Q99X2.


Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:39 | 6544772 Lost in translation
Lost in translation's picture

< sell my remaining equities, right now.

< wait until they retrace the losses, then sell everything.

Please vote (I need advice asap).

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 00:39 | 6544870 Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer's picture

What do you mean...Sell YOUR equities, or wait until THEY retrace the losses? Or am I just being dense and this is your example of dystopia?

Tue, 09/15/2015 - 01:52 | 6549503 Lost in translation
Lost in translation's picture

Just need advice please

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 01:28 | 6544936 tarabel
tarabel's picture

 

 

Wait and then jump. They still have a few bullets left in the gun. They will prove ineffective at slaying the monster but a few artificial ramps remain on the option list.

On the other hand, your other circumstances may suggest getting out right away. Are you well set for other contingencies? Is your crash insurance plan fully funded?

Tue, 09/15/2015 - 01:53 | 6549505 Lost in translation
Lost in translation's picture

Crash insurance is GTG and fully funded.

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:52 | 6544787 Dragon HAwk
Dragon HAwk's picture

Yard Sale Business is booming... barter town will look a lot like  a yard sale...

   Bank On It.... one field, everybody goes there and sets up for free.. little signs on your table.. Looking for ( XYZ ) have ( KLM ) lets talk

Sun, 09/13/2015 - 23:56 | 6544795 enloe creek
enloe creek's picture

Boils down to when to panic. Unless you are already totally in some more of survival waiting for the hammer to strike.  But the typical murican with the typical outlook will be frozen for a while doing basically.  I don't really know what a person can do if the income from a job is cut off. I guess you start selling your stuff  that should go well. Everyone trying to sell the lawn mower and bicycles at the same time.  Probably. Be alot of bargains on classic cars.of course the government won't help. You can't get food stamps without going to the office and speaking with a case worker.  Good luck with that when the caseload is overwhelming.  Best thing to do is wait til the first riot then go steal all you can. Take a couple neighbors and a good tarp. Run through the store and load the tarp up for the corners together at one end and lace the grommets so you have a sort of sack. Fill it with dry goods as much rice (par boiled) and macaroni as you can.  Get some oil olive oil if possible. Instant stuffing and potatoes.  All the slim Jim's and beefstick they have.  But if you only have yourself. Get pop tarts and instant milk. You can trade pop tarts for anything 

 

 

 

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 00:26 | 6544796 Md4
Md4's picture

If this stock market does what we all know it will do eventually, which is seek a level that reflects its true underlying intrinsic value, all hell will break loose in this country and we’ll start hearing reports of much worse occurrences than fist-fights at traffic intersections."

Yep.

What's different this time (as was not the case the last time), is that we (Fed) are not only out of tricks and monetary shenanigans, but...

...that is KNOWN.

We also know (or sure as hell ought to), WHY we're broken: western corporate outsourcing for the last 40+ years destroyed the means of honest middle class wealth creation in first-world economies, that simultaneously chocked the economic life out of the third-world and EM's. A massive train wreck was set into motion long ago...for very shortsighted and short term gains.

Perhaps the most significant truth we are now faced with is...

...this CANNOT be fixed.

Clearly, this "checkmate" does not have a monetary solution, nor does it have a political one. This is going to have to be endured and painfully untangled over a long, long period of time.

If there is to ever be any real recovery, it will come as a result of the masses thus far affected rising, raising hell, demanding wholesale change, ousting the corporate and financial cretins responsible, AND, holding them fully accountable.

We MUST change the paradigm of how we live and function as a race, and as a globe.

Think that's off the wall? Think that tough, if not impossible?

Maybe after a few years of what's coming, we'll change our minds about that.

Then again, maybe we'll find yet another way to start the same old bullshit one mo' time...

It really is up to us.

m

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 05:49 | 6545202 MSimon
MSimon's picture

The US is the 2nd largest mfg economy in the world. If you believe the Chinese stats.

 

Of all the places I'd like to be when the bad moon rises - China isn't one of them.

 

Follow the hot money. And that is going to....

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 00:08 | 6544808 frankly scarlet
frankly scarlet's picture

A collapse of the stock market, betting on the value of a stock(s), does not mean a collapse of the economy per se. What is important is the reaction of the money creators, banks, to this. For every loser their is a winner unless the counter party can't pay up as with derivatives and then everyone begins to fear not getting paid throughout the whole system....then you have a problem.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 01:23 | 6544929 tarabel
tarabel's picture

 

 

Well, perhaps not, but the collapse of the stock market in 1929, followed by the banks shortly thereafter, still left the actual physical assets of the country and the world intact. Yet it did them no good whatsoever.

Finance is the lubricant of commerce. Withdraw it from the machine and all the other parts freeze up- at least temporarily. And we have little margin for error in a world that relies on JIT inventories for everything.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 02:23 | 6545015 Crush the Infame
Crush the Infame's picture

For all you guys who live on this site, try this experiment.  Don't come here for a month and then come back.  What you will see is that the story never changes: "The end is right around the corner!"  "Probably in the next few months!" 

I agree that the fundamentals of the economy are screwed, but money isn't actually about numbers; it's about faith.  As long as every other currency or government looks more unstable than the U.S., the Fed can print as many dollars as the global economy can absorb.  China was the only country with a chance to challenge the dollar but their intervention in the stock market this summer has ended that possibility. 

Of course the U.S. intervenes in it's market as well, but it does it so much better.  Arresting malicous sellers?  China just stopped the bleeding by putting a staph covered rag in the wound. Big players and central banks still trust the dollar even though it should be worthless by now. 

And forget gold.  I have nothing against it, but as long as other people are warehousing it, there is never a way to know how much of it truly exists; therefore it is just as easily manipulated as any other market and lying, cheating and stealing are what humans do best. 

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 02:23 | 6545016 Crush the Infame
Crush the Infame's picture

For all you guys who live on this site, try this experiment.  Don't come here for a month and then come back.  What you will see is that the story never changes: "The end is right around the corner!"  "Probably in the next few months!" 

I agree that the fundamentals of the economy are screwed, but money isn't actually about numbers; it's about faith.  As long as every other currency or government looks more unstable than the U.S., the Fed can print as many dollars as the global economy can absorb.  China was the only country with a chance to challenge the dollar but their intervention in the stock market this summer has ended that possibility. 

Of course the U.S. intervenes in it's market as well, but it does it so much better.  Arresting malicous sellers?  China just stopped the bleeding by putting a staph covered rag in the wound. Big players and central banks still trust the dollar even though it should be worthless by now. 

And forget gold.  I have nothing against it, but as long as other people are warehousing it, there is never a way to know how much of it truly exists; therefore it is just as easily manipulated as any other market and lying, cheating and stealing are what humans do best. 

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 08:30 | 6545469 lucky and good
lucky and good's picture

The world might soon witness a major shift in the value of one investment over another as investor seek firmer ground. Derivatives, currencies, plunging stock prices, air rushing out of a bond market bubble, how debts are structured, and the timing or direction from which problems arise are all elements that must be considered. Several factors determine just how much influence can be applied to how current economic policies unfold.

Using the metaphor of "let the chips fall where they may," things like the size of the chips, the rate or speed at which they fall, and the number of chips in the air may make them uncontrollable. We could find ourselves up to our neck in chips in a blink of an eye, at that time all bets are off as to how successful efforts to stem a catastrophe might be. The financial overlords may be losing control and this means during the final stage of the global shakedown events will be chaotic and become very wild. More below on how violent the crash might be.

 http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-final-shakedown-will-be-uncontrolled.html

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 08:57 | 6545558 madcows
madcows's picture

Kill Piggy, errr...., Kill Food-Stampy!

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 11:31 | 6546252 gcjohns1971
gcjohns1971's picture

Well...

Collapse is just around the corner...and has been since 1971.

That is actually a factually true statement...with caveats. 

The Federal Reserve "Flexible Currency" system and the mixed economy are designed to fail.   It is hard to believe that any of this system's designers and supporters could ever believe otherwise.

It should have failed in 1933.  And Roosevelt's Gold confiscation should have been seen for what it was, not a response to an act of God, but theft for the purpose of enslavement in response to the natural results of maleficient activity.

For one person to get something-for-nothing, another must get nothing-for-something.

That's a recipe for the failure of 'something' to come into existence.

Everything since 1971 has been a series of interventions every handful of years to prevent total fiscal and monetary collapse.  

They are nothing if not resourceful.  But they are merely mediating the collapse, not interdicting the progression of the disease that causes it.   The root cause is the mispricing of goods and services due to distortion in the relative value of things caused by looting via monetary and fiscal policy.

Doing so has forced ever more productive capacity into servicing the LOOT mechanisms, and less into the things we really want and need.

What does this mean in real terms?

Regard this vignette:

My Great Grandfather was born, grew to adulthood in the old West, and died in 1972.   His father saw a change of the quality of life from much the same as it had been for millenia, to routinely available manufactured goods, and TOOLS.  My Great-Grandfather lived from when mail-order manufacturing was available over several weeks...to the modern world, all before he turned 50.

Virtually every invention that differentiates today from the Ancient World was invented in their two lifetimes.

And what difference in the 80 years since my Great-Grandfather turned 50?

Consumer electronics.  A nice addition, to be sure...but a speck of innovation next to a mountain produced by the prior two generations.

If not for the inteventions of the cannibal elite, the lack of basic human needs (shelter, clothing, food, water) would be totally unknown, and we would be living something more resembling Star Trek than our current lives.

The Earth is not fragile.  It will survive us.  But we who live on it are fragile...and in the grand scheme of things WINTER IS COMING. 

We are not going into an ice age.  We have been in one for the last 2.5 million years, with periodic warming called "Interglacials".  

At present we are 18,000 years into an interglacial where the typical interglacial is 10,000 years, and the longest interglacial of the last 450k years was about 20,000 years.

Science says they have bones of 'modern' humans that are at least 195,000 years old.   It is curious that so few ask the question:  If they were just like us then why have we only developed civilization in the last 10K years?  What about the preceding 185K years?

Well, no one knows.  Either civilization wasn't created.  Or it was previously destroyed.

Need to grow off of this planet or potentially lose everything, and there is no reason to expect we have millenia in which to do it.

Need to get past all the larceny and get to work.

Mon, 09/14/2015 - 12:14 | 6546482 Trogdor
Trogdor's picture

The U.S. economic system is slipping into dystopia and the Government/Fed is doing everything it can to try and prevent the process.

I disagree.  I think they're doing everything they can to make the final "pop" unrecoverable - Order out of Chaos - they know exactly what they're doing.

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!