Repent — The End Is Near

I don’t offer on this blog many posts from elsewhere, but occasionally I come across an excellent piece that I believe warrants it.  Such is the following:

July 28, 2010

By Monty Pelerin

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It is a lazy afternoon. Or at least it was until I came across a blog by Mish. There was little in the post that I didn’t know or suspect, but this quote triggered a reaction:

It hides the economic substance of what’s really happening-an unlimited taxpayer bailout.

William Black, a former no-nonsense regulator, described in that statement everything that has happened and continues to happen. It represents the federal government’s approach to “saving” the economy — subterfuge and no limits. Mish went on to add:

To address the situation, the FDIC is going to start selling U.S.-guaranteed FDIC senior certificates. However, it has no Congressional authority to do so according to former thrift regulator William Black.

These quotes summarized the double-speak, unconstitutional acts, bullying, outright lies, and trampling of the Rule of Law that now describes our government.

As I reflect on the country and where it is headed, it not easy to be optimistic. I have children and grandchildren who will not have the opportunities or amenities that I had. That is not my or their fault. No one has meaningful input as to what is happening. Everything is imposed, whether it is popular or not. We have become mere pawns in the Ponzi scheme of government. The Great Parasite has drained most of the life from its host (the country, its citizens, and its private sector).

The administration and other politicos, along with the media, do their best to promote a rosy picture. Images are all they have — the TV actor who plays president, tax-forgetter Treasury Secretary Timmy Geithner, a supporting cast inexperienced in anything practical, a shadow government made up of czars, a press secretary disdainfully called “Baghdad Bob,” and innumerable other disgraces. Republicans are not excluded from blame. The problems existed before Obama.

We are ruled by a political class that lacks ethics, integrity, and ability. We are lied to daily. We are not in an economic recovery. The financial crisis is not over. The reality is that the economy and financial system are in worse trouble today than they were two years ago. We have not seen anything yet compared to what lies ahead!

Your future is in your hands. When things erupt, the government will not care for your family. You will be “collateral damage,” just as you were in the original bailouts. Main Street got job losses and massive debt; the power elite bailed themselves out with your money.

The current situation is especially dangerous because the ruling class is cornered. The economy has been pushed into a grave as a result of elitists spending money they didn’t have, making promises they couldn’t keep, and expanding government into areas where it does not belong. After fifty-plus years of abuse, the golden goose is on its deathbed. It is so laced with toxic debt, regulations, and cynicism that a normal cure is impossible.

To understand the intractable, if not impossible, financial problems in the U.S., see “Spiraling to Bankruptcy.” Conditions in Europe are similar to the U.S.’s. As pointed out in “Welfare States R.I.P.” all democratic welfare states are on the verge of default.

It is necessary to provide only a short list of economic problems to see the critical condition we are in:

• Virtually everything you look at is broken and unfixable, from both a mathematical and political standpoint.
• All democratic welfare states are insolvent and incapable of meeting their obligations.
• Sovereign defaults are likely and will likely occur in domino fashion.
• Insane economic policies and regulations are making matters worse.
• Businesses are not hiring or investing because of the uncertainty that has been imposed on the country.
• Wealth, intellect, and corporations will flee this country.
• More than half of the states are likely to default on their obligations.
• Most major municipalities have pension obligations that will be unable to be met.
• Individuals are still over their heads in debt with no hope in sight.
• The housing market has farther to go on the downside. Foreclosures will accelerate.
• Commercial real estate is a disaster that has not yet hit full force.
• Joblessness is not improving and will get worse.
• Infrastructure has deteriorated. There are no funds available upgrade it to proper standards.
• Private pensions and union pensions are grossly underfunded and likely to become worse when financial markets tank.
• The welfare system is unsustainable and has to be dismantled.
• Generations have grown accustomed to entitlements and will not take kindly to the necessary reductions and eliminations.
• Education has deteriorated to levels such that many graduates are literally unemployable at a minimum wage, or at any wage.
• The banking system is insolvent, with many banks unlikely to survive.
• Social Security and Medicare are unsustainable programs that will collapse or have benefits so reduced as to make them virtually unrecognizable.
• Government guarantees of Fannie, Freddie, FHA, and a host of other programs will likely require $2 trillion-plus to honor at taxpayer expense.
• Anything the government touches, it destroys, be it social programs, the post office, Amtrak, education, or (soon to be) the entire credit system, General Motors, student loans, etc. — and finally, the entire economy.
• The FDIC is in a deep hole from which there is no escape other than additional taxpayer bailouts.

This economic list is off the cuff and not comprehensive. Geopolitical risks, if considered, would produce another frightening list.

The world is headed for a Depression much greater than the 1930s. That is unavoidable at this point. An Economic Dark Age is about to descend on the civilized world. Every welfare state, to avoid failure, will have to cut entitlements and benefits. These solutions will be met with resistance and probably violence. The government model known as democratic socialism is dead. It will be dismantled one way or another. The power elite will not give up their roles willingly.

It is impossible to know how this crisis resolves. As Angelo M. Codevilla stated in a highly recommended article:

How the country class and ruling class might clash on each item of their contrasting agendas is beyond my scope. Suffice it to say that the ruling class’s greatest difficulty — aside from being outnumbered — will be to argue, against the grain of reality, that the revolution it continues to press upon America is sustainable. For its part, the country class’s greatest difficulty will be to enable a revolution to take place without imposing it. America has been imposed on enough.

History written a century from now will likely label the twentieth century as “The Myth of Government.” Historians are unlikely to understand how and why citizens allowed themselves to be preyed upon by a ruling class.

For those who believe I am a pessimist, I offer this definition from Ambrose Bierce:

Cynic, n: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.

In Bierce’s terms, I consider your characterization a compliment.

Monty Pelerin blogs at www.economicnoise.com.

The State Exists to Exploit You

Prior to the 18^th century there was a widely held, but very primitive and destructive belief with regard to money.  Namely, that if you wanted some you had to take it from someone else.

Thus governments roamed the nations of the world killing and looting.  Pirates sailed the high seas doing the same.  Whole nations were enslaved and vast empires formed.

The Latin word for ‘prostitute’ is meretrix.  It comes from the verb ‘merere’ meaning ‘to earn money’.

Earning money was regarded as the lowest of low pursuits.

Those of ‘noble’ birth or aspiration never worked and never earned money.  They stole it from those less powerful than themselves and considered themselves superior because of it.

The more they slaughtered and stole the grander the titles they gave themselves.

Then, in 1815, England went on a Gold Standard.  It quickly became apparent to working people that when there was real money that held its value over time it was possible to create wealth.  Thus a totally radical idea entered the human consciousness.

Under the Gold Standard ordinary working people began to create wealth and to accumulate large sums of money.  The Americans coined the term ‘making money’.  The rest of the world literally didn’t understand what they were talking about*.

Under the Gold Standard home ownership for ordinary people became an affordable reality.  It had never even occurred to ordinary working people before this that such a thing was possible.

Our modern concept of childhood as a time of education and play arose out of the Gold Standard.  Prior to that a child toiled from the moment they could walk.

Retirement became possible because the money held its value over time and people could put a portion aside and then use it in their advanced years.

Serfdom and slavery were abolished under the Gold Standard.  Not for all the ethical reasons, but because it became obvious that it was more profitable to employ people who wanted to work and earn money, rather than whip and feed people who didn’t.

Ordinary working people became wealthy beyond even the dreams of their forebears.

This was considered a very dangerous trend indeed by ‘noble’ people.

Governments persist to this day in the belief that one who aspires to the ruling class shouldn’t stoop to earning money.  So they continue to steal from those who do honestly earn their money.  These days the reason is cast in more presentable terms, but it remains the same; to live off the hard work of others.  It is made presentable by the ruse of pretending that they are performing valuable services in exchange.

The ‘nobility’ (today they are called politicians) is now desperate to put the genie back in the bottle.  Free and wealthy people quickly got ‘above themselves’.

Gold money was forbidden and governments are determinedly re-enslaving people.  But because governments have never understood money they have, in the process, destroyed their own golden goose.  They squeezed the goose so badly with their paper pseudo-money, and with their huge levels of taxation, that it became impossible for people to create wealth anymore.

Without created wealth there was no one left for the nobility to live off.

Thus the system is collapsing.

When The State can no longer rob its own people it will set off again on wars of conquest and plunder.

And it is us, the working people of the world, who have caused this.  We have had a democracy, but instead of voting out the whole concept of ‘nobility’ we have persisted in the futile endeavour of trying to create a form of nobility that would oppress us less badly.

Every single system of State control that people can think of has been tried.  Fascism, pharohism, socialism, state capitalism, communism, theism… none of them work.

The reason that they don’t work is because people don’t wish to have their money and property stolen.  It does not matter the brand name of the thief.

Humanity evolving to a higher level of existence has as a precondition the utter destruction of the whole crazed idea that anyone should have the right to become wealthy by stealing.

That means the utter destruction of the concept of The State.

Only free working people create wealth.

The State only takes wealth.  They create nothing whatsoever, except hardship, poverty, inequality, misery and a lower level of human existence in general.

The State still holds on to the primitive and destructive idea that to gain money one must take it from someone else.

The State is similar to a cancer in that it eventually kills itself, but not before it has killed the host.

The host is humanity.

* Creating wealth

The wealth creation process is best described in the example of a woman who has 50 ounces of gold.  She approaches a builder and offers to give him 50 ounces of gold if he will build her a house.  The builder agrees.  He builds the woman a house according to the specifications.  When the house is finished he hands it over to the woman who then gives him the 50 ounces of gold.

We started with 50 ounces of gold.  Now we have the builder with 50 ounces of gold in his hand, and the owner of the new house which is worth 50 ounces of gold.  Wealth has been created.  That is what the Americans meant by ‘making money’.

A person makes money.

The State takes money.

The Welfare State

“Well not you and I obviously, but a lot of people do.  They would go mad with fear without it.”

That response was to my statement that humanity did not need a government to tell individuals how to live their lives.

The defense of the role of The State based upon the idea that ‘some other people’ need it is a common point of view, and entirely erroneous.  It puts the cart before the horse.

It is true than many people today are irresponsible and would indeed likely die if The State were not there to support them with token amounts of their loot.  It is also entirely true that a good number of people would be bewildered by the sudden disappearance of The State.

Why is that so?

The answer is that The State engenders a feeling of dependency amongst people.  It gives handouts to ensure that this is the case.  For The State to hang on to power it strives mightily to encourage dependency upon it.

Feelings of helplessness are actively encouraged by The State.

Why else would people tolerate The State unless they felt that it had some use to people?

The idea that ‘some other people’ are benefitted by The State is not only a superiority complex writ large, it is plain wrong.

No private person benefits from the existence of The State.  Those who are strong are pulled down; those who are weak are made weaker.  All are diminished.

The only beneficiary of a State is The State itself.  Even employees of The State are relegated to a deluded and dismal existences that lacks honour and integrity.

The State exists for the sake of existing.

All States are Welfare States.  They live off money taken from their serfs.

Anarchy and Nihilism

Nihilism is the denial of all religious and moral values and principles.  It is a spiritual defeatism that glorifies the pursuit of meaninglessness.

It’s greatest promoter and exponent is The State.

Anarchism is the opposite of nihilism.  Anarchists know without a doubt that there is a better future awaiting us, and that it will arrive at the point where we rid ourselves of the maxi-leech of The State.

Nihilism is hopelessness.  Under the iron fist and wooden head of The State the future truly is hopeless.

Anarchism is a rock-solid certainty that humanity is destined for a more noble future that the grubby and degraded existence of the 20^th century.

An anarchist is, above all else, an optimist.

The Invisible Anarchist

The person who is willing to look a short distance beyond the intellectual boundary behind which most people are fenced, quickly comes to an obvious conclusion.

Having reached that conclusion they then seek to amass a hoard of food, water, and money… real money of course, not paper quasi-money.

The thing that is not on most people’s list is invisibility; it is as important as all the others.  Society’s final drop over the edge will be a terrifying, though short lived period.  The State will go barking mad when it realizes that the game is up.

Those in power will crush and destroy everything that thinks or moves in their insane determination to cling on to power.  In their minds they already believe that the survival of the nation is epitomized by the survival of The State.  Thus anything done to preserve The State will be justified… anything.

All pretence that The State exists for the good of the people will be abandoned.  It will be tossed overboard as frantically as someone bailing water from a sinking boat.  The Captain of the Ship of State will throw all the passengers overboard in an effort to save the life of the Ship of State’s.

Do realize, that as they believe that The State is more important than the people, so they also believe that they personally are the incarnation of The State.

Once thinking has degenerated to that point then anything can be justified.

It is the same delusion as existed under the Divine Right of Kings.

Anybody who makes the mistake of being ‘right’ at this point when The State is ‘wrong’ will be persecuted unmercifully.

Be silent.  Look poor.  Eat your food discreetly and frugally.  You too should look like you are losing weight.  Tell no-one, no-one, about your stash of money or food.

There will come a time when you can ‘come out of the closet’, but do not come out too early or you will quickly move from the closet to the casket.

Anarchist’s Beware

Freedom Lovers Beware

If you own any asset of value then sell it now.

Governments are approaching the truly desperate phase.

They have run out of your money.

It is not feasible to increase income tax any further.

Neither is it feasible to increase business tax any further.

So, via taxation, we are now entering the phase where they will begin the gradual expropriation of your assets.

Every single asset that is visible, including the family home, will be taxed to the hilt until you are forced to sell the asset to remove the pain.

Sell everything that you possibly can now and convert the paper proceeds to the money of free people… gold and silver.

Both are currently on sale at heavily reduced prices.  Obtaining gold and/or silver at these prices is akin to getting your taxes back.

Two Classes

There are two primary classes in society.

The two classes are the producers and the non-producers.

They could also be viewed as the ‘givers and takers’.

The producers are those people who produce real goods and services.  The non-producers are those who live off the producers… literally.

The non-producers are politicians, the external and internal security services (army, navy, air-force and police), public servants and anyone who is a recipient of money distributed by The State.

The producers of real wealth support, via taxes and inflation, all those who do not create wealth in the above categories.

The designation of ‘workers and bosses’ is just State propaganda designed to create a rift amongst those who pay the bills.  That way they fight each other instead of their real enemy.

Divide and Rule has always been a successful tactic, both politically and militarily.  Some ‘bosses’ and some ‘workers’ understand the tactic, but they are in a  small minority.

It is a patently silly piece of propaganda, but amongst people who refuse to see what is in front of their faces it has been incredibly effective for a long time.

The real enemy of all producers is The State and all who share in the ill-gotten gains of The State.

The day that ‘workers and bosses’ unite is the day that we will stop the continuous and destructive process of recreating failed States.

No matter the brand name of The State, they are all non-producers, and always will be.  The State will always be the enemy of the producers.  The State does, after all, exist purely to rob them.

Politics and the Economy in Australia

Australians had no idea that there was even a problem until 2009 when the prime minister suddenly gave everyone in the country $1,000- and encouraged them to spend up.  The $1,000 cheque was accompanied by an assurance that there was no problem.

Under the old truism that nothing can be believed until it is officially denied Australians promptly tightened their belts and began to prudently pay off their debts and otherwise try to get their houses in order.

Thus were Australians brought up to speed on the global financial crisis, more correctly known as the global monetary crisis.

The economically illiterate prime minister then announced a huge tax grab from the only Australian industry still doing well.

Mining share values promptly plunged and foreign investors withdrew from the country… some forever.

The prime minister was removed, in tears and kicking and screaming, from the prime minister’s residence ‘The Lodge’ by his colleagues, but the damage was already done.

Overseas political leaders were truly shocked by his removal and hoped that such precipitous action didn’t become a trend.  It has to be acknowledged that the removal of national leaders simply on the basis that they are delusional crackpots is a bit of a chink in the established order of things.

The fact that he lasted 2 ½ years from when he was elected was a tribute to his entertainment ratings.

Neither his own party, nor even the deputy prime minister appeared to have noticed, or possibly cared, until it was far too late, that he was stark raving bonkers.

The assistant prime minister, who spent 2 ½ years mopping up the PMs froth and spittle, and claiming that it was just a slight cold, was made prime minister in his place.

The new prime minister is hoping to coast into power in the forthcoming election on the strength that she is a modestly attractive woman.  That she is also a dyke with a live-in, male partner of convenience who happens to be a homosexual hairdresser, is being kept very hush-hush by the mainstream media.

Australians are not the most homophobic people in the world, but neither are the majority to be found lining the route of the Gay Mardi-Gras waving supportive pink knickers.

Whilst political parties all over the world have a penchant for locating peculiar people and elevating them to party leadership, Australia really does have it down to a fine art.

The previous Labour leader was also removed after a very short period for matters never specified to the Australian electorate.  I mean, how seriously weird do you have to be to be sacked as a political leader?  What on earth was he doing?

Expectations are that Australians are likely to elect the incumbent former spittle-wiper as there isn’t much else good on the telly at the moment.

To be honest, whilst it has come at a high price, the value of the entertainment on offer is good reason for a re-run.  The pompous prancing and posturing in the attempt to give some substance to the ludicrous claim that the State runs the economy is right up there with Monty Python.

Refuse the Money of The State

There is only one way to destroy a government, that is to refuse to use their money.

Swap your paper pseudo-money for real money.

If you cannot afford gold then get hold of silver.

The State is a criminal organisation.  Whilst they have granted themselves a monopoly on all violence, their worst and most insidious violence is their control of the money supply.

Without the power to print money and have it widely accepted The State is doomed.

The State is an entirely unnatural organization and as such is always doomed eventually.  That is why they fail over and over again.  The State is right now on its last legs.

We can speed up that process by refusing their pseudo-money.

Government Gone Mad

The U.S. Democrat administration and Congress are paralysed with fear.  For political reasons they are unable to create more debt; for the same reason they are unable to announce the necessary vast cuts to spending and entitlements.

Obama and his truly gormless financial experts (he inherited them from the Republicans) stand blinking and panicked as the unstoppable light of exposure bears down on them.

When the light arrives it will mean martial law.  That is the last refuge of all States in their final days.

Sometimes martial law is successful in delaying the day of reckoning for a few more months or years.

In the land of gun ownership martial law will fail sooner rather than later and the Disunited States will become the new political reality… just as most of the Founding Fathers intended.

In political extremis it is only an armed citizenry that can defend themselves against a government gone mad.