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Guest Post: "We Have No Other Choice"
Submitted by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds
We Have No Other Choice
America is just going through the motions because we have no other choice--or so we believe.
I have long thought that America Is Just Going Through the Motions--of caring about the deficit, of financial "reform," and everything else:
Let's be honest, shall we? There never was any fire for real reform of the financial sector. It was all rote, a foul, stupid play-act, a passionless pantomime of "caring" and fake-"progressiveness" displayed for propaganda purposes.
I now think we're just going through the motions because we have no other choice than to "extend and pretend" the Status Quo. Choice is of course a matter of perception, a situation where perception defines what is "possible" and what is "impossible."
Interestingly enough, the "possible" is what we think we can manage, while the "impossible" is what happens to us whether we thought it possible or not.
Consider the Federal Reserve. Liberal media mainstay The Atlantic published a fawning puff-piece lauding Ben Bernanke as the man who "saved the economy": The Villain: The left hates him. The right hates him even more. But Ben Bernanke saved the economy— and has navigated masterfully through the most trying of times.
We all know what Ben "saved," and it wasn't the economy--it was the fraud-based crony-capitalist financial sector. In case you missed the primer that explains the fundamental frauds at the heart of our economy:
Money from Nothing: A Primer on Fake Wealth Creation and its Implications (Part 1)
(Part 2)
Claiming that "saving the financial sector was necessary to save the economy" is akin to claiming that saving the massive tapeworm coiled inside the patient is necessary to save the patient: the logic is backward. The financial sector (tapeworm) is the cause of the economy's (the patient) weakness and collapse.
Ben is no genius nor is he a hero. He is simply doing what he has to because he has no other choice. What would happen if Ben didn't funnel hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial tapeworm? It would die, and the "too big to fail" banks--for all intents and purposes, the Fed's partners, and the generous funders of political toadies--would cease to exist. Extremely wealthy and powerful people-- the top 1/100 of the top 1%--would lose great wealth and the power it buys.
In a system that has become dependent on crony-capitalism and fraud for its very survival, then that is obviously not even a choice.
How about the political class of toadies, sycophants, leeches and cowards who passed a 2,300-page "reform" bill that nobody read, much less actually understands? Senator Dodd recently penned a bloviated defense of his "save the poor tapeworm" legislation, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in The Economist, claiming that it was "impossible" to "reform" our "complex" financial system with a mere 37 pages of legislation, the length of the original Glass-Steagal Act that separated commercial and investment banking: What If We're Beyond Mere Policy Tweaks? (February 6, 2012)
Consider the Glass-Steagall Act, at 37 pages in length, and the 2,319-page monstrosity of the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act:" (Source)
Back in December, Nick Schulz helped put the size of the 2,074-page healthcare bill into some historical context by comparing its length to some previous bills that rank among the most consequential in U.S. history, like the 82-page Social Security Act of 1935 and the 74-page Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Now that Congress has passed the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,” it might be a good time to compare the 2,319-page financial reform bill (245 pages longer than the healthcare bill) to the previous bills listed below (and see graph) that are considered among the most consequential legislative acts for banking and finance.
1. Federal Reserve Act (1913) – 31 pages.
2. Glass-Steagall Act (1933) – 37 pages.
Actually, the entire fraudulent tapeworm could be killed with a single page of legislation, or more correctly, a single five-point paragraph: To wit:
1. Commercial banks cannot conduct any investment banking, and investment banks cannot conduct any commercial banking. Any financial institution that accepts deposits or issues loans or financial instruments of any nature will be regulated as a bank.
2. All assets of any nature must be listed at the close of business daily marked to market, as in the futures and options markets. If there is no regulated market for a class of financial instruments, the Treasury is instructed to establish and regulate a market for that class of financial instruments. Holding assets off-balance sheet is a criminal offense with a minimim fine of $10 billion per asset. If the fine cannot be paid in full, the FDIC is instructed to seize the bank and liquidate its assets in an orderly and timely manner.
3. No bank will be permitted to have assets or liabilities in excess of the smallest gross domestic product (GDP) of the 50 states.
4. No private banks may create any money through debt. All loans must be made out of existing deposits and equity. (via David V.)
5. No exceptions or exemptions are allowed to these statutes.
That would pretty much do it. Separate commercial from investment banking, require all assets to be marked to market every day, and limit banks from expanding to the point of being able to blackmail the nation, i.e. "too big to fail."
Instead, by one count, Dodd-Frank requires regulators to create 243 rules, conduct 67 studies, and issue 22 periodic reports. Does anyone seriously believe this complexity will "fix" anything?
But the legislators had no other choice. If they killed the TBTF banks, they would have killed their good friends and generous donors, so that was never a possibility. Ditto with healthcare "reform" and all the other phantom "reforms"--actually changing the Status Quo would cause immense financial pain in the class of wealthy people who fund the politicos and lobbyists, and trim money flows elsewhere in the system.
"Having no other choice" is a social fractal. Why do families persist in taking on $100,000 student loans for mostly mediocre educations with mostly mediocre "benefits" in the job market? Because they feel they have no other choice.
Why do people persist in mortgaging their future and accepting the yoke of debt-serfdom to own a house? Because they feel they have no other choice, and owning a house has become integral to the "American dream."
Why do local state, county and city politicos continue playing absurd budget games, shuffling funds, borrowing from their employees' pension plans to make this year's pension plan contribution and similar threadbare tricks? You guessed it: they have no other choice, lest someone somewhere feel some pain.
Why do our Federal "leaders" borrow $1.5 trillion each and every year now, fully 10% of the nation's total output, knowing full well that this level of borrowing will bankrupt the nation? (Don't forget to add in the "supplemental" off-budget borrowing.) You know: they have no other choice, lest someone somewhere feel some pain.
So instead they keep the accelerating vehicle pointed straight for the cliff. There are only two end-states to this level of borrowing: hyper-inflation or default. Any other "choice" is mere fantasy.
As noted above, what's possible is what you perceive, and what's impossible is what happens later whether you thought it possible or not. The Status Quo of a fraudulent financial system and a borrow-trillions-every-year-til-Doomsday Central State will implode, regardless of how many people think it "impossible."
If you take a star of sufficient heft such that it burns through its fuel at a rapid clip, then it will implode in a supernova whether you thought it possible or not.
"We have no other choice" is partly "deer in the headlights," partly fear of consequence and partly intellectual laziness, i.e. a continuing failure of imagination. Just to take two examples of many: anyone who is convinced they "have no other choice" but to enslave themselves with $100,000 in student loans should read Debt-Free U: How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching off My Parents. Yes, it requires sacrifices and hard work, but it does outline a debt-free choice.
The Status Quo depends on debt-serfs who feel they "have no other choice" for its survival, but there are other ways of perceiving our financial options, for example Early Retirement Extreme: A philosophical and practical guide to financial independence.
OK, so these options may not be for everyone, but to deny they exist is delusional.
Consider America's second favorite obsession (the first being achieving "fame" by appearing on broadcast TV), losing weight. Here are two articles on the physics of weight loss by a UC-Berkeley physicist who lost 30 pounds: (via Ken R.)
The Physics Diet
Is it "convenient" to lose weight? no, it is generally inconvenient and requires sacrifice, discipline and embracing responsibility--all the attributes of life we avoid by perceiving no other choice.
What's possible is what we perceive, and what's impossible is what happens later whether we thought it possible or not. The "impossible" systemic collapse will happen because we've left no other option open. We will get "wake-up calls" along the way, but these will be ignored because to change anything in the Status Quo will cause pain to someone somewhere, i.e. it is inconvenient.
Could we choose another future other than collapse? At this point, the answer is no, because we have no other choice.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9rD_bdRBeQ
http://sorisomail.com/email/238743/o-politico-que-representa-realmente-a-populacao.html
Because Bush Sr's real name is Scherff, and guess where he is from:
http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20070405.htm
Is any of this true?
Seems like it would explain a lot, why we are here, where we are headed.
...and the band played on
that weblink you posted is dogshit. Fuckin Warburg and Loeb and all of these were JEWS. Webster Tarpley is fond of wild assed hatred of Germans...why doesn't he identify WHO the people were who precipitated WW2 through the financial chicanery that ended up starving germans to death?
Zionist banksters financed Nazi Party, late 1920s, then helped finance the Reich during the mid-1930s. Churchill, after bailing him out post '37 market crash, they flat out owned. The rest you know. "wake up calls"? There will be no more. '08 was a warning tremor. House Republicans had one last chance to kill the Beast w '11 debt ceiling vote. They caved. Die is now cast. Snake-eyes soon.
Simple, hyperinflate (which is going on) wipe out all debt. Issue new gold & silver money from reserves - proportionately to every American via social security and other measurements to determine a fair payout for all citizens. Done cocksuckerz!
you forgot the deflation and crash part where the government/banks take over all the assests
Wouldn't you like to see Jamie Dimon come on CNBC say to Steve Liesman, "The FED? We are the God damn FED!"
Debasement is going on now - not hyperinflation. Hyperinflation is a loss of faith in currency; that hasn't happened yet. And inflating debt away does not apply equally to all debt, especially consumer debt. You can have high inflation, but unless wages move in tandem, those debt service payments don't get easier for consumers (in fact they get harder because more fiat is chasing staple items).
Are you really sure loss of faith in the US dollar isn't currently going on all over the world? Germnay didn't 'hyperinflate' in a day.
It has to happen en masse at the retail/consumer level. You'll know when it happens. Only a small % of us have moved all but a working capital allotment of fiat out of the banking system altogether and/or converted that fiat into stuff that's useful and holds value.
When you start to see ATM runs, hysteria, and mid-day price changes in things other than gasoline, then you'll know you've hit paydirt.
The stuff going on around the globe, especially the abandonment of petrodollars and the not-so-subtle trade agreements among the Chindos, is simply positioning for the post-dollar-collapse.
A citizen cannot lose faith in the currency if the citizien is MANDATED to buy his/her food with it, and when wages are in said currency.
Add sophisticated (invisible) electonic payment "services" and it'll be clear that whoever has the chip (implant) eats (peas).
Face it, we independents (financially, spiritualy) are a minority. Debt peonage is what's planned.
Will it work?
Partially. ;-)
"Fair"? You think Jamie Dimon gives a crap about what's "fair"?
EscapeKey...+1T
EscapeKey...+1T
"Fair"? You think Jamie Dimon gives a crap about what's "fair"?
That's why the inevitable complete and total destruction of debt and fiat must (will) take place. There is no other way to wrestle the power from those in power, save a standing army. All electronic / paper debts & 'wealth' will be eradicated. Until the playing field is leveled, the owners and their leverage will rule.
How long? A month? June? September? After the elections? After Martial Law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_Law ? After a Totalitarian Rule http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism of Ten Years in the USSA?
It is so easy to dismiss the consequences and say: "Until all electronic / paper debts & 'wealth' are eradicated... Until the playing field is leveled, the owners and their leverage will rule..." But that could take a very long time.
[Or it could be fast and bloody. Either way it.is.a.nightmare.scenario.]
A "Standing army" can take many different forms. Unfortunately, history shows it to be a prerequisite to the type of power shift you are talking about. The power of paper can change, only to change back again. Real change only happens after heads literally roll (1786 France). If violence isn't part of the reset, then no consequence was realized, and the morals of those in power remains unchanged. The same rigged system is re-worded even more perfectly, and celebrated by the people as a fresh start (1930 Germany).
There will be blood.
They tried fair in the former soviet union when they distributed shares of the former state owned companies.
Borrowing for health care is a black hole too.
All the GOP has to do is get that protected from bankrupcy law and they'll be all set.
Best Health care in the world accoding to Faux News. No mention of 10% healthcare inflation though.
sure is going to be a laugh watching all those entitled diabetics, cancer patients, people on life support, fatsos with clogged arteries trying to fend for themselves once the nurses and docs have left in order to do the same thing...and probably taken the drugs with them to barter! Got popcorn?
You have a better chance of survival if you wash up on the beach and get taken to Sea World.
Free meds, food, and love.
Sure they have no other choice, But if some one has a choice its a wonderful idea. Get 100,000 loan and buy PM with your cash. wait till your son/daughter graduate than sell the pm and pay in penny.
Bailed on your GED did ya
Hyperinflation is caused by government deficits.
And once inflation is set in motion, it is politically the easiest option to keep going.
Agree with you, because its been their default strategy to date. However, the heavy implication is that they know what will happen if it gets out of hand, or will be able to control it. There is no precedent for todays intervention, no way of knowing without massive last minute rule-changes to handle serious hyperinflation.
Having the world's reserve currency and ZIRP, is like giving a Ferrari to a 16 year old for his birthday. You know it will be fun for awhile, but it will end badly. The crash will be epic, and even the most prepared will have trouble surviving.
Reason? - because we are all being brainwashed.
Ugh...my kids are so fucked.
Not sure about that. Depending on age, they might be ok. The fucked is us.
Yep, they are all screwed unless your idea of a good maturation process is “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger".
Nice to think for a moment though that we might be able to take the brunt of this for our kids. Unfortunately you are more likely correct. Odds are the world they inherit will be a more troubled place than the world is today. This shitstorm may start off with bang, but it is most likely going to be generations in duration.
Not really. Teach them useful skills. Like hunting and fishing.
Making wolf nipple chips. LOL.
Can't say I agree with #4. There's nothing wrong with fractional reserve banking so long as it can never be a tax payer liability. If you think a bank account is a bad investment, buy a safe and a shotgun.
goldmoney.com, bullionvault...are they banks?
In the classic sense, yes and they would be legal for "currency" transactions if we practiced free market capitalism in the United States.
Buy a safe and additional guns.
You're only as good as what you can carry. Better stash the rest.
I can understand your point, you premote customer beware. However, Fractional Reserve banking can be difficult to stabilize without a flexible money supply. In the event of a bank "run" and without the ability to print money, many depositors will be SOL. buyer beware I agree. It would be good to have your shotgun ready for this as well. Actually, what banking situation cant be helped with a shotgun?
Shotgun,if your in the city,fucking AK/AR.Were talking numbers,not a random breakin.
The university bubble...
Tyler why so quiet man??
The S&P just hit 1400 and no celebrations??
Equally mysterious is the absence of RobotLemming here crowing over this "achievement" that is largely the result of currency debasement and nothing more --- not that I am complaining, mind you.
Bibi is nuts.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-is-preparing-isr...
Netanyahu is preparing Israeli public opinion for a war on IranIn his speech before the Knesset on Wednesday, Netanyahu urged his colleagues to reject claims that Israel is too weak to go it alone in a war against a regional power such as Iran and therefore needs to rely on the United States, which has much greater military capabilities, to do the job and remove the threat.
Netanyahu presented three examples in which his predecessors broke the American directive and made crucial decisions regarding the future of Israel: the declaration of independence in 1948, starting the Six Day War in 1967 and the bombing of the nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981.
The lesson was clear: Just as David Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol and Menachem Begin said "no" to the White House, Netanyahu also needs not be alarmed by President Obama's opposition to an attack on Iran. Netanyahu believes that, as in the previous incidents, the U.S. may grumble at first, but will then quickly adopt the Israeli position and provide Israel with support and backing in the international community.
Just as soon as they sink the Enterprise.
I have to wonder if the damn thing hasn't already been preloaded with bombs so they don't have another embarrassing incident like they did when they failed to sink the USS Liberty.
I have no other choice than to own physical silver because it is about to end its 140 year long demonitised status.
140 years of waiting...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
And the "no other choice" is by design.
How do you steal from someone or make them look like the perpetrator? Paint them into a corner, put them in an impossible situation where it is next to impossible to make it through the week without robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Bailouts for the Kleptoligarchy necessitates raping the citizenry, and the citizenry is blamed for wearing cut off shorts and sucking on a popsicle.
As Maggie Thatcher herself has said (in so many words) the world is ruled by TINA (There Is No Alternative).
the top 1% are the political donors to both parties. The political machine runs to make their lives better each and every day. The Fed is plugged into the washington circus. So it too must serve the 1%, and pump up ______ x {filled in by the 1%)
The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." - Cornelius Tacitus (55-117 A.D.)
40 000 new laws take effect on Jan. 1
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-12-28/new-state-laws-2012...
All hail America!!!!!!!
Meanwhile, Dr. Paul told me wants to eliminate 40,000 laws.
First, it will be necessary to eliminate 4 million lawyers. A veritable pogrom.
Is that your final solution?
Can we call it the Brief-ocaust? Most of them may be Neo-cons. That would probably be a no-no
good, but not complete
#6 NO STUFF IS ALLOWED TO BE IMPORTED , UNLESS THIS COUNTRY FINANCIAL SYSTEMS IS UNDER SAME RULES
#7 STUFF IS ALLOWED TO BE IMPORTED W/OUT TARIFFS FROM COUNTRY THAT HAS SIMILAR OR HIGHER INCOME PER CAPITA..
#8 STUFF IMPORTED FROM COUNTRIES W/ LOWER PER CAPITA INCOME IS SUBJECT TO IMPORT TARIFFS TO LEVEL OUT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN USA AND COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.
that for kicks
ALX
There's one other choice, it's called the opt-out. Buy land, build a home, dig a well, install a turbine and some panels, raise your own food and produce, and trade the excess for what you can't provide for yourself. It involves being a farmer though, which is actual work that provides few opportunities to geek out on facebook (or ZH) while eating a $8 cosi sandwich at your desk.
...live happily everafter.
Don't forget the Stratified Downdraft Gasifier.
checked that out, adding it to the archives, thanks. I'm looking at another decade behind the desk before I can comfortably go full nature boy, but I'll be damned if Dick Proenneke gets to have all the fun.
You will have very little surplus, if any. Farming and gardening is much harder than you think. The weather, the insects, seed, fertilizer (of any kind), water, etc.
have 7 kids, let them do the work. worked for my grandpa.
So what you are saying is statis quo - Politicians, CEO's and banksters are to keep their donors and friends happy and in money so they can ride out any storm. At this point TPTB and their friends dont really care how bad it is cause they got a ticket to ride. If we have a default, then, maybe, everyone will lose all "electronic" and paper assets. Most of TPTB will be covered but not all. Either way is not good, no one knows how long the Shit will keep hitting the fan, 3 mo, 1 year, 5 years? IMHO food/water supply will dictate all.
thank you charles - those who worship the bankster debt peddling pimps see no other choice to the status quo...
those who love freedom and are bold enough to default here and default now are the ones who will reclaim their futures....
debt should require a prescription just as drugs do....moral hazard would be the right antidote to the preyings of these wicked pimps....
the culture of debt must be replaced with a culture of thrift.....fuck the banksters all the way to hell...
Tony bonn, you make a good point about prescriptions....problem is that people hardly understand those either, and most don't pay anyway! We hear about the 'govt debt' but thats not real debt, its debt from the Pretend Account that is the entire US Govt! You hear about mortagages that many just skip out on, hear about Greek debt that the ECB just re-wrote the rules on because its a big political project that could not agree on how to take a loss, there is debt all over the place. Its a banker/politicians dream....complex on purpose where fault is hard to find, everyone throws up their hands, tragedy of the commons. My mother in law came from Germany after the war, raised on a farm and shipped over here at a young age to start over, the culture of thrift you mention is alive and well and getting passed down to my daughter.
Babylon is burning.... Can you smell the smoke?
Better that Tel Aviv, New York, DC, and Hollywood burn.
Charles - nice essay. Hyperinflation it is then. I note that yesterday the UST10 went up 170 basis points - in a day. Surely Bernanke will not allow that to happen for any length of time. QE to the moon!
Short of the CBs hand being forced, HI is the most likely outcome at this point.
Seriously, this was in another thread the other day, and is why I miss some of the true experts that used to post here.
Once again, yes, this is criminal:
http://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/tot_operation_schedule.html
But as long as we have buyers of these, you can't have hyperinflation:
http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/...
Can that dynamic change? Of course it can. Will it? Nobody on this planet knows, and anyone who claims it will is a liar (unless you're somehow a time-traveler from the future).
Is the system broke? Yes. Is CONgress corrupt? Of course, plenty of examples. I'm more interested in quantitative and qualitative solutions and/or ideas to have a reasonable discussion with friends and neighbors. Not "own guns/gold/food", which I don't disagree with, but if that's your entire portfolio for when you retire and America is still standing, good luck. Something I can translate to to my colleagues, friends, and neighbors way of thinking coherently and informatively is far more valuable.
There is no lasting solution. That is the point. Anyone who gives you an exact date is just guessing and your date is as good as theirs. So the question is not IF but simply WHEN. I would rather be 2 years too early than 2 seconds too late.
Right now I am watching and waiting for the 19th... if that auction holds any clues to more corrupt tricks, we will see some real action soon as yields start to rise. One more thing... don't put all your canned beans in one basket... ;)
OK, let's get this right. You agree, basically with Mr. Smith's political analysis (TINA), why can't you figure out how to trade from that perspective? Is the Fed going to allow interest rates to rise? What will such actions do to bucky. Do you really need graphs and tables to help you figure this out?
Also, Smith is suggesting there is a financial tsunami coming, are you sure you want to wade out into the ocean?
WHEN is this tsunami coming?
I don't care what The Fed does, I'll adjust accordingly. My point was, like the last thread was, as long as other countries buy our Treasuries, there can't be hyperinflation, can currency be devalued, of course, but that's not the issue. One of the narrow minded readers that responded was under the delusion that The Fed is the only buyer, and anyone that understands what is going on knows that is not true.
I think you missed these covert meeting minutes, originally taken from a Business Roundtable meeting, when a server place a tray of finger foods on their conference table, said tray containing special audio-resonant fibers connected to an RFID, which could be monitored up to 200 feet away.
THE SCRIPT
The Business Roundtable select committee closed meeting minutes, circa 2012.
Business Suit #1 speaking: The latest report in yet, number four?
Business Suit #4 speaking: Yes, sir! The latest stats indicate the script is being followed religiously. The sheeple robotically repeat our memes and phrases exactly.
Business Suit #1 speaking: Pure genius and so simple; reduce everything to fashion trends, make it fashionable for the masses to repeat our instructions, and make everything else, especially independent thought or thinking for one’s self, unfashionable.
Business Suit #3 speaking: Who was that fellow, that advertising guy, who thought it up?
Business Suit #1 speaking: Really, number three, you should remember this by now. Edward Bernays, that incestuous product of Sigmund Freud’s family, convinced the American public to eat bacon with their eggs, their women to take up tobacco smoking, and when the CIA employed him to create their disinformation section (the model for all our intelligence agencies), to believe our politician’s official nonsense about “bringing democracy to the people” everytime we overthrow a democratically-elected president in Guatemala, Honduras and Iran.
[The entire group erupts in polite chuckles and laughter.]
The Obama administration is following the program, supporting the continuum for destroying due process, habeas corpus, promoting global warfare, offshoring jobs, militant pursuit of past and present whistleblowers, remaining passive during the destruction of workers’ rights and women’s rights, and following the directives from Wall Street and the banking cartel.
Our present official script shall continue and the bullet points are:
· It’s acceptable for the Israeli government’s violence against the Palestinians, but unacceptable for the Syrian government to attack their people;
· Privately-operated drones over American skies are great for business;
· Any individual espousing independent thought must immediately be identified as a conspiracy theorist and ostracized accordingly; and,
· Get the vote out for that lesser of evils, President Obama!
[The meeting adjourns to a chorus of chuckling and mirth.]
In times past the hyperinflation route did wipe out the soverign debt. It will not work in the current situation as the larger part of the debt consists of promises under social programs. The benefits under those programs are adjusted for inflation. It is impossible to use inflation as a method to escape inflation adjusted debt. It is not exactly the same as the German problem of reperation debts denominated in gold, but not much different in effect.
.
Bullshit! Those benefits can easily be cut even in nominal terms in the face of a "national financial emergency", and in any event, they are NOT indexed to the TRUE rate of so-called "inflation" (call it what it really is, "currency debasement"), but are only indexed to the laughably lowballed government-issued CPI, which has ALREADY robbed retirees of more than 40% of their REAL benefits in just the last 15 years; expect this trend to continue.
Do you still believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy too? Using inflation to escape debt is entirely possible when you are a self-serving, sociopathic government (but I repeat myself, twice) and you egregiously LIE about it to your subjects and pretend that the rate of price increases due to currency debasement is only 1/3 or 1/4 of what it is in reality.
Please disengage your cranium from your rectum.
What kind of bend over and take it up the ass kind of shit is this FUCKING article about....no choice??? There is always a choice as long as u r willing to accept the consequences of ur choice...to b free and refuse to b a subject of this debt slave society means that u may very well b murdered for bucking the sociopath bankers paradigm...maybe imprisoned after being ratted out by brainwashed, pathetic, cowardly bitches afraid to stand up to their oppressors...well, u know what...ain't no bitch n me..never was and never will b...fuck u Charles on this note... AND FUCK ALL BANKERS AND THEIR BITCH OWNED POLITICIANS... I AIN'T PAYING U MOTHER FUCKERS NOTHING...NO TAXES, NO DEBTS, NO NOTHING...AND JUST TRY MESSING WITH MY "REAL MONEY"... FUCKERS......
I agree - but it is not reality. If you haven't noticed, there are more people who are dependant on the system, are owed something by the system, etc. who will not stand up and say "fuck this - bring on the consequences of killing the ponzi." Rather, they are the frog in the boiling water. Public workers want thier pensions, retiress want the pensions to continue, welfare folks need checks in order to avoid being homeless or starving, SNAP feeds what... 1 out of 4 kids? 1 out of 7 people? Etc. and Etc.
Reality is that the ship is locked on a collision course.
There is a choice.
Even taking out 100,000 loan and running off into the woods to live off grid is a choice. But where ya gonna go hmm?
Hell, even Count Vlad made a choice.
It's all part of the "everyone get's a trophy" mindset.
Hello, I am a current JPMorgan Chase employee. This is an open letter to all commissioners and regulators. I am emailing you today b/c I know of insider information that will be damning at best for JPMorgan Chase. I have decided to play the role of whistleblower b/c I no longer have faith and belief that what we are doing for society is bringing value to people.
full Text here
http://www.webcompact.net/index.php/news/20929-jpmorgan-whistleblower
Email = IP address.
Pure hocum.
I still don't understand what students are taking out these $100K loans? Does a four year education at a state school really cost that much now? Why would anyone bother? Or are they talking about the Ivy League and maybe second tier schools?
Back when I was in college, kids took out loans in excess of their tuition and room & board costs in order to party. It was reckless behavior, but not central to their true needs. This would have been right around the time the federal loan mills kicked into high gear. Usury at its finest!
My biggest regret in taking student loans was that I had to register for the draft. That may have been the first time in my life when I went back on my principles in order to try and fit into society and its expectations. I really just wanted to tell Uncle Sam to go fuck himself.
When I was young the draft was a requirement at 18 regardless.
Anyhow, I see this firsthand. People really see it as binary. College or fry cook - wealth or poverty. Most people feel the American Dream slipping away but dont know why. They dont question it either. It has been accelerating for so long now that it just seems "normal." This causes people to apply all sorts of flawed logic and emotion to the equation. ROI goes out the door. It is the worst of all bubbles... this one preying on people's fear that their children will not live as well as they have (up this point). Unfortunately, they are correct - but sadly are contributing to exactly that outcome in a round-a-bout way.
I think it is funny (and telling) how angry and defensive people get when I talk about where I think (know) things are heading.
I would say that most Americans (and those living in the western world in general) are in the first stage of acceptance - denial.
When the truth starts to smack these nay-sayers in the face...and affect them personally, then we may all get to see the transition to the second stage of the Kubler-Ross model.
I know it's coming...I just hope the end game comes on slowly, so that those who are half-way aware will have more time to get ready, and prepare for the paradigm shift. It is going to be hard, especially for most in the U.S, who have never known widespread societal strife, hunger, strikes, violence, anarchy....
You want to think about something that will scare you? Picture some of those fucking animals we get to see every year on the news....who trample each other at Wallmart for a $29,00 DVD player. now picture that same, anarchous mob of people, who haven't had a real meal for 3-4 days....fighting over a $1000.00 bag of rice....or a $100.00 loaf of bread. (or whatever amount you want to assign to it) People in this nation are not, and will not be ready for the sacrifices that must be made in order for the system to have the reset it needs.
Whats type is your avatar?
So true my friend......
I don't give a screaming fuck about any of this shit! I'm a 1%! I don't give a fuck how much gas goes up. Actually I do, cause I'll make even more $. Had to sell my clicked out 308 GTB cause business is slow. That's okay, got 12 other cars. Here in Rancho Santa Fe, I feel safe since I got armed guards and hidden razor wire in the bushes. The biggest fucking problem I have is my Gulfstream pilot just quit to work for another 1% that does not give a shit like me. Buy PM's and stash them out of the country. Goldmoiney is a good way to go too!
When has the work ethic in the US ever been contrary to; "work hard, study hard, get a better job, make more money, get more things, etc." So our whole lives have been based upon the crap we were fed. How much guilt? Was everyone frugal? Was their debt paid for by the bailout for which they saw nothing but must pay?
All the while, everyone of the banks were shorting every American's ability to pay and doing all they could to make it happen. Turns out they had the ultimate control over that. They had no law that they needed to follow, and still do not.
The balance has tipped considerably to one side. All the wealth of the believers has been stolen. How should we feel?
"We have no other choice"= FALSE DICHOTOMY
OT
This is really funkin' weird, but I AM NOT shitting you...
I just saw a sidebar ad at Barchart.com that said -
"Saving can bring you a brighter future"(roughly)
Showed a bride and groom running down the church steps, with the groom's head replaced with Lincoln's.
Had the slogan "Feed the Pig".(REALLY)
Had the "Ad Council" logo we're all familiar with.
And, was sponsored by, get this..... AIPAC!
AGAIN, I'm not making this up!
It's either a bona-fide ad, or hackers are getting wittier.
I don't know which is more likely, or more disturbing.
pics or it didn't happen.
Following up:
OK, it's a real ad...
However, the sponsors are AICPA, not AIPAC. (My bad)
The slogan says, "Saving money can lead to life long bliss."
Still funny from my perspective. Note where I found an image via Google image search.
http://nigeriantimes.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-survey-saving-takes-priori...
Feedthepig.org must be their latest marketing ploy?
Creepy talking spokespig.
No. Zog wants U to save. Makes the confiscation simpler.
The cycle of the Fed causing bubbles and then "rescuing" the economy from them is now almost 100 years old.
It took 70 years for the Soviet system to implode - I wonder how long it will take for the Federal Reserve system to implode?
The Soviet never really imploded. They just quit pretending in sufficient numbers to force a change.
The Granny who sweeps the Gutter and steps are among the most exalted and honored members of Society today.
I have been watching special hauls carry beat up and stripped armor north and clean painted armor south lately.
I see it this way, most of the Nation will be on SNAP or some other form of assistance where the Government makes the household decisions for the people.
That way the People would not dare bite the hand that feeds them and as soon as we old fucks die off in sufficient numbers, a new generation shall behold a land of skittles and unicorns.
Watch "Despicable me" DVD and you will know where I am coming from.
I would add holding our noses to vote for the latest liberal Democrat running as a Republican for the GOP nomination because "we have no choice".
And of course, we MUST be made to believe that voting for Ron Paul is NOT an acceptable choice either.
No holding noses, we march into early elections and vote.
Party declaration? None.
But those infernal diebold machines turn it into such a clinical process as to be meaningless. Like providing a urine sample to be analyzed on MSM that evening.
my sons have their education and jobs now 27 and 26 years old. they both ran up student debt but they worked and we helped and their debts were less than 15k each for double degrees in the fields which they now work.
they have told me countless horror stories of co-workers and friends that have 150 to 200k student loans and cannot get employment in fields that pay them. not liberal arts crap but software engineering, banking and finance, insurance and risk management, civil engineering.
these education debtors have their balances go up every month if they don't pay on time, or don't pay the full amount etc. constant calls to their cell-phones and work. garnishment of wages, etc. etc.
They can ditch the phones and ditch work.
The only thing left is death and that will be the ultimate release from the debts.
Surely they must be strong enough to serve as useful idiots for room and board somewhere to someone who does not give a shit and is not inclined to take a moment from buying Anacott Steel to worry about such little people crap.
They are not allowed to call work place and let the fuckers no that and report it.Fuckin cocksuckers.
You can always count on the United States Govenment to do the right thing !
... after they have exhausted every other possibility :-)
Why can't we just write off 75% of the population" Don't count them in statistics anymore, don't acknowledge that they exist. Then, the "economy" can be defined by the remaining 25%. No mark downs, no hyperinaflation. Problem solved. Suck it; you didn't buy AAPL, you lost.
Already the case. Govt stats now basically reference the economy of...the Zionist Triad: NY + DC + Hollywood.
All this shit equals high inflation. We have been living it---even in an era of "deleveraging", and now we have trillions on the Feds balance sheet waiting to explode, with more QE printing an eventual certainty. I am so sick and tired of idiotic, stupid mother fucking deflationists taking up web or blog space and genrating cognitive dissonance. Wake the fuck up.
I am not saying it's a good thing, but open up USA Jobs and you will find hundreds, if not thousands, of government jobs all over the country in all fields. I am sure that there is a great deal of competitionf or them, but my guess is that those with good credentials and a willingness to move can find work if they have the kinds of degrees described by stormsailor, above.
Additionally, I don't know what the market is right now for this, but when I was an indebted professional school student in the tough times of the early 80s (before the economy turned around), the only job option turned out to the accepting a commission. I did, and it turned out to be a career. Yes, one may have to go to Afghanistan or some other Third World shithole, as military personnel not-so-fondly call such places, but risk and sacrifice are the only way for 99% of us to have any shot at a future anyway.
But I agree, generally, that this nation is in for hard times between now and 2020, regardless of President and Congress, as our "chickens will come home to roost." Prudent preparation is a good choice. And start thinking through the morality of various scenarios now, before you confront them (e.g., the mob roaming your neighborhood with clubs and knives, looking for food, and walking up your driveway--what, morally, should you do?; and if it is three little beggar kids with two grown men?; and if it is a woman and a child, but a man is lurking 50 feet away?).
in the first case, 5 quick trigger pulls on the M1A; in the second, 3 will do. Hobbes will call the shots.
i'm still looking for the 6lb napoleon to make my collection and home defense system complete.
"a whiff of grapeshot"
Your whole article lost all credibility for me when you started using the weight loss and gluttony metaphors, especially the physicist and his thermodynamics theory of calories = weight gain. If only it was so simple. Suppose I owned a Boeing 757. What if one day I wanted to get some place faster and I decided to use high octane gasoline in my jet engines instead of jet fuel, which is similar to kerosene. Under the physicist oversimplified theory of thermodynamics it would not matter where my engergy (or calories) came from and my jet would only go as fast and as far as the quantity of energy (or caloies) stored in my fuel or left in its tank. We all know that that is entirely stupid becaue a jet engine is designed to use jet fuel, not gasoline, and to substitue one for the other would result in it operating inefficient, give it a serious malfunction or possibly even blow it up.. Similarly, the human body is an engine designed by God or evolution (your choice) to receive and process different fuels in different ways. It is not simply a matter of quantity of energy in = fat gain or weight loss. Thermodynamis does of course apply, but like in the jet example, how it comes out and how much is storedl, or whether it breaks the engine, varies greatly depending on the molecular makeup of the food or energy or calories it takes in. Like the jet engine, the human body is also a complicated energy burninng engine. Fat (one type of energy) regulation in the human body is a very complicated. For example, how much the body stores as fat, burns through living or disposes of through heat or waste is regulated by hormones and some foods have completely different effects on the quantities and types of hormones. Sometimes too much of the wrong foods can, like the blowing up jet, even make the fat regulation system break. This is called among other things type II diabetis and one symptom of that is you get fat. Thus getting fat has very little to do with the amount of calories. It has a lot to do with the type of calories. Financial writers and even some physicist should keep to the subjects they know. Other wise you sound like complete idiots. An idiots guide to what I am talking about can be found in award winning science writer and Harvard phisics grad Gary Taube's book "Why We Get Fat". To make things simple for you carbohydrate calories make you fat and fat calories maintain your optimal weight. Quantiy is generally irrelevant. Yeah, I know it is counter intuitive, against every thing you have ever been told (especially by the government) and way over simplified, but it is the truth. Do you think you would get fat if you drank gasoline? It has lots of calories. My diatribe is also off subject, but I love this site because of the way it speaks the truth and hate to see it touched with such glaring ignorance. Please find some new metaphors when you write at Zero Hedge. btw, I generally otherwise agree with the thesis of your piece which is they were are doomed in the short run and dead in the long run. The ignorance of the people and their leaders have led to a situation where we are all going to have hell to pay before it gets straignted out again, if it ever does. The wide spread ignorance of diet and nutrition is just a small subset of that overall ignorance and I feel compelled to swat it away like a nat.
The other day I saw part of a Catherine Austin Fitts interview in which she said something to the effect that the people who believe that the government (or big boys running the show), don’t know what they’re doing, are making a big mistake. Perhaps we’re in a chess match against opponents who are 12 moves ahead of us?
College is one of the places that the protected, slavish elite begin to separate themselves from the rest.
The kids of the elite do not have any debt. Ever. Their college is completely paid for...not to mention business/law school, etc. They then go on to a job on Wall Street or in Washington. But college is a big place, so these types of differences aren't noticeable. Nobody talks of them, it's impolite.
If you use debt to get an "education," you are a serf. Period.
If you have some support in college and work hard to pay your own way, you are a working or middle class sucker.
If your college is paid for and only lands you some dead end corporate or professional gig, you are an upper middle class enforcer.
not like its cash