Wake Up America, You’re Sinking 50 comments
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America is in decline. Our standard of living is descending to reconnect with our means and more resemble Western Europe’s. We’ve been living on a borrowed standard of living ever since we started replacing organic growth with financial engineering, some 40 years ago.
Although they’re becoming ubiquitous, step back and notice the warning signs of a nation losing its way;
- unchecked illegal immigration;
- fiat sponsored growth,
- an impossibly unfunded social net driven mostly by a failed health care system, and
- a financial market being reduced to little more than a battleground for hedge fund titans.
- Curiously our FBI can track down one criminal but somehow we, as a nation, couldn’t stop the migration of 12 million illegal immigrants now living within our borders. Perhaps the government’s tough talking blind eye is due to the fact that we have no other option left to shore up our unfunded mandates. We need lots of (FICA paying) working-age adults to make that happen. The hope is that the (eventually-granted-amnesty) immigrants can resuscitate the unfathomable ($65 trillion) deficit of our social net. The strong-border rhetoric is merely subterfuge; the immigrants are here out of desperation – ours. Our straits are so dire that we cannot survive economically without them at this point. Either (means-justifying-ends) preservation of Medicare and Medicaid above our sovereignty sanctioned the exodus or we are too weak to control our borders. Neither reality is pretty.
- We have been going from one Federal Reserve-sponsored bubble to an ever larger one because they are providing the only medium to (simulate) growth, fiat. The housing bubble, mother of all cheap-credit fixes, was a giant flashing billboard. It read – we are out of reserves and worse, out of organic growth so we’ve created a Ponzi scheme to maintain the façade for one more round. That was a signpost at the end of the financial engineering road. There is no bubble to eclipse or patch the deflating housing debacle without risking hyperinflation, thus the process of deflation begins. Surprised? Don’t be. We’ve been faking it while convincing the world we’re making it to keep our credit cheap and available. Every time growth ratcheted down, more debt was added to systematically mask the transaction. The 40-year-old Great Society birth projections, based on the Baby Boom, were as specious as the recent earnings histories of no-doc loans; both were doomed before the ink was dry. The music has stopped and credit destruction has begun. US dollars will continue to gain value as they become scarcer.
- The decades old delusion that debt equals growth has convinced us that we could afford our lofty standard of living. Central to that standard is our health care system which, through Medicare and Medicaid, has driven our unfunded mandates into impossible deficits. We are pretending that although our health care is expensive, 1) it’s the best, 2) we deserve it and, 3) we can afford it. The bitter irony is that, although we spend far more on health care, (double that of Europe) we are far from investing wisely. Europe is far more right than we in distributing health care, and their currency reflects their fiscal discipline. There are only so many resources to supply a potentially unlimited demand. Continuing to “hope” we can grow our way into our present level of health care is an insult to anyone with an IQ over 50. The next check we receive may be the reality check of socialized medicine, one of several waiting to be issued. The World Health Organization [WHO] ranks the U.S. health care system 37th of 190 countries, well below most of Europe, and trailing Chile and Costa Rica. The United States does even worse in the WHO rankings of performance on level of health -- a stunning 72nd. Life expectancy in the U.S. is shorter than in 27 other countries; the U.S. ties with Hungary, Malta, Poland, and Slovakia for infant mortality — ahead of only Latvia among industrialized nations.
- Does anyone believe a confused public is responsible for the frenetic, daily triple-digit moves driving the Dow? Our markets are reverting to their pre-SEC status of “rich man’s playground”. The cartels of then are being replaced by massive hedge funds who, with impunity, create enough chaos to suck in the public and winnow weaker hands at the same time. There are no adults in the playground. We have an SEC, desperate to look relevant, enforcing an existing naked short sale rule applicable only to institutions. A clear sign of capitalism’s limits are when one institution must be stopped from destroying another merely because it’s profitable. Without sufficient regulation, we will have a market ruled by feudal hedge fund lords who will become the casino and thus everyone else its customers. A history of human nature shows that no great nation thinks itself capable of decay, especially during the heady days of its zenith. Are we blithely rationalizing the warning signs of our descent, too confused by violent markets, too bamboozled by official propaganda to think for ourselves?
Wake up America, this is a modern depression born of hitting the limits of laissez faire capitalism (again). The systemic deflation (5.5 – 6 trillion) is too vast to offset by fiat without felling this republic. Like Japan of 1990, all the government can do is keep you calm. The first stimulus checks hardly covered the loss of purchasing power from the newly minted debt known as inflation. They’re a dividend to placate an evaporating middle class on their mandatory investment (of new dollars) made to shore up a system that is widening the chasm twixt the top 1% and everyone else.
Disclosure – I am a seller of most things dollars buy.
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This article has 50 comments:
www.stopoilspeculation.../
AND SIGN THE PETITION. This will help.
Then let your Congressman know you are fed up with the CROOKS ON WALL STREET.
Make hedge funds, short selling, naked short selling and Commodity Futures Trading illegal.
And do not allow exotic loan products. In the old days ( before 1970 ) you saved up your money to buy a house, your bank held the mortgage and everyone involved was honest, reliable and responsible.
Those people who screwed up should make reparations and go to jail.
> jack
Sir, you don't like America. Coming from different country I can appreciate America far better than you. Since you are such a Europhile, why don't you go live there for 20 years and then compare? I am so sick and tired that Americans believe what Europe is saying about America. Europe wants to feel superior-it is not. Europe consists of cynical bunch of countries and for a good reason. You belong there. Bon voyage!
The borders are not open to create taxpayers; the borders are gaping because the illegals borrow money from payday lenders and finance companies to buy used cars and derelict houses.
Finance capitalism needs a constantly expanding population of borrowers and the illegals are the best available fresh supply.
The constant need for new debtors is the principal that explains why banks were early supporters of feminism, and like the open borders.
Before the illegals came on the scene, the banks wanted women employed so the women could borrow money. This expansion of the roll of debtors with women explains much of the prosperity of the last thirty years.
What is amazing about the bubble(s) is that the financial damage is being suffered by sophisticated investors, financiers and financial institutions.
Abandoning old-fashion prudent lending standards and prudent investment judgment, then putting capital on the line to buy into the imaginings of the best and the brightest, has predictable expensive results.
It’s a rich man’s financial depression. For blue collar workers, its just the usual job insecurity from a new and different set of ugly government policies and irresponsible business strategies.
The health care finance system is actually deflating. The salaries that female physicians are accepting from institutions are significantly less than was common when medicine was a male-dominated profession.
Look at the physician salary data when controlled for gender and you’ll see how HCFA planned to finance health care shortfalls first out of the purses of female physicians. And using those lower salaries to drive hard bargains with the more expensive males.
Male physicians haven’t really comprehended the downward pricing pressure that their female colleagues bring to the healthcare finance equation.
Hedge funds. Roskoph is right. Hoist by their petard.
I am an American by birth and by choice. I have proudly represented her as an athlete and served her as a military officer. She is off course and listing. I do not want her to sink.
You do not understand what you are saying! Nor its consequences! Go and study finacial history and you will see how these are needed to facilitate markets working correctly. The price of oil is a consequence of supply and demand simple! Dont go on a witch hunt!
It wont bring down the price of oil!
Some of the shit that ignorant people come up with to solve problems is rediculous! bandaids at best. if you do advacate goverment intervention then expect to pay higher taxes to make it feesable to have these markets work!
As i said before go and do some homework before you go making stupid assumptions.
I am an American that has his eyes open, and knows how to play the trends. I also travel to europe quite a bit, and see the realities over there too. Things are not good for the average person there.
Within America... how about we look a few short years out, and the consequence of having an far more independent energy structure? what would that mean? How much money would that equate to staying in the US? What would that do to the dollar?
every country has its problems.
> jack
well, so did the 'dot-com' IPO's, and their non existent profits, yielding millions in gains overnight.
All this points to slobbering human greed and utter lack of restraint or mitigation of national identifying trait of one upmanship, conspicuous consumption. Did we really think that our $750K home would impress our friends and poorer relations? Or did it just foment resentment and envy and familial strife; in tandem with our ludicrous spending habits, only serving to drag everyone, including those who could never afford a home, into deep financial crisis?
On Good Morning America just this morning, Aug. 8th, on their so called "Recession Rescue", the gals demonstrated how to go find 'bargains' in the brand racist clothing stores, where $2,000 worth of high fashion garments, like $120 jeans, could all be had at a savings of $500! Wow..whoopee. Only Robin had any voice of reason at all during this stupid reportage...asking how is it, and why is it considered 'smart shopping' if we buy a pair of jeans for over $100?
Thank you , Robin...for the love of God, may we all return to something remotely resembling sanity and reason in this country before we are all body slammed into the poor house.
(1) Illegal immigration is as much a bogey-man as commodity trading being blamed for oil prices. While it is a drain on some resources, it has not much affected the job market. In fact, illegal immigrants add to quality of life of most people by letting them afford services that they otherwise would not have. Just like how cheap oil dampened alternate energy resources, illegal immigration dampened outsourcing. Most illegal immigrants earn subsistence wages and so much of their money stays within the US. In a sense, going forward, with increasing energy prices coupled with reasonably priced labor could bring back the manufacturing jobs that left US.
(2) Fed is expected to tighten credit only to the extent of maintaining some credibility in international markets, but don't expect the dollar to become scarcer as the fed has no gold-standard and can print more paper with impunity.
(3) I agree that only thing that grows with increasing debt is the debt itself. We need to halt the growth of debt but is not required to rollback to the sixties (nor would it be possible). Early ninety post-Bush economy is a good target to shoot for.
(4) Hedge fund oversight is wayyyy overdue. They should be brought in line with Mutual funds and have a level playing field. That, coupled with improved disclosure, will put a stop to much of the fuzzy math models that mask risk up until the point of the model going belly up.
All in all, the rest of the world is catching up to the American way of life and are no longer content to play worker bees and want to share the spoils. We should expect an erosion in our material comforts. We can only soften the landing by (1) improving efficiency and productivity - generating more resources for everyone (2) voluntarily scaling down our life style before we are forced to do so
Our country, like Great Britain has been accustomed to "military intervention to problems. Our government can no longer continue its pursuit of military operations throughout the world or like Rome, the constant monetary strain in the maintenance of our military operations will result in the demise of our country....to that of a third world nation. History does not lie and if this country continues to maintain/pursue such policies, we will also experience what the past countries/cultures learned firsthand!
This is a story about the future, how people interact in the future, and how we become dependent upon technology to survive. At some point, things aren't so great & mediocrity and decay set in.
It was written in 1909, and it may take you a day or two - so print it out.
As a true "Smithian" I just can't let that go.
I lived through the Great Depression and WWII. Let me tell you, America in a recession is still a dynamic and powerful nation with immense capability to solve ANY problem that might occur. The only things wrong with this nation today are the cruft that builds up in a society that has had it very easy for 60 years.
SO WHAT if some people cant afford a McMansion and three giant SUVs? That sort of a life is phoney plastic. What really matters in your life is how you affect the people around you, and what good you do in life.
58 Trillion Dollars needed for social programs, debt and so on? Let me tell you, that is NOTHING compared to what the true capacity of this nation is. We have a 15 Trillion dollar economy today, and it is full of inefficiencies. If the nation is really challenged that economy will generate TWICE that amount, and a 58 Trillion will melt away like a snowball in a blast furnace.
I understand that your essay is a polemic, but really....
The simplisms here are numerous (attempting to explain market movements via quant funds; basing a healthcare rant on a WHO study; invoking laissez-faire capitalism as the bugbear for all manner of ills). You make some good points -- too bad you opted for style over substance. Any one of the warning signs mentioned above would have sufficed for a short essay and would have given us the full benefit of your thinking on the issue at hand. Maybe next time.
The only pattern with these comments seems to be that the commentators who agree with you are more educated (sounding) than the ones who think you are chicken little. (Proof that all intellectuals are communists?)
The problems with the American civilization are very complex and the reasons for our possible future (or present) downfall mysterious.
The proof is that the history of every other downfall, from the fall of Roman Empire to the collapse of the Soviet Union, are full of acrimonious disagreements and scholarly contention.
What caused the downfall of the Roman Empire? Jesus Christ? Slavery? Lead in the pipes?
What caused the collapse of the Soviet Union? Ronald Reagan? Slavery? Vodka?
It might be that the cause of the downfall of everything American will ultimately be traced to what we ingest: from Big Macs, pizza and trans fats to cocaine, cigarettes and alcohol which collectively produced the economic insanity known as trading bubbles.
Tulips for dessert, anyone?
Immigrants, documented or not, bring a sorely needed work ethic (how many teenagers do you see out there willing to work hard? Some of course but most of them seem to want it handed to them), an infusion of fresh ideas and energy that over the next 100 years will help us reinvent ourselves (an American tradition), and finally...most of them are paying taxes to the US but won't ever collect Social Security--free money to the US tax payer.
So, next time you feel your racist leanings, at lest be honest about them and stop putting up the smoke screens of the goons down at the border doing vigilante violence.
"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." --Henry Ford
Sure they buy houses and then proceed to put heavy leans against them many times these houses are found striped and the buyers have moved on to a new identity or simply have gone home with our American dollar in tow.
Many do work under the table not contributing one thin dime to our wealth yet we pay impact taxes for their existence in our country. Meanwhile La Rasa makes sure they are well taken care of better then most tax paying citizens. The question becomes who is looking out for the best interest of the legal citizen? No one!
People who blindly support this activity of pandering while our citizens lay dieing in the streets or our daughters become victims of rape have blood on their hands.
Los angels wants home depot to build shelters for illegals who loiter in front of their stores. When will Los Angles start thinking about the legal citizens and not the illegal alien you are better off to be an illegal in Los angels then a legal citizen you have more rights and have much better representation then a legal citizen!
Two months ago I converted my boat and my cars to hybrids that use hydrogen assist generators giving me an average 42% more bank for my fuel buck.
You print print print money and the nation fails is what I saw coming so I took my own steps to survive intact. My wealth is growing, my food supply and household supplies can provide a great assist should inflation go hyper and my paid for vehicles operate on yesterday's fuel prices given the new efficient generators.
I'm one who doesn't believe the government should bailout the stupid. I believe in less government and more self-sufficient citizens. Instead of talking ideas to death a little study can implement solid plans to outwit systemic lunacy.
Swartzenegger cannot balance the State Budget because they don't pay TAXES. 95% of the traffic stops in some areas are illegal, 30% of prisoners are illegal (you and I are paying for their incarceration).
"Homeland Security" is surveilling another 40 million people at OUR EXPENSE.
This "cheap labor" (1200 at Tyson) and McDonalds (both of which I'm boycotting, and everywhere else I see them working) is NOT "cheap" to the American TAXPAYER. It costs us $383.3 billion per year (the Iraq war cost $600 billion for 5 years). Most get paid under the table and do not pay TAXES for all those TAXPAYER funded benefits. All of this, while our own citizens cannot "qualify" for food stamps and SSI because they own a house that's in the process of being foreclosed. Bill Gates got rich on the backs of TAXPAYERS "SUBSIDIZING" his H1-B visa foreign workers for 30 years. Gates funnels his income through a "charity" and PAYS NO TAXES. He had the "nerve" to go before Congress recently asking for MORE H1-B visas.
If these corporations want to import "cheap labor" they should be forced to pay "ALL" the costs. In the meantime, the U.S. government, due its failure to control the border, owes EVERY U.S. CITIZEN refunds for the billions paid to illegals for more police, more schools, incarceration, FREE LEGAL DEFENSE, SSI, welfare, free hospitalization, HUD housing, public school costs, free college tuition. 52 million American adults and 15 million U.S. children have no health insurance, and 11 million U.S. children go to bed hungry at night. Yet TAXPAYERS are being "soaked" to pay for illegals. Their 'anchor" babies automatically become U.S. citizens, swelling the population beyond control. I, for one, am FED UP! ALIPAC (dot) com and NUMBERS (dot) com notify citizens when more legislation to legalize them is pending, and we start calling our senators. We cannot continue to let this OUTRAGE go unchecked.
The world loves Americans but despises the Inner Beltway 'Boyz' patronizing the world in the name of the American people.
Americans are to a large extent somewhat naive and uninformed when it comes to connecting the dot.
Realizing that the American dream has been allowed to be turned into a nightmare for the American people warrants action by its citizens. Where is that action to be seen? Where is the pioneering spirit, the old 'can do' attitude we all love the Americans for.
Let's not get into a pissing match; let's encourage the real Americans to retake their country by supporting them to demonstrate civil disobedience.
First of all, all Americans who have been subjected to financial fraud should stop paying any of their bills, then the entire nation needs to go on a one week general strike to send a message to Washington that the next action will be civil unrest on a national scale.
Reading and embracing Thomas Jefferson would be a smart , first move. Get the Federal Reserve taken out of the hands of the private banking cartel that owns it. Yes, your Federal Reserve is a private bank that rapes has been raping you ever since December 1913.
Watch 'The Money Masters' at video.google.com/video... and Money as Debt at video.google.com/video... . Get the facts and then judge and act.
You have it all, don't piss away what your forefathers accomplished. Don't be divided and conquered. Embrace, unite and fight for what you are all about or you will ride into the sunset faster than you can drink a six pack.
There are folks who had been around for 6000 years before they where nixed by your glorious government. If things would have gotten better great, but things have gotten worse with every US sponsored intervention.
Now you are at it in Georgia/Caucasus.
Let me leave it at this for today.
When hope dies you will die. Don't allow that to happen.
“Throughout History it has been the inaction of those who could have acted;
The indifference of those who should have known better;
The silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most;
That has made it possible for evil to triumph."
- His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I -
Sorry David, when, how often, and where have you been exactly in Western Europe? I'll take the European standard of living anytime over the US:
- great information (less MSM propaganda and more diversity of opinions represented)
- better political representation (no 2-party/same-party system)
- better food! (and no GMO! ... so far ...)
- much, much more free time and vacations
- decent pension plans and other benefits
- less crime, less prisons and less prisoners
- great healthcare, and cheap, or free (sorry, Daniela!)
- better education, and cheaper, or free
- good saving rate (little or no credit card debt, etc.)
- little or no trade-balance deficit
- technical innovations everywhere
- infrastructure (roads, etc.) in great shape
There. :) And don't misunderstand me, I've lived in the US for 20 years, and I love it because of Americans, esp. my husband! :) ... But facts are facts.
Most Americans don't know the FED isn't a federal agency and is owned by the Rothschilds, Rockefellers, Warburgs, Lehmans, and they don't know about the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. We're not taught about those things in school.
Today we have a huge Naval Armada heading for Iran (for Bush and AIPAC (the Israeli lobby, which Americans are basically ignorant about). The Georgia/Russian conflict is a distraction. Not ONE media organization is publishing the information re: the Naval Armada heading for Iran, even thought they have been emailed the information, not even the DrudgeReport.
The majority of Americans are really good people. We are kept on a treadmill just to feed our children and pay taxes for all these outrages. Most still believe 9/11, and that voting for McCain or Obama will make a difference, because we all want change so badly. Even though we're not happy about where they stand on the issues important to us, it's the "lesser of two evils". A few of us have realized the futility of it all, and will no longer vote for the two candidates offered to us by the powers that be. We are looking for alternatives, but it's probably too late to make a difference.
The US will implode financially and politically. The real global players are already working on 'post-American' strategies.
America is keeping the lid down on many shit-holes in the world. People always criticize all the obvious, negative things, whereas the real problem is that America is being destroyed from the inside out. There are no real external enemies threatening America. Its all a big setup to make people believe that your DOHS is needed to make things safe. The DOHS is actually a big money grab and repressive apparatus that was set up and is operated under false pretence.
You will get a kicker out of this one. In most of your soft drinks, mustard, ketchup etc. is an ingredient called Gum Arabic. Its a stabilizer that prevents the separation of food particles, preventing form the Coke syrup go to the bottom and the water float on top. Guess what, 98% of Gum Arabic comes out of Sudan, and 100% of the plantations are owned by Osama Bin Laden.
When the Taliban were in power in Afghanistan they had the heroin export down to 135 metric tons a year. Today approx. 12.000 metric tons of heroin come out of Afghanistan, are flown to Kosovo, and distributed from there. Street value approx. $320 billion per annum. Sounds familiar, doesn't it ?
60% of all blue chip stocks are owned by investment funds that manage drug money.
All this originates and has been promoted by the 'boyz' in DC and their little helpers.
There are apprx. $800 trillion in financial derivatives floating around in the system. Covered are only approx. $75 trillion.
If people think the subprime meltdown has been hard and heavy, then wait until the derivatives bubble bursts. It will be the financial and political Armageddon for the US and the western world.
It is a pity that it was allowed to come to this.
The good news is, that once everything has been burnt to the ground there will be great opportunities to rebuild. And when it comes to rebuilding the American people are pretty good. One can only hope that there will be enough substance for a fresh start. If not America will remain in its current 'glorified 3rd World' mode.
It is not about having but about being.
Good night and good luck.
- great information (less MSM propaganda and more diversity of opinions represented)
* THAT ONLY APPEARS TO BE SO. THE PRESS IS A BIAS AS IN NORTH AMERICA SINCE IT IS CONTROLLED BY THE SAME PEOPLE
- better political representation (no 2-party/same-party system)
* THERE IS NOT POLITICAL REPRESENTATION. THE EU COMMISSIONERS ARE APOINTED GOONES LIKE THE POLIT BUREAU IN MOSCOW USED TO BE UNTIL 1990. IF YOU READ THE PROPOSED EU CONSTITUTION THEY TRIED TO RAM DOWN PEOPLE'S THROATS YOU WOULD KNOW BETTER.
- better food! (and no GMO! ... so far ...) YES, YOU ARE 100% ON MARK WITH THAT OBSERVATION.
- much, much more free time and vacations TRUE; BUT AT WHAT COST. THE MIDDLE CLASS IN MOST EU COUNTRIES HAS BEEN DESTROYED BY THIS MODLE.
- decent pension plans and other benefits ONLY ON THE SURFACE. THE SYSTEM IS BROKE AND UNSUSTAINABLE.
- less crime, less prisons and less prisoners IF YOU TAKE THE ENTIRE EU AND THE OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES THIS IS NOT TRUE.
- great healthcare, and cheap, or free (sorry, Daniela!) IT A BROKE SYSTEM LIKE IN ALL SOCIALIST COUNTRIES. UNION BOSSED GO TO SWITZERLAND FOR TREATMENT DUE TO LOUSY QUALITY IN MOST EU COUNTRIES.
- better education, and cheaper, or free TRUE
- good saving rate (little or no credit card debt, etc.) THE HIGHEST PER CAPITA INBEBTNESS YOU WILL FIND IN ? YES, SWITZERLAND.
- little or no trade-balance deficit THIS IS ABSOLUTELY WRONG. ALL COUNTRIES IN IN THE EU RUN HUGE DEFICITS, EXEPT FOR GERMANY,FINLAND,AUSTRI... AND THE BENELUX COUNTRIES. THOSE SURPLUS COUNTRIES ARE SUPPORTING THE DEFICIT COUNTRIES SUCH AS FRANCE,SPAIN ,PORTUGAL,ITALY,GREECE... IRLAND ETC. THE TRANSFER IS DONE BY THE ECB. THE SURPLUS COUNTRIES ARE LOSING PRETTY MUCH ALL THEIR MONEY TO SUPPORT THE LOSERS. THAT MONEY IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR CRUCIAL INVESMTENTS INTO INFRASTRUCTURE, HEALTH AND EDUCATION.
- technical innovations everywhere TRUE TO A CERTAIN EXTENT
- infrastructure (roads, etc.) in great shape I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE BUT IT MUST BE IN LUXEMBOURG. ALL OTHER COUNTRIES ARE FALLING APPART.
BY THE WAY ,CALIFORNIA'S 30 MILLION PEOPLE GENERATE THE SAME GDP AS 60 MILLION FRENCH IN FRANCE.
ITS ALL ABOUT NUMBERS. NUMBERS NEVER LIE.
"What goes up must come down". Read 'Rise and Fall of the Great Superpowers'. Unless the Federal Reserve Empire has an infinite number of tricks up it sleeve, history shows it too will eventually collapse. Fear keeps many in denial of these obvious facts, evidenced by history. But then, eventually, what goes down has only one way to go: up.
"Those who live by the sword will die by the sword." All empires have eventually collapsed under the weight of military costs needed to expand and police the nations within the empire's control. The empire's taxpayers and interestpayers can pay only so much. Eventually they have no money left to spend and then, like it or not, comes economic collapse and possibly revolution, or dictatorship.
"Give a man power and he will always abuse it". There is the dark side of man; present in every individual as well as the collective. Inevitably, the dark side of man manifest's and projects itself most clearly for all to see in those who obtain high positions within the governments and big corporate. Nothing about the darkness/corruption in government will ever change. All we can do as individuals is make changes in order to survive in whatever climate, whether the sun is shining or not.
History shows,there will always be "wars and rumors of wars", and there will always be the "Rise and Fall of the Superpowers". The idea that wherever there is a dark shadow, the light isn't too far away can be comforting to those in denial, or fear.
My down the street neighbor has at least a dozen relatives hanging around, and from what I can tell no one has a legitimate full time job.
If you have wheelbarrows of cash at your disposal please take it to your nearest bank. They could sure use it since they're going broke from a lack of it.
Also, the WCRXLP Editorial Collective comments are super as well. By the way, this 'colletive' of thoughts is an FM radio station in Bexley OH that appears to accept callers, combines and filters all opinions on Blogspot to insightful intelligence. BRAVO! I went through some of the previous comments posted at Seeking Alpha and they are accurate. And when I went to there collective online, it appears about 700 total regular members contribute.
The national program me and group working on is RagingDebate.com, very close now to launch but I just wanted to give credit for the entrepenurial spirit that made American great! It gives me confidence that our entire 'collective' is working on acceptance that we are in a mess and have begun to understood how we got here. The USA will get much back but as a government, we are not in retreat mode (yet) in foreign matters. The Russians seem to know where we are headed :(
I do not think we will sink into 3rd world status, however. Britain never become 3rd world, more like 2nd for a time, but still maintained much influence over the international monetary system along with the US up until now but that power of international peg/respect has begun to change and head eastward and will do so for a short period. In this tug of war we can anticipate major military misadventure but I hoping it won't happen but preparing for the worst.
Your website stats you continue to admonish readership of:
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Point: Be careful of too much fluff and self-edification. Provide a method of presenting solutions in Washington when you figure out how to harnass a national 'collective'. Good luck to you.
I've just had it with people that don't know anything about Europe trashing the States. As for their larger financial situation, they are headed for complete meltdown. Their pension systems are completely unsustainable even with their confiscatory taxes - when they have to pay the piper I'm not sure how they are going to manage. This is NOT a model to emulate in the states, I think SS & Medicare/Medicaid should make clear only private health savings accounts and the market are the only options for successful retirement.
Btw, professionally I ve spent 15 years resident in the US of A, about 10 y on missions in other parts of the world and since 15 y in Europe. So dont get me started. I may have a big surprise for you: The best and the worst can be found anywhere. Extreme examples galore. Only as far as income tax filing obligation for his citizens and green card holders is concerned, Uncle Sam is tops with his world wide reach.
I am not so sure what you mean by "European" Health Plan. Any decent employer in France, the UK, Switzerland and so forth will subscribe to extensive private coverage, valid European wide or worldwide, depending. As an individual you can also get additional coverage here www.ihi.com/ (I am not an insurance sales guy and have nothing to do with IHI)