“The US is becoming a shadow of what it used to be. Take education for example. The OECD group of developed countries ranks quality of life, education, health care of its member nations. The US is now falling down the table as one piece of data after another shows America is in decline. We’re no longer Win, Place or Show in quality of life, education, longevity… all the essentials where we used to be #1. And our economic underpinnings are failing.”
Mr. Celente puts part of the blame squarely on the federal government, and especially FED Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Geithner, and warns us not to believe a word they say “They’re the same people who didn't see it coming - are now telling us the worst is over, that ‘green shoots are spouting upwards’. But they were wrong before. They’re wrong on this too”.
“When you pump out tons of money manure into this system based on nothing – printing press paper, it’s like giving a patient with a chronic disease a pain killer -- it won’t cure the patient.”
“But let’s go beyond the economics. Our whole Constitution has been abrogated. The president simply writes an Executive Order to do whatever he wants. Nationalize the banks, take over the insurance industry, automobile industry, health care industry…
None of it is constitutional.”
And then it gets worse...
And especially for those who busted my balls re secession, please note:
"We predict state secessionist movements will rival the breakup of the Soviet Union."
If I'm crazy, so are a bunch of heavy thinkers...
The Gunslinger
His analysis of where we are, and how we got here, I don't have much more than minor quibbles about, and I had a post on a similar report which Scipio had linked to. Few with a grounding in classical liberal economics (Say, Smith, Bastiat, etc) were surprised by anything other than how long it took to finally happen... Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams alone have been trying to shout Wake UP!!! since at least the early 90's. The only surprise I've had is how sheepishly people accepted things from the first Paulson takeovers, on. I didn’t think everyone would dismiss their money (I didn’t have as much faith in their regard for their rights) that apathetically.
ReplyDelete"How will it all end?", we queried. Will the dollar survive?
"The dot com bubble should have burst and gone away in a short sharp recession. But the boys at the Fed re-infl..."
That is the question, how will it all end? And it rests upon how we all respond, or don't, to the current and coming disasters. Being human beings, we can choose to change course... it's a stretch, but it is still possible. The one thing which separates us from all the tyrannical takeovers of the past, is that we still see ourselves, however cloudily, as being free, we have access to the information and learning of the past which directly and clearly refutes all that is happening here and now (in the past the elites had forgotten, or hidden such things, and so they effectively no longer existed), and we are still able to communicate and organize ourselves across the neighborhood, city, state and nation... even across the globe - that is a huge advantage - but only if we use it.
"And especially for those who busted my balls re secession, please note:"We predict state secessionist movements will rival the breakup of the Soviet Union.""
Hmmm... well... with your profile pic in mind, it's not balls that come to mind, but your guns, and I wouldn't dream of busting them.
Ahem.
But if we do begin to go the route of secession... the breakup of the Soviet Union will resemble the parting of Martin & Lewis, by comparison.
But its being a strong possibility, doesn't make it a good decision, or an inevitable one. We can still avoid it, even now. But it'll take understanding what our Constitution is, and was supposed to be, the thinking which enabled its creation, and clear thinking about our coming actions.
If we seize up, or spaz out... we're doomed.
But it ain't guaranteed.
We still have a choice.
"bust my balls"...just an expression..heh, heh. obviously.
ReplyDeleteRe:
"We can still avoid it, even now. But it'll take understanding what our Constitution is, and was supposed to be, the thinking which enabled its creation, and clear thinking about our coming actions."
The problem becomes demographics.
Some huge percentage of Americans are already not paying taxes, and live on government money.
They don't care what our founders believed, or what the Constitution means. They will never stop voting for higher taxes and more services..because to them, it's all "free".
That's the inevitable danger of democracy...as soon as the people learn they can vote themselves money from the public treasury it all goes to hell.
That's the reason I'm negative on "reform".
And why I'm thinking that separation is the only answer.
It's like living with a addict. You can spend your life trying to get him to change,or you can just leave.
The Progressives have been VERY successful in getting a high percentage of the population hooked on government largesse. They're lost to the cause. They're not going to vote to stop their own benefits. We can't convert them. We have to leave them to their folly and start again.
At least, that's my thinking at the moment.
The only other option is some way to withdraw our financial support...some kind of a tax boycott. But it would have to be HUGE...
All of the issues you mention are sadly true. There's a fundamental problem with secession as a cure however, that is the assumption that "You can spend your life trying to get him to change, or you can just leave" - if a state leaves the union, who do you suppose they will leave behind?
ReplyDeleteName me the state that is not infested with all of those same evils? Which state capitol is free of those politico's who would immediately rush it to do what the current federal govt is doing (and which they envy) or which it restricts them from doing?
Bad as our current situation undeniably is, Madison was right about federalism and faction - it does dilute the influence of regional passions. Bad as things are, on just that account alone, they would be considerably worse without the restraints which union places on each of the states.
I also scoff at 'reform', it only means expansion under a different flavor. The only thing I propose, is removal. Removing nearly every amendment, piece of legislation and judicial decision from the 20th century 'forward', and more than a few from the 19th, especially those that allowed the federal govt into the process of education.
"The Progressives have been VERY successful in getting a high percentage of the population hooked on government largesse. "
Yes they have. Two errors... might not be the right word... shortcomings, better, the framers of the constitution made were to leave out any reference to the Declaration of Independence, and property restrictions on voting.
In part, they left out any reference to the Declaration, because they felt that it, and the ideas behind it, were so imbedded in the fabric of the American imagination, they couldn't imagine their receding. But it did, and it has left our judiciary prey to unprincipled and pragmatic activism.
They didn't include property restrictions on voting, because it is properly a prerogative of the states, and because most of the states already had their own restrictions which limited the vote to those who had proved some measure of productive, respectability and judgment. The proregressives targeted those restrictions almost immediately as "anti-democratic!", and they were all gone by the mid 1800's... which left it open the demos-mania that has eaten us alive ever since.
Which is why the Framers did everything they could to ensure that we would NOT become a democracy, but a constitutional representative republic, where some of the representatives were democratically elected.
How we get back to that... I don't know.
"The only other option is some way to withdraw our financial support...some kind of a tax boycott. But it would have to be HUGE..."
It'll take just such a concerted and sustained uprising of those who do pay taxes, to say "NO MORE!", but they will also need to understand why no more. Is it possible? Yes. Probable? Not so much.
But we'll see.
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ReplyDelete"also scoff at 'reform', it only means expansion under a different flavor. The only thing I propose, is removal. Removing nearly every amendment, piece of legislation and judicial decision from the 20th century 'forward', and more than a few from the 19th, especially those that allowed the federal govt into the process of education."
ReplyDeleteAgreed! But how do you do that with a fat, uninformed, lazy, illiterate, welfare collecting electorate who won't support it?
"Which state capitol is free of those politico's who would immediately rush it to do what the current federal govt is doing (and which they envy) or which it restricts them from doing?"
The PEOPLE must secede, we cannot wait for the politicians to approve. A huge number of people (myself included) will move to States where a Liberty secession movement is flourishing (and perhaps it OUR turn to "community organize"!)
We'll fill it with people who want freedom—the brave and free "immigrants" who want to leave the tyranny that the USA has become—and not repeat its mistakes.
There are States and State populations on the verge now. Montana and Texas for example. All it takes is making secession an valid option, And an influx of secessionists into either, will change the politicians minds, or purge them from office.
The new territory will have no government welfare system, no government medicare, no government food stamps, no government retirement. For elected officials it will have no perks , no power, no cars, no special retirement, no benefits...and a salary that is no higher than the "average" one.
There will be term limits on every government job. Bureaucrats included. There will be no reason for anyone to seek access, because the politicians won't have enough power to make it worthwhile.
It will back their money with gold.
And therefore there will be no need for a Central Bank.
It will have a free market. By which I mean an actually FREE market.
And the only people permitted to vote will be those who pay some determined percentage of their income in taxes. NET.
There will be no "withholding" of taxes. Everyone will pay on a certain single day per year so that everyone knows what their government is costing them.
There will be no hidden taxes, no fees, no government regulations of commerce, etc.
The productive will rule. The parasites will starve.
They won't stay long.
Oh...and businesses will FLOCK to the new territory...to escape oppressive Old America's taxes, takeovers, regulations, environmentalist fascism, etc.
We will immediately have a flourishing manufacturing base, lots of jobs.
Towns will be in charge of education, just like they were in early America...when almost everyone in the country was literate.
Churches - and other private institutions will be responsible for charity - and will be as effective as they can be on voluntary donations from free citizens. NO GOVERNMENT MONEY WILL BE GIVEN TO THEM.
God will be welcome, but not required.
Intolerance will not be tolerated. Speech will be free.
There will be no regulation of guns.
I don't think the Progressives will like being there much. And we won't have provided a framework or mechanism for them to do their dirty work. They need government support, and taxpayer money. They need the cover of darkness, complexity of process, and access to power.
And these will simply not exist.
I didn't say it would be EASY. Or painless.
I'm just beginning to think it's our only hope.
And sure, eventually, some assholes may figure out a way to game the system, just like they did in Old America.
Life is a bitch. And nothing is forever. But a couple hundred years of freedom and prosperity is worth a good fight!
We already know that.
And how do you put that plan into place, when whatever territory you happen to choose, is populated with their fair share of "fat, uninformed, lazy, illiterate, welfare collecting electorate" who won't support it?
ReplyDeleteHow do you get from here, to there? And as I mentioned earlier, what then? Every fiber of my being yearns for the scenario you just described. Every neuron in my brain with a historical reference tells me that not only would such a move involve some conservative variation on the "Sans-culottes", but then once accomplished, would involve almost immediate war with the surrounding states, who will view yours in just the same way, and for the very same reasons, that the USSR viewed West Germany - but of course there will be no America to come to your aid. And again, should every gun owner in the union move there, the U.S. Military is not going to be allowed by the Fed Govt to either join you, or allow you to leave. That will cause dissension amongst the ranks, and as it is used against you, schism.
Once that secession option is opened, there will be destruction on a scale unimagined to date - imagine the Civil War with Grant and Lee in possession of Tanks, F-22's & nuclear weapons....
Don't get me wrong, what you describe is exactly what I want... I just don't think there is a quick way of getting there, or that it can be achieved through disunion.
I would fight against it with every effort I could manage. And if it came to pass, join it immediately.
And no doubt perish along with it.
We are definitely in a minority, but it is a rather sizable one, and one that when awakened to the necessity of a choice, many of the currently unaware and apathetic, would join.
Recall that the original American Revolution was supported and fought by a minority, but it was a minority who understood the reasoning for their fight, and vocally agitated for it. Such a movement is our only hope today as well. It is only through using Blogs, Tea Parties, and every venue we've yet to consider, to communicate our reasoning, and above all the moral Rightness of it, that a united agitation for a civil revolution has a hope of succeding.
The ignorant and the fools and the two-faced will fall and yield before such a movement in much the same way the amnesty bill was defeated... but it is possible only through union, not disunion. And it must be sustained (as the attempts to revive the amnesty bill through alternate means, shows) - we have to do that - or we don't deserve what we seek.
Of course it too may involve, or even end in, blood - lots of it, but its rightness and prospects are, to my mind, much greater.
Well...
ReplyDeleteAll areas do not have the same number or percentage of parasites.
There are places with the odds in our favor, and those that already have active secessionist movements, and those with burgeoning "sovereignty" consciousness.
It's not as "fringe" as it once was.
I'm not sure the military will participate at the behest of the Progressive Imperial State when they see people like themselves establishing a free state.
This is not 1860. History repeats itself upon those who don't know it, and who ignore the lessons.
Today, the Progressives hate us. Indeed they believe the country would be better without us.
Let's present secession as an accommodation to their desires (as well as our own) rather than a challenge to their authority.
We just need good P.R.
"Today, the Progressives hate us. Indeed they believe the country would be better without us."
ReplyDeleteYes. Which is why they won't let us go, even though they'd prefer to be rid of us.
There's the scene in Atlas Shrugged, where Hank Rearden finally realizes the nature of the situation (btw, here's a good article 'Magical Thinking' I found while looking for the quote online). Where he realizes that the statists know their policies will not work, that they expect him to violate them, generating new sources of power for them - either through more taxes or threat of regulations and punishment (the statist idea of a gold mine), and the more important realization that as much as they hate him, they are depending on him to save them, to keep them going. He realizes it when in a room he confronts them on their latest policy, for every 'idea' they have, he replies how and why it will not work, there is nothing left that will work, and then the worst of them all, James Taggart slurs out "Oh, you'll do something!"
Point being, that as much as the progressives undoubtedly do hate us, even more so they know they need us, as any parasite needs its host. And the idea of our escaping them... I guarantee you, they'd rather see us dead, even if it meant their death in the next instant.
"I'm not sure the military will participate at the behest of the Progressive Imperial State when they see people like themselves establishing a free state."
But that is assuming that all who align themselves with the left, see their side as the imperialists, or see themselves as opposed to the military. Take note that several returning veterans from Iraq, including an Admiral, have run and won seats in congress on the dem ticket. Because we admire and support the military, doesn't mean that all those in the military align themselves with us. It just isn't so.
"This is not 1860. History repeats itself upon those who don't know it, and who ignore the lessons."
No this is not 1860... I put it more around 1845'ish, and while history doesn't repeat, it does rhyme, and it it is open to riffing and improvisation - I think we are yet at a point where we can find a difficult but civil resolution - but that will take those of us who do see the problem, not turning away from uncomfortable social situations and calling those who do not, or wish not to, see the problem.
It'll be interesting to see what Sarah Palin does with her coming free time. A spark struck, fanned and spread, is all it takes. John Adams traced the start of the American Revolution to one speech, James Otis's speech against the writs of assistance... if anyone has the ability to start fires with a word, she does. We'll see.
But we cannot think one leaders actions could ever be enough. We must, through venues like this, but also with friends, relatives and co-workers... we must call them on their thoughtless assumptions and stupid jokes, we must expose the lie at the core of their complacence - or face the consequence. A conflict avoided is a conflict intensified.
This is an important argument, it needs to be had and spread, and I hope you don't mind my keeping this dead thread alive. History doesn't just rhyme, it builds up harmonies with previous choruses. We hear a lot today about secession and even Ceasar, but I think we also need to remember, and even more fear, who came before Caesar, Sulla. If we don't resolve the issue by vocally and continuously exposing the leftists lies, if we don't make it plain that every leftist who utters a peep will be exposed as a fool in every setting, social, public or political... then something like secession will come. And I guarantee you, it will be bloody beyond belief.