Precipice
by Mike Vanderboegh
15 July 2008
Illustration above from the Financial Times
Precipice, noun, from the Latin praecipitium, headlong:
1: a very steep or overhanging place
2: a hazardous situation; broadly, a brink
-- Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Brink, noun, Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse "brekka" or slope
1: edge; especially : the edge at the top of a steep place
2: a bank especially of a river
3: the point of onset : verge, as in "on the brink of war"
4: the threshold of danger
-- Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Frontier: the demarcation point where one passes from one country into another; the outer edges of a nation or a culture where civilization and the rule of law interface with savagery and the law of the jungle. In such dangerous places, firearms are necessary adjuncts to lawbooks. -- Vanderboegh's Dictionary of Political Economy.
Precipice.
Brink.
Frontier.
Call it what you will, but there is where we stand.
On the edge.
On the "threshold of danger."
Where lives and fortunes are made, or defended, with one's own hands, or capriciously snuffed out in an instant.
As a people, we have been here before. Whether we remember enough to get us through this time depends entirely upon us. We have been comfortable, lazy, drowning in affluence. Our material success has papered over the faultlines of our society. That social lubrication is about to disappear like water poured onto the desert floor, leaving nothing but social sandpaper -- flint and steel in a societal tinderbox.
Powder Keg
"I fear that we're sitting on a financial powder keg." -- Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama
My friend Peter from over at Western Rifle Shooters Association has done us the favor of printing the latest prediction of the economist Nouriel Roubini of NYU. As Pete observes, Roubini "has been one of the few economists consistently calling his shots over the past two years, including being one of the first to discuss the then-upcoming American housing collapse in 2006." Robert Lenzner, the National Editor of Forbes magazine, calls Roubini "the economist (I) respect the most about today's financial crisis." (See "How Many Trillions Lost?", Robert Lenzner, 15 July 2008).
Now I have learned in my life that predictions, like opinions and anal sphincters, are ubiquitous. Which is to say, everybody's got one. But when someone has a history of being right as evidenced by events, you should pay attention to his next prediction. As Peter reports and Lenzner comments upon, here is Roubini's: "The U.S. is experiencing its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and will undergo its worst recession in the last few decades."
I am not going to waste space with the details of Roubini's analysis. The beauty of the web is that you can merely click on the link and check the footnotes yourself instantly.
But you should know that even Roubini may be too optimistic, given the fact that, as Mike "Mish" Shedlock of the Global Economic Analysis blog wrote last month, there are "many hurricanes and many eyes" in the economy presently, most of which have not hit yet.
After detailing the various other financial hurricanes out there, Shedlock wrote:
"Rising Unemployment Will Compound Every Problem: Unemployment is a lagging indicator. That fact has been used to suggest the worst is behind. The idea the worst is over is nonsense. The worst cannot be behind until after the hurricanes have landed. Batten down the hatches, the worst is yet to come. Subprime is among the smallest of the storms that will hit. Even still, subprime has dramatically weakened the infrastructure. The economic knockout blow will come from the backside of one of the impending storms."
In one of his latest blog entries, Shedlock jeers at Ben Bernanke's latest testimony on Capitol Hill, observing that
The Unsaid As Important As The Said: Bernanke did not mention a thing about the impending commercial real estate bust. . . The expansion of commercial real estate (Wal-Mart (WMT) , Target (TGT), Home Depot (HD), Lowes (LOW), Starbucks (SBUX), Pizza Hut (YUM), etc., etc., was the last economic driver for jobs). Every one of those corporations and more are cutting back. The Shopping Center Economic Model Is History. There is a rising glut of vacancies and downward pressure on rents. Regional banks that escaped the housing debacle instead foolishly undertook commercial real estate bets. Commercial real estate is just one reason why Bank Earnings Won't Recover. Indeed there are Many Hurricanes, Many Eyes. Bernanke still has his myopic eyes focused on the last hurricane (subprime lending), unable to see the other storms that are approaching."
The armed citizenry is about to come back into its own
We run carelessly to the precipice, after we have put something before us to prevent us seeing it. -- Blaise Pascal
So the storms approach, each promising to be rougher than the last. How much pounding can our national societal ship take before the hull is breached and we founder and break apart?
As I observed on the WRSA website:
"The critical thing will be this: How does our fragmented national polity, divided as it has been by liberal interest group politics and largely divorced for generations from both its moral basis and the land -- the twin foundations of civilization, belief and self-sufficiency -- react to hardship? Poorly, I suspect. The armed citizenry is about to come back into its own."
"Gun control advocates argue that the police are there to protect us from criminals and the military from invaders. But in 1992, the National Guard and police refused to engage hoodlums during the Los Angeles riots, effectively abandoning people to their fate. Nevertheless many Korean merchants successfully used firearms with high-capacity magazines, which Congress has since banned, to fend off rioters. Their stores still stood after the riots." -- "Can Gun Control Reduce Crime? Part 1" , Benedict D. LaRosa, October 2002, Future of Freedom Foundation
Most folks alive today remember 1992. That year gave us triple disasters: Hurricane Andrew, the LA Riots, and the election of Bill Clinton as President.
Many will remember the vivid images of Korean grocers defending themselves and their property from the rooftops of their groceries with (horrors!) those evil semi-auto "assault rifles." Many will also recall the entire neighborhoods in Florida protected from looters by spontaneous militias of armed citizens.
It is instructive that the National Guard only fired twenty shots during the LA Riots, killing just one gangbanger. (See "Military Operations in Los Angeles, 1992" by Major General James D. Delk) Yet 55 people were killed, most of them looters.
Who do you think killed the others?
Who indeed.
The armed citizenry, that lampooned and despised minority of Americans, were the ones responsible. It certainly wasn't "the only ones", as David Codrea has effectively labeled them.
"Nothing beats a race riot"
And so we must expect that, in the societal disturbances -- from individual crimes of theft to roving gangs to racial strife -- that may attend our coming crisis, it will be the armed citizenry that once again shoulders the burden of defending our loved ones, our homes, our property and our communities. This topic was actually a common thread of conversation at the recent Alabama Gun Collectors Association show in Birmingham, Alabama. As much as the threat of further federal encroachment upon our God-given rights is expected, it is the threat of racial and interest group warfare attendant to economic breakdown that is perceived as the greater danger. Obama's presidential candidacy was perceived by some as a double-edged sword with lawless consequences whether he is defeated or elected.
Throughout Los Angeles, people who had never wanted a gun are now anxious to buy one. David Penso, a 20-year-old janitor at a Thrifty Drug Store, recalled watching looters pillage a discount store while the police drove by. "The cops were there," Mr. Penso said, "but they didn't do anything. The only way people can be protected in Los Angeles is if they protect themselves with guns."
. . .
"I always thought if there was a serial rapist or murderer loose my business would go up, but nothing beats a race riot," said Sean Collinsworth, the owner of Deadly Force, a personal gun-training service in Los Angeles. "People are really scared."
. . .
"I've had frantic calls from people who in a million years would never want a gun -- Park Avenue types, for example," said Michael Zirmo, owner of the Zirmo Company, the largest gun seller in New York City. . . . A lot of people realize if you don't look out for yourself, nobody will." -- Timothy Egan, "After the Riots: Los Angeles Riots Spurring Big Rise in Sales of Guns", New York Times, May 14, 1992
From the 7/15/08 online Los Angeles Daily News:
Police ordered angry customers lined up outside an IndyMac Bank branch to remain calm or face arrest Tuesday as they tried to pull their money on the second day of the failed institution's federal takeover. At least three police squad cars showed up early Tuesday as tensions rose outside the San Fernando Valley branch of Pasadena-based IndyMac.
"Nothing beats a race riot."
So the anger and the fear build once more.
On the precipice, the brink, the frontier of all our fears, we must even so make our lives.
As to how we may do so, I give you this modern-day militia training film.
Drums Along the Mohawk
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) is one of my favorite John Ford movies, and probably the best movie ever made about the Revolutionary War - all the more so because the main character is a man who does his best to avoid it.The movie opens in 1776, the year of the Declaration of Independence, a full year after Lexington and Concord. Thousands have been killed in the struggle between the colonies and the King, but Gil Martin is not a part of that. The opening scene depicts Martin's (Henry Fonda) wedding to Lana (played by Claudette Colbert), the daughter of a wealthy Hudson Valley farmer. Martin has already started a homestead further west in the Mohawk Valley, and it is a journey to his rude cabin that that they embark after the wedding, trailing a milk cow behind their wagon. The war is very far away in the minds of these two newlyweds. Yet the war manages to find them. As David Nichols relates in "Ford's Revolutionary America: 'Drums Along the Mohawk'"
It looks as though everything is working out as it should. Their marriage is solid and the frontier is being tamed. But then we are immediately transported to the fort, where the local men are forming a militia.
The mood at the fort is lighthearted and the meeting of the militia appears almost as an excuse for a community gathering. Lana meets her neighbors and lets slip the fact that she and Gil are expecting their first child. The men seem as awkward in their role as soldiers as Lana and Gil had seemed as newlyweds. The soldier calling the role wonders why no one has answered when he calls his own name. He does not yet see himself as a soldier. General Herkimer (Roger Imhoff), an older immigrant frontiersman and experienced military man, gives a speech describing the seriousness of the situation, but the men marching look more like boys playing soldier than a regiment about to face the horrors of war. Ford continues this mood with a scene in which the neighbors have gathered to help Gil clear some of his land. The need for the fort and the militia seems forgotten. The community has come together to build rather than fight.
But this peaceful scene cannot last. The Indians attack destroying Gil's farm and forcing all of the families to seek refuge in the fort. Lana is now distressed that her cow must be left behind. On arriving at the fort Lana goes into labor, but Gil must leave her to join the militia in chasing the attackers, and on his return he learns that she has lost the baby. All of Gil's and Lana's dreams have gone up in smoke.
Indians led by the sinister one-eyed British agent Caldwell (played by an evil John Carradine) have raided into the valley, burning their new home. Poking through the smoking rubble of their burned-out cabin, Gil says: "It doesn't seem possible people can work as hard as we did for nothing."
Lana replies: "We can build again."
They are forced by their loss to become hired help to Sarah McKlennar (played by the marvelous character actress Edna May Oliver), the tart, nosy and plain-spoken widow of a British officer who owns a large farm nearer to the fort's illusory safety.
I'm certain that, watching "Drums Along the Mohawk", I am not the only one to see parallels between Caldwell's murdering renegades and MS-13, the Bloods, the Crips and even the Hell's Angels and other biker gangs of today. Indeed, the atrocities of today's MS-13 are enough to make a 18th Century Iroquois warrior blanch.
Such groups are always empowered by war and social breakdown. And they can only be dealt with in one way -- by killing enough of them in a convincing fashion so the survivors - may they be few - go away to victimize someone else.
"Trust in the Lord and wait until you can make every shot count."
Assuming you are all going to go secure a copy of "Drums" and watch it, I will not waste space giving you the rest of the plot line, save this:
In the end, while even the fort does not prove sufficient to withstand the threat posed by Caldwell, and Mrs. McKlennar and other friends are killed in the struggle, Gil and Lana battle together to win their own future free from war and tyranny.
The armed citizenry of their day learned the painful lessons, lost battles, rose and fought again, finally triumphing.
They faced their precipice.
We now soon will face ours.
To quote one last time from "Drums Along the Mohawk", remember the words of the good Reverend Rosenkrantz:
"Trust in the Lord and wait until you can make every shot count."
Mike Vanderboegh
PO Box 926
Pinson, AL 35126
GeorgeMason1776@aol.com
As a Jewess in the US, I say it is high time that our Congress pass legislation recognizing any NRA membership card as a NATIONAL Concealed Carry permit! Let's take BACK the streets!
ReplyDeleteDoes Mike have his own blog to go through his stuff? He writes fascinating stuff, but it seems to be scattered about the blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteLoren,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliment. As far as my own blog, or lack thereof, it is a common complaint and one which I hope to address as soon as I finish Absolved late next month. David Codrea has been on me since February (with good reason) to do so, and I should have, but I haven't.
If you would like to get my stuff, or the links thereto, directly you can write me at GeorgeMason1776@aol.com and ask to be put on my direct mailing list.
Don’t believe one optimistic word from any public figure about the economy or humanity in general. They are all part of the problem. Its like a game of Monopoly. In America, the richest 1% now hold 1/2 OF ALL UNITED STATES WEALTH. Unlike ‘lesser’ estimates, this includes all stocks, bonds, cash, and material assets held by America’s richest 1%. Even that filthy pig Oprah acknowledged that it was at about 50% in 2006. Naturally, she put her own ‘humanitarian’ spin on it. Calling attention to her own ‘good will’. WHAT A DISGUSTING HYPOCRITE SLOB. THE RICHEST 1% HAVE LITERALLY MADE WORLD PROSPERITY ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. Don’t fall for any of their ‘humanitarian’ CRAP. ITS A SHAM. THESE PEOPLE ARE CAUSING THE SAME PROBLEMS THEY PRETEND TO CARE ABOUT. Ask any professor of economics. Money does not grow on trees. The government can’t just print up more on a whim. At any given time, there is a relative limit to the wealth within ANY economy of ANY size. So when too much wealth accumulates at the top, the middle class slip further into debt and the lower class further into poverty. A similar rule applies worldwide. The world’s richest 1% now own over 40% of ALL WORLD WEALTH. This is EVEN AFTER you account for all of this ‘good will’ ‘humanitarian’ BS from celebrities and executives. ITS A SHAM. As they get richer and richer, less wealth is left circulating beneath them. This is the single greatest underlying cause for the current US recession. The middle class can no longer afford to sustain their share of the economy. Their wealth has been gradually transfered to the richest 1%. One way or another, we suffer because of their incredible greed. We are talking about TRILLIONS of dollars which have been transfered FROM US TO THEM. All over a period of about 27 years. Thats Reaganomics for you. The wealth does not ‘trickle down’ as we were told it would. It just accumulates at the top. Shrinking the middle class and expanding the lower class. Causing a domino effect of socio-economic problems. But the rich will never stop. They just keep getting richer. Leaving even less of the pie for the other 99% of us to share. At the same time, they throw back a few tax deductible crumbs and call themselves ‘humanitarians’. Cashing in on the PR and getting even richer the following year. IT CAN’T WORK THIS WAY. Their bogus efforts to make the world a better place can not possibly succeed. Any 'humanitarian' progress made in one area will be lost in another. EVERY SINGLE TIME. IT ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT WORK THIS WAY. This is going to end just like a game of Monopoly. The current US recession will drag on for years and lead into the worst US depression of all time. The richest 1% will live like royalty while the rest of us fight over jobs, food, and gasoline. So don’t fall for any of this PR CRAP from Hollywood, Pro Sports, and Wall Street PIGS. ITS A SHAM. Remember: They are filthy rich EVEN AFTER their tax deductible contributions. Greedy pigs. Now, we are headed for the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time. Crime, poverty, and suicide will skyrocket. SEND A “THANK YOU” NOTE TO YOUR FAVORITE MILLIONAIRE. ITS THEIR FAULT. I’m not discounting other factors like China, sub-prime, or gas prices. But all of those factors combined still pale in comparison to that HUGE transfer of wealth to the rich. Anyway, those other factors are all related and further aggrivated because of GREED. If it weren’t for the OBSCENE distribution of wealth within our country, there never would have been such a market for sub-prime to begin with. Which by the way, was another trick whipped up by greedy bankers and executives. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. The credit industry has been ENDORSED by people like Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGenerous, Dr Phil, and many other celebrities. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. Now, there are commercial ties between nearly every industry and every public figure. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. So don’t fall for their ‘good will’ BS. ITS A LIE. If you fall for it, then you’re a fool. If you see any real difference between the moral character of a celebrity, politician, attorney, or executive, then you’re a fool. No offense fellow citizens. But we have been mislead by nearly every public figure. We still are. Even now, they claim to be 'hurting' right along with the rest of us. As if gas prices actually effect the lifestyle of a millionaire. ITS A LIE. IN 2007, THE RICHEST 1% INCREASED THEIR AVERAGE BOTTOM LINE WEALTH AGAIN. On average, they are now worth over $4,000,000 each. Thats an all time high. As a group, they are now worth well over $17,000,000,000,000. THATS WELL OVER SEVENTEEN TRILLION DOLLARS. Another all time high. Which by the way, is much more than the entire middle and lower classes combined. Also more than enough to pay off our national debt, fund the Iraq war for twenty years, repair our infrastructure, and bail out the US housing market. Still think that our biggest problem is China? Think again. Its the 1% club. That means every big name celebrity, athlete, executive, entrepreneur, developer, banker, and lottery winner. Along with many attorneys, doctors, politicians, and bankers. If they are rich, then they are part of the problem. Their incredible wealth was not 'created', 'generated', grown in their back yard, or printed up on their command. It was transfered FROM US TO THEM. Directly and indirectly. Its become near impossible to spend a dollar without making some greedy pig even richer. Don't be fooled by the occasional loss of a millionaire's fortune. Overall, they just keep getting richer. They absolutely will not stop. Still, they have the nerve to pretend as if they care about ordinary people. ITS A LIE. NOTHING BUT CALCULATED PR CRAP. WAKE UP PEOPLE. THEIR GOAL IS TO WIN THE GAME. The 1% club will always say or do whatever it takes to get as rich as possible. Without the slightest regard for anything or anyone but themselves. Reaganomics. Their idea. Loans from China. Their idea. NAFTA. Their idea. Outsourcing. Their idea. Sub-prime. Their idea. High energy prices. Their idea. Oil 'futures'. Their idea. Obscene health care charges. Their idea. The commercial lobbyist. Their idea. The multi-million dollar lawsuit. Their idea. The multi-million dollar endorsement deal. Their idea. $200 cell phone bills. Their idea. $200 basketball shoes. Their idea. $30 late fees. Their idea. $30 NSF fees. Their idea. $20 DVDs. Their idea. Subliminal advertising. Their idea. Brainwash plots on TV. Their idea. Vioxx, and Celebrex. Their idea. Excessive medical testing. Their idea. The MASSIVE campaign to turn every American into a brainwashed, credit card, pharmaceutical, medical testing, love-sick, celebrity junkie. Their idea. All of the above shrink the middle class, concentrate the world’s wealth and resources, create a dominoe effect of socio-economic problems, and wreak havok on society. All of which have been CREATED AND ENDORSED by celebrities, athletes, executives, entrepreneurs, attorneys, and politicians. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. So don’t fall for any of their ‘good will’ ‘humanitarian’ BS. ITS A SHAM. NOTHING BUT TAX DEDUCTIBLE PR CRAP. In many cases, the 'charitable' contribution is almost entirely offset. Not to mention the opportunity to plug their name, image, product, and 'good will' all at once. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. These filthy pigs even have the nerve to throw a fit and spin up a misleading defense with regard to 'federal tax revenue'. ITS A SHAM. THEY SCREWED UP THE EQUATION TO BEGIN WITH. If the middle and lower classes had a greater share of the pie, they could easily cover a greater share of the federal tax revenue. They are held down in many ways because of greed. Wages remain stagnant for millions because the executives, celebrities, athletes, attorneys, and entrepreneurs, are paid millions. They over-sell, over-charge, under-pay, outsource, cut jobs, and benefits to increase their bottom line. As their profits rise, so do the stock values. Which are owned primarily by the richest 5%. As more United States wealth rises to the top, the middle and lower classes inevitably suffer. This reduces the potential tax reveue drawn from those brackets. At the same time, it wreaks havok on middle and lower class communities and increases the need for financial aid. Not to mention the spike in crime because of it. There is a dominoe effect to consider. IT CAN'T WORK THIS WAY. But our leaders refuse to acknowledge this. Instead they come up with one trick after another to milk the system and screw the majority. These decisions are heavily influensed by the 1% club. Every year, billions of federal tax dollars are diverted behind the scenes back to the rich and their respective industries. Loans from China have been necessary to compensate in part, for the red ink and multi-trillion dollar transfer of wealth to the rich. At the same time, the feds have been pushing more financial burden onto the states who push them lower onto the cities. Again, the hardship is felt more by the majority and less by the 1% club. The rich prefer to live in exclusive areas or upper class communities. They get the best of everything. Reliable city services, new schools, freshly paved roads, upscale parks, ect. The middle and lower class communities get little or nothing without a local tax increase. Which, they usually can't afford. So the red ink flows followed by service cuts and lay-offs. All because of the OBSCENE distribution of bottom line wealth in this country. So when people forgive the rich for their incredible greed and then praise them for paying a greater share of the FEDERAL income taxes, its like nails on a chalk board. I can not accept any theory that our economy would suffer in any way with a more reasonable distribution of wealth. Afterall, it was more reasonable 30 years ago. Before Reaganomics came along. Before GREED became such an epidemic. Before we had an army of over-paid executives, bankers, celebrities, athletes, attorneys, doctors, investors, entrepreneurs, developers, and sold-out politicians to kiss their asses. As a nation, we were in much better shape. Strong middle class, free and clear assets, lower crime rate, more widespread prosperity, stable job market, lower deficit, ect. Our economy as a whole was much more stable and prosperous for the majority. WITHOUT LOANS FROM CHINA. Now, we have a more obscene distribution of bottom line wealth than ever before. We have a sold-out government, crumbling infrastructure, energy crisis, home forclosure epidemic, credit crunch, weak US dollar, 13 figure national deficit, and 12 figure annual shortfall. The cost of living is higher than ever before. Most people can't even afford basic health care. ALL BECAUSE OF GREED. I really don't blame the 2nd -5th percentiles in general. No economy could ever function without some reasonable scale of personal wealth and income. But it can't be allowed to run wild like a mad dog. ALBERT EINSTEIN TRIED TO MAKE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND. UNBRIDLED CAPITALISM ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT WORK. TOP HEAVY ECONOMIES ALWAYS COLLAPSE. Bottom line: The richest 1% will soon tank the largest economy in the world. It will be like nothing we’ve ever seen before. The American dream will be shattered. and thats just the beginning. Greed will eventually tank every major economy in the world. Causing millions to suffer and die. Oprah, Angelina, Brad, Bono, and Bill are not part of the solution. They are part of the problem. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE HUMANITARIAN. EXTREME WEALTH MAKES WORLD PROSPERITY ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. WITHOUT WORLD PROSPERITY, THERE WILL NEVER BE WORLD PEACE OR ANYTHING EVEN CLOSE. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL. Of course, the rich will throw a fit and call me a madman.. Of course, they will jump to small minded conclusions about 'jealousy', 'envy', or 'socialism'. Of course, their ignorant fans will do the same. You have to expect that. But I speak the truth. If you don’t believe me, then copy this entry and run it by any professor of economics or socio-economics. Then tell a friend. Call the local radio station. Re-post this entry or put it in your own words. Be one of the first to predict the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time and explain its cause. WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE.
ReplyDeleteSo what can we do about it? Well, not much. Unfortunately, we are stuck on a runaway train. The problem has gone unchecked for too many years. The US/global depression is comming thanks to the 1% club. It would take a massive effort by the vast majority to prevent it. Along with a voluntary sacrifice by the rich. THATS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. But if you believe in miracles, then spend your money as wisely as possible. Especially in middle and lower class communities. Check the Fortune 500 list and limit your support of high profit/low labor industries (Hollywood, pro sports, energy, credit, pharmaceutical, cable, satelite, internet advertising, cell phone, high fashion, jewelry, ect.). Cancel all but one credit card for emergencies only. If you need a cell phone, then do your homework and find the best deal on a local pre-pay. If you want home internet access, then use the least expensive provider, and share accounts whenever possible. If you need to search, then use the less popular search engines. They usually produce the same results anyway. Don't click on any internet ad. If you need the product or service, then look up the phone number or address and contact that business directly. Don't pay to see any blockbuster movie. Instead, wait a few months and rent the DVD from a local store or buy it USED. If you want to see a big name game or event, then watch it in a local bar, club, or at home on network TV. Don't buy any high end official merchendise and don't support the high end sponsors. If its endorsed by a big name celebrity, then don't buy it. If you can afford a new car, then make an exception for GM, Ford, and Dodge. If they don't increase their market share soon, then a lot more people are going to get screwed out of their pensions and/or benefits. Of course, you must know by now to avoid those big trucks and SUVs unless you truly need one for its intended purpose. Don't be ashamed to buy a foreign car if you prefer it. Afterall, those with the most fuel efficient vehicles consume a lot less foreign oil. Which accounts for a pretty big chunk of our trade deficit. Anyway, the global economy is worth supporting to some extent. Its the obscene profit margins, trade deficits, and BS from OPEC that get us into trouble. Otherwise, the global economy would be a good thing for everyone. Just keep in mind that the big 3 are struggling and they do produce a few smaller reliable cars. Don't frequent any high end department store or any business in a newly developed upper class community. By doing so, you make developers richer and draw support away from industrial areas and away from the middle class communities. Instead, support the local retailer and the less popular shopping centers. Especially in lower or middle class communities. If you can afford to buy a home, then do so. But go smaller and less expensive. Don't get yourself in too deep and don't buy into the newly developed condos or gated communities. Instead, find a modest home in a building or neighborhood at least 20 years old. If you live in one of the poorer states, then try to support its economy first and foremost. Big business is fine on occasion depending on the profit margins and profit sharing. Do your homework. If you want to support any legitimate charity, then do so directly. Never support any celebrity foundation. They spend most of their funding on PR campaigns, travel, and high end accomodations for themselves. Instead, go to Charitywatch.org and look up a top rated charity to support your favorite cause. In general support the little guy as much as possible and the big guy as little as possible. Do your part to reverse the transfer of wealth away from the rich and back to the middle and lower classes. Unfortunately, there is no perfect answer. Jobs will be lost either way. Innocent children will starve and die either way. But we need to support the largest group of workers with the most reasonable profit margins. We also need to support LEGITIMATE charities (Check that list at Charitywatch.org). This is our only chance to limit the severity and/or duration of the comming US/global depression. In the meantime, don't listen to Bernenke, Paulson, Bartiromo, Orman, Dobbs, Kramer, OReiley, or any other public figure with regard to the economy. They are all plenty smart but I swear to you that they will lie right through their rotten teeth. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. Like I said, you are welcome to run this by any professor of economics or socio-economics. If thats not good enough, then look up what Einstein had to say about greed, extreme wealth, and its horrible concequences. I speak the truth. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.
A word for those who choose to respond with the usual 'I know more than you. I'm smarter than you. Look how smart and knowledgable I am.' crap. Let me say this in advance. I don't claim to be an expert in this field. But I'm no fool either. This is not brain surgery. For the mostpart, its simple math. Which is all I needed to predict the current recession in writing almost 3 years ago. Since then, I've gone on record against people like Greenspan, Bernenke, and Paulson. So far, my predictions have been accurate. Did any of my wise-ass 'know-it-all' critics see this comming way back in '05'? Hell no they didn't. So before you run with all of your stupid insults, you might want to consider my motives. I'm not here for attention or praise. I'm not here to compete with the rest of you. I'm here because I'm disgusted, angry, and scared silly. I really do see this as the greatest injustice of all time. I would cut my own arm off if I thought it would make a difference.
That has to take the record for the longest response to one of my essays, ever. The donation of your arm is not necessary. Catharsis is a good thing, but remember it is short on practical measures. Anger is only practical if it spurs you and others on to, if not solutions, then ways to resist. For example, WRSA has done a great job of presenting the philosophical along with the practical. Just look at all the training media he has streaming down the left side of his blog. Great stuff! Yet I wonder how many of the folks who come to his blog to read the opinion pay attention to it, or even more uncommon I fear, use it to improve their knowlege base. A wise man I know once said, "Bitchin' never fed the hogs." -- Vanderboegh
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