Mac Slavo
March 16th, 2013
SHTFplan.com
Over the last few years political and financial leaders in Europe and the United States have implemented policies, regulations and bailouts costing global taxpayers trillions of dollars with the promise that these measures would lead to economic growth and recovery.
What happened in Europe today is yet further proof that nothing they’ve done has fixed the underlying fundamental issues surrounding the events that led to the crash of 2008.
For those who don’t believe the government is prepared to take extreme measures that may include the seizing of retirement accounts, cash savings or even gold, look no further than Cyprus, the latest recipient of bank bailouts.
As of right now, citizens of Cyprus are scrambling to withdraw funds from their bank accounts after the EU, with agreement from the Cypriot government, announced they will decimate funds held in personal bank accounts to the tune of up to 10% of existing deposits.
You read that right.
The European Union has made the determination that the people of Cyprus are now responsible for the hundreds of billions of dollars in bad bets made by their government and bank financiers, and they are moving to confiscate money directly from the bank accounts of every citizen in the country.
Restrictions have been imposed to stop people emptying their accounts or moving their money out the country after the Cypriot government announced that up to ten per cent of deposits will be seized and used to bailout the island’s crisis-hit banking system.
The deal with other eurozone finance ministers is the first time that ordinary citizens’ deposits have been directly raided in this way.
…
One furious expat said: ‘This is plain theft. I’d love to hear someone explain to me why it isn’t.’
…
Under the deal, all bank deposits over €100,000 will be hit with a levy of 9.9 per cent. Those with smaller savings will pay 6.75 per cent.
…
The move sparked panic and violent protests yesterday as crowds desperately tried to withdraw their money at cash machines.
…
‘Why would you risk putting your money in Greek, Spanish or Portuguese banks after this?’
British expats were stunned by the news, with many left high and dry by the restrictions on accounts.
Cash machines had been working, but many ran out of notes because of the panic withdrawals.
…
But financial experts said the raid – designed to stop Cyprus crashing out of the euro, potentially destroying the currency – would send shock waves through the eurozone.
If savers in other troubled nations fear their accounts might be next, they could withdraw their money and spark a catastrophic run on the banks.
Source: Daily Mail
They’re calling it a “tax.”
As Market Ticker’s Karl Denninger notes, “Like hell that’s a tax. That’s direct confiscation of the funds of people who did nothing wrong!”
It should now be obvious. There is no recovery. There never was.
No matter where you live, your government is likely preparing measures to deal with the coming financial and economic collapse. This means they are going to be coming for anything of value that they can get their hands on.
If you have the majority of your net worth allocated in bank accounts, money market funds, retirement plans, stock markets or the host of other ‘safe’ assets recommended by your financial adviser, then you are playing Russian roulette.
And in this version there’s a bullet in every chamber.
When they come, they will take everything they can.
Great Moments In Socialism
Cyprus “saved”;
The most positive aspect of last night’s deal was that a deal was reached at all, and that some steps have been taken to counter moral hazard. However, overall, this is a bad deal for Cyprus and the Cypriot population. Cypriot GDP is likely to collapse in the wake of the deal with the possible capital controls hampering the functioning of the economy. The large loan from the eurozone will push debt up to unsustainable levels while the austerity accompanying it (along with the bank restructuring plan) will increase unemployment and cause social tension. There is a strong chance Cyprus could become a zombie economy – reliant on eurozone and central bank funding, with little hope of economic growth. Meanwhile, the country will remain at the edge of the single currency as tensions increase between members with Germany, the ECB and the IMF now looking intent on a more radical approach to the crisis.
Amazing what you can do to an unarmed populace.
Last week:
– it’s a one-off they say
– it’s unique, never need happen again
– special case, doesn’t apply anywhere else
Today:
It’s a good template for Europe.
Get ready USSR (or Oz) for your SHTF plan. Unknown whether it WILL actually be adopted as a way out for unruly gubberments. Better be ready to hedge your bets and stuff your mattress/freezer/Glen20 cans with as much cash as they can handle – although cash won’t hold the same market value as gold, probably.
Come on sovereigns, anaarchovarks, and expats, the Cypriot Banks are hoarding only $164 Billion Wizard of USSA Emerald City Doll Hairs in their Eurocrypt. The heist nets them only about $12 Billion.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-18/cyprus-bank-assets-dwarfing-economy-to-make-aid-exception.html
We trade some hard assets for their not-that-funny money, bail them out, and take superior title to the land. Then throw out their laws, but still pay the same taxes to pay the bankster and bureaucrat pensioners to report to their office buildings that are rechristened as the Cyprus World Agora Complex.
New World Order? Baaaad!
New World Agora? Gooood!
Defy Father Robert Barron (Almost Sounds Like Robber Baron!)
http://www.catholicnewworld.com/cnwonline/2010/0509/barron.aspx
Don’t rely on your local police or military for your safety, it’s not Christian!
Sell your cloak and buy a sword!
Are you a NWO Tyrant Christian or a NWA Freedom Christian?!
WWJD?!!
Don’t let Them wash your brains!
http://archive.org/details/Gulag_Archipelago_I
http://archive.org/details/Gulag_Archipelago_II
http://archive.org/details/Gulag_Archipelago_III
http://archive.org/details/BlackBookOfCommunism
http://archive.org/details/FromMajorJordansDiaries-TheTruthAboutTheUsAndUssr
http://archive.org/details/TheCreatureFromJekyllIsland
http://archive.org/details/TheSubversionOfAmericaByTaxExemptFoundations-1953Investigation-The
http://archive.org/details/DoddReportToTheReeceCommitteeOnFoundations-1954-RobberBaron
http://archive.org/details/Unced1992GeorgeHunt
http://archive.org/details/GeorgeHuntUncedEarthSummit1992cobdenClubsPapersaldousHuxleythe_125
http://archive.org/details/H.g.Wells-TheNewWorldOrder1940AndTheOpenConspiracy
http://archive.org/details/NewDarkAgesConspiracy
http://archive.org/details/HiddenDangersOfTheRainbow
http://archive.org/details/thetwobabylonsor00hisluoft
So how will this World Conservation Bank scheme work exactly? How will the mundanes of the world find themselves crowded into municipal Gulags, while Banks own most of 1st) the wilderness and 2nd) the productive land? A dual personality dialog.
Tor1 – The World Conservation Bank will be enacted by the United Nations, and will need to be approved by every country participating. Let’s assume that our senators and representatives allow this thing to happen. Then the Bank will be endowed with 30% of the earth’s land surface.
Tor2 – Now WHO is going to do that? Governments around the world will give title to their wilderness lands to the WCB?
Tor1 – Will give title to the lands to the World Wilderness Land Inventory Trust. It will be en-trusted. Sounds good, huh? It can’t be bad if it’s a trust.
Then this Trust will go floating into the WCB by the unanimous decree of the world’s people, saying, God Bless you for saving our reindeer. That kind of a mentality is where they’re coming from. The people at the Fourth World Wilderness Conference congress were ignorant. They don’t suspect anything. They’re VERY naive. Not stupid, ignorant.
Tor2 – Which people do you mean?
Tor1 – I’m talking about the conservationists. Conservationists and ecologists comprised about 60% of the people there. About 30% were government, United Nations and other bureaucrats. The other 10% were world banking heavyweights who were there with axes to grind and pencils to sharpen.
So the bank is endowed with an asset, an asset worth how many trillions? I don’t know. Their accountants are going to evaluate this 12.5 billion acre hunk of wilderness land and then the WCB will have the power to act as a world central bank. It can create soft currencies, not hard currencies, at this point. Soft currencies are now used, for some purpose WITHIN a country. But now the soft currencies can be spent outside of a country for environmental and ecological equipment. Well, hello, International Harvester, Mack Truck, etc., they’re going to bring those soft currencies into the US and we’re going to have inflation as they implement Agenda 21 and then the Gulag.
Tor2 – That will be an international currency, in other words. You’re calling it a soft currency, but in effect it’ll be an international currency.
Tor1 – Not an international currency in the sense of a one world currency because it’s not a hard currency, it’s not legal tender for all international transactions, yet. Through currency and debt-for-equity swaps they’re going to wheel and deal it from soft into hard somehow. Those Bankster guys are smart.
Tor2 – Let me see if I understand. A World Conservation Bank will be set up and into a trust will be vested title to 30% of the world’s land surface, 12 1/2 billion acres.
Tor1 – So now they could issue loans, and they can create currencies for in-country use.
Tor2 – Yes. In other words, they’re issuing loans. They loan money for certain specified purposes to these countries. Assume that say, Brazil, puts up the Amazon Basin, and they get credited a certain amount? Then there’s a certain amount of loans they can draw down against that “deposit”, so to speak?
Tor1 – How it will work I’m not sure. Hard to divine the exact technique, they’ve published all the policies and enactments and resolutions. There could be a gradual loan swap for Brazil, taking them out of their old loans and putting them into a new WCB loan, which will then sweeten the loan on the Chase Manhattan’s balance sheet, and will take it out of non-accrual and put it back into the healthy loan column once again.
Tor2 – Or else pay it off.
Tor1 – Or they could pay it off, right. They could call it anything they wanted to. They could pay them off lickety-split.
Tor2 – But what’s really happened is that the Brazilians will have given up title to millions of acres of land and in exchange Chase Manhattan will get its loan to Brazil paid off by the WCB.
Tor1 – You got it.
Tor2 – I got it.
Here’s how the ‘Fact Sheet: World Conservation Bank’ published by the Secretariat of the Fourth World Wilerness Congress states the scheme:
“The World Conservation Bank would finance, directly and through syndicated and co-financing arrangements:
“1) the preparation, development, and implementation of national
conservation strategies by developing country governments:
“2) the acquisition/lease of environmentally important land
for preservation of biological diversity and watersheds:
“3) the management and conservations of selected areas.
“And plans for the WCB propose that it act as intermediary between certain developing countries and multilateral or private banks to transfer a specific debt to the WCB, thus substituting an existing ‘doubtful’ debt in the bank’s books for a new loan to the WCB. In return for having been relieved of its debt obligation, the debtor country would transfer to the WCB natural resource assets of ‘equivalent value’. Or, developing country debts under foreign assistance programs, which have little hope of repayment, could be retained in-country and applied toward conservation, reforestation, or rural agricultural programs through the WCB.”
Tor1 – I believe that World Bank loans, as they stand now, are not collateralized. They’re entering into a new era of loan collateralization. They’re saying, Okay, the next step is that we want collateral, so that when we loan-swap this debt, and we’re going to own the Amazon if you default. Remember, as the Brazilians are not going to be able to pay that off. The Brazilian PTB know they’tr going to lose the Amazon they put up as collateral.
Tor2 – These are debt for equity swaps, which they’ve been talking about for several years. They’re going to make their bad loans good by collateralizing them after the fact with all of this land, and somebody, somebody, SOMEBODY is going to end up with title to 12.5 billion acres. Is that right?
Tor1 – That’s right. The collateral behind whatever loans are in the WCB at the time, if the WCB goes belly up. There’s a whole see-saw of things that are going to happen. They have multi-, multi-trillions of dollars upon which they can create currencies and loans, and they’re going to begin to barter and countertrade and loan-swap against the United States.
How is this project being put into effect? Is it being installed under the auspices of the United Nations?
Tor1 – I think so. There was a United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development created in 1982 that published what’s called the Brundtland Report, actually entitled OUR COMMON FUTURE.
Tor2 – How fast are they moving? When will they unveil to the world this WCB they’ve put into action?
Tor1 – As soon as they can, because as Rockefeller said, “the good news is that the collapse of the monetary system that was predicted by some regarding all the major borrowing countries has been resolved ‘temporarily’ by extending the debt.”
There is no way that they could pay off this temporary extension of debt. So the bottom line everywhere is, we’re going to have a financial collapse in our country if we DON’T let them have the WCB.
In a video, Baron Rothschild said, “You have decided. This will be a second World Marshall Plan.” And I said to myself, “Did we say that? Nobody I know said that.” I realized the significance of what he had said. That there will be a resolution, because he wrote it on a resolution sheet, I saw video of him doing it. That means that the governments are going to guarantee the debt of the WCB. Now Russia was a lot of the wilderness lands, and I see that Russia is going to get a lot of the loans. When they default, the US is going to get to be the turkey again.
Tor2 – But still, in the end, SOMEBODY is going to end up with title to those lands, and I suggest that these somebodies are these same moneyed interests that were so much in evidence at this Fourth World Wilderness Conference.
Tor1 – Exactly, and they’re going to be in back of the bank loaning currency and cash flow to the WCB to keep it alive, to give it the appearance of profitability. The bank will be running on an accrual basis. On paper it will be recognizing profits received on interests, but the interests will NOT be coming in because these countries cannot pay. So my hypothesis is that the kings, cartels, and moneychangers of the world will be in the back of this bank in the position of creditors.
And we will be herded and heckled by Agenda 21. And then us mundanes of the world will all be crowded into municipal Gulags.
Wow Tor!
And you’re spot-on. It’s begun already; they’re collateralizing our loans with US lands. The Chinese are getting industrial villages; there are dozens of them, one in Idaho is something like 50 square miles, and will be modeled after Shenzen City.
And the UN? Yeah, they own the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and others. They’re “wildlife preservation” areas; they’re called “World Heritage” sites.
In reality, they’re now Rothchild-Rockefeller-Saxe-Coburn-Gothe private parks. And you are NOT welcome on them.
But that’s all liberal, right? For the greater good? Preserving the Earth?
And if you don’t like it you’re a racist extremist. Shut up. Do as you’re told.
Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago should be required reading for libertarians, right next to Atlas Shrugged
I’m so grateful to my father who forced me through it when I was about 13.
Speaking of which, I need to re-read it.
Can anyone recommend a practical book, even “fiction”, of resistance techniques? We’d all do well to be diligently versed in methods of peacefully undermining evil; and not-so-peacefully defending ourselves against it.
John Wesley Rawls’ Patriots is pretty good…
LOL great minds! I just read my first Rawles book…damned if I can remember the title right now. It’s the one with the Chicago couple who make their way–mostly walking–to their Redoubt in Idaho, taking security jobs along the way. The protagonist has an HK91…a Real Man 🙂
Is that Patriots?
Eric, a few years ago there was a film (movie) produced based on a book by Thomas Harris titled “Hannibal Rising”. It portrayed the state of Lithuania during the second world war. In the first few minutes agents of the state (in this example the USSR) killed and ate the protagonist’s four year old sister.
People who live in downtown Atlanta and other western metropolitan domiciles have no idea at all what they are about to face. They honestly think essays like that are fiction.
Morning, Badger!
“People who live in downtown Atlanta and other western metropolitan domiciles have no idea at all what they are about to face. They honestly think essays like that are fiction.”
Absolutely. They live in a fog of American exceptionalism…and believe that “it can’t happen here.” It not only can – it already has. Small-scale incidents thus far. But they provide a window into the dark soul of quite probably millions of our “fellow Americans.” People who would – and will – act exactly as Lenin’s NKVD politruks and Hitler’s Einsatzkommando did. Perhaps, worse – as some will be little more than a golden horde, rampaging across the land.
But I fear the latter-day golden horde far less than I do the more likely scenario: That most Americans will beg for an authoritarian state when the economy collapses.
Dear Badger, Eric,
No kidding.
Just look at some of the flash mob robberies that are going down even today, when “Law and Order” supposedly prevails.
https://www.youtube.com/results?q=flash%20mob%20robbery&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&gl=TW&sa=N&tab=w1
Now imagine how brutal it’s going to get when the S really HTF.
We got a hint of it during Katrina, but just a hint. The dystopian future depicted in “The Road Warrior” is not far off the mark.
Clover pols demand to know “Who needs a semi-automatic AR-15 with a 30 round box magazine?”
Sheeple who robotically parrot their anti-gun rhetoric will find out soon enough.
“Who needs a semi-automatic AR-15 with a 30 round box magazine?”
People who are foolish enough to rely on a varmint round when their lives depend on it–Real Men(tm) use 7.62×51 NATO when it counts!
🙂
(Now donning fire-proof suit for the inevitable flaming from pro-5.56 crowd…)
All joking aside, the 5.56-is-too-small debate rages on. I’d rather not be shot with either. I’m still convinced you’re better off with the larger round…but every time I go to the range with the HK91 I come home bruised. With the AR, it’s “pop-pop-pop” all day long and nary a whimper.
I’m also much more accurate with the AR; probably because I’m not anticipating as much. And follow-on shots come more rapidly with the lower recoil.
I hope we don’t have the opportunity for side-by-side comparisons; a macabre Consumer Reports article comes to mind…”During our testing of over 500 rounds through both weapons…”
Dear Meth,
No argument. I was referring more to the pols’ rhetoric than the specifications of the gun.
They keep harping on the AR-15 because it was allegedly the gun used at Sandy Hook.
As we know, it was not.
I too am an HK-91 7.62 Nato and 1911 .45 ACP fan.
I too consider the 5.56 Nato and 9mm Parabellum rounds to be too dinky.
In the car world they say “There ain’t no substitute for cubic inches.”
The same rule holds in the gun world. There ain’t no substitute for bore diameter.
That said, I might still get a 5.56 and 9mm in the future, just in case the SHTF.
I’m sure that the 7.62 Nato and .45 ACP ammo would still be widely available. That’s one of the reasons I like them.
But it’s always good to have even more options.
I’m surprised though that your HK recoils that much. I’m guessing you were shooting prone, with the buttplate up against the top of your shoulder bone.
The HK semiauto action absorbs a LOT of recoil.
I shot a friend’s Winchester Model 70 in the relatively lighter .270 Winchester caliber. The solid breech and hard buttplate turned my shoulder black and blue after only two full magazines.
By contrast, my HK was a pussycat. Ditto my Remington 1100 12 gauge.
Correctamundo, prone does it to me. Bench shooting I’m fine.
Still–those AR’s really are easy and delightful to shoot.
The perfect defense weapon for a woman; light, accurate as hell, much more powerful than a handgun and I think easier to shoot. My wife agrees–and she’s good with a 40 S&W Glock.
Bevin what do you think of the 40S&W? I’ve grown quite fond of it…and I’ve read that good loads have more energy than a 45…
Dear Meth,
Unfortunately I don’t know too much about the .40 S&W except what I have read.
No first hand experience.
What I read was largely positive. Just what the theoretical justification was all about. Large enough, but not too large. Sort of “mama bear.”
Theoretically though I still tend to favor the Elmer Keith argument for handgun bullets. Larger bore, heavier bullet.
Why? Because velocity is too slow for hydrostatic shock. Therefore bore and weight are the ruling factors.
Ditto, the 7.62×51, mine is a Springfield M1A, and .45 ACP for me. I have a ranch rifle in .223. Don’t know yet what it’s good for but ammo is plentiful, at least.
I carry various 1911’s and clones and one Colt Double Eagle, which is bulky but a good, fast pistol for the car. Those are my workhorse weapons, though I have some double action .357s that get carried once in a while.
9’s don’t interest me much and I never had a .40S&W. Maybe someday.
The only 9 mm I like and would like to own is the Belgian “fabrique” Browning Hi-Power – simply because it is a work of art. But for work, I want a .45 – like my Sig220. It is by far the best pistol I have ever owned. Even though I have not been able to keep up the level of practice I’d like (due to ammo costs and my desire to have some on hand) I can still shoot with very serviceable accuracy with that unit. I also like that it’s CC doable – while most standard 1911s aren’t.
Dear Ed,
I considered getting a Ruger Mini-14 years ago but never got around to it.
It’s probably good for “close in work,” the way the AK variants are, but neither is terribly accurate.
Not a lot of motivation there.
Dear Eric,
I shot a fellow gun enthusiast’s Browning HP at the range one time. A gorgeous gun. Almost too nice to shoot.
I think the most sensible 9mm pistol to get would be a compact Glock 19, or subcompact Glock 26.
The 9mm is such a small cartridge, the Beretta P9 is way oversized for the cartridge it is shooting.
Sort of like the 4 cylinder T-Bird Ford made back in the 80s. A vehicle that large should not have such a small engine.
If you’re going to use such a small engine, you should put it in a smaller car.
Amen!
Though in defense of the Browning: The reason – so I am told – it is called Hi-Power has to do with its “throw weight” (to use an old Cold War term). It’s a double stacker, so capacity is about twice that of a single stack 1911 or Sig. Thus, while the individual .45 round has more stopping power, you’ve only got 7-8 rounds. With the Browning, you can send more lead downrange. I suppose it comes down to how well you shoot. One or two well-placed hits with a .45 ought to drop any single threat. But if you need more than 7-8 rounds to connect with your target, the 9 mm might be the better choice!
Dear Eric,
Re: CCW
I never had any problem with my 1911.
Yes, it was big, but it was FLAT. It fit flat against the waist. With a loose shirt over it, it was invisible.
The real consideration was not size, but weight. I do understand why people get chopped down versions of the 1911.
Hi Bevin,
I suppose what’s comfortable varies for everyone. And of course, the type of clothes one wears is a significant factor. It’s easier – well, more comfortable – to carry a full-frame 1911 if you wear long pants and a jacket, etc. I tend to wear cargo shorts and T shirts; I can’t remember the last time I wore a proper jacket! I also don’t like belts – and that means I’m limited as far as holster types (I use a clip-on “inside the pants” model).
My Sig “carry” is physically smaller than a standard 1911, so even though it’s fairly heavy, I am still able to CC. I used to carry my Bersa .380 (PPK knock-off) but I have grown somewhat ambivalent about its stopping power as well as its accuracy. Up close (10 yards or less) it’s ok, but even then, it doesn’t even compare to the Sig. If I ever had to shoot in a situation with other (innocent) people around, I’d want to be shooting the Sig.
Dear Eric,
It is highly subjective.
But it’s interesting that most people are talking about pistols rather than revolvers.
I’ve never been a fan of modern DA revolvers. Even the .38 snubbies are still bulky due to the diameter of the cylinder.
Even though a 1911 (or Sig 220) is huge viewed from the side. it is amazingly THIN/FLAT viewed front to back. Its thickness is determined by the diameter of the cartridge plus the thickness of the grip frame.
I do like SA revolvers for the nostalgia factor.
Revolvers definitely have their merits – especially in terms of bang for the buck.
$300 or so will buy you a decent quality .38 or .357 – either of which is very adequate for defensive purposes. Also, of course, there is the revolver’s simpler – and hence, less problem-prone – design. It’s hard to hurt one and even with less-than-fastidious maintenance, they usually will work (and be safe). They are also inherently idiot-proofed in that you have it manually pull back the hammer/depress the trigger to cause the gun to discharge. A “cocked and locked” 1911 in the hands of an idiot can be dangerous!
Dear Eric,
Re: DOD adoption of the Beretta M9
The reason they adopted the .45 ACP in the first place was that the .38s they had been using were inadequate.
American units fighting Moro guerrillas during the Philippine-American War using the then-standard Colt M1892 revolver, in .38 Long Colt, found it to be unsuitable for the rigors of jungle warfare, particularly in terms of stopping power, as the Moros had very high battle morale and frequently used drugs to inhibit the sensation of pain.
The U.S. Army briefly reverted to using the M1873 single-action revolver in .45 Colt caliber, which had been standard during the late 19th century; the heavier bullet was found to be more effective against charging tribesmen.
That’s how bad the problem was. They actually reverted to old west SA revolvers. The .45 Long Colt was a real stopper.
In other words, the .45 ACP was the solution to a problem. By replacing it with a 9mm, they recreated the very problem they previously solved.
Insanity.
I admit the 7 round limitation on the 1911 mag is a consideration. I can live with it just fine. But I can understand why others might have a problem with it.
The Glock 21 addresses that problem pretty well with its 13 round mag, although at the expense of the flatness I spoke of earlier.
I went to Walmart over the weekend. Where I live is kind of in the boonies and there isn’t a bunch of industry, most people with decent jobs commute. Anyhow, I’ve never seen so much shit marked on sale there. All the aisles were packed with shit they can’t get rid of. No bull, there were like 100 huge tvs in boxes sitting out and marked at about half off! People don’t have the money, or are not willing to purchase the stuff now. Seems the clock is ticking faster!
It might not be that bad of a sign. Yes, it’s bad that economic activity is slowing but there is a bright side IMO. Because the horrible crash hasn’t yet happened, that people aren’t off the cliff yet… It’s showing a financial maturity on the part of the people. If they have the money or not they are deferring spending on crap they don’t need until later. They are either saving or at the worst not piling on more debt. That can only help in the long term.
“People don’t have the money, or are not willing to purchase the stuff now. Seems the clock is ticking faster!”
In my area, I have noticed a fair amount of new construction going on – and also more traffic. Yet there are no (or very few) new industries/jobs here – that I am aware of, at any rate. Roanoke’s number one “industry” is – surprise – the government. “The schools” being the largest single employer. After that, various other forms of government “jobs.” So where is the new money coming from?
It comes from the end of a banker’s pen. (ie. thin air)
To quote Karl Denninger, “IT has started.”
Theft is one word that comes to mind.
Brings back images of people putting their money in mattresses due to lack of faith in the financial institutions.
I used to laugh at those people. Perhaps they were not as crazy as I thought.
Dear Mith,
Ditto.
Few if any scenarios can be ruled out as “Too bizarre!”
Human beings are amazing creatures, capable of both extreme good and extreme evil.
Basically, anything one can imagine human beings doing, sooner or later some human beings will get around to doing them.
Individual examples include Jeffery Dahmer.
Collective examples include TPTB behind the 9/11 false flag operation.
In Oz, our beloved [koff.. choke..] ABC didn’t report that funds will be taken directly from accounts. Theft plain and simple.
Dear Rev,
Yup.
It had to happen, later if not sooner.
The disguised plunder had to become more and more obvious and flagrant as the “official” crime syndicate known as “The Government” found itself more and more strapped for cash.
Fewer and fewer concessions to etiquette. More and more “Hand it over — or else!”
Example: Chuck Schumer’s “Ex-Patriot Act”
Strange to say but…
I love it!
It’s THIS kind of thing that de-legitimizes the State; and gentlemen, the more they take off the gloves, the more people will be recruited to our side.
The gun-grab. The money-grab. The freedom-grab. The tens of thousands of cop brutality videos on YouTube; it all feeds directly to us.
It’s our job to do three things:
1) Predict loudly and often to everyone you know that this stuff is coming here, because our “leaders” are psychopathic authoritarians run by psychopathic foreign bankers.
2) Document these acts when they happen and loudly say “I told you so”
3) Protect yourself without violence if possible. Don’t keep a big bank balance; keep it thin and put every dollar of slack into gold, silver, guns, ammo, and food
The fuckers at the top have reached that peak they always do in every empire-gone-mad; the hubris, arrogance, decadence, and dissipation are reaching a syphilitic madness. They’re making critical tactical and strategic mistakes.
Don’t be under the edifice when it crumbles; be outside shooting video.
And when it’s done, find everyone you warned and get started rebuilding. Post-collapse, they’ll finally listen.
Dear meth,
Exactly!
At this stage, the last thing we want is “good government.”
Better that the moral outrages committed by “The Government” are as flagrantly unjust and backlash-inducing as possible.
So-called “good government” would diminish the pain, moderate the outrage, hence prolong the life of the Leviathan State.
Bring on the Caligulas and Neroes.
The Chris Dorners are essentially the modern counterparts of the Praetorian Guards who turned on the Roman Emperor Caligula.
Better that the last straw comes sooner rather than later.
Funny how events in Amerika today are in near perfect sync with the plot points unfolding in “Atlas Shrugged, the Movie.”
Bevin–exactly! It’s stunning. Right down to the types of weapons they’re developing, and the glee they take in them–remember the sound-cannons in Atlas Shrugged? They have them here.
But what stands out for me is the nature of the people who revel in reflected power from the authoritarians. They’ve never fired a gun in their lives; but they feel powerful because they support the Regime and its enforcers.
It’s the most sickening cravenness.
Dear meth,
“But what stands out for me is the nature of the people who revel in reflected power from the authoritarians. ”
Right.
Most prominently represented by the Neocon “Benevolent Global Hegemonists.”
Talk about clueless.
They are utterly blind to the connection between the rise of Imperium Americanus abroad and the loss of liberty at home.
Methyl you never cease to amaze me with your gung ho attitude! You can find a bright side to *any* disaster 🙂
“If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly”
In deference to our friend Bevin I should have spelled “gung ho” as “gōnghé”, the Anglicized version of the original Chinese. Perhaps someone else will render it in Chinese script for us.
It was an old saying of the US Marines.
Dear Badger,
I always wondered about that.
I knew it was a Marine thing, and I knew it sounded very “Chinese.”
But I was never sure whether it was actually derived from Chinese or not.
You just inspired me to look it up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gung-ho
The linguist Albert Moe studied both the origin and the usage in English. He concludes that the term is an “Americanism that is derived from the Chinese, but its several accepted American meanings have no resemblance whatever to the recognized meaning in the original language” and that its “various linguistic uses, as they have developed in the United States, have been peculiar to American speech.” In Chinese, concludes Moe, “this is neither a slogan nor a battle cry; it is only a name for an organization.”[1]
One American slang expression is almost certainly derived from Chinese American broken English:
“Long time no see.”
… the phrase may have derived from the Chinese Pidgin English used to facilitate communication between Chinese and English speakers… It may be compared to the … Mandarin phrase 好久不見/好久不见 (Hǎojiǔ bùjiàn), which can be translated literally as “long time, no see” (or, word to word, “very long time no see”). This may have entered American English in the 19th century via Chinese immigrants and their descendants, and into British English by way of the Merchant Navy and the Royal Navy[citation needed]. The lexicographer Eric Partridge notes that it is akin to the phrases “no can do” and “chop chop”.[4]
Heck Bevin, the fall’l probably kill ya’… 🙂
Don’t be under the edifice when it crumbles
Go to Argentina. Or Chile. Maybe Bolivia? All of those places the Nazis went when the time was ripe. Perhaps it will work as well for you as it did for them.
Make no mistake; if you live in the United States of America and you don’t have a very serious problem with what is happening, you are a Good German.
Dear Badger,
Don’t go to Bolivia.
Remember what happened to Butch and Sundance.
LOL!
Many of us here have entertained the idea of leaving. But the “where to?” is problematic. Central and South American countries may be ok for people who are in a position to retire on accumulated savings – maybe. Because even then, the countries we are talking about are not much more stable than this country and certainly don’t have superior respect for the sanctity of property. I’m by no means convinced that one would be better off fleeing.
My thought – which I have acted on – is that the most practical course is to retreat as far away from major population centers within the US as possible. To acquire land/pare down one’s expenses and learn to be as self-sufficient as possible in preparation for what’s coming. So that when it does come, one’s odds of riding out the storm will be better.
Now, if this country goes all-out USSR, people like us will be in the position of Ukrainian kulaks – and it’ll be the ditch or the equivalent of Siberia for us. In which case, losing everything but our lives by fleeing may be the best option.
But for some – and I include myself in this number – the prospect of abandoning everything we have spent decades to acquire, to start over in middle age with nothing in a foreign land among people foreign to us, is less appealing than standing our ground, come what may.
Even if it means we lose.
Ditto what Eric said.
I’ve been VERY close to expatriating–most likely to Chile.
I still might, if we can muster the funds, buy some land down there Just In Case; there are two Galt’s Gulches forming.
But as Eric said, their concepts of private property might not be perfect.
Chile has “reasonable” gun laws; but you’re registered and monitored. You can’t bring your Evil Black Rifles; I’m sure there are ways around it, but if TSHTF and you’re out popping rioters with your AR, you’d be toast in a hurry.
Everything else about Chile sounds idyllic; large, prosperous middle class, very low taxes, thriving economy, excellent climate. Most of us would fit right in physically–they’re more European than the Europeans.
But what keeps me here is the DNA of liberty, that burning ember, the racial memory of FREEDOM. It lives; it’s just been battered all to hell. But every time I see The Look in someone’s eyes who’s been awakened, who’s determined Not To Take It Anymore I’m convinced this is still the right place to be.
Will it be “America” after the crash? Yes. Will it be the “United States”? No. I seriously doubt it will be fifty states happily united under a benevolent DC dictatorship.
But the ideal of “America” will survive; probably in southern and southwestern states reaching up through the “Redoubt”–Idaho, Montana, Wyoming.
America has been the focus of attention for the Illuminati for a very good reason–it’s the center of everything they hate and fear, it’s the embodiment of revolution against tyranny.
If good people stay here and fight for it, we’ll beat them back worldwide. If we leave in droves, we’ll enjoy a few years of peace whereever we go…until the psychotic bastards have conquered the whole world.
Eric I agree with your strategy and your ideology. I have seen South America and the food needs work, though the wine is excellent. It’s not so much they don’t respect private property as they don’t respect property at all. They seem to respect “the good life” (clothes, food, drink, dancing, the arts) but have little time for cleaning up the back yard. It’s hard to characterize. I would not want to live there but it’s a great place to party.
I would also pick a rural location in the US and keep my head low. My thinking on avoiding Siberia is to almost radiate humility. I’m not sure if it will work but as time goes by and my resources continue to be scarfed up by the tax feeders the shoe just keeps fitting better and better…
The problem for me is I’m an inventor/designer and it’s a little counterproductive to be humble all the time. Eventually you get recognized or you starve. It’s quite a quandary.
Good luck with subsistence farming, I’d rather do it here in the US than anywhere else. When I get too old for it (which will be soon) I’ll probably get on one of those really big ships and not get off until I’m dead. The food will suck but there’s always shore leave…
Hi Badger,
Perhaps the greatest conundrum – the one that I’ve wrestled with for years without success – is simply: How do we (those of us who subscribe to the NAP) assert our right to be left alone, to live – and let live? I have devoted my energies to spreading the message to the extent I am able. But I often return to the nagging doubt that perhaps we’ll never get anywhere without organizing and closing ranks. In other words, become a collective – the very thing we revile. Of course, our collective would not be bound by coercion – and that’s no small thing. But can it be effective (even assuming it could be realized) absent some sort of “closing of the ranks” for a common purpose? And how can this be achieved? In any given community, there are people who share our views. But we are always in the minority – or at least, have been thus far. Perhaps it will be possible to sway enough of our fellow citizens – the roughly 20 percent critical mass discussed here often in the past. But even once we have achieved that 20 percent, that 20 percent must be active. Must assert itself. That’s no small thing, either.
Theorizing is intellectually stimulating – and important. But action may be necessary, too. The devil’s in the details there, of course!
Methyl Chile is a nice country and as far as the climate goes you can pick what you like, all the way from Saharan dessert to Mediterranean foothills and sub arctic tundra. Chile has it all. Well, almost. Chile is short on jungles, you have to go further north for those.
Spanish is important but you’ll need to acclimate, the Chileans speak a unique dialect. Luckily, Chileans are friendly and most will want to practice their English on you, which can get in the way of learning Spanish. After you make a few friends you can negotiate a linguistic trade pretty easily.
The wine country between Santiago and the Andes is particularly attractive.
Argentinian beef is overrated in my opinion but their Malbecs are not. A decent European trained chef could make a killing in Mendoza.
I’ve got a better idea. Chile and Argentina are close 2nd and 3rds. How about some rich investors start making floating islands out of floating concrete and selling them as pods. Then when you buy your floating island pod you can also decide to join a group of pods and thus mooring together by cables and ropes for safety or for personal defense or for economy of scale. I suppose some kind of anchor or propeller to keep you from drifting into a continent or near the shores of another established government. The great part is if you decide you no longer like being part of a colony you could un-moor and thus truly secede. This sounds much better than being a Galt’s Gulch in say Argentina, Chile, or Texas because you can’t be sovergn there no matter how you cut it in an established territory. Ocean is basically the last fronteir here on earth and probably the only place where small island anarchy could amount to be capital success.
Hot Rod
“In other words, become a collective…”
Eric….this is the catch-22 I spend considerable time pointing out to would-be counter-punchers. That ball looks ok, until you hit it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZkgRwpkh7c
20%? Back part of Pareto is a good start.
Here’s the rest of it, give or take:
80% are pup tent pitchers & weenies, beans & marshmallow ante’ers. They will fold immediately. And become eyes/ears for the blackhats right after that, if not sooner. 80% of the 20% are just waiting for the baleful gaze that will be directed their way before their “hard cores” – stale, past due date marshmallows – will also bubble & blacken in the flames. They will join the eyes/ears gang, too. 20% of the 4% will survive. The rest will perish or be locked up.
Counter-collectivizing is a rationalization for those other, real, drivers (“the prospect of abandoning everything we have spent decades to acquire, to start over in middle age with nothing in a foreign land among people foreign to us”). Not appealing prospects to me either, but…. Sociopathy & success came up awhile back. Trappings figure prominently in the socio definition of success, & if you can conceive power as a trapping, then trappings are the whole ball of…unraveling rubberbands . Trappings vs “losing everything but our lives” is a preference call…but I can always get new traps, if I’m alive. “Guy told me one time…” “Having enough time…”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrDLPuoQSLs
What I am trying to calculate are possible incoming xenophobic threats if I’m too much “contrast”, somewhere, when the greater depression vapor lock hits. Amerika is going to be ground zero. Swapping that for ground zero point six would be a cruel irony I’d like to avoid. But, practically anywhere but Europe was preferable, last time.
Floating Island Concept of a sovereign nation int he middle of the ocean a pure tropical paradise as a truly free and autonomous nation. Here is an example for the Maldives but the concept could easily be used 200 miles away from any nations shoreline.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2187598/Maldives-unveils-floating-future–complete-luxury-golf-courses-undersea-tunnels.html
For those of you that didn’t know that there are concretes that float, basically the idea was used by the US Navy in WWII to create artificial carrier bases in the ocean for plane refuel. The idea is to use a popcorn form of mica for the aggregate. This mica instead of sand and rocks with the cement makes a concrete that floats naturally. Add to this that if this concrete is used to make a boat that displaces water you can have 2x insurance that he boat island never sinks. Natural bouyancy and Arichimedes displacement of water equal to weight of floation. Basically an unsinkable island. May Galts Island be started now? Please? I’ll be a buyer and manufacture there long as I don’t have to pay HOA taxes to the governing anarchy.
Regards,
Hot Rod
Ayn Rand had a very nice way of predicting the future. I like her idea of Galts Valley, though in real life the idea is lacking. The reason of course is that in her novel she expected the rich to retire and the productive but unrich class to strike by producing as little as possible. This of course sounds much more enticing to the already rich and not the aspiring to be rich. The truth is that for an effective producer’s strike to be effective both the current rich and productive and the aspiring to be rich need to grow at expesnse of the parasites. One possibility is to cut of the legs of the spider by simply destroying its vehicular motion. Bitcoin as a primitive example. The other is to resort to a physical location away from the unproductive. The problem with Rand’s novel being a reality is that the only place for true autonomy is in the ocean or in space. Over taxation is everywhere and unless seceding is a costant threat nothing will ever limit it, not even a floating island in the sea. Island maybe. Valley maybe less likely because unlike the novel nobody can keep the local corrupt and contrived polica out.
No I’d argue that the best way to end this is to restructure it from within. Either as a monetary parallel currency or in a way of financing tehcnology and growth companies. Bernard von NotHaus and the liberty coin is not a feasible approach to a parallel currency as noble as the man was to helping because its too top down centralized. Digital currency backed by or in trade for hard currency is the only answer. As far as financing I’d say that the largest way to strike as a productive class is to provide defense engineers a better way to make a salary. Being a technological entrepeneur in the free market is much more rewarding then being a defense employee, problem is that they are too myopic to know that with all the incurred bills and taxes. So most the engineers and scientist make big money and they spent that and future money already. They are a cog in the bank-government owned machine. And long as its true they are going to be making war and spy weapons against us. We need these people on our side, the more the better. This may naturally occur when the nation defaults or if we want to get them to strike voluntarily we need to offer a parallel route away from debt financing dependence. Galts Gulch for the already rich is better than starving in a big dumb empire and again I’m not against Chile or Argentina as a castle hold doctrine, but a better approach might be to strike offensively instead of defensively as portrayed in Ayn’s fun novel. I still like the floating island idea though its a bit out there, because it could be a last true tax haven. Also the aspiring rich that is the new industrialist could benefit because it could still expand by outside commerce with people who don’t take the vow. Think about the fact that an entrepeneur is paid in direct proportion to the value he/she delivers to the marketplace. Thus a gulch that has to remain hidden or is viable to only the least amount of people who take the vow is not going to deliver the most productive return to the growing rich. We need both the current rich as well as the productive and knowledgeable class that is growing rich or aspiring to do so. Basically the 20% that produce 80% of the pareto principle to go on strike against the status quo. This can only happen in a alternative and competitive system and not in a defensive hold pattern of a Ayn’s Gulch.
Hot Rod
Regards,
Hot Rod