There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Buffalo Springfield – For What It’s Worth
Stephen Stills wrote the song For What It’s Worth in 1967. It was composed three years into the Second Turning, the Consciousness Revolution. The song has come to symbolize the turbulence, mistrust, rage, paranoia, anti-war spirit, and the anti-establishment mood of the 1960’s. An Awakening era has many parallels to a Crisis era at the outset. A traumatic event or events triggers the mood alteration in the country which sets the next twenty years in motion. In 1929 the stock market crash triggered a 17 year Crisis. In 1963, the assassination of John F. Kennedy triggered a 20 year Awakening. In 2005, the housing collapse has triggered the next American Crisis which we are living through today.
“All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.”
George Orwell
We are currently at the same stage of this Crisis as we were in the Awakening when Stephen Stills wrote this deeply poignant song. An Awakening begins in an uproar of fury, passion, anger, and civil disobedience. The fury subsides during an Awakening as the passion flames out. The last Awakening period reached a crescendo in 1974 with the resignation of Richard Nixon and the country lapsed into disillusionment and lethargy as the 1970’s petered out. A Crisis begins similarly with a trigger that causes pain and suffering, but instead of fury subsiding, the Crisis intensifies, violence erupts, war breaks out and danger becomes extreme. The current Crisis is about to detonate upon the unwary twittering Americans while they are mesmerized watching Dancing with the Stars and Housewives of New Jersey on their 52 inch HDTVs in surround sound.
The Great Depression was a dreadful time for America, with unemployment reaching 25%. But, that was just a prelude to the horrific World War that killed 76 million people or 3.5% of the world’s population. America lost 400,000 brave young men, with another 600,000 wounded. In 1861, as the carriages with aristocrats from Washington DC descended upon Bull Run Creek to watch the Union Army end the insurrection by some Southern State rebels, all expected a short painless militia skirmish. But, three years later 620,000 men had been killed with another 400,000 wounded. An entire generation was wiped out. Those killed constituted 2.3% of the entire U.S. population. If 2.3% of the American population was killed today, it would amount to 7.1 million people. Is the American public prepared to sacrifice 7.1 million young men for any cause? This magnitude of Crisis seems incomprehensible today, but a trial on this scale will face Americans in the next ten to fifteen years.
There is something happening here, and what it is ain’t exactly clear. The series of continuous crisis caused by government actions has allowed the political class in conjunction with an oligopoly of bankers and mega-corporations to hijack the American Republic. The American public has allowed this to happen by being distracted by the imaginary differences between the Democratic and Republican parties. There is virtually no difference between these parties. Both parties have taken away American freedoms and liberties. The government has waged undeclared wars since the 1950’s, they have restricted freedom of speech, freedom to own a gun, freedom to healthcare, freedom to protest, and freedom to live our lives the way we choose. Government used the 9/11 attack to create a new bureaucracy that can monitor citizens on an colossal and treacherous scale. The government used the financial crisis, which was caused by government policies, to strengthen their power over the financial industry, in order to advance their agenda of debt financed expansion of the corporate fascist state. This crisis will destroy 1,000 small banks and shift more authority to the ten mega-banks that control 75% of the U.S. market. Rather than letting two horribly run U.S. automakers (GM & Chrysler) go bankrupt, the U.S. government took them over, passed wasteful programs (Cash for Clunkers) to prop them up with taxpayer funds, and forced GMAC to continue to make bad auto loans with taxpayer funds. After decades of government manipulation and abuse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, these two behemoths have lost $200 billion of taxpayer funds by backing loans to people who should not own homes. The takeover of the entire U.S. economy by the Federal government will be complete with the passage of the Democratic healthcare bill.
“In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.”
George Orwell
While Americans have been kept busy and amused by their accumulation of worldly possessions using their 15 credit cards and loans from the 10 mega-banks that control the country, the two party system has stolen their freedom and liberty. Representative from Texas Ron Paul described the charade in September 2008, just before the latest presidential election fraud.
“Pretending that a true difference exists between the two major candidates is a charade of great proportion. Many who help to perpetuate this myth are frequently unaware of what they are doing and believe that significant differences actually do exist. Indeed, on small points there is the appearance of a difference. The real issues, however, are buried in a barrage of miscellaneous nonsense and endless pontifications by robotic pundits hired to perpetuate the myth of a campaign of substance.
The truth is that our two-party system offers no real choice. The real goal of the campaign is to distract people from considering the real issues.
Influential forces, the media, the government, the privileged corporations and moneyed interests see to it that both party’s candidates are acceptable, regardless of the outcome, since they will still be in charge. It’s been that way for a long time. George Wallace was not the first to recognize that there’s “not a dime’s worth of difference” between the two parties.
The two parties and their candidates have no real disagreements on foreign policy, monetary policy, privacy issues, or the welfare state. They both are willing to abuse the Rule of Law and ignore constitutional restraint on Executive Powers. Neither major party champions free markets and private-property ownership.
The system we have today allows a President to be elected by as little as 32% of the American people, with half of those merely voting for the “lesser of two evils”. Therefore, as little as 16% actually vote for a president. No wonder when things go wrong, anger explodes.
We cannot expect withdrawal of troops from Iraq or the Middle East with either of the two major candidates. Expect continued involvement in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Georgia. Neither hints of a non-interventionist foreign policy. Do not expect to hear the rejection of the policy of supporting the American world empire. There will be no emphasis in protecting privacy and civil liberties and the constant surveillance of the American people. Do not expect any serious attempt to curtail the rapidly expanding national debt. And certainly, there will be no hint of addressing the Federal Reserve System and its cozy relationship with big banks and international corporations and the politicians.
There is only one way that these issues can get the attention they deserve: the silent majority must become the vocal majority. The strongest message can be sent by rejecting the two-party system, which in reality is a one-party system with no possible chance for the changes to occur which are necessary to solve our economic and foreign policy problems.
Yes, these individuals do have strong philosophic disagreements on various issues, but they all stand for challenging the status quo—those special interest who control our federal government. And because of this, on the big issues of war, civil liberties, deficits, and the Federal Reserve they have much in common. People will waste their vote in voting for the lesser of two evils. That can’t be stopped overnight, but for us to have an impact we must maximize the total votes of those rejecting the two major candidates.”
BATTLE LINES BEING DRAWN
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Buffalo Springfield – For What It’s Worth
“Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.”
George Orwell
Battle lines are being drawn. Since there are very few Americans left who experienced the last American Crisis from 1929 to 1946, the majority of Americans are being blindsided today. The housing collapse which began in 2005 was the spark that has ignited a Crisis that will conclude in glory or collapse. The non-thinking gullible masses believe the lies they are being fed by politicians, bankers and mainstream media. When the majority of Americans think the Gettysburg Address has something to do with the Post Office and don’t know the old dudes on the Nickel and Dime, you cannot expect them to recognize what awaits them based on history. The initial spark has triggered a chain reaction which has resulted in government actions which will create further emergencies. The known problems of unsustainable debt, civic rot, and global chaos have been festering for decades. They will now coalesce into a violent denouement. Strauss and Howe wrote their book, The Fourth Turning, in 1997. These are their chilling words describing the onset of the next Crisis:
“It is unlikely that the catalyst will worsen into a full-fledged catastrophe, since the nation will probably find a way to avert the initial danger and stabilize the situation for awhile. The new mood and its jarring new problems will provide a natural end point for the Unraveling-era decline in civic confidence. As the Crisis catalyzes, these fears will rush to the surface, jagged and exposed. Distrustful of some things, individuals will feel that their survival requires them to distrust more things. This behavior could cascade into a sudden downward spiral, an implosion of societal trust.
If so, the implosion will strike the financial markets – and, with that, the economy. Aggressive individualism, institutional decay, and long-term pessimism can proceed only so far before a society loses the level of dependability needed to sustain the division of labor and long-term promises on which a market economy must rest. Through the Unraveling, people will have preferred the exciting if bewildering trend toward social complexity. But as the Crisis mood congeals, people will come to the jarring realization that they have grown helplessly dependent on a teetering edifice of anonymous transactions and paper guarantees. Many Americans won’t know where their savings are, who their employer is, what their pension is, or how their government works. The era will have left the financial world arbitraged and tentacled; Debtors won’t know who holds their notes, homeowners who owns their mortgages, and shareholders who runs their equities – and vice versa.”
The Fourth Turning – Strauss & Howe
Amazingly, they wrote these words twelve years ago, well before the housing meltdown sparked this Crisis. The precision of their prediction is eerie. The mood of this country has clearly changed. The talking heads in the mainstream TV media and so-called journalists in the dying mainstream newspapers heap scorn upon Americans who have been voicing their concern and anger at town hall meetings and tea party protests. They refuse to acknowledge that the mood of the American people has revolutionized in the last year. Politicians continue to pass programs, bailouts, and bills that the American people overwhelmingly oppose. The anger continues to build as our elected representatives, who are completely controlled by corporate and banking interests, pass laws that favor these interests at the expense of the American people. The fabric of the country is tearing before our very eyes.
THOUSAND PEOPLE IN THE STREET
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Buffalo Springfield – For What It’s Worth
“Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”
George Orwell
The Crisis constellation of generations is always the same:
- As visionary Prophets replace Artists in elder-hood during a Crisis, they push to resolve ever-deepening moral choices, setting the stage for the secular goals of the young.
- As pragmatic Nomads replace Prophets in midlife during a Crisis, they apply toughness and resolution to defend society while safeguarding the interests of the young.
- As team working Heroes replace Nomads in young adulthood during a Crisis, they challenge the political failure of elder-led crusades, fueling a society-wide secular crisis.
- As Artists replace Heroes in childhood during a Crisis, they are overprotected at a time of political convulsion and adult self-sacrifice.
This generational transition is the reason for the mood shift that is occurring today. Those in power are getting nervous. The population didn’t act this way during the 1990’s. Town hall meetings were barely attended. No one called Congressmen’s offices or flooded their mailboxes with emails and faxes. Something is in the air, and those in power ignore it at their own risk. This country is about to explode and the intellectuals in the positions of authority and thought control are trying to apply reason and the usual mainstream media PR spin. They sit in their extravagant offices at polished mahogany desks on the 45th floor of their glittering office towers, eating gourmet meals in executive dining rooms, writing the pabulum that passes for journalism today and descending from upon high on the Sunday morning talk shows to grace us with their wisdom. The American people have had enough of their lies.
Simon Johnson in his article The Quiet Coup describes the raping of America by the ruling elitist bankers who now call the shots in Washington DC:
“Elite business interests—financiers, in the case of the U.S.—played a central role in creating the crisis, making ever-larger gambles, with the implicit backing of the government, until the inevitable collapse. More alarming, they are now using their influence to prevent precisely the sorts of reforms that are needed, and fast, to pull the economy out of its nosedive. The government seems helpless, or unwilling, to act against them. Policy changes that might have forestalled the crisis but would have limited the financial sector’s profits—such as Brooksley Born’s now-famous attempts to regulate credit-default swaps at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in 1998—were ignored or swept aside.
The American financial industry gained political power by amassing a kind of cultural capital—a belief system. Over the past decade, the attitude took hold that what was good for Wall Street was good for the country. The banking-and-securities industry has become one of the top contributors to political campaigns, but at the peak of its influence, it did not have to buy favors the way, for example, the tobacco companies or military contractors might have to. Instead, it benefited from the fact that Washington insiders already believed that large financial institutions and free-flowing capital markets were crucial to America’s position in the world.
Wall Street is a very seductive place, imbued with an air of power. Its executives truly believe that they control the levers that make the world go round. A whole generation of policy makers has been mesmerized by Wall Street, always and utterly convinced that whatever the banks said was true. Of course, this was mostly an illusion. Regulators, legislators, and academics almost all assumed that the managers of these banks knew what they were doing. In retrospect, they didn’t.
By now, the princes of the financial world have of course been stripped naked as leaders and strategists—at least in the eyes of most Americans. But as the months have rolled by, financial elites have continued to assume that their position as the economy’s favored children is safe, despite the wreckage they have caused.”
“Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.”
Henry A. Wallace
The government response to the financial crisis guarantees that part two will be far worse than part one. The propping up of bankrupt banks, Keynesian stimulus measures, toothless regulatory legislation, new massive healthcare plans, and unprecedented levels of government debt will not solve a problem caused by excessive leverage in 10 Too Big To Fail financial firms and thirty years of debt financed spending splurge by mindless consumers. Simon Johnson clearly lays out how these actions will play a large role in this Crisis:
“Our future could be one in which continued tumult feeds the looting of the financial system, and we talk more and more about exactly how our oligarchs became bandits and how the economy just can’t seem to get into gear.
The second scenario begins more bleakly, and might end that way too. But it does provide at least some hope that we’ll be shaken out of our torpor. It goes like this: the global economy continues to deteriorate, the banking system in east-central Europe collapses, and—because eastern Europe’s banks are mostly owned by western European banks—justifiable fears of government insolvency spread throughout the Continent. Creditors take further hits and confidence falls further. The Asian economies that export manufactured goods are devastated, and the commodity producers in Latin America and Africa are not much better off. A dramatic worsening of the global environment forces the U.S. economy, already staggering, down onto both knees. The baseline growth rates used in the administration’s current budget are increasingly seen as unrealistic, and the rosy “stress scenario” that the U.S. Treasury is currently using to evaluate banks’ balance sheets becomes a source of great embarrassment.
Under this kind of pressure, and faced with the prospect of a national and global collapse, minds may become more concentrated.
The conventional wisdom among the elite is still that the current slump “cannot be as bad as the Great Depression.” This view is wrong. What we face now could, in fact, be worse than the Great Depression—because the world is now so much more interconnected and because the banking sector is now so big. We face a synchronized downturn in almost all countries, a weakening of confidence among individuals and firms, and major problems for government finances.”
PARANOIA STRIKES DEEP
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
Buffalo Springfield – For What It’s Worth
“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.”
George Orwell
An interesting development in the last year is the almost panic buying of guns and ammunition. The Washington Post detailed this development in a recent article:
“In a year of job losses, foreclosures and bag lunches, Americans have spent record-breaking amounts of money on guns and ammunition. The most obvious sign of their demand: empty ammunition shelves. At points during the past year, bullets have been selling faster than factories could make them. Gun owners have bought about 12 billion rounds of ammunition in the past year, industry officials estimate. That's up from 7 billion to 10 billion in a normal year. In the 12 months since last October, gun shops sold enough bullets to give every American 38 of them.
"I think it's Katrina. I think it's terrorism. I think it's crime. And I also think that it's people worrying about [whether] they'll be attacked by politicians," said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association. "They're suspicious, and justifiably so." But the most recent FBI crime statistics, from 2008, showed that rates of violent crime were the lowest since 1989.”
Wayne LaPierre is correct. American citizens are apprehensive and distrustful of their government. The government has taken over our financial system, our car industry, and now our healthcare system. The next logical step will be to take our guns. Americans that never considered owning a gun are now buying guns. The average middle class American knows they’ve been screwed by the ruling elite that have hijacked their country. The rage is palpable. Any effort by the Obama administration at gun control would produce an enormous backlash. Doug Casey recently assessed the risks in his essay Street Fighting Man:
“I’ve often wondered what would have happened in Germany after Kristallnacht if every Jew had been armed. None were, of course, because strict gun control had been imposed shortly after Hitler came to power, and like good little lambs, the population complied with the law. Bills are being discussed about things like a national firearms registry, reinstituting the so-called “assault weapons” ban, requiring secure locks on all weapons, prohibiting the import of ammunition, and levying a substantial tax on ammunition, among other things. No outright prohibition, because they know that would catalyze gun owners. But they keep dialing up the pressure, moving toward a de facto ban.
I’ll guess there are at least two to three million Americans who adhere to a couple of succinct mottos: 1. You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers, and 2. It’s better to be tried by twelve than carried by six. This is a group that could catch fire at some point.”
The Paul Krugmans, Nancy Pelosis, liberal MSNBC (owned by GE) talking heads and the Hollywood elite are troubled about potential violence. They should be worried. The American people are tired of being screwed. Strauss & Howe foresaw the disintegration of popular trust in government and financial institutions in the early stages of this Crisis:
“At some point, America’s short-term Crisis psychology will catch up to the long-term post-Unraveling fundamentals. This might result in a Great Devaluation, a severe drop in the market price of most financial and real assets. This devaluation could be a short but horrific panic, a free-falling price in a market with no buyers. Or it could be a series of downward ratchets linked to political events that sequentially knock the supports out from under the residual popular trust in the system. As assets devalue, trust will further disintegrate, which will cause assets to devalue further, and so on. Every slide in asset prices, employment, and production will give every generation cause to grow more alarmed. With savings worth less, the new elders will become more dependent on government, just as government becomes less able to pay benefits to them.
Before long, America’s old civic order will seem ruined beyond repair. People will feel like a magnet has passed over society’s disk drive, blanking out the social contract, wiping out old deals, clearing the books of vast un-payable promises to which people had once felt entitled. The economy could reach a trough that may look to be the start of a depression. With American weaknesses newly exposed, foreign dangers could erupt.”
The Fourth Turning – Strauss & Howe
Trust in our government, financial, corporate, media, and religious leaders have never been lower. We are entering Phase 2 of this Crisis period. When the foolish self-serving actions taken by the government in the last year fail to revive our economy and the inevitable stock market crash and deepening depression take hold, Americans will become more disillusioned, angry and looking for someone to hold responsible. There are 236 million Americans of working age in the U.S. today according to the BLS. Only 138 million of these people are currently employed. This means that 41% of Americans who could be working are not, the lowest level since 1983. At least one quarter of all Americans who want to work are either unemployed or underemployed. What happens when this gets worse? Many intelligent non-ideologue Americans such as David Walker and Ron Paul realize that politicians have promised Americans more than they could ever possibly deliver. The coming Depression will make it clear that those promises cannot be honored. Foreign adversaries will sense our economic weakness and push the envelope. With domestic weakness, our myopic political leaders are likely to create a foreign crisis in order to distract the public’s attention. War is the inevitable result. The military industrial complex will push hard for conflict as it will continue to enrich themselves.
“War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it.”
George Orwell
Doug Casey describes the likely scenario:
“Wars start for all kinds of reasons. But tough economic times probably rank number one as a cause. The 1930s were a natural overture for the ‘40s. Politicians like to find a foreign enemy to blame problems on. Theft of foreign resources can seem like a good idea. And part of the economic mythology fabricated by the malevolent and repeated by the ignorant is that WWII cured the last depression. Will there be another 9/11? It’s a good bet, but there’s no way it will involve airplanes; the 50,000 zombies employed by TSA serve absolutely no purpose except to accustom Americans to being treated like prisoners. One possibility is the surreptitious placement of one or more nuclear devices in U.S. cities. As Pakistan disintegrates, their nuclear arsenal may fall into quite irresponsible hands. Or, perhaps, devices could be procured in a number of ways from Russia, India, Israel, or North Korea. Another, much more likely scenario is a repetition of what happened in Mumbai recently. A small force of dedicated and well-armed operatives could create unbelievable havoc in a U.S. city or in several at once. And probably will. Americans just don’t appreciate how little people in the Islamic world like having aggressive, blue-eyed teenagers kick their doors down in the middle of the night, among other pranks.”
EVERYBODY LOOK WHAT’S GOING DOWN
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Buffalo Springfield – For What It’s Worth
“The atom bombs are piling up in the factories, the police are prowling through the cities, the lies are streaming from the loudspeakers, but the earth is still going round the sun.”
George Orwell
Americans’ ignorance of history, ignorance of finance, ignorance of the Constitution, and dependence upon false hope has set them up for a big fall. We have an infinite capacity to take things for granted. We assume that when we slide our card in the ATM, cash will come out. We assume that when we pull into a gas station, we can easily put 40 gallons into our Hummers. We assume the money in our bank accounts is safe. We assume that when we flip the switch, light will magically appear. We assume that the $700 billion we spend annually on the military, will keep us safe. We assume that our government tells us the truth. When these assumptions all prove false in the next 15 years, the anger and disillusionment of the American people will overwhelm the ruling elite. The few thousand elitists that control the levers of power have used each false flag crisis for the last century to accumulate more power. Their decade’s long reign of terror is nearing its end. The overreach of the criminal banking syndicate, corrupt politicians, and the military industrial complex have bankrupted the nation. The huge entitlement over commitments, lack of energy policy, enormous debts, and imperial foreign policy will coalesce into the perfect Crisis storm.
“Decisive events will occur – events so vast, powerful, and unique that they lie beyond today’s wildest hypotheses. People will discover a hitherto unimagined capacity to fight and die, and to let their children fight and die, for a communal cause. The prospect for great civic achievement – or disintegration – will be high. New secessionist movements could spring from nowhere and achieve their ends with surprising speed. Even if the nation stays together, its geography could be fundamentally changed, its party structure altered, its Constitution and Bill of Rights amended beyond recognition. History offers even more sobering warnings: Armed confrontation usually occurs around the climax of the Crisis. If there is confrontation, it is likely to lead to war. This could be any kind of war – class war, sectional war, war against global anarchists or terrorists, or superpower war. If there is a war, it is likely to culminate in total war, fought until the losing side has been rendered nil – its will broken, territory taken, and leaders captured. And if there is total war, it is likely that the most destructive weapons available will be deployed.”
The Fourth Turning – Strauss & Howe
We are still in the early phases of this 4th Turning. Our economic future is grim, societal turbulence will boil over, the State will attempt to expand its predatory policies to capture more power, and the American people will eventually be pushed past their breaking point. The Crisis will build towards a crescendo of violence before its ultimate conclusion. The specific events that will cause the outbreak of war are unknown today. The possible triggers could be presidential assassination, collapse of the U.S. dollar, a nuclear bomb detonated in a U.S. city, a Middle East conflagration, or world quaking oil shortages. It is more likely that a combination of these or other events will lead to armed confrontations. Based on the intractable divisions within our country, I believe there is a strong possibility that armed revolution within our own borders is a distinct possibility. If this Crisis develops as a conflict between superpowers over resources, the U.S. may be confronted by Russia and China simultaneously. In a superpower conflict, use of nuclear weapons becomes likely. If this confrontation spins out of control, it could be the last Crisis of humanity. There is no rosy scenario during a Crisis. The dire consequences and death on a massive scale are unavoidable. Reason and compromise will not be the dominant traits in the next fifteen years. There are no guarantees regarding the outcome.
With or without war, American society will be transformed into something different. The emergent society may be something better, a nation that sustains the Framer’s vision with a robust new pride. Or it may be something unspeakably worse. The Fourth Turning will be a time of glory or ruin.
The Fourth Turning – Strauss & Howe
In 2025 America will be indistinguishable from the America of today. It could be better, worse or non-existent. This is why proclaiming the truth today about how the ruling elite have hijacked America is so important. When civil unrest overtakes the nation there will be many who urge the American people to rally around a dictator or stronger Central Government. The message of the U.S. Constitution, freedom, liberty, and individual rights will compete for the minds and hearts with a message of fascism, State control central planning, and safety at the expense of freedom. The groundwork for victory needs to be laid today. We are living in times of universal deceit. It is essential that we prepare for the coming trials by using truth to defeat those who want to retain their ill-gotten control of this country. This is a battle for the soul of America. If we lose it could be a very different Amerika. Like minded individuals who believe in the Framer’s vision will need to band together and fight for the Constitution. Are you ready to fight?
Join me at www.TheBurningPlatform.com to confront universal deceit.
108 Comments
TampaGold
"I’ll guess there are at least two to three million Americans who adhere to a couple of succinct mottos: 1. You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers, and 2. It’s better to be tried by twelve than carried by six. This is a group that could catch fire at some point.”
I think that we have arrived at this point. If not now, then very soon. TG
Whippet
"the 50,000 zombies employed by TSA serve absolutely no purpose except to accustom Americans to being treated like prisoners"
Classic. Absolutely classic.
Great job again, Jim. But no need to worry- your old boss came out today and told the world that McMansions are selling aagin and the financial crisis is over. (This of course merely a few weeks and months after selling millions of shares of stock in his company.)
The USA will still exist in 2025, but as a weaker, poorer, flea-bag country with still enough nukes to annihilate the world 12 times over in the mold of today's Russia (ruled by oligarchs, mobsters, and despotic military factions.) I wouldn't be shocked if large tracts of our former cities are nuclear wastelands, and the population is closer to 200 million due to diease, malnutrition, war, and radiation poisoning.
Helmet
I think that by 2025, we'll either be a nation of sheep living under a totalitarian dicktater, or we'll be a constitutional republic again. Another good article, Jim Quinn.
Anonymous
James,
This was probably the best piece of literature I have read in a while. Thank you for putting the time and energy necessary to create it.
I need to know how we can wake up the masses and spur this revolution that needs to happen. What can we do? I am a young man among peers who still have no idea what is going on. I want to be able to open up eyes and minds and create a much-needed enlightenment from dillusion.
Please make suggestions.
ken
Of the 50 stars on the flag now, how many will be on it by 2025? If Americans want
to leave a country for their grand kids, well they best stand up and take it back now,
no time to wait as it is being taken from us!!
I hope we wake up.
Flyguy
JQ:
The world you paint a picture of is one where life is nasty, brutish and short. A scary thought. I think the confluence of the two political parties is especially significant. The parties exist to serve their own interests and to maintain power. Witness what happens when a third-party candidate becomes a threat and one or the other says that he's just splitting the vote. Splitting the vote? What the hell does that mean- that the Ds and Rs have some God-given right to the shepple votes.
It's going to get really ugly. I sense that the rest of the world knows this as well. At the very least, we should immediately pull our troops from places like Germany and the DMZ and tell those populations
"You love your country? Fine you protect it"
Why the hell are we subsidizing their military needs? BTW, if and when the lid blows, I would suspect that it will be some sort of a Black Swan event like 9.11 or something.
TampaGold
No one can say for sure what the supposed black swan event may or may not be, but one thing is for sure;
It's eventually coming and it will be soon.
Vigilance is the operative word for today.
Cover your assets.
JennJohnson
Risk and leverage returned to the financial markets....Lessons learned from last Oct - March have already been forgotten....Financial CEOs think they are doing God's work....
As I sit here, I have the "This has been test of the emergency broadcast system" going through my head. Errr. The last two years have just been a test of what is to come. Unfortunately, we failed by temporarily kicking the can down the road - only to cause greater pain the next time.
We have to figure out how to work together to have our voices heard and to bring meaningful change. There is still time, but no path out will be easy considering how deep our hole is.
TLaCour
The Crisis is coming, but we are NOT impotent if we first, tell the truth, as JimQ is doing here, and second, take action. We decide our fate: by a) merely pointing at the problem and withdrawing, Big Brother wins; b) we talk action, we agree to work together, maybe Fedzilla falls. We can either prepare the foundation for a New Republic or the foundation of Tyranny.
Fedzilla remains vulnerable to the Electoral Burst, but 2010 is a loong time to wait while the Control Legislation embedded in Obamacare and Cap-n-Tax are adopted and implemented. It is not yet too late to stop these.
The regular channels have been exhausted and found insufficient. Emails, faxes, letters, phone calls, even the in-person House Call failed to halt the march toward Control legislation in the House.
What ACTION can we talk about and agree to take? Isn't it time to fight fire with fire? We complain that our government is bought and sold by Monied Interests, and so it is. Time to hit 'em in the wallet, fight fire with fire. Those companies and influential / rich individuals supporting our defeat need targeting. Boycotts and strikes WORK.
Let us list those whose wallets we can whack. Let us begin the campaign, not watch from our indefensible bunkers.
Walmart. Bank of America. Citibank. Chase. Whole Foods. George Soros, and everything he's associated with. Are these good initial targets? Are strikes and boycotts to be used only by Statists?
Flyguy
TLC:
Nothing for nothing but what are Walmart, Whole Foods, Chase and Soros doing in the same sentence?
Desperado
Fantastic piece Jim, but I have 2 criticisms:
1) You write <i>The government has waged undeclared wars since the 1950’s ...freedom to healthcare,</i> I am not quite sure what you mean here by "freedom to healthcare", but one could interpret this to mean a socialist/social justice style "right to healthcare". This demand for ever increasing "rights" is certainly a major part of the problem.
2) You write <i>The American public has allowed this to happen by being distracted by the imaginary differences between the Democratic and Republican parties.</i> Sorry, just as Hoover's policies ignored Coolidge in favor of Roosevelt style big government interventions, so did G.W.Bush's policies ignore Reagan's or Goldwater's policies in favor of Obama style big government interventions. The key point being that it is far harder for a "small government" party to compete with a big spending party than vica versa. Although there have been two-faced big government Republicans here has <b>never</b> been a small government Democratic presidential candidate. The point being: no, the differences are not merely imaginary. Ron Paul is certainly not a Democrat}
Anonymous
"Americans ignorance of history, ignorance of finance, ignorance of the Constitution",...(and ignorance about who is really responsible for 9/11)..." and dependence upon false hope has set them up for a big fall."
Anonymous
Typo: "indistinguishable". Unidentifiable is what you meant to say.
Anonymous
Great article btw.
John and Dagny Galt
Holy Shit! Great Commentary! Read Starving The Monkeys to enjoy much more of ending the reign of the Mobocracy Looter Minions!
Sincerely,
John and Dagny Galt
Atlas Shrugged and Starving The Monkeys: Owners Manuals For The Universe!(tm)
.
dianeb
What a great article! I read it out loud to my husband, we were both so taken and impressed by the truth and beauty of your words. Thank you! Of course we love our country, we love our freedom's, and our committed to doing anything possible to change what is happening today. To bring back our country to what our founding father's wanted over two hundred years ago.
Stormtrooper
Very well written article. JimQ has obviously observed, as have I, that the majority of Americans are mindless "sheeples" (I recently saw a FOX news report, during the 5 minutes of television that I watch every day, in which numerous Americans were asked who the Vice-President of the U.S. was and none could answer although we must put into context the fact that these people lived in California!). It's clear that Democracy can't work in the U.S. (although the U.S. is not a Democracy but rather a Constitutional Republic, at least legally) because most Americans are too ignorant (I have observed that it seems to be by choice) to make well informed choices at a voting booth (I voted for him because he was "cute").
So it is time for that Fourth Turning (or Kondratieff Winter in similar terms) in which everything that the ruling elite has created for themselves is lost to a suffering and disgruntled group of the masses who decide that it is better to die fighting for a change than to live as serfs to the bankers. I'm sure that that 2-3 million, "pry them from my cold dead hands" (count me as 3 million +1) is actually more like 10-15 million and I am totally surprised that that first "shot heard around the world" hasn't been fired yet. I personally prepared with more than that average 38 rounds per citizen (way, way more and it has been my very best investment ever in terms of price appreciation) but I would never sell any because I have been predicting our current situation for the last twenty years (if only I had believed that Americans could really have been so gullible and stupid as to chase Dot-Com and housing bubbles, I could have cashed in on short-term gains, but didn't in any big way) and I believe that all of that ammunition could be a partial ticket to future survival.
So, we can just wait for the final curtain to play itself out or try to influence it in some rational way. I think that most Americans (the rare, thinking ones) have realized that big, Federal government has created the problem of a bankrupt America that is hated around the world. It has also taken control of our educational system and worked to educate the next generation of Americans with the "proper" understanding of history and the "important and central" role that the Federal government holds. It is time for people to put the problem into context and think about how we got here. The 13 original states created the Federal government as an agent to fill some voids that couldn't be filled by the individual states. They outlined the very limited role that the Federal government would have in the Constitutional Republic thru the Constituion and the original Amendments. Unfortunately, as specific as they tried to be in limiting the role of the Federal government, they decided to open the barn dooor and put in the "for the general good" clause which the ruling elite began to abuse from the beginning and on which they rely for all of their abusive and un-Constitutional mandates today. So, again, to put the problem and the solution into context, the Federal government is an agent of the (now 50) states, not the other way around. The states have in the past used the 10th Amendment to declare their sovereignty and to nullify Federal laws that they believed were un-Constitutional. There is currently a movement to strengthen those sovereignty rights. We as Americans can change the course of the Federal government by insisting that our state legislators focus on states rights and put solid teeth into the sovereignty movement. That means telling the Federal government that they will no longer play a role in the education of our children, will not set our speed limits and will no longer use state military units to support their international excursions. States themselves could begin to issue Constitutional money based on gold and silver (remember that Constitution?) to provide some real value to American currency. Or, we could push two more states to vote for a Constitutional Convention in which case the states would send representatives to decide whether to keep the current form of Federal government, to make minor changes, to make major changes or to abandon it and start over. Legally, Congress would be a bystander waiting to find out their future but most betting men would wager that they would supersede the law and use a military option to preempt their possible demise. Whether we opt for the disobedient (if following the 10th Amendment is disobedient) states or the nuclear option of a Con-Con, I think that a violent future is, sadly, the only way that we will be able to settle our governmental problem.
So, my ammo is not for sale for any number of those pieces of paper called "Federal Reserve Notes" (although I would seriously consider a trade for gold and silver) because I believe that we have come to a point in time where only a violent shakeup of society can eliminate those who have abused the system and the American public (and as an engineer, I am willing to donate my time to design a very efficient, high capacity and smoothly functioning guillotine system to eliminate the problem varmints en-masse). We should be able to clean up Washington D.C. within a week-or-two.
therooster
Polarities lie at the root of the "Age of Codependency", also known as the "age of grace". Regardless of what you may call it, it's framed in forgiveness and it's closing.
Joseppi
This must be a blog for the "Recovery" deniers. Can't we all just believe in hope, and relax knowing that with this "change" there will somehow, in some mysterious way, a resolution that our God will provide for his righteous children and conquer those with an inferior God.
Manifest Destiny has guided us to this challenging situation, and with our superior innate American abilities to conquer all obstacles, our politicians and financial experts will solve any problem that arises.
Amen, to all those well fed consuming the dominant media's recipe for social melting pot goulash spiced with insanity.
Yes, I'm afraid to say that there is a large population of believers of the above reality. This armed ideological demographic can, and are most willing to wage a civil war against the revolutionary truth seekers.
Now is the time to engage in revolutionary debate with this element as the time is dwindling as to how much longer this opportunity for dialog will exist. This is important to myself, because I belong to a small regiment of "Warriors without weapons". In an armed ideological/theological conflict I would feel a tad uncomfortable.
So I also applaud James Quinn in his admirable style of bringing to the forefront the risk we all are presently in. I must say that the term "revolutionary truth" is a lil' scary to me because I'm reminded of the fanatical Revolutionary Guard of China and their extremism.
Revolutions, once they start have a life of their own that is hard to control. Desperation is the explosive element that ignites a revolution. Anyone espousing a revolution, takes on a heavy responsibility that demands constant vigilance. Understanding the counter-revolutionary mindset and engaging in creative ju-jitsu is a superior strategy to engage in.
The future will prove that we will have a series of choices and making them will not be simple. It will be difficult and take a lot of energy. Good luck Comrades and remember to floss after thinking.
Thunderbird
One surprize that has not been mentioned is a natural disaster of huge geological proportions. A huge solar flare could erupt out of the sun and wipe out most or all of our satilites and communications, a large meteor could come out of nowhere and strike the earth, or a huge earthquake of 11 or plus could cause considerable damage and cause a tusami so large it could wipe out most coastal areas. We can only speculate what we think is the most obvious from our political and economic woes but in really some surprize always happens. I am looking for the surprize.
In a natural way the earth over the past century has been very calm while man has had devestating wars. I have no faith that we will get out of this social mess without a natural disaster to wake us up. I personally feel modern man has grown too egotistical and fallen away from God to find solutions to our problems. In fact out problems are a testiment to our corrupted state. It will take something on the level of a natural or nuclear holocost to wake us up. This is my take. Thank you for the opportunity to post my sentiments in this forum.
JAW
That song has been on my mind for months now because I was 22 when it came out and never returned to trusting anyone outside of some family and a few friends. Be very careful who you voice these thoughts to, they will turn on you when things get really bad.Neighbors and family will inform to save there own.
What I have done for years: no debt, shop at independent stores and pay their higher prices, go to Arts and Craft shows to truly buy American made products (shoes, cloths ,pottery, furniture, etc.), pay with cash only (not checks), cancel all TV reception and listen to the radio, talk with your family,etc., netflicks for entertainment and education, grow some food even if it is only one tomato plant in a pot or basil in a window, read, stay fit, learn self defense, don't just buy a gun learn to use it.
DavosSherman
Good read.
We got that to look forward to.
johncoster
Yes the battle lines have been drawn. They were drawn most clearly on 9.11. On that day I was on my way to a recording session in lower Manhattan with a guitar player who happens to be the only other guitar player Stills ever let play with CSN. I'm a songwriter, and your musical references really resonate. Back in the American Pie days I did some shows with Don Maclean as well, so we seem to share some cultural history. “People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.” Ever since that September morning, Orwell's words have rung particularly true. The official story of 9.11 is so absurd it seems to embody a kind of state mandated cognitive dissonance, the subjugation of all critical thinking. For starters, three steel framed buildings designed to withstand impacts from commercial airliners do not collapse at free fall speed in the manner of perfectly controlled demolitions because two of them are hit by airplanes. Go to 911Truth.org if you've never looked at any of the extensive research on what really happened on that day. The way I see it, the shadow government of the “elite”announced itself to the world on 9.11. How telling that the standard bearer of the “illuminati” could barely complete a sentence. Another example of the banality of evil I suppose. Well Jim, thanks for your work. You've helped make my daughter's financial aid package possible. You're not afraid to mention peak oil, and you don't genuflect to Obama or anyone else. You might like to check out some of my songs >www.myspace.com/johngcoster You'll recognize some familiar themes.
Anonymous
About the housing bubble... How much was politics and how much was banksters and how much was just society seeking shelter for the coming storm... If Social mood dictates politics and economics and not the other way around, and desire for home ownership was manifested as the housing bubble, you could say that people had begun to feel unsafe, unsure of their future, and a house represented safety.
Was the housing bubble the catalyst of change, or the first reaction to it?
I think that 9/11 will probably be seen as the "turning point" once the big crisis is over...
45north
very elitist - the view that one is a member of an elite group, not the masses and not the ruling over class - membership is determined not by deeds but superior knowledge and an attitude of superiority. Members have no responsibility, mundane tasks such as picking up the garbage or attending a political meeting are below them after all garbage is just a reflection of a poorly managed economy and of course that isn't the responsibility of members, also political meetings are pointless since everything is determined by the ruling over class.
Nice club to be in.
Illusionist
James,
Great article and what a writing style!
I would love to see a followup of the steps that we as citizens of this nation need to take to take back our nation. It seems that as a nation we seem to attack the SYMPTOMS of our problems, rather than the root causes.
Our nation has been hijacked by the "fortunate ones" because they have the money to make sure we have the finest government that money can buy. This is probably the key root cause of our problems. We need to take money out of politics. But alas, our Supreme Court is now considering a case that would grant corporations the same "rights" that we individuals have including the "right" to unlimited campaign contributions.
If you think things are bad now, what do you think things will be like once unlimited corporate funding of our government is the law of the land?
Michael
The ameriKan sheeple..both IGNORANT & ARROGANT..are now going over the cliff...and into oblivion.. baaaaa baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Anonymous
They're all bought and paid for from the President down to your local city councilperson. The media shows you exactly what it wants to show you. Orwell was only 25 years off with his title.
You say you want a Revolution? You can count me out...in.
ReverseEngineer
Well done Jim.
RE
dalsauce
What a nut case...who believes this garbage? The health care bill is the beginning of the end? Come on...it only passed by 5 votes in the House and is dead in the water in the Senate.
I used to read his stuff and thought it was interesting....I laugh every time I read it is Nancy Pelosi's fault and liberal MSNBC....how funny...they same morons who blame the liberals sit in front of the right wing Fox news....now that is funny....there is no one to blame but yourselves......you didn't get a good education...didn't work hard...didn't save your money and now blame everyone but yourself.....go look in the mirror....you voted for them.....you accept their policies.....so sorry....it is your bed of dung....now lie it and enjoy it!
TLaCour
Stormtrooper, we see eye-to-eye. Congress is derelict in its Article V duty, several times over the required number of applications have been submitted by (now all 50) States. See Article V Convention.
. Getting Congress to honor its duty will require a new Congress, and 2010 may be the opportunity of a lifetime. I doubt seriously Republicans will do it, they never have before even though the applications for a Convention were there. Perhaps the GOOOH system can do it, it seems the only viable national plan, currently.
And the State Soveignty action is quite doable, see Citizens United for State Sovereignty NOW.
TLaCour
In response to a call for "what to do", "timeisrunningout" suggested an interesting plan of Action:
"Rather than protest, what if we coordinated with the tea party groups and planned for a national run on a bank day and target one particular bank but keep that hidden which would be very difficult if not impossible. I don't know how many tea party participants there are right now, but if you could withdraw say 8-10 % of the demand deposits on a particular money center bank such as B of A, it could bring the entire bank down or at least cause the Fed to have to back stop it temporarily. With capital reserve requirements certainly no more than 10 % at best, even if the bank run wasn't successful, it would be an attention getter."
JimQ wrote: "
If every person in the country stopped doing business with these banks, their scam would begin to collapse. They control 75% of the credit markets.
Top 15 U.S. general purpose card issuers based on outstandings as of June 30, 2009
1. Chase - $165.87 bil.
2. Bank of America - $150.82 bil.
3. Citi - $102.54 bil.
4. American Express - $78.16 bil.
5. Capital One - $55.46 bil.
6. Discover - $48.90 bil.
7. Wells Fargo - $30.89 bil.
8. HSBC - $26.09 bil.
9. U.S. Bank - $20.17 bil.
10. USAA Savings - $12.96 bil.
11. Barclays - $10.67 bil.
12. Target - $7.78 bil.
13. GE Money - $7.17 bil.
14. PNC Bank - $5.08 bil.
15. First Nat’l Nebraska - $4.32 bil.
(Source: Nilson Report, August 2009)
It's not out of the question. There are 8,000 other banks and another 8,000 credit unions out there. A concerted planned effort to withdraw money out of Bank of America would get Washington's attention."
It does seem big enough to make a wave, yet focused enough to carry off. I've never organized a boycott or sit-out. Anyone with an idea how to propagate this wave? Start a chain email? I hate those, but will play if it works.
Anti-Dalsauce
Dear Dalsauce,
This quote is for you:
''I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system."
-- George W. Bush
Dalsauce, I usually vote Democratic, as the result of a ''lesser of two evils'' decision. My reasoning is very simple: ''The Democrats TAX AND SPEND, while the Republicans BORROW AND SPEND.'' There is absolutely no difference between them other than that. What you (and others) perceive to be the difference, is actually nothing more than words; empty rhetoric, empty promises. Each side seeks to make their ''base'' feel assured by the use of words. Then, once elected, these Oligarchs proceed with the policies they had already planned (i.e. ''agreed amongst each other beforehand'') to do anyway.
If you think ''hooray for my side,'' you have been thoroughly fooled.
My personal opinion is that everyone (as in EVERYONE) is guilty of refusing to read/listen to opposing arguments. People only pay attention to their own ''choirs,'' and are therefore incapable of seeing their own ''side's'' errors.
''I won't read/watch that. It was written/produced by that LIBERAL!''
''I won't read/watch that. It was written/produced by that CONSERVATIVE!''
''I'm not ignorant. I have my own mind.''
If you think that last quote above applies to you, then you have indeed been fooled (again).
2345StSt
Re: Jim Quinn's question about whether the American public's willingness to endure great sacrifices for some government policy......Those in charge of government are willing to sacrifice peoples lives for a policy; the American public's not willing to do it; but the American public will bear the sacrifice their leaders say are necessary. In this age of plenty when welfare and entertainment dampen so many people's spirits, don't expect a revolution. Where the government and its supporters have control of the media and the military, don't expect a revolution. The United States is most likely to slide into becoming a Stalinist state.
johngalt
I’ll guess there are at least two to three million Americans who adhere to a couple of succinct mottos: 1. You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers, and 2. It’s better to be tried by twelve than carried by six. This is a group that could catch fire at some point.”
I CAN ABSOLUTELY BE COUNTED AS ONE OF THE 3 MILLION!
andyupnorth
There was a revolution in Zimbabwe in the early '80s. Corrupt government pased laws to arrested any political adversaries. The Zimbabwe Dollar was worth more than an American Greenback. One political dissident, Mugabe, was imprisoned for 11 years, and then eventually started a grassroots revolution and successfully overthrew the corrupt government. What happenend next? He kept all the corrupt laws in place, and used them to secure his own presidency, bribing all government workers with his Zimbabwe Dollar printing press. Hyper-inflation caused food shortages and injured social psychology. Now a ONE-HUNDRED TRILLION Zimbabwe Dollar (a collection itme) can be bought for $1USD. The United States of America is headed in the same direction unless it changes its ways. I wonder if Ron Paul can ever get favorable widespread Big Media attention. Or will the public get conned again with another fake "change" person?
andyupnorth
CORRECTIONS***
There was a revolution in Zimbabwe in the early '80s. Corrupt government passed laws to arrest any political adversaries. The Zimbabwe Dollar was worth more than an American Greenback. One political dissident, Mugabe, was imprisoned for 11 years, and then eventually started a grassroots revolution and successfully overthrew the corrupt government. What happened next? He kept all the corrupt laws in place, and used them to secure his own presidency, bribing all government workers with his Zimbabwe Dollar printing press. Hyper-inflation caused food shortages and injured social psychology. Now a ONE-HUNDRED TRILLION Zimbabwe Dollar (a collection item) can be bought for $1USD. The United States of America is headed in the same direction unless it changes its ways. I wonder if Ron Paul can ever get favorable widespread Big Media attention. Or will the public get conned again with another fake "change" person?
newtrick
great article. interesting times then and now. in live performances (post Kent State) Stills [CSY&N] changed the lyrics slightly to "You step out of line, the man come and gonna shoot you down."
TLaCour
Posted on behalf of a fellow Citizen:
How can we make a coalition work?addthis_pub = 'CampaignForLiberty';
[Newer: Some guides to the Texas 2009 Constitutional Amendments ] [Older: Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson signed on today! (Audit the Fed)]
I attended a coalition meeting last night where Republicans, Libertarians and somewhat independent leaders came together. We introduced ourselves and discussed ways we can work together.
The saddest thing was the party loyalists who said they wouldn't support the Libertarian in the general election if the bad Republican won the primary. They would still support the bad Republican, just because they had an R next to their name. Which is what they have been doing for too many years and it's been ruining the country AND the party.
How can they in good conscience put the PARTY before the COUNTRY? Or put the PARTY before PRINCIPLES?
Fortunately they aren't ALL like that, but the ones who run the clubs and counties for the most part STILL think that way.
ARGHHH. We must continue to be voices of reason in this insane world.
Incurably optimistic,
Debbie McKee
bobcarver
America is a country of sheep that blindly believe what they are fed and just as blindly are led into the ditch. I've known the two party system was a joke since I was a teenager, when I was on my way to Vietnam, when Buffalo Springfield put out that song. Our government has been for sale to the highest bidder, and the highest bidders are generally the big corporate interests, for as long as our history has been rewritten. Add to the equation international corporations and then foreign governments with domination agendas and the picture begins tobecome complete. But what you missed is the most Treacherous factor of all. The one that will bring all to a head. That is the religious ideology of Islam. Here you have a belief system that enables those at it's head to mobilize billions of people worldwide to do their bidding. It's a religion of lies with deception a written precept in their "holy" quoran. And they have money, big oil money, and control of the oil that the world depends on and craves like a heroin addict his heroin. Islam's written and publicly stated goal is world domination. It's no secret, out there for anyone who cares to look, but they do have well organized PR to fool the sheep into believing it's a religion of peace. But hate is at it's core, they hate Jews, Christians, and anyone else who isn't or doesn't become a muslim. So as our country becomes weaker and more disrupted the Islamic Brotherhood's published agenda (Since 1988) on how to destroy America from within and make it a muslim country becomes more viable. For more check out www.actforamerica.org
anarkst
I'm telling you Jim, you have to start writing novels. Great stuff!!
Take solace in the fact that human beings are only a very temporary surface nuisance on this planet anyway.
GAT Mac
I hate to break the news to some of the folks here:
1) Ron Paul will never be elected President. Give up on it.
2) The holier than thou attitude impedes progress on important issues. Calling everyone else "sheeple" might make you feel better but it won't advance any issues and won't get the nanny state out of your hair. (I often use this term to describe the religious right which hijacked the Repuglefascist party, but again it serves me no benefit). I believe I was among the "sheeple" who doubted the Y2K apocalypse scenarios and I turned out right.
3) Denying the moon landings serves no purpose. They happened. The government did something interesting and remarkable. Get over it. Move on.
We have to make progress at the grass roots level (not more top-down Repuglfascist astro-turf). What is the objective? To reduce the nanny state, or to hope it fails and laugh at everyone else who suffers from the vantage point of our stocked and guarded compound? The latter won't win any converts, but then again maybe that's not the point.
platoplubius
"and the rosy 'stress scenario' that the U.S. Treasury is currently using to evaluate banks’ balance sheets becomes a source of great embarrassment."
Not only embarrassment but straight criminality!!! The stress tests were designed to close down the megabanks' competition so that they could either buy them up or liquidate their assetts. A consolidation of wealth into fewer hands and the continued monopolization of the financial sector by a select few Chase, B of A, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank (Paulson, Bernanke, Summers, Geithner, Greenspan, Rubins) All these criminals need to be rounded up and walked down MLK St in L.A.
x-ray
Jim:
Excellent.
To get your head "out of the box" and read a fictional account of what could happen in a dollar collapse, read "Patriots" by Rawles. I realize he is a biased Survivalist, but as I said, it gets you thinking outside your known paradigm.
A couple of personal antecdotes of why you have to think free of the mainstream:
In 2004 I suggested to one of the younger guys at Kleiner Perkins, one of Silicon Valley's top VC's that the energy issue was a massive one and that if you wanted to make the big money invest there. I was ushered out with suppressed chuckles and my silly notion that oil would ever rise above $40 with sincerity was dismissed. Sure they will make money on the social networking, but energy has been the value opportunity. BTW, they are on board now.
In 2005 I went to a luncheon with Ken Fisher, Forbes writer, book author, and enormous money manager. Someone asked about the dollar and he suggested currencies go up and down, but the dollar was not an "investable" datapoint. It didn't matter. I felt strongly differently and pulled my money out the next month. The dollar is everything. If we see the dollar index above 80 I'll eat my hat. If we see gold significantly below 1000, ditto. We likely will see some pause, sometime, but this will only be to refuel with rocket fuel.
My point is that these are very bright folks, and they never saw it coming.....
What happens when the world tells us to piss off on new bonds and rates rise? Will servicing our debt take 25% of fed taxes? How will we have a decent economy that can't afford to move goods around? The trends are all in place. The only hyperbole at this point is the act of extending the trend from its current vector. This is not revolutinary. This is simply extention of inertia, now.
It is surreal, but the mere fact that our current leadership assumes that "things will just work out" and can therefore assume MORE taxpayer burden to fund luxury programs should at least scream to all that they are completely clueless to the risks they are assuming. Not unlike the financial leadership that created the foundations for the failed housing market.
Our problem is our government. They won't change until we do. Quit voting like a jerk. If you are voting because they promise you something for nothing, realize that they have never ever made good on those promises...not in full or in the fullness of time. Prepare for the worst. Imagine a dollar crisis, how will your portfolio do...being completely broke and dependent on the sick swine for sustenance is the problem. Food? Who will defend you?
The clouds are already amongst us. Ignoring them will not make them go away.
Think. Prepare your portfolio. Prepare everything. Prepare your mind for thoughts you would rather not have.
rower30
I don't get it. We are a world of complainers and lip flappers. We have control, but we don't use it, and complain when the few who have control, do. Why?
1.0 The financial crisis is all about YOU, not "them". They opened a whore house and everyone had to go. Funny, since a financial house of ill repute exists, why is it that you have to go? But go you did. WHO is really in control? Who should be? Yes, you.
2.0 The welfare state has been voted in by the people who now complain of its effects. We want all the benefits of a disease but none of the ills.
3.0 The energy shortage is a myth of excess consumption. We drive 20MPG cars and useless trucks when 35MPG cars are everywhere for sale at less than 18K. 30% or more of oil imports could STOP if we drive sensible cars, and do NOTHING else but that. We won't, we complain. Change him, but just not me.
4.0 We are about having and not buying. There is a tremendous difference.
I could go on, but the public is 70% of the problem, not "them". Now that OUR action have gotten us where we are we find an escape goat, them, just like a politician. Who exactly is lying to whom?
The slogan in the song about "yea for our side" seems to place credit on the fact that Someone’s side is doing something constructive. Doing nothing except whining is as bad as doing the wrong thing. I judge people by their actions, not what they say. The public has drowned in its consumption and they have no one to blame but themselves. Being no better than the system we create, it is BY THE PEOPLE for the people; we act like politicians and blame the other side. Change will happen when we see the blame on our side. And then, a more rational our side, can reconstruct the other side. After all, we ARE the other side! That's the real lie, more than one side exists at all. We are a rotten bunch, and we created a rotten stench of a government out of our own image. WHY is that a surprise? A rotten stink comes on a lot stronger and faster than it goes away, too.
Look in the mirror, have you earned your way, or are you making promises that can't be kept, no different than the government to those around you?
TimeTraveler
Fantastic article Jim,
I would like to say that the time for reflection is over. Most who are reading this forum are in agreement that the time to act is NOW! I do not condone violence as a means of bringing about a solution to this crisis. Unfortunately this is not America's problem solely, but the entire world economy is at stake, and basically the survival of just about every nation on this planet. The threat of our Republic drowning in the corruptness and greed at the hands of a very few is very real. The planned execution of this country and the world was layed out years ago by the Rothchild's, and now with the help of other evil players is coming to fruition.
Change is in the air. There are too many economic factors that have been set in motion by the Elite, that frankly cannot be stopped at this point unless there were to be a complete halt in Washington's policies, the Federal Reserve abolished immediatley, and the complete shutdown of Goldman Sachs, and a tribunal set up, and the evil doers sentenced for their crimes against the Constituion and humanity!
We are sitting in a bankrupt nation artificially propped up by a fake fiat currency, as is the whole world economy. Its ready to implode at any moment. When it does, the Elite will be ready to impliment their final End Game. If nothing is done soon their will be nothing to salvage.
Not only is there an economic disaster to worry about, but the handwriting is on the wall for the middle east. It is slowly coming to a boiling point. If it erupts, it could be the silver bullit to end this country and the world as we know it. There are no easy answers to these problems, but the leaders of the world are heading down the wrong road of which there can be no good outcome! The first step is taking back control of this country from a puppet president, and a legislative bunch of corrupt and greedy politicians controlled by the corporate lobyists and the Wall Street Elite who feel they are above the constitution.
The "To Big to Fail" sign must be brought down that sitting above the White House, and the big banks dismantled, and whatever true assets be handed over to the smaller more solvent banks that are left. Let AIG, Fannie, Freddie, General Motors go down. Let the capitalistic system work itself out naturally. Let the housing prices come down much lower, so people can afford them, raise interest rates to a fair level for the banks that are left. Default on the loans we owe the rest of the world, we can't repay them anyhow. We need to outlaw the derivative and securities markets, and get back to a more simplistic economic system based on gold and silver, as the rest of the world is already heading to.
We must pull out of every military base around the world, and stop meddling in other countries affairs. Lets worry about ourselves from now on. Once we get solvent, we will be prepared with a good foundation again to really help the world with the production of food, which should be produced by the small farms again, and the process of bringing clean healthy drinking water to the world, which is in short supply because of droughts all over the planet.
There's enough resourses and the technology to have free energy for the whole planet! Thats what wars are fought over, and its time to end this insanity once and for all if we are all to survive. This is not about politics, as the ideals of both parties are the same, this is about survival of humanity. If the world is to survive, there must be only one way, and that is to get rid of this regime and the greed it represents, and start working to a healthier means of existance. The last 30 or so years we have been consumed with the materialistic side of living, and thought it would never end. Well, the end is near if we sit idle and let our constitution be shredded, and let the corrutpness continue in Washington. There have been good suggestions to get Wall Streets attention, but more must be done quickly.
Time is running out. China and the rest of the world is running out of patience, Once the petrol dollar succumbs to a new baket of currencies, the reserve status quickly follows. The dollar is falling quickly, and when the rest of the world stops buying, the printing presses will be stepped up to hyperdrive, and this economy will crash soon after. The handwriting is on the wall.
America needs leaders that will not be afraid to lead, and can make these hard changes that will be in the long run, bring us back on track as our Founding Fathers had invisioned, not being controlled by a corrupt ruthless non- transparent Federal Reserve System, and a corrupt Central Banking System, including the IMF, WHO, and the United Nations.
Our governmnet has gotten too large, its time time shrink it down considerably , and abolish the IRS and federal income taxes completely, as it is illegal under the constitution anyway. Let the people have more in their savings , and more to spend once they get out of debt. We need to start now or it will be too late!
buyingastairway2hell
Mr. Quinn, I read your November 11th piece and was duly impressed. You definitely have a well rounded view of this crisis. I liked where you're coming from and have little disagreement with your conclusions, but might I suggest you focus your research on the gold markets. I will be up front with you and confess to having the bulk of my wealth in physical bullion and mining stocks. Despite this natural inclination my financial decisons have given me towards subconsciously accepting gloom and doom scenarios as gospel, let me also say I pride myself on being objective and looking at both sides of complicated issues. I believe there is nothing more complicated in the field of economics than the study of the system of global finance that has been built around the refutation of sound money. To have successfully imposed upon almost all the world's market participants a monetary system whereby something is not only equal to nothing but in fact has less value than nothing is no mere street hustler's slight of hand. No, the oligarchs of whom you speak have been extremely busy for generations. Their work has been centered on convincing otherwise brilliant finaciers, analysts, academics and traders to blindly trust the promises of the all powerful and unaccountable. Promises that they could, forever and always, preside over a market without capital in rapacious pursuit of growth without progress. This Himilayan mound of lies can only grow. Promises to pay upon promises to pay ad infinium. The mistake is to start hiking up this metaphorical mountain of lies looking for the truth. You must go back to the first lie, you must first traverse caverns deep underneath the mountain in search of the first promises gullibly excepted as gospel written in stone. It are these cleverly twisted half truths which now form the bedrock of civilized human exsistence today. The mountain rests on quicksand, it is soon to collapse into the molehill it always was, it awaits to be recognized as having been hidden in plain sight. Hidden for all to not to see as they gazed in awe at its percieved majesty..... Read these..... http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1248373722.php http://www.gata.org/node/8001 http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article14996.html http://www.professorfekete.com/articles%5CAEFGoldIsPale.pdf I believe phase four is much closer than you think and I believe the collapse of the gold markets will be the trigger which kills the debt money/bailout parasites and all the markets which have unwittingly become their hosts.....Anonymous
Oil has been flirting with $80 a barrel for a couple of months now. Once it crosses that $100 a barrel line, we will be start the 2008 pattern of peak pricing, demand destruction, and rising prices all over again, effectively preventing energy companies from making the necessary investments of capital for the more expensive oil sources. Once "peak oil" goes mainstream, all bets and green shoots are off.
Think of what Jim has laid out, once again so effectively, in an era of ever rising energy costs. Airlines are already dropping routes; what happens when only the elite can afford to fly? Joe Biden promised an upgraded Amtrak, but the best we will get will be some long needed replacement of existing equipment. Rail service expansion is now considered the responsibility of states - the very governmental units with the least discretionary funds. High-speed rail? The best we will get will be an upgrade of existing freight routes to accommodate the existing Amtrak trains. And intercity bus service continues its decades-long decline. What happens when transportation outside one's local area becomes a luxury few can afford?
We won't even be able to afford the "bumpy ride" when local and state transportation departments are unable to keep up with basic maintenance needs. Last year two Michigan county road departments started converting aspalt pavements back to graveled roads. That could be coming to more locales.
While Goldman Sachs prepares for its millions in year-in bonuses, the rest of America is waiting for dismissal notices. This time, it's not just the factory workers or the hotel maids, it's the attorneys, engineers, accountants, and even the IT department types. A lot of very intelligent, talented, articulate people of each generation will have time, motivation, and broadband width. "And you tell me, over and over again, my friend, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction."
stuffit
Jim~We continue to be amazed with the thought provoking articles filled with historic references which you provide with talented script~
We TYVM for allowing us to share these in full over at Market Addicts...As it was posted with links to music along with inspirational thoughts for reading, we ran across this quote from another site, which seemed to fit like a glove~~
The Power of Words~
“It isn’t just what you say, but how you say it. It isn’t the words you chose, but the power with which those words were spoken.
Words without faith move nothing,
words without heart heal nothing,
the true power of words is the power which you bless them with in order to bless another soul”
God Bless, and keep up the "AWARENESS" campaign~The Silent Majority needs to listen, and take a voiced-peaceful-intelligent stand to preserve our liberty and nation ~
heluvabender
“All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.”
George Orwell
Great essay Mr. Quinn. The truth will indeed set us free ,.
michael
This is a good article as far as rhetoric goes. I supported the "revolution" of the 60's. Now our children believe that this was about drugs. They think that woman's rights meant every woman should work. Our young believes that abortion is another birth control measure.
What I would like to see is the actual "change" that I'm asked to support. For instance, I don't think that cutting up our credit cards will do anything. My credit has been thrown in the toilet, by the ugly actions of the government. So, by default, I'm with you. I don't know much about the cruelty about the "terrorists". I do know that the government has done horrendous things to me. I don't know about "alternative" medicine, but I know I've been harmed by the ugly actions done to me by the medical industry. I don't know much about the IRS, but I KNOW that they are out of control. The GOOOGH program looks good at first glance, but we are asked to support the drug doped mass mob society that has no clue (I'm one of them). Who is there to protect me from these things? No one.
I would support a candidate that stops pushing the theory that drugs are "health" food. I would support a candidate that wants to get the IRS in control. I would support a candidate that will get the dope commercials off of TV and the media. I would support a candidate that knows that we cannot support a society that is BARRING the elder and the "disabled" and the "young" and the "rich" and government workers from working - our society is collapsing, because no one is working. I would support a candidate that knows that the bureacratic society that we are living in, does no good for anyone. I would support a candidate that would repeal the heinous FDA preemption. I would support a candidate that would get rid of the millions of "nonprofit" agencies that are doing nothing (except to pad the rich CEO's), and YEP you are paying for this trash, whether you want to or not. I would support a candidate that would read his/her mail, instead of sending me advertisements for the medical industry. I would support a candidate that doesn't dream of glory of worldwide domination. I would support a candidate that has some actual help to change our society from our dependancy of oil for the individual, not for corporations. I would support a candidate that has some real help to get real doctors back in society, instead of dope pushing puppets for drugs companies. I would support a candidate that knows that "insurance" has been a scourge. I would support a candidate that gets his hands dirty by finding out was his mandates are doing.
A little reality would be great.
Kevin B.
superb article as always.
Your writing is always a highlight of my week.
Kevin B.
Tony D
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/11/16/acosta.militias.cnn
Anonymous
There is a lot of talk of a Nuclear Occurrence. I think that (God Forbid) if 5 major American cities were bombed, and 2 million people killed in each city, that would amount to 10 million people. As horrible as this would be, you would still have Internet the next day, CNN will be reporting, etc.
My biggest fear is BIO. A Biological Warfare Occurrence would wipe out 30 million people on the East Coast before a blockade could be put in place. The cost of bio-warfare is small compared with Nuclear, and an attack would go unnoticed until it was too late.
Davido
Very well done. Thank you brother!
chance
Wow...you sure use alot of words...its exhausting...I need some energy...I'll run down to Wendy's and get a burger on my state food card. If I hurry I will be home in time for my stories on TV. By the way, all this fancy talk has got me thinkin'...shouldn't the government pay for my cable tv bill? I mean; why should I have to pay for it? Doesn't the constitution guarantee me free speech? Well, if I have to pay to hear the TV, then that's not free is it? Not to worry comrads, I'm sure that Obama will get to this soon. Isn't he wonderful? I don't have to work anymore. I just keep getting my unemployment checks...what a great country!
michaelj007
it would take something HUGE to get the masses motivated enough to pull an all out revolt. I mean c'mon!!! we rounded up plenty of the 911 "terrorists" (please don't start on the inside job conspiracy theories) and we're debating the fact of whether we give them a trial or tribunal! these SOBs should be swinging from the gallows already- saddam is! and he used to be a model employee! it's gonna cost us almost $100mm to prosecute these guys.
Additionally, any smart citizen knows to stay away from ALL mobs. there is absolutely nothing to benefit from participating in a mob. The chances are high that you'll be shot, maimed, killed, maced, arrested, batoned, tear gased, or black listed. the upside chances are that you might get to smash some windows, maybe beat up some cops, and possibly loot something worth $5-$500. Not worth it.
Plus most of you guys probably couldn't even run a mile under 10 minutes, do more than 25 pushups, or even have a concealable weapon that you hit a target with over 50 meters. Sorry, but if there were a revolution tomorrow most of you wouldn't be ready.
Dave A.
For what it's worth, I don't agree with many religious people who think the second coming is near. I do share with many of them that Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, became man and taught us how to not live only as animals. Aristotle began this distinction philosophically when he defined man as a rational animal. This culmination of the teachings of Socrates and Plato in Aristotle was revolutionary indeed: man is an animal -but one in possession of reason. If, and only if, he so chooses. Did Alexander the great use his reason? Certainly, but how? As a man or as an animal? I'd argue he fell moreso on the side of the latter. He was closer to Atilla the Hun than Aristotle. When Christ came, the rift between man and animal became, we could argue, infinite. It also became obvious to any person of good will which side of the fence a person fell on: man or just animal. Buddist, Hindu, Native indian, everyone -I hold, became capable of recognizing good from evil the moment that divine Man died on the cross. Deep in their individual consciences this was suddenly made possible.
Then we got people like Charlemagne, who looked more animal than man, that went around Europe illiterate like foxes planting libraries preserved by monks, men of learning. It was the advancing movement of the cathedral schools, born of meditations of desert fathers like Anthony the Great, that eventually spawned the university of Bologna or Paris. He, of course, was the remote decendant of Clovis -first great christian king of the west to convert from paganism. Although his sweet wife, St. Clotilde, was influential, it was also outside influences -like that of St. Genevieve, prayerful repeller of Atilla, that began to bring the previous civilization of Rome back to a very sick Europe. It is through people like these that we will silently and, almost invisibly, repels today's attack of the huns who wear suits as they legislate and print money and eat shrimp on the slippery and sweaty back of the common man!
For what it's worth, I don't agree with many religious people who think the second coming is near. I do share with many of them that Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, became man and taught us how to not live only as animals. Aristotle began this distinction philosophically when he defined man as a rational animal. This culmination of the teachings of Socrates and Plato in Aristotle was revolutionary indeed: man is an animal -but one in possession of reason. If, and only if, he so chooses. Did Alexander the great use his reason? Certainly, but how? As a man or as an animal? I'd argue he fell moreso on the side of the latter. He was closer to Atilla the Hun than Aristotle. When Christ came, the rift between man and animal became, we could argue, infinite. It also became obvious to any person of good will which side of the fence a person fell on: man or just animal. Buddist, Hindu, Native indian, everyone -I hold, became capable of recognizing good from evil the moment that divine Man died on the cross. Deep in their individual consciences this was suddenly made possible.
Dave A.
I'm not sure what is going on with my attempts to post but the original text in the above comment ends with the phrase "...common man!"
Sorry for the confusion!
clean post!
For what it's worth, I don't agree with many religious people who think the second coming is near. I do share with many of them that Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, became man and taught us how to not live only as animals. Aristotle began this distinction philosophically when he defined man as a rational animal. This culmination of the teachings of Socrates and Plato in Aristotle was revolutionary indeed: man is an animal -but one in possession of reason. If, and only if, he so chooses. Did Alexander the great use his reason? Certainly, but how? As a man or as an animal? I'd argue he fell moreso on the side of the latter. He was closer to Atilla the Hun than Aristotle. When Christ came, the rift between man and animal became, we could argue, infinite. It also became obvious to any person of good will which side of the fence a person fell on: man or just animal. Buddist, Hindu, Native indian, everyone -I hold, became capable of recognizing good from evil the moment that divine Man died on the cross. Deep in their individual consciences this was suddenly made possible.
Then we got people like Charlemagne, who looked more animal than man, that went around Europe illiterate like foxes planting libraries preserved by monks, men of learning. It was the advancing movement of the cathedral schools, born of meditations of desert fathers like Anthony the Great, that eventually spawned the university of Bologna or Paris. He, of course, was the remote decendant of Clovis -first great christian king of the west to convert from paganism. Although his sweet wife, St. Clotilde, was influential, it was also outside influences -like that of St. Genevieve, prayerful repeller of Atilla, that began to bring the previous civilization of Rome back to a very sick Europe. It is through people like these that we will silently and, almost invisibly, repel today's attack of the huns who wear suits as they legislate and print money and eat shrimp on the slippery and sweaty back of the common man!