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Doug Casey: Sociopathy Is Running the US - Part Two

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Submitted by Doug Casey of Casey Research

Sociopathy Is Running the US - Part Two (part One here)

I recently wrote an article that addresses the subject of sociopaths and how they insinuate themselves into society. Although the subject doesn't speak directly to what stock you should buy or sell to increase your wealth, I think it's critical to success in the markets. It goes a long way towards explaining what goes on in the heads of people like Bernie Madoff and therefore how you can avoid being hurt by them.

But there's a lot more to the story. At this point, it seems as if society at large has been captured by Madoff clones. If that's true, the consequences can't be good. So what I want to do here is probe a little deeper into the realm of abnormal psychology and see how it relates to economics and where the world is heading.

If I'm correct in my assessment, it would imply that the prospects are dim for conventional investments – most stocks, bonds and real estate. Those things tend to do well when society is growing in prosperity. And prosperity is fostered by peace, low taxes, minimal regulation and a sound currency. It's also fostered by a cultural atmosphere where sociopaths are precluded from positions of power and intellectual and moral ideas promoting free minds and free markets rule. Unfortunately, it seems that doesn't describe the trend that the world at large and the US in particular are embarked upon.

In essence, we're headed towards economic and financial bankruptcy. But that's mostly because society has been largely intellectually and morally bankrupt for some time. I don't believe a society can rise to real prosperity without a sound intellectual and moral foundation – that's why the US was so uniquely prosperous for so long, because it had such a foundation. And it's also why societies like Saudi Arabia will collapse as soon as the exogenous things that support them are pulled away. It's why the USSR collapsed. It's the reason why countries everywhere across time reach a peak (if they ever do), then stagnate and decline.

This isn't a matter of academic contemplation, for the same reason that it doesn't matter much if you're in a first-class cabin when the ship it's in is taking on water.

Economics and Evil

When I was a sophomore in college, I asked my father – a worldly wise man but one of few words – some cosmic question, as sophomores are famous for doing. His answer was, "It's all a matter of economics." Some months later I asked him another, similar question. His answer: "It's all a matter of psychology." They were unsatisfactory to me at the time, but those simple answers stuck in my mind. And I've since come to the conclusion that they comprehend most of what drives human action.

Let's look at the "matter of economics" only briefly, because it's covered at length elsewhere and because it's not nearly as significant as the "matter of psychology."

One definition of economics is: The study of who gets what, and how, in the material world. Unfortunately, it's been distorted over the years into the study of who determines who gets what, and how, in the material world. In other words, economic power has gradually been transferred from producers to political allocators. This has had predictably bad results, including not only the bankruptcy of the US government but of large segments of US society.

But what's happening today is much more serious than an economic bankruptcy; you can recover from financial woes by cultivating better habits. We're talking about psychological and spiritual bankruptcy. The word psychology comes from psyche, which is Greek for soul. When you look at the word's origin, it's clear that psychology is about much more than mental peculiarities. It's not just about what a person has or what he does. It's about what he is. The real essence of a man, his soul, is revealed by his philosophy and his beliefs.

In any event, it's rare that anyone goes bankrupt because of a single bad decision. It takes many missteps, and consistently bad decisions aren't accidents. Consistently bad decisions are the product of a flawed moral philosophy. Moral philosophy guides you as to what is right or wrong. The prevailing moral philosophy has so degenerated that Americans think it's OK to invade other countries that not only haven't attacked it but can't even credibly threaten to attack it. I'm not talking just about Afghanistan, Iraq or Libya – pitiful non-entities on the other side of the world. They were preceded by even weaker prey, closer to home, like Granada, Panama, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Not only that, but they think coercion should be used to steal wealth from the people who produce it, and give it to those who've done absolutely nothing to deserve it.

It's hard to pick an exact time America's moral bankruptcy started; perhaps the draconian Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 were the first real breach in the country's ethical armor – but they were quickly repealed and subsequently served as an example of what not to do for many years. There were real moral problems that arose because of the Mexican War, the War between the States and the Indian Wars. There were early attempts to create a central bank, but they fortunately failed. But I believe the real change in direction came with the Spanish-American War, which resulted in the accretion of an overseas empire, particularly in the Philippines where 200,000 locals were killed. As Randolph Bourne said, "War is the health of the state."

Then came the creation of both the Federal Reserve and the income tax in the very unlucky year of 1913, which made it possible to finance the country's completely pointless entry into World War 1. From there, with the New Deal, World War 2, Korea, the Great Society, Vietnam and so on, the US has gradually descended into becoming a very aggressive welfare/warfare state. It now has an overt government policy of inflating the currency, which constitutes a fraud, and running up the national debt, which is a swindle because it will never be repaid.

America is not the first to start with moral failure and move on to economic failure. In all the examples history provides, economic bankruptcy and political tyranny are invariably preceded by moral bankruptcy. It's bad enough that these things have happened. But it's even worse that they're celebrated and taught to students as triumphs. That guarantees that the trend will accelerate towards a real disaster. Most people accept what they're taught in school uncritically.

The pattern is no secret to historians. Machiavelli noted in his Florentine Histories (1532): "It may be observed that provinces, among the vicissitudes to which they are accustomed, pass from order to confusion, and afterwards pass again into a state of order. The way of the world doesn't allow things to continue on an even course; as soon as they arrive at their greatest perfection, they again start to decline. Likewise, having sunk to their utmost state of depression, unable to descend lower, they necessarily reascend. And so from good, they naturally decline to evil. Valor produces peace, and peace repose; repose, disorder; disorder, ruin. From ruin order again springs, and from order virtue, and from this glory, and good fortune."

This isn't the place to deconstruct Machiavelli, but he makes a couple of points that are worth pondering. Does "good ... naturally decline to evil"? In politics (which is his subject) it does, because politics necessarily attracts evil people, and evil necessarily brings ruin. Then order reasserts itself, because people despise chaos. And from order virtue arises, and from that good fortune. Machiavelli is right. Virtue does bring good fortune, and evil brings ruin. I believe it would be clear to Machiavelli that in the US virtue is vanishing and evil is on the rise. And Machiavelli would predict that things aren't going to get better at this point until they "sink to their utmost state of depression, unable to descend lower, they necessarily reascend."

In general, he's correct. But sometimes it takes quite a while for a society to reset. After the collapse of Rome, real civilization didn't return to the West until the Italian Renaissance, which was when Machiavelli lived. Interestingly, culture in Italy started a rapid decline in the 1490s, and the peninsula became a backwater – a quaint theme park at best – for hundreds of years. You can argue Italy is still headed downhill today. Perhaps it simply has to do with the nature of entropy: all complex systems eventually wind down, no flame can burn forever. But that's another subject. It would have been nice, though, to keep the flame of America burning for longer than turned out to be the case.

Moral and Intellectual Bankruptcy

One element of moral bankruptcy is intellectual bankruptcy, to wit, belief in the effectiveness of statism and collectivism. This is one reason why I counsel kids who are thinking of going to college (unless it's to acquire very specific knowledge in science, engineering, medicine or the like) to do something more intelligent with their time and money. The higher education system is totally controlled and populated by morally and intellectually bankrupt instructors who are believers in socialism.

It's said Obama is a socialist. I don't doubt he's sympathetic to socialism but, to be true to the meanings of words, he's a fascist.

Let's define these terms and two others with a little help from Karl Marx. His recommended solutions are part of the world's problems, but his analysis of conditions was often quite astute. As Marx pointed out, political systems are all about the ownership and control of goods, whether consumer goods (houses, cars, clothes, toothbrushes) or capital goods (farms, factories and other means of production). Although he didn't break it down this way, his analysis gives us four possible economic systems – communism, socialism, fascism and capitalism.

A communist advocates state ownership and control of all the means of production and all consumer goods. That's a practical impossibility, of course, even in the most primitive aboriginal bands. The idea is even more absurd and preposterous for an industrial society. But that doesn't keep professors and politicians from pretending that it's a good idea, even if just in theory.

A socialist advocates state ownership of society's means of production but accepts private ownership (with state control) of consumer goods. While it's a big improvement over communism, socialism is also completely impractical and always either collapses or evolves into fascism. North Korea and (now to a lesser degree) Cuba are the world's only socialist states.

A fascist advocates nominal private ownership of both the means of production and consumer goods – but with strong state control over both. In other words, you can own mines, farms, and factories – but the state reserves the right to tax, regulate or even expropriate them. Fascism has nothing to do with jackboots and black uniforms; you can have those in communist and socialist states as well. It has to do with a corporate state and a revolving door between business and government, with each protecting and enriching the other. Fascism can be maintained for a long time but necessarily entails all the problems we now face. Almost all the world's states are fascist today; they differ only in degree and detail.

A capitalist advocates the private ownership of everything. An extreme capitalist may be an anarchist, who believes that anything people need or want should be, and would be, provided by entrepreneurs at a profit.

No country provides a perfect example of any of these four arrangements. But every government promotes one or the other as a theoretical ideal. In most places, certainly including the US, the "mixed economy" is put forward as a good thing; the "mixed economy" is a polite way of describing fascism. Nobody wants to call fascism by its name today because of its strong association with Hitler's "National Socialists." In any event, look and analyze closely before you use these words and attach any of the four tags to any country.

In that light, it's funny how the Chinese are still referred to as communists, even though communism was tried only briefly, under Mao. In fact, up to the mid-'80s, China was a socialist state. Now it's a fascist state. China's Communist Party? It's just a scam enabling its members to live high off the hog.

Sweden is usually referred to as socialist, but it's always been a fascist country. All of its means of production – businesses, factories, farms, mines and so forth – have always been privately owned but heavily taxed and regulated. The presence of lots of "free" welfare benefits is incidental. People often conflate a welfare state with socialism, but they're two different things. Socialist states necessarily become too poor to provide any welfare. Fascist states can better afford it and usually offer some in order to help justify the government's costly and annoying depredations.

There is no truly capitalist state in the world today; perhaps Hong Kong comes closest (although not very close).The early US came quite close in some regards. In fact, the West as a whole was quite free in the century from the fall of Napoleon in 1815 to the start of World War 1 in 1914. Almost everywhere taxes were low and regulations few; there was no inflation because gold was currency everywhere; there were almost no serious wars and passports hardly existed, which enabled most anyone to travel almost anywhere without permission. It's no accident that, in percentage terms, the 19th century saw far greater and wider advances in prosperity than any time before or since. Capitalism is both natural and ideal – but, oddly, it doesn't exist anywhere. Why not? I'll explore that shortly.

One sign of intellectual bankruptcy in the US is the absence of serious discussion about capitalism (except in small, specialized forums). Nearly all political debate is about how to fine-tune a fascist system to best suit those who benefit from it – or who think they do. Almost everyone in the public eye is a political statist and an economic collectivist. Those who start attacking the heart of the matter, like Andrew Napolitano or even Pat Buchanan, are quickly evicted from their bully pulpits.

In reality, there's little philosophical difference between the Republicrats and the Demopublicans; they're really just two wings of the same party. The left wing of the party claims to believe in social freedom (but doesn't) and overtly disbelieves in economic freedom. The right wing says it believes in economic freedom (but doesn't) and overtly disbelieves in social freedom. The right wing uses more aggressive rhetoric to build the warfare state, and the left wing talks more about the welfare state. But the net difference between them is minuscule. That's because they share the same corrupt intellectual and moral views.

What made America unique was its foundation in a philosophy of freedom. That word, however, has become so corrupted that the younger Bush was able to use it two dozen times in some of his early speeches without being laughed off the stage or targeted with shoes and rotten vegetables. Perversely but predictably, Bush is today presented in the mainstream media as a free-marketeer, in order to pin blame for the current depression on the free market. This is as much of a hoax as calling Hoover a supporter of the free market. One is forced to acknowledge a bit of respect for Obama's intellectual honesty, in that he almost never speaks of "freedom" or "liberty."

But pointing out the sad state of the world today serves little purpose. It's rare that an intellectual argument changes anyone's mind. Opinions are mostly a matter of psychology. But it's almost impossible to change someone's psychology and the attitude with which he views the world, simply by presenting facts and arguments. A person's beliefs have much more to do with his character and spiritual essence than anything else.

You'll hear some of the candidates for the upcoming elections talk about "American exceptionalism." The phrase makes me wince because it's so anachronistic. In the first place, America was only incidentally a place, a piece of geography. In essence, America was an idea, and an excellent one, that was unique in world history. But now America has morphed into the US, which is essentially no different than the other 200 nation-states that cover the face of the planet like a skin disease.

It's funny, actually, to see how quickly and profoundly things have changed in the US. Back in the '50s and '60s, kids used to say, when one of us did something the others didn't approve of, "Hey, it's a free country." I'll bet you haven't heard that expression for many years. Back in the '70s, there used to be a joke: "America will never have concentration camps. We'll call them something else." Guantanamo, and the long rumored FEMA detention centers, are proof that it wasn't a joke after all.

It's all a matter of mass psychology, which is to say a moral acceptance of collectivism and statism. These systems actually aren't serious intellectual proposals, despite being doctrine at almost every university in the Western world. They're psychological or spiritual disorders on a grand scale.

It's important to gain an intellectual understanding of why freedom is good and collectivism is bad, why freedom works and government doesn't. It's important – but it doesn't strike at the root of the problem. The root of the problem is psychological, not intellectual. Do you think for a moment that if you could make Dick Cheney, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or any of the other sociopaths who control the state sit down and listen to intellectual arguments, it would change their attitudes? The chances of that are Slim and None. And Slim's anorexic.

Why am I so certain of that? It's not because these people have low IQs and can't understand the arguments. It's because most of the people at high levels of government are sociopaths. They're susceptible to reasoned argument against a police state to about the same degree that a cat can be convinced he shouldn't torment a mouse before killing it. People like Obama, Hillary or Cheney – which is to say most people with real power in Washington and every other government – do what they do because it's their nature. They're as cold, unemotional and predatory as reptiles, even though they look like people.

You may think I'm kidding or exaggerating for effect. I'm not. It's been said that power corrupts, and that's true. But it's more to the point to say that the corrupt seek power. A good case can be made that anyone who wants to be in a position of power should be precluded from it simply because he wants it. As a purely practical matter, the US would be far better off – assuming a Congress and a Senate are even needed – if their 525 members were randomly selected from a list of taxpayers. But that's impossible in today's poisonous environment because it would leave over half the population – those who only receive government largess and don't pay any income taxes – ineligible. This last fact is a further assurance that the situation in the US is now beyond the point of no return.

There are lots of ways to divide people into two classes: rich/poor, male/female, smart/dumb, etc. But from the perspective of political morality, I'd say the most useful dichotomy may be people who want to control the material world vs. those who want to control other people. The former are scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs; the latter are politicians, bureaucrats and assorted busybodies. Guess which group inevitably – necessarily – gravitate toward government? And I might also add, toward big corporations and the media. Big corporations are political arenas where the prize is economic power, and they're heavily populated by backslappers and backstabbers. The media specialize in a different type of power, manipulating opinion; one way they do that is by promoting an atmosphere of bad news, threats and general paranoia for which they imply government action is needed. Government, mega-corps and media – they are the triumvirate ruling today's world.

Stupidity

You may be thinking: Sure, I can see that Obama or Hillary or Cheney may be evil. But how about Bush or Vice President Biden or Prime Minister Cameron of the UK? It's sometimes hard to tell whether one is dealing with a knave or a fool. The fool does destructive things that may make him seem knavish. And the knave can do stupid things that make him seem like a fool. Isn't it a mistake to accuse someone of malevolence when Occam's Razor might indicate stupidity as a more likely answer? They seem more like fools than knaves. Pity the poor fools.

Stupidity certainly can account for many of the world's problems. As Einstein said, after hydrogen, stupidity is the most common thing in the universe. Unfortunately, the word "stupidity" is thrown about too carelessly, usually as a pejorative, and then often by stupid people. Let's define the word. It's important to be precise in the use of words, because if you're not, then how can you possibly say you know what you're talking about? A failure to define words properly invites sloppy thinking.

Most of the time people use "stupidity" to mean low intelligence. That's accurate, but it's a synonym, not an explanation. So it's not terribly helpful, because it doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know. Just look at how stupid the average person is (they're thick underfoot on Jay Leno's many "Jay Walking" segments) and then figure that, by definition, half of the electorate are lower than average.

It's helpful to use an example, and since we're talking about politics, let's pick a well-known political figure. George W. Bush was president recently enough that everyone can still remember him clearly. I've always said that the Baby Bush was stupid. Technically speaking, I believe he's actually a borderline moron. You may or may not know that a moron, an imbecile and an idiot are not at all the same thing – even though in common usage, the words are more or less interchangeable. In fact, these terms have clinical definitions.

Briefly, an idiot is so dim that he may have to be institutionalized. An imbecile functions at a higher level; he can get by in normal life, given some assistance. A moron does even better. He can conduct himself quite well in day-to-day society and even be liked and respected – a little bit like the character Chauncey Gardiner (who, as it turned out, was being groomed to become the president) in Peter Sellers' movie Being There.

A moron can carry on a conversation about the weather, the state of the roads, sports, TV sitcoms or even, with a bit of coaching – as Bush proved – the economy or a war. Bush seemed more or less normal, even though I suspect he only has an IQ of around 90. I'm not saying that just to be offensive to Bush fans. I believe I can back up that assertion, even if Bush could actually score above 100 on a standard test, by showing you some more practical definitions of stupidity.

Let me give you two of them. One is: an unwitting tendency to self-destruction. Another is: an inability to correlate cause and effect and thereby anticipate the consequences of an act. I would suggest to you that almost everything Bush has done, it seems his entire life, but absolutely while he was the president, would fit those definitions of stupidity precisely.

A moron can see the immediate and direct consequences of actions, even though the indirect and delayed consequences escape his understanding. At least to a cynic, that would seem to indicate that not only Bush but the average American voter is likely not just a moron but an imbecile. Such a deficit of intelligence almost guarantees that we'll see controls of all types – absolutely including foreign exchange controls – imposed as the Greater Depression unfolds. In fact, when the next 9/11-style incident, real or imagined, occurs, they're going to lock the US down like one of their numerous new federal prisons. It's going to be, as I've gotten in the habit of saying, worse than even I think it's going to be.

But stupidity is clearly only a partial explanation of Bush's character, just as it was only a partial explanation of Hitler's. Please don't misapprehend me on this. Bush wasn't in the same class as Hitler. Hitler was a criminal genius. But criminals, even so-called criminal geniuses, are basically stupid, according to our definitions – they show an unwitting tendency toward self-destruction. How stupid was it of Hitler to attack Russia, especially while he still had a front open with Britain? How stupid was it to declare war against the US shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor? How stupid was it to murder six million innocents in concentration camps? How stupid was it to throw the Wehrmacht's Sixth Army into Stalingrad? It's a long list.

Stalin provides another example. How stupid was Stalin to murder several million of the most productive farmers when Russians already lacked enough to eat? How stupid was it to liquidate half of the Red Army's most experienced officers and higher NCOs just before WW2? Or Roosevelt. How stupid was it of him to pour milk into the gutter and slaughter livestock in order to drive up prices while millions were hungry? How stupid was it to burden the US, in the middle of the last depression, with huge taxes and a score of new regulatory agencies?

A catalog of stupidities of these and most other famous political leaders fills libraries. As Gibbon said, history is little more than a chronicle of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.

There are different types of intelligence – emotional, athletic, mathematical and literary intelligence, for instance. A person can be a genius in one and an idiot in the others. The same is true of stupidity; it comes in flavors. I think a case can be made that liberty cultivates intelligence, because it rewards seeing the distant and indirect consequences of actions.

Conversely, statism and collectivism, by restricting liberty, tend to reward stupidity. Remember that political leaders are oriented toward controlling other people; they're clever about it, but they're basically stupid about the rest of reality. Nonetheless, their animal shrewdness is enough for them to gain and keep power over others. The immediate and direct consequences of that political power are gratifying for those who have it; the indirect and delayed consequences, however, are disastrous for everyone.

But wait. It sounds like stupidity is related to evil. Which it is. Stupidity is a signpost of evil. It's why it often takes a while, when things are going badly, to determine whether you're dealing with a knave or just a fool.

In that regard, Robert S. McNamara offers something of a counterpoint to Bush. When you look at the disasters he caused throughout his life – almost destroying Ford, then almost destroying the US with the Vietnam war, then doing immense damage to the world at large with the World Bank – one might say he was stupid. In fact, he had an extremely high IQ. McNamara underlines the often fine distinction between stupidity and evil. He was clearly a sociopath, but he's held in high regard among the ruling class. Henry Kissinger is a similar case.

Evil

I would like to suggest that what really distinguishes political elites from normal people is not just a predilection for stupidity but a real capacity for evil. Evil might best be defined as the intentional and usually gratuitous commission of acts that are cruel or unjust. A person who commits many evil acts is a sociopath. The sociopaths who are naturally drawn to government eventually come to dominate it. They're very dangerous people. They reset the social mores of the country they control. After a certain point, a critical mass is reached, and it's GAME OVER. I suspect we're approaching that point.

 

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Wed, 04/18/2012 - 03:01 | 2353933 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

What worthy advantage might I obtain by abandoning my right to live my own life as I see fit for a one in three hundred millionth right to decide how others should be compelled to live their lives?

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 03:47 | 2353986 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

For one, you (theoretically, bear with me now) get to decide whether or not you elect someone who compels others.

You could be right, but still fail to convince the other monkeys of the necessity to abandon the use of governance and the state.

When someone else's "as I see fit" collides with your own?

(say, the noisy neighbor blasting "massive" d'n'b with high-decibel reptitive bass line at 2a type sh---ahem..."way of seeing fit")

You'll get all Heinlein on their ass and sling high-v projectiles in their posteriors?

And some will sling them with like impunity, only a much less stringent set of morals, I'm afraid.

No country for sane men, that.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 11:21 | 2354911 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

I do not fear my neighbors so much that I demand a dictator to threaten their lives and property as well as my own. As a reasonable man I am willing to deal reasonably with other individuals. One has no recourse to reason when one has a dispute with government.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 12:10 | 2355077 GoinFawr
GoinFawr's picture

"I do not fear my neighbors so much that I demand a dictator to threaten their lives and property as well as my own."

Like most you sure talk big for someone whose property is currently being protected by gov't.

Mandates from the masses don't result in 'dictators'. It should be plain that the ballot box is a "recourse to reason when one has a dispute with gov't " composed of elected representatives. Granted, unmitigated (devoid of civil accountability, or oversight: unregulated) campaign contributions undermine the validity of the ballot box; but then I don't expect any sort of agreement from you on this because that's exactly the sort of thing you claim will somehow make it all better. And we'll just have to take your word for it despite the litany of historical evidence to the contrary.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:47 | 2353600 Frankie Carbone
Frankie Carbone's picture

It is not necessary to have an answer to a problem that you vet in a public domain. 

In fact, it's not his sole responsibility at all. 

It's ours my friend. Finding the solutions is our problem. 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:51 | 2353619 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

When you're the 2957384th mofo to thus "vet", the bar gets raised.

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:58 | 2353631 Frankie Carbone
Frankie Carbone's picture

When it's 308,000,000 people vetting the problem THEN I'll be satisfied. 

MadSci, we - those that even recognize a problem to begin with - are still a miniscule minority. 

The message must continue like a drumbeat. 

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 01:40 | 2353835 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

A message without solutions is most likely ignored after a finite number of repititions.

 

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 02:59 | 2353934 Catullus
Catullus's picture

Thank god for the those term limits. For a minute there I thought we had elected a dictator. This is so much better than monarchy! Because under this system, the Beureacratic functions can continue to snowball but at least the name of the president changes every at least 8 years.

Yeah, anti-trust laws and whatever. Fuck yeah, democracy. #winning.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 21:14 | 2353232 in4mayshun
in4mayshun's picture

Why do we keep reading essays about all that is wrong with this country? We all know what is wrong with this country and government. When are these contributors going to start talking about solutions instead of wasting time with these kick-a-dead-horse recycled whiny diatribes????

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 21:25 | 2353258 Cabreado
Cabreado's picture

You might say... it's rather complicated.

And instead of whining about the whining, you might offer a solution yourself...

Or are you, unbeknownst to you, in the same boat as the "contributors?"

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 21:50 | 2353313 chunga
chunga's picture

Perhaps this might sound fatalistic.

Some problems pose the challenge of having no solution.

I live in a small town and the recognition of problems is palpable wherever I go.

The perceived problems cannot be confined to one or two..much less the solutions.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:17 | 2353388 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's picture

The only solution to this mess involve much bloodshed.

Not a problem for a sociopath or phsycopath ,but a fearfull

reality for the "normal" person..We all know it ,and we will have to

be forced into it,at a time of TPTB choosing.

At that point ,it will be too late I fear.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:14 | 2353512 in4mayshun
in4mayshun's picture

Trust me, all of us have practical ideas that could solve some or most of the countries problems. But until they become actionable they are just ideas. To make an idea actionable it must be propagated by a strong leader or atleast by someone who has mass influence, ie., well known economists and contributors on ZH who could possibly organize and streamline the best ideas into a plan.

So while I do have solutions, why would I waste my time putting them to print when no one would listen them???

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 00:07 | 2353658 SilverDosed
SilverDosed's picture

"Buy PM's"

I think thats about the only common solution anyone has come up with around here that has been widely accepted.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 00:52 | 2353751 brettd
brettd's picture

A tidbit of hope:

Most states run balanced budgets.  Commonwealths, by law, must. So in broad strokes, most of "America" can find solutions.

The pathology is largely isolated to DC.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 02:53 | 2353921 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

I'd like to complain about people who hold things up by complaining about people complaining. It's about time something was done about it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfzLyPqko8w

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:20 | 2353395 Colonel
Colonel's picture

 Ubiquitous small scale agriculture, staying debt free, PM hoarding, barter etc... The solutions are out there.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:39 | 2353440 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

They propose solutions all the time.

The fact that they are almost never solutions that can actually be implemented without massive unacknowledged consequences is telling.

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:44 | 2353588 TWSceptic
TWSceptic's picture

"When are these contributors going to start talking about solutions instead of wasting time with these kick-a-dead-horse recycled whiny diatribes????"

 

If you read between the lines, he actually gives plenty of solutions, maybe it's you who doesn't see them?

 

And it's not a waste of time, when the majority of people are not aware of it.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:51 | 2353617 Frankie Carbone
Frankie Carbone's picture

Hmm. If a doctor diagnoses cancer without a yet known treatment then is that doctor wasting his patient's time? 

Personally I think the only (potential) solution is collapse. And even then, the dice could roll away from us and instead of virtue rising from the rubble even more unspeakable injustices could arise. 

That's where I think we stand right now. We're beyond the point of no-return. The only thing that I can think of that would cause a paradigm shift in our culture, a seismic one at that, is mass, collective pain. 

The problem though, the potential catch-22 involved is that such a collapse happened before. 

It was called Weimar Germany and look what Phoenix arose from those ashes? 

Truth be told, I don't have a good answer for you. But I do know that fleshing out the causes exhaustively is a good start. Misdiagnose the problem, and you could easily make the problem worse. Correct? 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 21:18 | 2353236 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Oh Boy a ZH article worth printing. Happy Day.

1st comment up until the Obama is a Facist statement (liked that. He is also a CIA agent out of Indonesia and Africa.)

'If I'm correct in my assessment, it would imply that the prospects are dim for conventional investments – most stocks, bonds and real estate.'

That's right the remaining time will be used to steal whatever is available through those markets and then they are going in for the depopulation.

Side note TSA has entered the Huston Bus transportation system today. Just in case you go to get off those buses on a very unlucky day.

Have to read more before next comment.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 21:23 | 2353256 ChrisFromMorningside
ChrisFromMorningside's picture

Pfft. TSA at bus and train depots? That's old hat. Next step is highway checkpoints for private vehicles.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/10/like-tsa-youll-love-...

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 21:19 | 2353243 Gringo Viejo
Gringo Viejo's picture

i've been following Casey since 1980. This guy has his shit together.

You can believe what he puts out there.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 21:28 | 2353247 HarryM
HarryM's picture

Not to detract from the story , but according to Wikopedia , based on the SAT Reasoning Test results of Bush (1206), his IQ would be 119.

Bush was not a wordsmith but ironically, Obama almost sounds like Bush when you take away his teleprompter.

Bush shot you from the hip, Obama stabs you in the back.

Screw em both

 


Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:36 | 2353430 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

Why would I care about a marionette's IQ?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:55 | 2353624 Frankie Carbone
Frankie Carbone's picture

What's the pre-requisite IQ for spelling Wikipedia correctly?

Bush was a fucktard who lied every damn bit as much as this pychopath-in-chief does. 

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 01:22 | 2353805 besnook
besnook's picture

i don't recall that there was an sat reasoning test when shrub would have taken the sat.  i do recall that someone claimed his sat score was 1200 when the realization that he was intellectually challenged. i think daddy used his cia skills to help recreate his dumb son into someone not so dumb.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 21:21 | 2353248 AUD
AUD's picture

He says that evil is drawn to power, which is true. But what is this power & who grants it?

I'd suggest it is the power over money & its ability to extinguish all debt, even when, in this age of irredeemable debt, debt is not being extinguished at all. Quite a power.

As long as everyone else accepts the full faith & credit of government evil the situation can continue, until it can't.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 21:24 | 2353257 oddjob
oddjob's picture

How can someone as smart as Doug Casey associate himself with the likes of Marin Katusa and KBH Capital, these guys display the same mindless sociopathic greed that Casey rails against. Talk is cheap.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:37 | 2353425 DavidPierre
DavidPierre's picture

It's  called... "laugh of the day" ... Doug(Pump & Dump)Casey going on and on about Sociopathy.

Thu, 04/19/2012 - 04:07 | 2357463 ebear
ebear's picture

My God! Some clarity on ZH!  And up arrows to boot.  Wonders never cease.

Fri, 04/20/2012 - 16:14 | 2362253 GoinFawr
GoinFawr's picture

DP is a ZH gem. A wealth of suppositions based on facts and historical record, as opposed to jingoism and empty rhetoric. Unfortunately, as you've obviously noticed, those last two are also prized by many who will post here.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 21:30 | 2353263 W10321303
W10321303's picture

No it is not hard to pick an exact time, on this I am backed up by Glen Greenwald.....When Nixon 'the Mad Bomber' was pardoned and the beginning of the long slide into the two-tier 'just us' system.

Iran-Contra, Arms for Hostages....Rigged election in Florida.....Controlled demolition of WTC sold as the excuse for, etc. etc...you get my point...

Mr. BoJangles as Commander-in-Chief

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 21:57 | 2353329 W10321303
W10321303's picture

Unfettered and unregulated capitalism ALWAYS leads to control by blood sucking vampire zombies. The boys and girls must learn. But, overall I agree with the general 'thrust' of your arguements.

I also agree with the sentiment that all of those above the level of half-wit or anyone who is not criminally insane has a conundrum...

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:34 | 2353428 I am a Man I am...
I am a Man I am Forty's picture

You are confusing capitalism with corruption.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:49 | 2353465 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

Let me know when you run into Unfettered and unregulated capitalism. I've never seen it before, it would be kind of nice to see what it looks like.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:53 | 2353473 dwdollar
dwdollar's picture

If you know of any nations which practice "Unfettered and unregulated capitalism" PLEASE let me know. I will gladly migrate there.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:47 | 2353601 TWSceptic
TWSceptic's picture

"Unfettered and unregulated capitalism"

 

Capitalism is by definition "unregulated" and "unfettered" if not it's called fascism. Did you learn nothing?

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 07:23 | 2354131 Acet
Acet's picture

Unfettered and unregulated Capitalism is called Anarchy.

Consider the situation where there is no such thing as the Law. No laws, no judges, no enforcers of the law:

- All transactions are against cash and both sides always bring their own armed men to avoid that the other side just takes their stuff.

 

At the very least, there have to be things like contract law and some level of criminal law for markets to work with a modicum of efficiency. Then there are things like situations where the upsides accrue to a few while the negative externalities impact to the many (i.e. my factory produces tons of highly toxic materials, which I just dump over the hill, which happens to be a neighborhood where lots of people live).

So a Capitalism system has to have some rules and the associated mechanisms of rule-setters and rule-enforcers. The problem is that, when that mechanism of making and enforcing rules is in place, it almost immediatly starts getting abused by those who see that the easiest path to profit is to change the rules in their favour.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:11 | 2353282 BlackholeDivestment
BlackholeDivestment's picture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYJrvAKnFbw 

If you have not personally dealt with evil, and I mean up close and personal, the kind that murders, bugs members of our own etc... you have no clue what it truely is, but if you have, you know how the spirits move among the hosts, the worst being those that do council by invitation and invocation, rather than compartmentalized and compromised hosts. You may want to dismiss all the evil symbols etc...; like some government worker that knows if they do their job they will lose it, so they remain silent and employed for the sake of their own security, at the expense of the public trust etc... and in the end their own salvation, evil will not dismiss it's account with you. 

...the market being the evil global symbol and the currency the seal of it's account, target zeroing out of labor among the nations..

The graven images are not there because the artist is not evil, they are there because the host knowingly accepted the work risen in darkness also. Just remember; as you walk on by, as if there is no evil, thinking to avoid the penalty for doing so, it's because you kept walking that such gaffiti remains marked within you and remains upon the wall ...calling your name and number. If you are fortunate enough to witness your judgment fall upon another, so as to convict you while you are still able to escape your theft in mercy when the call comes upon you finally, that fortunate time defines the sealing of the door for this last generation; as in the days of Noah, as it is with the life of a man and his numbered days. http://www.keyway.ca/htm2009/20091116.htm

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+4&version=KJV 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RqHBfUTIKY

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 21:39 | 2353283 Hohum
Hohum's picture

And I enjoy ZH so much because I thought I was getting some insight into the world of sociopaths.  Turns out the sociopaths are enemies of ZH!

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:23 | 2353404 ironsky
ironsky's picture
Doug Casey on His Favorite Place in the World

http://www.caseyresearch.com/cwc/doug-casey-his-favorite-place-world

He likes playing polo.

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:29 | 2353419 Hohum
Hohum's picture

Ironsky,

Of course, that does not make Mr. Casey sociopathic.  Maybe pretty apathetic about the rest of the world, though.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 03:55 | 2353996 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

Bwaahahaha....social parasites in socialist paradise!

Thu, 04/19/2012 - 04:15 | 2357466 ebear
ebear's picture

>>He likes playing polo.<<

Does he ride off into the sunset?  Oh wait, I forgot.  The sun never sets on Doug Casey.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:25 | 2353411 Incubus
Incubus's picture

The system cannot work because the very design of the system is a draw for narcissistic, sociopathic, power-hungry, and/or corruptible peoples.

Ambition is a tricky thing to deal with.  All men end up serving themselves in some way.

 

We will repeat this again and again and again and again and again.

 

This is the reality of "human" systems.  We're flawed.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 03:09 | 2353953 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

Humans are less flawed than those who would hope to exploit our weaknesses would have us believe.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:31 | 2353423 I am a Man I am...
I am a Man I am Forty's picture

It's all about power, control, and money, and having enough dipshits to follow and believe those that have it.  Most people aren't smart enough to realize that someone will lie, cheat, and steal to meet their objective.  Especially when they are convincing.  We have top notch bullshitters that have risen to the top, and most are like Casey says, are sociopaths.  Combine a bunch of sociopaths with a bunch of dipshits and you get Amerika.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:44 | 2353450 dwdollar
dwdollar's picture

It's like that most everywhere throughout history. Some civilisations, like America of yore, had a little less of both. That differential allowed for great things to happen.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:57 | 2353483 KickIce
KickIce's picture

Hell, about half the country is willing to sell their freedom for an EBT card.  No doubt this county is stuck on stupid.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:43 | 2353443 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

I had a funny conversation with a client today. She is 75 and a person of modest wealth. Anyway we were talking about the problems in the country and the "nuts" in Washington. Well she made the comment that " it's not going to get any better until there is a revolution. The worst thing they did was bail out the banks. They should have let the whole damn thing collapse so we could start over. When are you young people gonna get off your ass and do something? I'm too old ,I hope you don't leave the dirty work for your kids . "

I thought that was some pretty interesting insight.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:51 | 2353462 SillySalesmanQu...
SillySalesmanQuestion's picture

+1

I suppose we at ZH could lead the fight...very good insight Dr. E

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:48 | 2353463 zarjad
zarjad's picture

We sociopaths will not stop until the whole world is just one big kibbutz.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:54 | 2353479 Jim in MN
Jim in MN's picture

Oh shit LOL check this out

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17734735

Secret files from British colonial rule - once thought lost - have been released by the government, one year after they came to light in a High Court challenge to disclose them.

Some of the papers cover controversial episodes: the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, the evacuation of the Chagos Islands, and the Malayan Emergency.

They also reveal efforts to destroy and reclassify sensitive files.

Among the items revealed:

Concerns over the "anti-American and anti-white" tendency of Kenyan students sent to study in the US in 1959 - the same year Barack Obama's Kenyan father enrolled at university in Hawaii

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 22:59 | 2353487 Hohum
Hohum's picture

Jim in MN,

 

What's your point?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:06 | 2353503 Jim in MN
Jim in MN's picture

It's this thing on top of my head.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:10 | 2353506 Bawneee Fwank
Bawneee Fwank's picture

I think his point is that Obummer is Anti-white and Anti-American.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 01:04 | 2353772 Jim in MN
Jim in MN's picture

More like MI6 may have thought his dad was.  Just a footnote in history. Funny how it comes out now, innit?

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 05:48 | 2354051 falak pema
falak pema's picture

If you went back to those files and ran thru their notes you would find for the Post war 1946-1948 period two items:

1° Create Israel to divide and rule Arab lands. Fulfill Balfour declaration, as we have US/UN backing.

2° Liberate our crown jewel India, but make sure we splinter it well. Can't have it coming out in one piece. Too dangerous. Luckily we can count on Jinnah. 

Well played, boys, nice strategy of stinky "nation building" to help Pax Americana construct, under Clement Atlee; the man who came to Potsdam to take his orders from Truman, as Pax Britannica was dead and Pax Americana was born right there and then. 

The Great game is something you learn on the playing fields of Eton, since post-Waterloo days in a BIG way as tops dogs on Rothschild money leash. And Atlee, all Labourite that he be in the eyes of History, had ample support from the Home Office and Whitehall crowd. Full of Etonians from Oxbridge. Good stuff. 

Hubris, psychopathic mindset and world power play; as Dear Henry said : Power is a wonderful aphrodisiac! 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:13 | 2353511 Stuck on Zero
Stuck on Zero's picture

Everything the Author is talking about, immorality, greed, & sociopathy, are all signs of urbanization.  Cities don't work.  Morality, kindness, self-reliance, & respect are traits of people who work closely with the land or work with their hands and tools.  Cities are like giant vacuum cleaners.  They produce nothing but laws and regulations and then take everything produced by rural and suburban farms and factories.  Children growing up on a farm know that they are always one crop disaster away from going hungry.  They know that when they produce they can consume.  Kids growing up in cities see scammers as the top of the tier.  Crooked politicians, drug dealers, wheeler-dealers, flim-flam artists are the kings in the city.  This is a worldwide phenomenon and it is not getting any better.  The BRICs, like the U.S. in the 1920s, are growing extremely fast as hard working rural folks, with strong work ethics move to the factories by the cities.  Give them two generations and their kids will be spoiled, want cushy meaningless jobs, steal with impunity, and demand handouts from the government.  A friend once asked me the following question: "Has anything useful ever come out of a high-rise?"

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:41 | 2353590 Colonel
Colonel's picture

Some Thomas Jefferson quotes.

"The mobs of the great cities add just so much to the support of pure government as sores do to the strength of the human body. It is the manners and spirit of a people which preserve a republic in vigor. A degeneracy in these is a canker which soon eats to the heart of its laws and constitution."

"I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries as long as they are chiefly agricultural; and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get plied upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, they will become corrupt as in Europe."

"I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, the health and the liberties of man. True, they nourish some of the elegant arts; but the useful ones can thrive elsewhere; and less perfection in the others, with more health, virtue and freedom, would be my choice."

 

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:17 | 2353524 nah
nah's picture

the strangest thing about realizing someones a sociopath is that they know exactly what your motives are

.

and you dont know a thing about them

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:23 | 2353537 zarjad
zarjad's picture

Beria will come back and show us the way.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 05:33 | 2354047 falak pema
falak pema's picture

yogi beria... sounds good as yoghurt with strawberries in it. Fruity stuff.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:25 | 2353542 devo
devo's picture

Sociopaths have ruled society since it began.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:35 | 2353574 zarjad
zarjad's picture

Right on, I'm Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky and I can attest to that! 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:35 | 2353568 q99x2
q99x2's picture

'Do you think for a moment that if you could make Dick Cheney, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or any of the other sociopaths who control the state sit down and listen to intellectual arguments, it would change their attitudes?'

No, I've always thought they should be handcuffed to a chair with a hood over their heads during the conversations.

------------------------------------

'As a purely practical matter, the US would be far better off – assuming a Congress and a Senate are even needed – if their 525 members were randomly selected from a list of taxpayers.'

And I don't know how many times I've said that same thing. I also feel that laws should be passed by referendum only. And since we have the technology now to do that we should be doing that.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:41 | 2353587 zarjad
zarjad's picture

We've already done it. They didn't know they had hoods over their heads and they are still wearing them.

We will not stop until the whole world is just one big kibbutz! 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:39 | 2353586 Alz
Alz's picture

They are sociopaths because they have to be.  The left works off a different belief system. They work off of the imperative that everything has to be "equal." The rest of us want things better.

Since nothing is really equal, they have to force things to be "equal."  I put it in double quotes because it's really a moving target.

The problem is in order to force everything to be "equal", they have to treat people unequally. This is why they never advance.  They have to become sociopaths because the entire belief system only leads to hopeless and despair as success has to be attacks and failure has to be elevated and bailed out.

Watch the talk "How Modern Liberals Think" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaE98w1KZ-c

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:47 | 2353609 zarjad
zarjad's picture

Ask Boeing if they make more money from building jumbo jets or from projects for NSA.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:54 | 2353622 Vendetta
Vendetta's picture

Just watched a black virtually silent helicopter flying overhead with no lights on and it is already dark out with aircraft flying all around the nearby major airport.  Stupid, moronic, good, imbecilic, sociopathic or whatever ... I know I'm not fond of much that is going on.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 23:59 | 2353634 Arkadaba
Arkadaba's picture

Raises some interesting questions but doesn't go far enough. I loved the Machiavelli reference - great description of evolution. But as he said there really isn't any true example of a successful capitalist system over the past few centuries. If it isn't working, what would? I tend to think going back to local-based communities will work and local can mean geographically-based or user-based (like ZH). 

Morality - depends on how you define it. What is the moral choice - to put your family safety first or that of your country. I think I know how most would proceed (including me). Ever been in a business meeting where you have to put your best foot forward (which always involves a little "selling".

I also don't buy that politicians are stupid or sociopaths. They are part of a eco-system that they have contributed to and enabled - it is in their best interests to  contribute to a system that supports them.

And education - I thank (god or my lucky stars - substitute as you wish) that I received a great public education. I learnt how to parse a sentence, understand symbolism and convey my ideas. My best teachers were old school.

And rereading this:

It was a mistake in the system; perhaps it lay in the precept which until now he had held to be uncontestable, in whose name he had sacrificed others and was himself being sacrificed: in the precept, that the end justifies the means. It was this sentence which had killed the great fraternity of the Revolution and made them run amuck. What had he once written in his diary? "We have thrown overboard all conventions, our sole guiding principle is that of consequent logic; we are sailing without ethical ballast.” 

? Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 00:03 | 2353647 q99x2
q99x2's picture

'Technically speaking, I believe he's [Bush] actually a borderline moron. You may or may not know that a moron, an imbecile and an idiot are not at all the same thing '

An artist once told me that he could tell by the look in Bush's face that Bush had genetic defects. Personally I thought Bush suffered from alcoholic wet brain. I believe his IQ would have cleared him from his amorality. Not so with daddy Bush. That fk'r's evil.

And Budhists also speak of stupidity very similarly.

Your scaring me though as I witnessed 4 military helicopters flying low over the 101 today. So low that they caused traffic to jam.



Wed, 04/18/2012 - 00:06 | 2353662 Cyclerider
Cyclerider's picture

An enjoyable and well-written article.  It's interesting that many here are trying to change others' opinions, which if Casey is correct is as difficult as changing their DNA. 

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 00:17 | 2353687 jse111
jse111's picture

Where did this self titled "economist" earn his masters and PhD?

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 00:19 | 2353692 rosiescenario
rosiescenario's picture

That was a great article from Doug Casey and he is right in saying that those who seek elected office do so because they want to control people...they are control freaks....that is their joy in life. From the lowliest pedophile working for TSA to the head of homeland sekurity (boy is that name evr Natzi) they all want power over other people.

 

The only way to control that tendency is through less government and more local, regional government where those in it can be held directly accountable.

 

Most Americans are taught that the Civil War was about slavery...well it certainly was not at the begining. It was about state's rights and a less powerful federal government. Today you never hear anyone talk about less federal government and more state's rights. Now the federal government is on a tear creating more and more bureaucratic departments every one of which infringes in one way or another on our freedom. And, our federal government is in turn controlled by various special interest groups whether it is AIPAC helping shape our countries foreign policies, or Monsanto funding Obama and getting blanket approval for gmo alfalfa or Dick Chaney's company getting the first no-bid contract in Iraq or bogus 'clean energy' companies getting funding due to campaign contributions. The list is endless and for every one we know about there are 1,000 we do not.

 

Ron Paul is the only person today who makes any sense and we all recognize that he shall never be elected because of that. The special interest groups he would displace will insure that he does not stand a chance.So it appears to me that change is not going to come from within our present government.

 

 

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 01:24 | 2353809 jimmyjames
jimmyjames's picture

Ron Paul is the only person today who makes any sense and we all recognize that he shall never be elected because of that.

***********

I like RP-

I wonder why though-when he asked Bernanke about gold being money-why he didn't bring this up when Bernanke said no-it would have been a knockout punch-

***************

The district banks of the Federal Reserve, the functions of which can be roughly likened to the  euro area's system of national central banks,  reconcile payment imbalances between the districts once a year by means of transfer of gold certificates  – yes, gold', the barbarous relic, is the means of payment between the Fed's district banks. Of course, according to Ben Bernanke the US government's only reason to hold on to gold is a nebulous commitment to 'tradition'.

http://www.acting-man.com/?p=16377

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 01:21 | 2353802 snblitz
snblitz's picture

economic power has gradually been transferred from producers to political allocators

Economic power exists in consumers:  to buy, or not to buy. The assertion above is not really about economics but theft.

Consistently bad decisions are the product of a flawed moral philosophy

To take the bread of another man's labor is theft.  It is not a flawed moral philosophy that is the problem.  It is stealing from others that is the problem.

It really is quite simple:  If you did what the government was doing you would go to jail.  That the government does it does not change its moral component.

The powers that be need not be sociopaths, it is enough that they are simple thieves.  It is worse that a large portion of the citizenry have chosen to join them in the plunder.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 01:29 | 2353813 Cynthia11640
Cynthia11640's picture

Nice analysis
Question: where to go when you are single lady with only couple hundred thousand?

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 01:29 | 2353819 besnook
besnook's picture

bad people chase out good people who are chased out by good people who are chased out by bad people who are chased out by good people...............

 

the one point i disagree with is that genius excludes stupidity. all men, regardless of their intelligence, are constrained by their human nature. genius is a very dangerous state of mind as many genius' think they can avoid or game their human constraints but fail at every effort.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 01:33 | 2353824 Arkadaba
Wed, 04/18/2012 - 01:49 | 2353844 ultracynic
ultracynic's picture

Cool Whip ads?  Applebee's ads?  

Ever get the feeling you have been conned?

 

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 03:05 | 2353943 the tower
the tower's picture

The ads shown on this site are based on your individual internet browsing behaviour and location.

 

You obviously are American (Applebee's and Cool Whip are mainly available in the USA) and you have an interest in food.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 01:52 | 2353848 ultracynic
ultracynic's picture

I ran this site by my someone with some real money and he laughed in my face.  The banned trader who runs this shit is taking you all for a ride.  

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 06:55 | 2354105 riphowardkatz
riphowardkatz's picture

thank  you for offering up my year to date favorite comment. just curious what constitutes "real money" eagerly awaiting your reply.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 02:15 | 2353868 Anarchyteez
Anarchyteez's picture

Doug Cassey hit a grand slam! Or would that be a double, this being his second installment?

Today just happens to be a great day to buy physical silver. You're welcom.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 02:38 | 2353895 The Navigator
The Navigator's picture

which is to say most people with real power in Washington and every other government – do what they do because it's their nature. They're as cold, unemotional and predatory as reptiles, even though they look like people.

Now I know why my Republicon rep (Brian Bilbray) (in FEMA region 9) voted FOR the NDAA

 

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 03:07 | 2353948 Catullus
Catullus's picture

Paranoid sociopaths at that too. The whole of the security state is fear of their own people. Boogiemen that they created. If the entire homeland security thing isn't evidence of just how scared they are of normal people, I don't know what more you need.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 03:31 | 2353961 the tower
the tower's picture

What a lot of mental masturbation... 

The recurring theme in all these systems is concentration of power and money. The elite finds itself in some situation and organizes society in such a way that they gain maximum benefits.

All these "isms" are just ways to concentrate power and money.

Even in "true anarchic capitalism" you will find that some companies will grow very large, so large that they will dominate society in every way. It's just another "ism".

Psychopaths only gain power and control if you let them, no matter what system we are in.

Other ideas for a sustainable future are emerging, this is the time to broaden your view and look into other ways of distributing wealth and resources, because in the end we are just born into this place, and want to live a reasonably healty and happy life, as long as it lasts.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 03:31 | 2353976 Catullus
Catullus's picture

Even in "true anarchic capitalism" you will find that some companies will grow very large, so large that they will dominate society in every way.

These large companies will dominate society how exactly?  They become so wildly profitable by providing highly demanded goods and services to consumers that the owners of those companies decide to take over world and dominate their own customers?

Maybe they'll all merge into one giant company and somehow they'll get the internal transfer pricing just right so that no other  potential competitor could enter the supply chain.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 03:39 | 2353983 the tower
the tower's picture

See what Wal-Mart did to small local businesses. 

Annihilation of small business > employ the formerly small entrepeneurs > iliminate overhead, maximize profits > lay off formerly small entrepeneurs > jobless rate rises > entitlements rise > slavery for most, extreme wealth and power for some.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 03:55 | 2353992 Catullus
Catullus's picture

Entitlements still exist under "true anarchic capitalism"? I missed the part where no government meant entitlements still existed.

And you're begging the question.  Wal-Mart puts these small, local businesses out of business by doing what exactly?  Offering lower prices by putting pressure on suppliers to lower their prices, moving larger volumes at lower margins. and paying more than minimum wage?  If another company would like to compete with them and offer even lower prices, as a consumer, I'd love to see someone try.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 04:17 | 2354001 the tower
the tower's picture

You are right, I rephrase:

 

Annihilation of small business > employ the formerly small entrepeneurs > iliminate overhead, maximize profits > lay off formerly small entrepeneurs > jobless rate rises  > slavery and poverty for most, extreme wealth and power for some.

And to answer your question: this is why it's called slavery: no-one can cut prices lower than another massive player, of which there can only be a handful. And: more people would be cut out of the loop when price cuts happen.

It's a road to nowhere that only makes a psychopath drool.

There's more to life than buying ever more stuff for ever lower prices. It's not about quantity, it's about quality, and quality of life.

Quality has a price.

It saddens me that you can only see life from a perspective where we are all reduced to consumers.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 04:57 | 2354025 Catullus
Catullus's picture

Last time I checked, slavery was a job you can't quit.  I've never heard of slavery as "offering lower prices" or undercutting your competitors.  No one is forcing people to shop at Wal-Mart.  I worked a summer there as a cashier.  I can promise you I never threatened anyone who put their items on my belt.  I'm not getting the part where someone paying $1.23 for the Lean Cuisine leads to enslavement because they're not buying it for $1.89 from the local shop down the street.

The point is you've made quite a lot of jumps in logic on your road to serfdom. Might want to tighten up the part where the free exchange of property and association of individuals leads to some sort of involuntary distopia where businesses are shut down, people have no jobs, and a small group of elite have control of all of the "wealth".

 

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 06:03 | 2354030 the tower
the tower's picture

"some sort of involuntary distopia where businesses are shut down, people have no jobs, and a small group of elite have control of all of the "wealth""...

Open the window and look outside, this is the reality that we live in already.

If we would move to pure capitalism at this moment in time - something that many see as the solution to the current problems caused by big government and its connections with TBTF banks - we will hand our future over to a tiny elite of multinational corporations.

We will NOT have "pure capitalism" we will have pure corporatism with no way to influence their power over us.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 06:24 | 2354078 barroter
barroter's picture

I am leery as hell of this anarcho-capitalism.  The neocons/sociopaths would like nothing better than to have the entire US financial system operate under "anything goes." 

Secondly, the constant beat from some libertarians that their way would be a panacea is a HUGE ringing alarm to me as well. NOTHING is a panacea.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 06:40 | 2354095 the tower
the tower's picture

I agree 100%, it's a one-way ticket to the new Middle-Ages.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 09:13 | 2354455 Amagnonx
Amagnonx's picture

The problems faced by small business competing in the current environemtn is maily due to burdens of government regulation.

 

They need to do x,y,z accounting and follow such and such regulations, can't hire who they want, have to pay all these benefits etc.  Small bunisses would out perform if the regualtion didn't exist - it is regulation that creates the barriers and over heads that favor larger businesses.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 04:18 | 2354005 dolly madison
dolly madison's picture

Owning land at all is force.  It is not just taxation that is force.  Yet without someone owning some land how is anything to work.  We would be back to hunter-gatherers if nobody had any claim to land.  But the land really belongs to every creature born onto this earth.  This is why I think the only decent resolution to land ownership is to give every human an equal vote, not just for leaders, but for issues.  If people are kept from the land they were born on because they don't have the money to buy a piece of land, they should at least be given vote on the issues, so they have a say of how the system works and how the land is used.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 04:34 | 2354015 Catullus
Catullus's picture

So under this "owning land is force" thing, does it follow that because at any given time a person is occupying a space, they are invading someone else's land? And since that land is owned by every living creature, is not any one of those creatures free to defend their land from invasion? That would seem that because you exist, some has the right to defend against your invasion.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 08:19 | 2354233 dolly madison
dolly madison's picture

What it means is that all people need a place to exist whether they have money or not.  But that's not the way we do it.  We pay lots of money for land, and then banksters play their bankster games and end up with most of the land.  Taking taxes is at gunpoint really.  If you don't pay, you are at risk of going to jail.  The same is true of staying somewhere if you don't have money to stay there.  Libertarians always argue against the taxes, saying that it is at gunpoint really, and that the government should just be to protect property rights.  But property rights are also at gunpoint.

I am a landlord.  I make my living charging people money to stay on the land I paid for.  I even sometimes have the police remove them.   It is the system I live in, and I must live.  I transfer my slavery by the government and the banksters onto other people, so I don't have to be a slave myself.  But I would much rather if we could figure out a way to make none of us slaves.  I wouldn't mind being more agrarian as a way out of this debt slavery, but I know it will not happen.  People flock to this modern living.  The best way I can see to make things fairer is to give everone a voice on issues, not just on leaders who don't do what they say they will do anyway.

The real change I am hoping for in the world with this reset is for the people to be able to decide for themselves how we want to live. 

 

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 04:57 | 2354027 Sandmann
Sandmann's picture

how they insinuate themselves into society.

I am not sure this is the correct phrase. I think our Society is SHAPED by Sociopaths to make their own nest. I think the biggest single factor in making this possible is Colour Television. Until colour television arrived - at different stages in the USA and Europe TV politicians were monochrome so character still had a role. The blindsiding with colour imagery focused on presentation not policy or character.

The rise of Media is to advertise Images not Products. This is perfect for the Sociopath who presents himself in a controlled presentation without direct public scrutiny. The hecklers are controlled, the reactions choreographed. This is the same in Business as in Politics.and the same players went to the same Universities and were often room-mates or fraternity associates.

Society is not more DIVERSE - it is more HOMOGENOUS. The same lawyers in politics, the same lawyers in business.  The same B Schools issuing the same Credentials to provide fodder for Goldman and McKinsey to stamp out the same Cadres to act in the same self-advantaged way. Jeff Skilling ran Enron because he had been at McKinsey merging HNG and InterNorth and he thought he was smater than the rest. He wasn't queried because he spoke to Wall Street like the Banker he was before getting the MBA stamp in his passport - he turned a gas distribution company into a Trading House like Phibro with SPEs in The Caymans and sought to rig markets in electricity as in California. - because he thought he was ever-so smart.

Where are the critical faculties, the questioning, that is supposed to keep our system running and honest ? It is suppressed by a Televisual Media Elite that packages the Message for the docile to absorb and be indoctrinated.

You do not go to University to learn but to be Programmed so they turn out Clones without Critical Thinking unless it is Approved Critical Thinking in return for Grades.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 05:49 | 2354052 Monedas
Monedas's picture

Fascism (National Socialism) is right wing Socialism.....and is way to the left of even Social Democrats !  The Russians had a 20 year head start over the Germans on the socialization of their country !  When war breaks out they all go full press statism !  Monedas  2012   Fascism  IS  Socialism !!!                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 06:24 | 2354076 GeneMarchbanks
GeneMarchbanks's picture

It ain't. Open a book, post afterwards.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 10:30 | 2354722 Monedas
Monedas's picture

Stop reading your leftist revised history !  Obama is headed for a Fascist/Socialist state as fast as his Nikes will let him ! 5 generations of Mussolinis can't be wrong !  Fascism IS Socialism and what's worse they both lust for the Communist ideal of no private property !  The US system founded in Libertarianism is light years away from the European "Socialist Stew" of the 1930s !  FSC....Fascism, Socialism, Communism....that's all they could wrap their little populist, lemming brains around !  The Monarchies of Europe led to "Dictatorships of the People"....they weren't ready for prime time Libertarian based democracy that our founders imagined and implemented a century and a half before ! Unfortuneatly, we are stumbling.....but when the smoke clears we may have a shot at a freerer world in our image !  Our information revolution is working wonders along with our irresistible junk food !  Monedas   2012   Syrians and North Koreans don't have a second ammendment !

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 06:01 | 2354060 De minimus
De minimus's picture

Sociopaths, I guess there is room for one or two but I do not see this as the guiding force behind what we witness today, or in the lead up to present day. In every case we are being moved towards a Marxist model of some sort wherein even an honest discussion of conditions are not allowed, especially in public. And it is not as if the presenters of information don't know something is badly wrong, they do. Those little pieces of information calling items into question, or presenting anything useful are very scrupulously avoided. And, we move further left, toward greater control with government the last word on everything and indicating nothing but a desire to redistribute wealth, after they get their cut. Their cut is now larger than ever and their business partners of the past are beginning to wonder themselves about what is going on.

 

The constant refrain in the background and now the foreground is that capitalism and free markets don't work and are evil and should be replaced. Always. with a Marxist solution as the answer, although they never call it that. It is as if things are done with the intent to create collapse and thereby opportunity for the left, who are almost the sole beneficiaries.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 06:59 | 2354107 Acet
Acet's picture

I think that the problem runs far deeper: Our society actually celebrates psychopathy.

I can't really talk for the US, but I can tal about what I see the UK, where I live now.

The UK is all about the individual. Individualism and pure greed are celebrated as good and the "heroes" of our time are either people that got lucky (footballers, celebs, singers) or people who are experts in manipulating their fellow human beings. Politics is all about spin, deceit and manipulation. People don't have any concept of being a member of a society or any social awareness - it's all me, me, me. Charity is not a quiet personal thing done to help the less favored, it's a visible, outspoken thing, meant to show to others that one is a "good person" (and get tax advantages in the process). Even in the business sphere, like you see in "The Apprentice", it's all about knowing the right people, setting up some deals, influencing people to buy your stuff, not about creating something innovative or providing superior services to customers - businesses operate on the principle that to increase profit you invest more on manipulating customers (via marketting) not in providing customers with superior products and services.

I compare this with my experience in Holland, where at it's most basic, people keep an awareness of how their actions affected others and will in fact refrain from maximizing personal good if that causes harm to others. In fact, in Holland being called a-social is a significant insult. Try that in an anglo-saxon country and see if it works ...

 

 

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 11:07 | 2354854 Sandmann
Sandmann's picture

The UK is all about the individual.

 

Actually it is Thuggish rather than liberal in the sense of iNdivudual Liberty - it is more Smash and Grab and leave muddy footprints on the victim

 

This is why Michael Caine's movie Harry Brown sums it up

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 07:43 | 2354159 Dingleberry
Dingleberry's picture

sociopaths run the world because voters would not vote for an honest or decent person. They vote for the slickest marketing campaign, which is all that politics really is.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 07:49 | 2354165 bourbondave
bourbondave's picture

One of the most interesting articles I have read in awhile.  In my opinion, the author did a fantastic job of presenting what might be considered "controversal" viewpoints in a clear factual manner tha would be difficult to attack.  My only criticism would be these may have a chance of actually affecting broader viewpoints if care was taken not to slip into hyperbole.  The one slip was regarding Guantanamo.  While the author may strongly disagree with it, comparing it to "concentration camps" is a wild stretch that takes away from his point about whether we should have these sorts of detention centers and instead focuses the argument on how they are not comparable to historical atrocities.

Really great piece.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 12:13 | 2355123 Astrolabe
Astrolabe's picture

i read this website everyday, and i think he's correct.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 12:15 | 2355124 Astrolabe
Astrolabe's picture

i read this website everyday, and i think he's correct.

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 13:52 | 2355405 johnjb32
johnjb32's picture

-- This is easily the most satisfying read I have had all year on the World News Desk. The good part is that this is becoming increasingly visible to everyone, all at once. You're damn right these are the end times... Hallelujah! -- Michael C. Ruppert

 

http://www.collapsenet.com/154.html

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 20:59 | 2356851 Centurion9.41
Centurion9.41's picture

Doug,

Not a big fan of Bush, but definitely am deeply disturbed by the depth of stupidity, by those whose analysis of him is negative, regarding the facts surrounding the events in which he was involved,

So.  Great piece, your weaving in the critical importance of moral and philosophical beliefs to economies and empires was good to see. 

Really one of the best economic pieces ever on ZH; save your stupidity regarding Bush. 

Best Regards,

Centurion

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