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Open Both Eyes
Submitted by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,
In astronomy, there’s an important concept known as ‘parallax’, which refers to how a star’s position appears to change based on the position and motion of the observer.
The earth is constantly moving along its orbit around the sun. And as this happens, the position of a star in the night’s sky will appear to change slowly, gradually over time.
There’s a great view of the Southern Cross constellation from our farms in the south of Chile. But as the seasons change, the constellation appears to move very slightly, even though the stars themselves haven’t budged an inch.
Small children discover an earthly example of parallax when they find that the position of an object appears to change slightly as they alternate closing their left and right eyes.
The idea is that the exact same object can appear to be different, even though neither you nor the object has moved an inch.
Examples of parallax are everywhere– just look at China.
If you close your left eye, China appears to be in a massive financial crisis thanks to a bursting credit bubble that has the potential to drag most of Asia, and possibly the world, into an era of massively depressed trade and asset prices.
But if you close your right eye, China has already become the world’s second largest economy (and by some measurements the largest), and has accumulated more savings than every other nation on the planet.
Plus the Chinese renminbi’s acceptance in foreign reserves, global payments, and international trade settlement is growing rapidly, and it even looks likely that the renminbi will be be anointed soon by the IMF.
These are two completely conflicting views of China. And yet they’re both accurate.
Or you can look at the US.
If you close your left eye, the US dollar is strong. The labor market has recovered to its pre-crisis levels. The US is affluent and free.
But if you close your right eye, the dollar is astonishingly overvalued based on nearly every objective metric that exists, and the Federal Reserve is nearly insolvent on a mark-to-market basis.
The labor market has been completely hollowed out as the US work force now constitutes the lowest percentage of the American population since Jimmy Carter was President.
The US government itself is flat broke, based on its own financial statements.
Nearly every major program and institution, from Social Security to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, to the FDIC, is either insolvent or precariously underfunded.
The government cranks out 75,000+ pages of new laws, rules, regulations each year, many of which carry severe criminal penalties and govern the most private details of our lives, including how we are allowed to raise our own children and what we can/cannot put in our own bodies.
Police forces have turned into federally-funded paramilitary units, and a grand surveillance state now dominates over the citizens.
Civil Asset Forfeiture, the deliberate theft of citizens’ private property by the government with absolutely zero due process, is on an alarming rise.
And many of the basic freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution have become watered-down aphorisms rather than inalienable rights.
Again, two completely opposite views that are both accurate. And there are more examples everywhere.
Financial markets are on a knife’s edge. Yet there are some absolutely incredible investments out there - high quality, profitable companies that are trading for less than cash, and beautiful properties that are selling for less than the cost of construction.
Terrorism abounds. Risk abounds. But so does opportunity.
That’s our world. It is simultaneously full of risk AND reward. The important thing is to look with BOTH eyes.
Know the risks. Be guided by objective data to understand them, and take action to minimize them.
But don’t be overwhelmed by negativity. Don’t panic. Instead, take simple, sensible steps to ensure your livelihood doesn’t become a victim to someone else’s stupidity.
Only then, with both eyes open, will you be able to see all the incredible opportunity that awaits, and be able to seize it from a position of strength.
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I am blind in my right eye.
i can't see out the other
Only then, with both eyes open, will you be able to see all the incredible opportunity that awaits, and be able to seize it from a position of strength.
Simon must be describing the killer housing deals in Detroit? I look around with both eyes open and what I see is if there is a nickel to be scraped out of the turd pond there are a dozen corporations fighting over it.
"But don’t be overwhelmed by negativity. Don’t panic."
If you dont have moments of negativity and panic and paranoia, you havent got a clue whats goin on.
Then in the land where all are blind, you will be king.
Picked a bad day to develop cataracts.
You have protesters in the street rallying AGAINST free speech.
Only liberal Americans could be so stupid as to protest the very right that allows them to protest.
Sort of like right wing religious americans protesting the rights of muslims to practice?
Awwwwww! Some body got their liberal feelings hurt! But thank God there are no lefty religious fanatics!
The problem is Muslims dont just practice, they do it for real.
ObamaCare sucks and therefore I have shitty glasses and can't see a feckin' thing thats real.
FEDLIESMATTER.
how did you get visioncare with obozocare?
As far as "the stars not budging an inch," actually they're moving at 74.3 plus or minus 2.1 kilometers (46.2 plus or minus 1.3 miles) per second per megaparsec (a megaparsec is roughly 3 million light-years) with the expansion of the universe. IOW, really really fast. And they're moving faster all the time.
Jstanley sees things through redshift colored glasses.
Disagree. The government, either in the US or china, will fuck your investments and you will never see it coming.
That's why I say there are NO good gov'ts period, at least not nowadays! Where did all the white hats go?
I owe apologies all around for my abhorant conduct yesterday...I had a tooth pulled and was on codine (and stupidly drank beer too). I cannot for the life of me remember anything for some period of time....ugh.
I did look back and found that I was off my rocker, you can forgive or not, but I do apologize to everyone, it was not the real me!
Lol, I think I called you out on that yesterday. You did a fine job of stacking red arrows that is for sure and certain.
Damn, I hang my head in shame!
NP, it is all good. THIS IS FIGHT CLUB after all. One day I will tangle with a whiskey bottle and get the boots off this site... again.. Some time the Tylers have no sense of humor?? Or patience?
LOL, ya I kind of know the feeling
Ha ! ^^ Reminds me of when I had foot, and shoulder surgery in the same week. Percs and too much red wine one night, and a couple of phone calls I made, that I wish I could recall, AND didn't make. Ouch! At least you show chagrin.
Right, so when I'm able to take my opportunities and make loads of dough then all will be good in the world? Or do I get to be master and ruler of said paramilitary units?
There's always some fucker above you ready to knock you down, and some crazy hack below you trying to tear at your accumulated assets. Meanwhile as all this is happening to you, uncle FANG is monitoring your every move.
Sometimes it is better to be like Hellen Keller?
Helen Keller was born with the ability to see and hear
Clearly with more ability than most on this earth
Why couldn't Hellen Keller drive a car?
She was a woman.
Actually, all I see are people with a single brown eye .. canstantly looking and never blinking, every so often they say, 'kiss my ass'
every time i look at the back of a dollar bill, it reminds me of what you just said
Opening both eyes, I see a piece of fucking paper. With the same use any other piece of fucking paper.
If you cover one eye with one hand and one ear with the other you only garner half of the malfeasance committed unless you utilise your 6th sense, whereby once again you are able to comprehend the true level/extent of your shafting.
Nice article Simon! Short, concise and on point.
I'm sorry the world is a terrible place for you, only getting worse and worse.
Wanna borrow a tissue so you can cry your childish like mind to sleep?