At some point in time, you arrive at the same conclusion that Hudson in the movie "Aliens" came to. The game is simply over. The clock may be running, but it is all simply winding down the minutes.
I played football in HS and had to sometimes trudge back out onto the field with 2 minutes left to go, behind by 30 points. We still played, but the game was over and we knew it. We just went thru the motions.
If you look at these numbers, it is inescapable that this is the monetary situation we have in the USA. Read on, please.
I keep on my desktop an abbreviated version of the "US debt clock" (found here http://www.usdebtclock.org/). People look and say "what is that?" and are aghast at the red number spinning around so rapidly Their eyes glaze over and they simply do not respond (or they roll their eyes.... amazing)when I tell them that our debt is such that it amounts to 13.5 TRILLION dollars, or 31,000 dollars for every family in America, every year, for 70 years.
However, bad as this is, it is deceptive. The reason it is deceptive is that it does not count all the debt. It only records WHAT WE HAVE SPENT SO FAR. However, a true business spreadsheet that records debits and credits IN THE FUTURE as well. It counts debts as ACCOUNTS PAYABLE and the total indebtedness as those future payments minus what we call ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE (what is or will be owed us). If you count up the total indebtedness this way, then our indebtedness is over 200 trillion dollars, or over 15 times our present GDP and over 5 times our projected GDP. This is the conclusion of the International Monetary Fund, in its annual review of US monetary policy. These numbers are not new, and have been circulating for some time. They have recently shocked some financial writers like Laurence Koltikoff of Boomberg's , though, who evidently did not know these numbers existed. They are hyperventilating and fulminating as though this was new news. Well, welcome to the party, guys. We have been saying this stuff for years over here in the crazy corner.
In short, it is over. We are bankrupt. The system is broken and there simply is no fixing it in its current state. This situation is fairly much the same in all the Western countries with the possible exception of Germany. Ludwig von Mises was right. Ben Franklin was right. SOCIALISM EVENTUALLY BANKRUPTS THE COUNTRIES WHICH PRACTICE IT.
So, let me ask you a question. If you were an employee of ENRON, what would you do on the days the stock crashed from 90+ dollars down to sub one dollar. Do you think you would be buying a new car, shopping a vacation on the internet, or chatting with your friends about what gossipy news was out there about some celeb? Crap no! You would be hawking your resume like mad, scaling back your purchases, and battening down the hatches because you knew a fiscal storm was coming. In short you PREPARED for what you knew was coming.
I really do not understand the reactions of the American public. They not only do not know what is going on, but actively mock or contemptuously dismiss anyone who tells them that Uncle Massah can't take care of them.
Most of these people would not DREAM of failing to insure their homes, or their newer cars, or their lives, or their health or their retirement (with an IRA). They panic at the thought of those things being naked and exposed, yet are blissfully naive that the whole package HAS TO go over the waterfalls in a few years and refuse to make any plans or provisions for the coming earthquake. This is amazing to me.
At the very least, one would think they could inform themselves, if only to reassure themselves that people like me are truly crazy barking moonbats, howling about fictitious monsters that do not really exist.
Please, if you love your family and your children, at least consider the following:
1)Educate yourself. Stop dreaming that watching Fox news, ABC, NBC, NPR etc gives you a freaking clue as to what is happening. Some great introductory sites are Lew Rockwell (a libertarian site, guaranteed to offend kool aid drinkers of the left and right), agora.com (great financial stuff) and survivalblog.com
2)Put back some basic foodstuffs. Have enough to eat for 3-6 months (at least) if there is no grocery store to run to, or if the shelves are bare,or if a pound of sugar costs 500 dollars. Think about a good water filter. This stuff is CHEAP.
3)Learn some basic self sufficiency skills. Plant a garden. Join a local food co-op. Learn to work on your own car, do basic electrical/plumbing/carpentry repairs, and not be so dependent on the infrastructure of society.
4)PUT ASIDE SOME SILVER COINS. Pre 1964 US quarters, dimes and half dollars are 90% silver. Cash out your IRA if you can, and put at least some of your money in tangible commodity "in your hand" precious metals.
5 Ignore the idiots who tell you that you are "harming the economy" by not spending. Cut back. Spend less. Go camping rather than to Disneyworld, just to see what it is like to "do without." Pay off your debt, and save.
6) Learn to defend yourself in the event of societal breakdown. (yeah, I am a gun guy)
7) Get off the grid as much as possible. Put a wood stove insert in your fireplace. Get some solar panels if that is your interest. Get a generator. Bankrupt a state municipality (lol!)
8) Lastly, turn the damn TV off. Most of the "don't have time" for this results from the average American spending 5 hours in front of a machine that thinks for you.
Most of this stuff can be done with a surprisingly small outlay. For many of us, it will simply involve shifting around spending patterns.
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