So, What Are You Going to Do About It?

[More than the torrent of debt money the central bank has pumped into the U.S. financial system, it is lies and delusions that have so far sustained prosperity’s dying gasp.  In the guest commentary below, Wayne Razzi argues that there are worse things to fear than economic collapse itself – namely, the loss of basic rights and freedoms as hard times cause politicians to seek radical solutions.  Will the sovereign individual be able to resist the encroachment?  It is time we pondered the question, for reasons that Wayne makes clear. RA]

My last predictions here could loosely be summarized as follows: “Why what should happen probably won’t because they’ll do whatever it takes to achieve their outcomes…” The recently replay of the 1980 Silver Heist, with its curiously-timed margin hikes, reinforces the suspicion that Their playbook hasn’t changed in the interim.  I reference it only because it appears that the powers that be are about to enter another phase during which they’ll need to work their old plays aggressively. As I survey the sphere, I see something resembling reality attempting to intrude upon the farcically engineered state of stock-market utopia that’s been presented for our consumption by the ever-reliable mainstream media (MSM).  I feel embarrassed to write this, but is it still possible that a correction could be allowed to occur?  It certainly seems overdue. Dig around a little and you’ll find that the GDP is closer to 0.5%  — and likely on its way to below zero in real terms if you strip out all of the government life-support contributions and tune out the illusions.

Normally I’d be able to continue writing about how we could see things begin to falter — the obligatory chain-reaction that would cause over-levered (i.e., weak hands) to panic much as they were forced to do in 2008. However, quite honestly, I can no longer enthusiastically offer economic and market prognostications as I once did.  Doing so seems as pointless as the staged events and staged reforms that will surely follow.  The reason?  Dark clouds.  These are what preoccupy me almost exclusively, for they figuratively represent one of the most important questions of these times. A quote from the French economist Frederic Bastiat is appropriate here: “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”  And to amplify the thought, here’s another from John Madden, coach of the Oakland Raiders at the time:  “Everybody says the Raiders cheat. OK, we cheat. So, what are you going to do about it?

We at Rick’s Picks, and at several other forums and alternative-media sites, know They cheat.  We also know, in many cases, how egregiously They cheat. So, what are we going to do about it?  All of us should now know that we wake up every day, consumers of a fraud slickly packaged by the MSM.  And yet, I’d bet that many of Rick’s readers have successfully spread their alternative, reality-based take on the economy to friends, family and co-workers.  Economist Paul Craig Roberts, on the other hand, quit attempting to bring the truth to light after decades of failed efforts that he ultimately described as futile.  He said the American public was not able to believe their own eyes, ears and minds.

Patriot Act

So where does that leave us?  At the moment, we are prisoners laboring in futility. Hyperbole?  Not at all. As many of you who have posted to the forum seem to understand, The Powers That Be could change the rules at any time, altering property rights and basic freedoms as they are wont to do – and which they will soon find themselves needing to do radically.  Check out the new and improved Patriot Act to get a sense of where things are headed.

As most of Rick’s readers are aware, Bastiat wasn’t remarking on something new.  Exploitation of humans by other humans has a much longer history than a mere few centuries.  Under the circumstances, and despite what many believe, the off-the-grid solution, although highly attractive in some ways, remains vulnerable if not executed in conjunction with many like-minded neighbors.  And even in that case, it remains far from a sure thing.  This effectively forces an unavoidable confrontation between those who cherish true liberty and those who are willing deploy coercion in its many forms to restrict liberties.

Nearly 20 years ago, I’d joke with fellow traders on the options floor that, armed with Technical Analysis and a thorough knowledge of the game, I’d soon grab the market by its heels, invert it, and shake the money out of its pockets.  I overworked the visual, but it still brought a cheap laugh every time I said it.  At the time, I would never have envisioned that there would be some “They” endlessly shaking us all down as a matter of routine. But here we are.  And although what we face is nothing new under the sun, it might be the most important question of these times: “So, what are you going to do about it?”

(If you’d like to have Rick’s Picks commentary delivered free each day to your e-mail box, click here.)

  • Rick Ackerman June 5, 2011, 11:10 pm

    A great thread! Thanks for your insightful commentary, Wayne — and thanks to all who contributed to the discussion.

  • 24K June 5, 2011, 9:39 pm

    Hey Ricky Baby!

    Your title is the name of my song.

    What You Gonna Do?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjPJ45kmDz8&feature=player_embedded

    Word

  • tom silver June 5, 2011, 9:30 pm

    Good point, John Jay.

    The people should ask Obama why did he lie to them.

    And if his answer should be that he didn’t realize at the time that it would not be possible, then we should ask him why did he lie to us about his competency to be a president.

    May-be it is a good idea to start demanding that the promises be fulfilled, no matter what. We should not tolerate his cover of “not achieved” no more. “If it didn’t happen the way you sold it to us, then you’re a liar and a fraud, for much has been surrendered on the promise of those intentional lies.”

  • ben June 5, 2011, 11:23 am

    It is not in the power of any individual to resist the power of the US governement. The better question to ask is…Where do we flee to?…and maybe more importantly even…When?

    “What are you going to do about it?”…RUN is what you should do. Anything else will get you jailed or killed. I’m not a coward, but not a martyr either.

    • John Jay June 5, 2011, 4:24 pm

      “Run” is the word, Ben.
      For right now it is probably safe to just keep a low profile and stay out of trouble.
      Let’s see what happens in the next election. I know it is hard to believe, but we may wind up with a POTUS that exceeds Obama in selling us out. I didn’t vote at all in the last election, but I think I remember Obama promising to bring the troops home, promising to post all pending legislation on the internet for our review, and a host of other things that also never happened. I heard Bill Gross on a Bloomberg interview saying he sees ZIRP going on for years. Duh!
      Like the Fed has a choice.

  • NickT June 5, 2011, 7:20 am

    What a load of….yes, a load of you know what.

    The simple thing is we are beyond the point where I have to ask you to invest in my idea. We are now where I don’t care what you think, I take your money by force and do what I want. Get it? And that is a cardinal sin. Once beyond this point, society must collapse. It is this simple.

    Beyond that point, dishonesty must grow exponentially, and it has grown. Why you ask? Because young have a sixth sense for what works. They take it as their religion. They sense that honesty doesn’t pay, and they act accordingly. You can’t be the only smart ass, – dishonesty is not a rocket science!

    Kids use dishonest money every day, and it gives them plenty of bad ideas. That is why it is called “Dishonest”.

    All this claptrap in defense of socialism is easily seen as just that. The main point behind any socialism is to take from working by force and give to not working. If this is the case, than anyone who has IQ above that of a lizard wants to be on receiving side.

    Soon, the majority is on the receiving side. Is this not true of today? How many are receiving benefits paid by others? How many “work” for government? For God’s sake, the president himself hasn’t worked a single day in his entire life!

  • Tom June 4, 2011, 12:52 pm

    Hey everyone, this is my first time here (nice site!) and i’d just like to add that it’s going to end badly for humanity because of our “way of life” on the planet (and all the issues you speak of, unresponsive corrupt governments, personal value degradation, churches gone astray, the corporate take-over, etc., are all symptoms of the great collapse or “bottleneck” we’re now going though):

    http://questioneverything.typepad.com/

    • Roger Erickson June 5, 2011, 3:29 am

      Symptoms are never the cause of anything, but rather the result. We’re simply facing a task of scaling group-coordination across a still growing population. Something or someone will scale up beyond how we now operate. There’s a chance that entity will be us, but it’s up to us to decide if we want our descendants to stay in the running.
      There’s a long list of still undiscovered things we have to start doing in subtly different ways. The bigger question is what methods we need to parse & explore our options faster. Austerity isn’t going to cut it. When the going gets tough, the tough get going – to explore more options faster, in a race to discover what permutation of tuning tactics will work, before it’s too late.

  • raul June 4, 2011, 3:58 am

    If you do not take the government benefit, then the one who does, – wins.

    If everyone takes the government benefit, then the unjust system collapses.

    You can go all day long and teach people by your own example to not covet. Once your track is cold, they will turn around and take what they can, and they will win.

    This is because everyone mentions “fighting”, but have you asked yourselves, fighting against whom? Your neighbor on the left supports your views on welfare, but will he support destroying the union that feeds him at work? Your neighbor on the right supports your views on Social Security, but he very much likes the fact that you are taxed to death to support schools, and to pay NASA billions for delivering him colorful pictures of neighboring galaxy to which even light has to travel hundreds of years.

    No one knows who is who. And no one agrees on anything. Take a very very basic premise formulated by Jefferson: “No one can possibly delegate any authority (vote) against the property of someone else, for he himself does not possess the ownership of the property in question in the first place.” How many will agree? Oops, no more “free” schools, no more mandatory “collective insurance”, no more NASA, no more 99 percent of the things we enjoy by stealing it from others! Not too many will agree, majority will convict you immediately.

    In situation like this only stopping the system by abuse works, and it works like magic. It is like an infection, – you do not need to work hard to explain to someone how it is done.

    • Randy J June 4, 2011, 6:17 pm

      Socialism always dies. Why? Because it runs out of other peoples money. The people that STAYED self sufficient, debt free, serving one another out of love and growing most of their own food win. I minister to homeless people all they time. They and their forefathers forgot how to take care of themselves. In the collapse, they are in real trouble.

      Is “winning” having more stuff or is winning still being alive??

      In the short term you may be right – THEY seem to win. In the inevitable collapse based on borrowed money, overcoming covetousness is the only way and WE win. It may be like the Mennonite, we all move to Belize to make do for a while (they now run 20-30 of the economy there). In the end, the meek really do inherit the earth.

    • Roger Erickson June 5, 2011, 3:19 am

      > “No one can possibly delegate any authority (vote)
      > against the property of someone else, for he himself
      > does not possess the ownership of the property in
      > question in the first place.”

      This gets murky. Just ask any Native American what they think about confiscating property. Only rational thing to do, ever, is make a suggest about where we can all BEST go from here.

    • Roger Erickson June 5, 2011, 3:24 am

      > Socialism always dies. Why? Because it runs out of
      > other peoples money.

      You’re missing the deeper point if you think nations, cultures & species live & die on their invented forms of “money”. Whether its commodity-based or public-initiative-based-fiat money, the survival of a sovereign nation depends on whether that population can sustain aligned public initiative. The form of bookkeeping used is incidental to the honesty & group-intelligence of the population. That form can play a minor role, but will never be the determining factor in national survival. All forms of money/currency mal-policy are just the symptoms of underlying discoordination.

  • dan June 4, 2011, 2:44 am

    the only freedoms you have are what is being given to you by TPTB.. To really fight the system,you are alone…Until we restore ALL states militia..we are alone..to face the power of force.IE governments local,state,federal, and worst the “public”…..I feel this summer the unwinding of our society will commence and continue to digress to a point of anarchy….then in comes the POWER of force to “help” with the problems…..this is where YOU will be really on your own…and survival will be a 24/7 job……

  • Randy J June 4, 2011, 1:07 am

    Remove covetousness – yah, actually.

    Be the Change.

    One individual, one family, one group just serving the weak one at at a time. One company operating honestly and justly at a time.

    If the Pastors who went off to war and near certain defeat against the British Empire did qualify under “remove covetousness” nobody ever has.

    There is no property rights, no limited government and no justice so long as covetousness quietly moves from hearts to ballot boxes to vote ones self a pay raise from his neighbor’s wallet. THINK ABOUT IT.

    Live by covetousness, die by covetousness.

  • roger erickson June 3, 2011, 11:36 pm

    Paul Craig Roberts did a good job describing what was happening, but not why.

    Example: (from Amazon review of his book)
    “Bottom-Line: Roberts believes ‘the end is near,’ and will occur when China et al get tired of assuming the risk of holding U.S. dollars and T-bills. At that point the dollar will no longer be accepted as the reserve currency (some already are trying to change to the Euro), and current holders will either rush to buy up U.S. hard assets, or convert their dollar-denominated assets into the new reserve currency – making the dollar worth . . . ? ”

    Switch to the euro? China a threat to fiat currency?

    There are things to be done, but it’ll never be simple. It gets harder daily to achieve any coordinated alignment among 312 million people – and counting.

    Regardless of all the details, we are primarily seeing a problem of scale. Even well meaning bureaucrats are sensing the failure, because our size alone is forcing higher proportions of control-freaks into policy offices, and forcing out any & all of the mavericks that could help us explore our group options faster.

    just google “careerism in the military” to see how the control-vs-dynamics class warfare is continually playing out even in the DoD officer training programs, the most professionalized training program in the world. Even they can’t see the forest for the trees.

    What to do about it? Think long & hard, and avoid cluttering group discourse with simplistic solutions. Fact is that with any growth, what tuned our population yesterday WON’T scale up to work on tomorrow’s population. We have to invent something new every year, by changing, adapting & evolving policy.

    Giving up is not an option, because the masses, the bureaucrats, the lawyers, and the control freaks will follow you wherever you go. Even if you escape briefly, your kids will face the problems you ran from. What kind of preparation is that to train them on.

    • redwilldanaher June 3, 2011, 11:41 pm

      “Giving up is not an option, because the masses, the bureaucrats, the lawyers, and the control freaks will follow you wherever you go. Even if you escape briefly, your kids will face the problems you ran from. What kind of preparation is that to train them on.” – Truer words..

  • Randy J June 3, 2011, 9:59 pm

    What to do about it? In the words of Gahndi – BE the change you want in others. The problem – covetousness in various forms. The solution – remove covetousness from our own hearts, words, hands, and lives.

    1) Don’t take government hand outs and benefits – and the lame excuse that well I paid for it, its my money is pretty much like saying two wrongs makes a right. King Solomon and David basically had it right … envy not the kings dainties for they are deceitful meet. You’ll end up vomiting up all they feed you. (I’m paraphrasing here)

    2) Don’t be covetous in business either. Corp America and the welfare folks who COULD be working and choose not to are just opposite ends of the same inner problem.

    The American Revolution was essentially began in Pennsylvania – the one place where Quakers weren’t hung, stoned and starve to death by the others state sponsored churches around them. Quakers abhorred making oaths to the King. It was Quakers ministers being whipped so cruelly for not getting a liscence to preach that caused “Give me liberty or give me death” to spoken by America’s founders.

    3) Make sure we understand that well over half of the officers in the American Revolution were Pastors.

    IMO the ONLY way to preserve liberty again for all religions is for all Religions and Lodges to teach David and Salomon’s teachings on government, what it should and should not do. King David wrote EXTENSIVELY on “the whorish woman” meaning the church under a foreign kings control and the “deceitful meet” foriegn welfare system used to take over nations.

    YES SOCIAL SECURITY IS A FOREIGN TREATY ORGANIZATION… Nothing new under the eh?

    The real cause of America’s problems is government being a Provider instead of a Protector of Rights … thus letting the government be our Religion when it comes to caring for the poor. The Amish don’t generally take hand outs, they make be the only large group with a sound understanding of the Bible left.

    4) Change that, teach churches to BE churches.

    Again, churches and synagogues MUST teach self governance and to NOT take welfare and that it is OUR job to serve one another. THAT is the real solution Revolutionary War style, IMHO. Without this step, we’ll probably just get another tyrant no matter who wins the war.

    • redwilldanaher June 3, 2011, 11:37 pm

      “…remove covetousness…” – nothing short of the 2nd coming broadcast in realtime in place of American Idol will achieve this in great numbers. Oh, and a tweet about it from a Kardashian might be need to occur in tandem for good measure.

    • Randy J June 4, 2011, 6:32 pm

      Its sort of a Jewish world view to say this, but earth becomes heaven or earth becomes hell based on our choices. Earth is all we get. Maybe there is no heaven but the one we make. Maybe hell is right here.

      If Earth is ever to have a second coming – whatever that is … it will be because we choose to be more heaven like one person at a time. We are already seeing the children of 3rd world dictators that go to school in America want to BE the CHANGE back home.

      From 100s of years ago to now, mankind is probably better at not killing each other off over differences of believe. The planet IS improving.

      Yah, politically in America we have a bunch of pot smoking hippies from the 60s in congress, but I suspect with 17% unemployment, they will be largely thrown out. I predict a Mitt Romney win and super majority in both houses. The end of 70 years of socialism in America is almost here just as Isaiah saw 2600 years ago. Obama’s betrayal of Israel as all but guaranteed this.

    • Rich June 8, 2011, 2:07 am

      Resist not evil…

  • VegasBob June 3, 2011, 9:39 pm

    I agree that the system is probably too far gone to be fixed. However, there are a couple of thoughts that do occur to me.

    If change is possible, it will not come from the voting booth. Armed resistance here in the USA will not bring about change either; it will be ruthlessly suppressed, making Syria or Libya look like heaven on earth. The only possible path to meaningful reform is through passive resistance, and even that is not guaranteed to work.

    To begin resistance, stop all discretionary spending. The only vulnerability the system has is its pocketbook. Stop flying, rather than submit to TSA sexual assaults. Cancel cable. Grow fruits and vegetables rather than buy them in stores. And so on.

    I would leave the USA tomorrow if I thought there was someplace better. Unfortunately, virtually all of the industrialized countries are implementing police states, albeit to varying degrees.

    • redwilldanaher June 3, 2011, 11:33 pm

      Great points VB but why not leave the system behind? I think we can leave it behind if the right approach is taken in the right states…

    • Steve June 4, 2011, 12:09 am

      The Republic was left behind in 1867, why not leave democracy behind by defunding it. Defunding the republic worked in 1867, why not today against democracy. Quit using the benefits of democracy and fiat government. Yet; according to some we must come up with some brand new paradigm – is anything new under the Sun ?

  • fallingman June 3, 2011, 6:44 pm

    Wayne Razzi…redwilldanaher…you have produced a gem of an essay my friend. Precisely spot on. Well done.

    I agree completely, and I sure as hell don’t have many answers. All I can say is this, on a personal note to all of those who can see how things are shaking out.

    Don’t let it get you down. It’s one thing to see what’s coming, decry it, and struggle to deal with it. It’s another to allow an appreciation of the stark realities to ruin our enjoyment of life. They really win if that happens…and we have nuthin’, even if we come out okay financially and with some rights still intact.

    It’s fine to drop out. It’s fine to be a warrior for truth, but be a blissful dropout or a happy warrior.

    Can’t say enough about your insight here, Wayne. You clearly “get it.” I’m just sorry that “getting it”…in a world that doesn’t…can be such a drag sometimes.

    • redwilldanaher June 3, 2011, 7:06 pm

      Thanks very much for the kind remarks fallingman. I must say that I greatly appreciate your comments here at Rick’s when I read them. Actually, Rick’s essay is always good stuff but the forum comments combined with it make it worth at least one daily visit! My thanks to Rick for a little “streamlining” with this essay. The past month has been a little more difficult than most and Rick’s editing produced a superior offering compared to my unfiltered output.

  • Steve June 3, 2011, 6:06 pm

    @ Confused, the discussion of silver Specie Coin being discontinued for the federal union of states in 1964 – 71 is confounded by the confusion between the federal union of states versus the several States Union, as well as what U.S. citizenship legislatively created under the 14th amendment, and Citizenship with Endowments far more ancient and antecedent to the state its self is in actuality. As stated below one must look at the legislative intent of the Act, prior to legislative senate/house conference and name change, of what became the Gold Bullion Act of 1985. Title 31 United States Code is “Public Policy” which is where the termination of circulation in the federal union of states occured in 1964. (Title 31)

    I’m not going to do the work for you CONFUSED. Call Treasury, and the Mint and find out if a 2011 Coin silver Dollar coined today is Legal Tender as struck, and also ask what it takes for a Coin to be coined as Legal Tender. Every one has the Right of Private Contract to state what money is in the Law of the Contract. (watch out in contracting with the federal union of states – they cheat, lie, and use Roman Civil Law)

    The “all” of what is going on in the U.S. corporation is ‘contract’. No business is required to contract with anyone to conduct business in money that they do not wish to use. But, once a contract is established on what money is, the law of the transaction, then the use of that form of money can be enforced. (the federal reserve scheme continues because of mobocracy – and the will of the masses to make use of fiat fraud because fraud can be committed in its (fiat) use). If one is contracted to the federal corporation, one is obligated to obey the contract of voluntary use of tally in slavery.

    Today, if one is not contracted to the federal mobocracy, the “knowing” use the masses (that is Joe Sixpac) via Nash’s Non Co-operative Game Theory to make being Sovereign so painful that it is just easier to go along and trade like everyone else. Silver Specie is Legal Tender, but; try finding another person to TRADE lawfully with. That is how Nash’s theory works. As long as the federal corporate system can confuse Joe Sixpac into fear of loosing something that Joe does not even own (debtor in possession) the jury will continue to commit treason in mass against the Sovereign in Common who is Lawful. The legislator/government officer does not commit treason – the jury does, but; the government refuses to prosecute the corporate enfranchisee individually. There is always a statute like Ore.73, ch. 836, sec. 11(2) an exception that prevents claims against the legislative body, but; 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Title 31 set up the ‘face’ number quid pro quo in tender of silver Specie. The federal union of states corporation must take silver specie Coin Legal Tender in payment of fees, and I have done so at 2-50 silver Dollar value Eagles, and 50 silver Dollars for a 150 court fee. The rub under Nash’s Non Co-operative Game theory is that the corporate enfranchisee gets the benefit of slavery and only needs to put forth 150 federal reserve notes while I put forth 150 in 50 silver Specie Dollars and 2 50 Dollar ‘value’ Eagles extinquishing the obligation, while the 14th amendment enfranchisee took the benefits of being a corporate legislative slave.

    You know what CONFUSED; I am TIRED. The masses do not care about right and wrong, lawful versus legal. What is left is for democracy to run its course into violent destruction, citing Federalist Paper #46, and Soldier’s Training Manual TM2000-15 118-119. Joe Sixpac doesn’t know his arse from a hole in the ground and doesn’t care if things STINK. As long as Joe Sixpac sits in the jury pool people who seek Right over Wrong will be punished for using silver Specie Coin Legal Tender minted/struck from 1986 – to the present.

    The discussion in regard to a U.S. citizen enfranchisee being foreign to an American National, and the fact that federal reserve banks are foreign and prohibited from ‘use’ of Sovereign Money, and thus; that current Specie Coin is distributed “foreign” (ie; via foreign banks) is something one must be able to understand in spheres, time, plane, and space. In simple terms a 14th amendment citizen is foreign to the several States, which enfranchisee U.S. citizen looks at something Sovereign as foreign. Foreign banks get the silver Specie – remember the jeweler/shaver/banker, ie; private bank.

    YOUR ENTIRE GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM VIA 28 U.S.C. 3002(15) is Executive/Commander in Chief having executive/corporate executive offices (C.E.O. Obama), executive legislature, executive/adminstrative courts, all under the COMMANDER IN CHIEF. Most everyone operates under an entirely military system/ scheme. It is so simple to see, but; all are blind it seems. Obama puts up his Commander in Chief Flag as the Law of the Contract and Joe Sixpac just ignors the truth. The Flag is in YOUR FACE – ignor reality, or see reality = the masses do not give a darn about what is real. Pass the Beer, let me Trade, let me !!!! I DON’T WANT TO KNOW THE STINKING TRUTH.

    Steve June 1, 2011 at 11:11 pm
    @ Confused May 31, 2011 at 9:29 pm
    Steve “Silver Specie Money, still minted, still scorned, still the one money that can be used,”

    Forgive my ignorance, but wasn’t silver specie money discontinued in 1964? I am not aware of any silver specie money still being minted, could you expound on that thought please?

    Answer; The Act of 1985 established silver Specie Dollars (same value as the Act of 1792), and Eagles at 50 specie Dollars. According to the Mint these are Legal Tender Coins. One must read the legislative intent of the Senate in voting for the bill to provide “Exinguishment of Debts”.

    Problems come into play when a voluntary corporate enfranchisee slave attempts to make use of Specie which is only for a Common Man, having Common Rights, with all Sovereigns in Common. The corporate system is run under Roman Civil Law, the entire corporate U.S. as defined at 28 U.S.C. 3002(15) is a foreign entity not allowed the use of Sovereign Specie Coin Money.

    Like all things, the name of the 1985 bill was changed at the last minute to the Gold Bullion Act of 1985. Yet, when one reads the legislative intent it is to provide Coin to the People so that they could break free. The current federal union of states scheme works because of THE GAME THEORY that makes it very hard to Trade in Specie. All banks, and nearly all business is foreign, and corporate thereby making non co-operation a difficulty. Top that with the fact that a U.S. citizen is foreign to a state Citizen because of legislative creation of the U.S. citizen under master/servant law-legislative act of the new god, the congress for corporate roman government.

    Do not co-operate, but; that means doing business by private contract exterior of the current federal union of states mobocracy. We are the Union of several States – get it? It is hard – yes ? NO – we are just lazy as a people and want everything handed to us, including free healthcare.

    Using Specie is not nearly has hard as being responsible and standing up for what is right.

  • Brad June 3, 2011, 5:32 pm

    Rules and charts guide us, but I suspect we’re approaching a season in which the events that unfold will be observably linked to Biblical prophecy. Our personal opinions about prophecy won’t matter because, I believe, there are people at the very top who are pushing us toward the End Times.

    • raul June 3, 2011, 9:07 pm

      So true, I agree with you. There is always a reason for the cataclysmic collapse, – it is the prevalent decadency. That is why the problems are ignored at first, and then deepened to support the status quo, until there is a physical impossibility to maintain the order, and then the collapse ensues.

  • Lj June 3, 2011, 3:44 pm

    the “dark clouds” LEGALIZED LARCENY and TERROR you describe are found… right there in the (so-called) “holy bible.”
    Exodus 12:36 “The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they PLUNDERED the Egyptians.”
    other translations use the words “DESPOILED” & “STRIPPED the Egyptians of their wealth” for “plundered” http://bible.cc/exodus/12-36.htm
    (although note how the bible.cc site tries to spin above as harmless “borrowed” and “it was owed,” etc.)

    We know that the fleeing israelites had TAKEN GOLD from SOMEONE, because of that golden calf story – they covered their ‘graven image’ in gold, which is not found just lying there in desert sands by a downtrodden, panicked people in flight!
    A close & objective reading of Exodus reveals that the israelites were probably another – of many – HIRED MERCENARY WARRIOR TRIBES the Egyptians (and all other empires) used to BUFFER their empire.
    Of course throughout history, the subordinate hired tribe(s) often gain more strength than their masters (see the Anglo-Saxon mercenaries hired by Roman-Briton leader Vortigern to repel Celtic invaders – the Saxons under Hengist & Horsa soon conquered the Britons) – and this appears to be the case in “Exodus”.
    See also the original “night of Long Knives” bloody purge by Moses & Aaron’s Levites, Exodus 32:27
    http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+32&version=NIV
    _“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each KILLING HIS BROTHER, & FRIEND, & NEIGHBOR.’”_
    Our western “civilized” culture is ROOTED in the awful bloody PURGES, assassinations, systematic rapes, and of course bloody, genodical conquests of the Abrahamic bible.
    (I would argue that the above bible encoding is merely the human codefication, or literary distillation, of the same purge, rape, murder, applied terror, and warfare tendencies in our closest primate relatives, chimpanzee troupes, to determine which individuals lead the troupe, and which troupes command the most abundant territory – by DISPOSING of their rivals.)
    Until this “holy” bias is effectively confronted, those (the elites) who claim to have “god” (or merely order and “national security”) in their pocket, will continue to rob and steal (back-door THEFT of savings, by currency debasement QE 1,2,3 anyone?) from the “lesser people” and, indeed, feel empowered to treat planet earth as their own toilet sewer (fukushima, CO2, depleted uranium, GMO foods, etc.) to foul as they please.

  • Carol June 3, 2011, 3:14 pm

    Well the only thing that CAN be done is on an individual basis. Civil Disobedience is the ONLY way.
    Gandhi knew it and practiced it. All the great freedom fighters practiced it. I have practiced it for 15 years now – I have no drivers license, no registered cars, no registered homes, no hunting or fishing licenses, no tax returns filed, no voters registration (which leads to no voting for my next master to enslave me), no nothing. I have not (in last 15 years) and WILL NOT ever again ask any corporation (the US inc and all states are nothing but corporations. They all have tax id numbers and are ALL listed on Dunn and Bradstreet) permission to do anything that I want to do – period.

    If there were more people like me willing to take a stand this country would not be where it is, unfortunately there are not and never will be because everyone would rather live their lives “safely” and not “rock the boat” or bite the hand that feeds them.

    Oh well you get what you asked for.

    • redwilldanaher June 3, 2011, 5:31 pm

      They’ve managed to gradually increase the stresses thus spreading folks so thin that there is no longer a reserve or margin for error/failure. Most people probably just innocently went about trying to live lives similar to those of their parents and were taken in by the government, media and companies that they grew up watching their parents trust. I am frustrated a great deal too Carol, and I have vented at times with respect to my countrymen but we have to acknowledge that their enemy achieved victory via deception post indoctrination. Objectively…there was really never a chance to win.

    • fallingman June 3, 2011, 6:29 pm

      Quite right. You have more courage than I. Good on ya.

    • Cam Fitzgerald June 3, 2011, 7:41 pm

      You really are a fascinating gal, Carol.

  • donniemac June 3, 2011, 1:35 pm

    Are we not heading to the same place, with cultural exceptions, that the Chinese now occupy. Give the masses a taste of the toys and gadgets of modern life, a sense of freedom through minimal trappings of wealth, the ability to travel and even live where you want, and the masses become very obedient citizens unwilling to rock the boat. And all the while looting by the politically connected continues.
    We will soon see if Lincoln was right. Unfortunately, both sides are corrupted by the game and we are still in search of the truth. And I am not sure that even the astute contributors to this thread have a lock on the truth, but only see the a part of it. Like the blind men and the elephant.

    • redwilldanaher June 3, 2011, 5:24 pm

      Good points as always donnie. If you’re referring to “a house divided…” we may see at some point but the house has been divided for a long time, even well before the Tyrant Abe uttered that line. He may be right in the end but as the main puppet of his times he enslaved millions more than he ever freed. Seems like the northern industrialists and anglo-american bankers win in any age.

  • ian June 3, 2011, 10:06 am

    Great insight Wayne. And don’t feel alone, same thing is happening here in Australia, the wheels are falling off, personal freedoms are being attacked, worst government in living memory, jobs and everything else being lost to China and most Australians are frozen like kangaroos in the headlights.

  • raul June 3, 2011, 3:21 am

    There is something that could be done. It has been done time and time again. It won’t save the country, it will only make one understanding this, fare much better than those who don’t.

    You must give it a very good thought, because I have to be vague, for legal reasons.

    The way is to do exactly what the state does.

    • Cam Fitzgerald June 3, 2011, 5:29 am

      Remember “Freedom of Speech” Raul?

    • raul June 3, 2011, 4:04 pm

      Haha, you must be kidding… What freedom of speech?
      Everything is logged in and read by some government drone, picked apart and filed for future use, not as evidence, that is no longer necessary, but simply for consumption by a PC that is built to connect the dots.

      No, I can’t say. It it considered illegal if you do it, knowing ahead what would be the outcome. The state does it over and over, and anyone can. You must mimic the motion of a big hunter, so that you become feeding of his work, and it finds itself pushing on a rope. You’ll figure it out.

    • Carol June 3, 2011, 4:13 pm

      See what I mean, Raul is so afraid of Them that he won’t even speak his mind. This country is sooooo doomed, what happened to courage to stand up to this tyranny?

    • raul June 3, 2011, 9:02 pm

      One can not (and should not) fight the tyranny, if it is supported and desired by the people themselves. Two options remain at this point, be a mice and do your quiet work, or leave (as our founding fathers did).

      Americans today, support taxing others, support forcing others pay for their doctor, reject freedom of choice, reject personal responsibility, etc., etc.

      Fight in this environment, and you will become an easy and deserving target of the government enforcing the will of the people.

    • Carol June 3, 2011, 9:10 pm

      Raul,

      So you are telling me that if a group of people want to get together to steal my property that such action is good and deserving of government enforcement? Oh really, then if the “masses” voted tomorrow to come to your house and take your children that is OK and you should just accept it because that is what “the people” want?

      NO all men are created equal and all have at birth unalienable rights to their lives, liberty, and to pursue their lives to such an extent that pleases them as long as they do not do harm to another. No group can form and decide that it is OK to do anything to another man or woman, sorry but that is not how it works.

    • raul June 4, 2011, 3:26 am

      Carol, I sense your disappointment, and I share the feeling. I am simply talking about reality. You think this is not how it works? Which do you suppose does you more good: knowing how it works, or believing it works the way you want?

      Let me elaborate. You say “voting”. Let us assume that Hitler wanted to hold an election on the subject of burning the Jews in the ovens or not doing so. What do you think would be the result? It is easy to take from someone else, when you are the majority, be it their property, freedom or life.

      Do you vote? When your candidate wins, what do you think he will do with the minority that lost? What did Obama do with the minority that lost? He took their freedom, property and now he is taking their lives. The did not vote for him, yet, these things are done to them. Do you really see any difference between us today and Germany in 1930s?

      When you vote, you do so expecting to violently take someones freedom, property or life. If you win. Yes, you can blame the president, of course. So, Germans blamed Hitler.

      To vote is morally wrong. If it is to be not so, then we shall hold that the opposing candidate, if victorious, has no jurisdiction over those who did not vote for him. By voting, you implicitly agree to accept whatever it is to be done to you if you lose, because if you do not, then you logically can not have the right to do likewise to others if you win.

      I said “deserving” in my previous post, to denote that if you stand one against a whole nation, then who can you really blame for being made example of?

      No revolution can be made without the will of the people. This is why pilgrims left, because the nations they fled from, wanted to continue in their ways of life, just like Americans today want to continue to dominate everyone including their neighbors.

  • John Jay June 3, 2011, 3:16 am

    Well Wayne, that was well put, but I need to point out that those of us that visit Rick’s Place suffer from a condition known as false consensus effect.
    Which means that we falsely assume that most Americans must see the obvious take over of our society by the oligarchs, when in fact, most Americans are fat, dumb, poor, and happy. (Go Raiders, Lakers, Yankees, NASCAR, DWTS, whatever their taste in MSM hokum is)
    Next, I would say that Ben and his bosses at GS/JPM etc. still have few tricks up their sleeves that will enable them to maintain ZIRP a while longer.
    As long as all the Players agree upon the plan, they will sink the stock market to run up the bond market.
    They can make Treasury paper interest tax free to counter any bearish wave down, and screw over the municipal bond market, and game that move as well.
    All the Central Banks will conspire to prop each other up, and orchestrate rallies and declines on a round robin basis.
    And I am sure, they have complex schemes that are far beyond the powers of mortal men to understand.
    As far as what can I do about it, very little in fact.
    Anyone the MSM promotes with aspirations to be POTUS has already been vetted and compromised, and will never rock the boat. The same goes for the Senate, House, Governor, right down the line.
    Jesse Ventura said the CIA sent a delegation to meet with him as soon as he took over in Minnesota, they were shocked that an outsider got into power and wanted to talk with him about it.
    My advice, don’t provoke the authorities, keep 90% of your money in safe stuff, speculate with 10% in high risk vehicles like futures and options.
    I see zero chance of reversing the decline of this country, soon they will raise the debt ceiling another 2 trillion dollars, and in 2012 another goon will become POTUS after more badly scripted Dem/Repub Conventions with cheering crowds and MSM coverage.

    • Cam Fitzgerald June 3, 2011, 5:28 am

      “…we falsely assume that most Americans must see the obvious take over of our society by the oligarchs, when in fact, most Americans are fat, dumb, poor, and happy. (Go Raiders….)
      ——————————–

      I am really starting to appreciate your views John Jay. You seem to get it. Hey, Bring on the Games! Bruins, Raiders, angry, hungry lions in the coliseum and lots of cheap seats for the masses. It worked for the Romans didn’t it?

    • redwilldanaher June 3, 2011, 6:11 pm

      Great comments JJ. “I see zero chance of reversing the decline of this country…” – AS DO I. Which is why leaving this country and allowing it to be damned is the solution. Peaceful secession is our best option. We leave and the first states that do will be reviled and their exits cheered by the statists and their blind followers. How do you think the intelligentsia feels about TEXAS, my great state of South Carolina and Montana? They will smugly wish them good-riddance should they actually leave. As time passes though, the Zombies will finally realize the error of their ways and with respect to secession they’ll say “we gotta get some too.” – That’s the way it works from what I’ve seen. 10 years or more ago when many of us were warning against what have effectively become the past 5 years, the people didn’t care. Now at least they’re complaining about it. There’s always a curve and some are in front of it but most are behind it. If we build green fields of peaceful secession, they will follow.

    • Robert June 3, 2011, 6:33 pm

      Great comments JohnJay, and Cam’s comparison to the Roman’s bread and circuses is apt.

      I get challenged a lot by people who declare “You seem to know all about what’s wrong- why don’t you run for office and change it…?”

      The answer is presented in clear and simple language by JohnJay above.

      We have passed an inflection point where those thoughful few who COULD chart a course through these troubled waters have determined that the situation is hopeless, the system will collapse under the weight of its own corruption; and so the few are instead focusing their energy on self preservation, and positioning themselves for what comes afterward.

    • City Council June 7, 2011, 1:06 am

      Robert,
      There is a tremendous amount you can influence at the local political level. Get on your city council and give it a try. It’s amazing!

      Blessings.

  • mike June 3, 2011, 2:59 am

    “So, what are you going to do about it?”

    “Vision does not truly exist – because it is ever changing. The vision is really the journey. And your journey is now.” ~Stalking Wolf~ …

    A tribal elder was telling his grandson about the battle the old man was waging within himself. He said, “It is between two wolves, my son. One is an evil wolf: anger, envy, sorrow, greed, self-pity, guilt, resentment, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is the good wolf: joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

    The boy took this in for a few minutes and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf won?” The old Cherokee replied simply, “The one I feed.”

    • BDTR June 3, 2011, 7:20 pm

      Nice, Mike.

      Most of us still seem to miss the sheep clad wolves of ostensible ‘freedoms’ when beset by the less costumed varieties. We’re all eventually consumed in any event by unseen forces despite our best wrought mitigators.

      So, why is wisdom in such short supply in Anglo culture that we’re so easily fooled and victimised by our own ambitions? Shakespearian deficiency, maybe?

      I like Carlos Castaneda’s allegory of finding the ‘crack’ in the world that enables ‘seeing’. Vision exists all-right. One simply needs to learn of where not to look to see.

      Simply, it seems, has become obscurely extra-cultural.

  • Steve June 3, 2011, 2:08 am

    It would be such a laugh except to say that the people believe they are free, believe they own their possessions, believe specie money has been taken from them, and believe everyone else is wrong. Never mind what corporately enfranchised, fee simple absolute, debtor in possession, and roman civil law mean. Wayne, I believe I’ll seek delusion – it seems to be working for the masses.

    • Confused June 3, 2011, 2:54 pm

      Steve,

      I have asked you multiple times but you have yet to answer me (are you avoiding answering or just not seeing my question?). Anyhow, I would like you to explain to me and the group where and how anyone can get/purchase/buy specie money since 1964 when its minting was discontinued. And then since one would have to “purchase” it with frns which would then only give them “beneficial use” not ownership how would that “real” money give one any higher legal title to property.

    • Steve June 3, 2011, 3:57 pm

      Confused, I answered very late under your original post, and then at the bottom of the forum that day in regard to specie. Will do so again after I get back this morning.

    • redwilldanaher June 3, 2011, 5:47 pm

      I hear you Steve, I really do. Maybe you could be asked to be reinserted into the Matrix…with no memories of course. The illusions are powerful. They really are. The tools on CNBC are claiming success for the QEs and the wasteulus programs all morning long at the very same time that it should be perfectly clear to anyone that thinks, that it was all lighter fluid in the hands of a mendacious power junkies. It’s times like this that I think of the great Edward G. in his final with Heston, the famous Sol goes home scene. They’ll destroy and enslave to no end regardless of costs measured in every way you can imagine.