Phil wrote: “Conservative bashing is a popular sport for some, as is Liberal bashing for others. Neither of which, IMO, makes a positive contribution to moving ideas forward and solving the mess this country has gotten itself into….”
Phil,
Governments in the region of the US have entered massive debts since back when the states were only colonies- including during the revolutionary war. Any selling of government bonds is entering in to debt. Wars tend to be promoted by lenders because they are typically so profitable for the lending businesses. When the USSR and US were spending huge amounts on their military race, that was strongly encouraged by lobbyists of the banks that lent money to either side- or even to both sides.
Go Away Federal Reserve System! (Photo credit: r0b0r0b)
In 1913, as the next massive war in Europe was being cultivated and planned, the US entered in to 20-year debts connected to a private banking consortium called the
Federal Reserve, and that may have seemed great at times (the roaring 20s), but toward the end of the 20 year period, the US had so much economic trouble (AKA “The
Great Depression“) that paying that debt was not going well. In 1933 (at the 20-year mark), the Federal Reserve took functional control of the court system in the US by requiring the use of their private currency (the Federal Reserve’s “US Dollar” Note) and all the US Notes that had been in circulation were withdrawn from circulation and possession of gold by US Citizens was criminalized (forcing citizens to exchange gold for Federal Reserve Notes). In other words, the court system was “re-possessed” by the lender/creditor, kind of like a car that has been financed may be sent back to the dealership if the debtor goes bankrupt. So, the Fed collected all of that gold from the citizens of the US and then on January 31, 1934, the Fed dropped the exchange rate of their private currency to gold by 41% overnight while the masses slept.
Related to all of that is this next item. Back in the year 1900, a popular book was published as an analogy for how the “Crowned Heads of Europe” would achieve their financial goals in the US. The book featured a yellow brick road about gold bricks (yellow bricks) that led to the center of power and influence.
The methods of how the masses would be drugged to sleep were referenced as the troop of heroes led by Dorothy marched through poppy fields (as in opium fields). Outside of the dream portion of the story, the character of a Wicked Witch was known as Mrs. Gulch. A gulch is another word for a depression as in a dip.
You probably recognize by now that the book I am referencing is the Wizard of Oz (if the title of the blog did not give it away…), which was made in to a movie in 1939 (and a less well-financed version in 1925). It sets up a series of analogies about how the “Crowned Heads of Europe” would entice the common people of the US in to going to fight a wicked enemy so that AFTER they came back from victory THEN they would be GIVEN courage by holding a magic piece of paper.
Magic pieces of paper are cool. I use them everyday to buy stuff. They give me LOTS of courage, too! 😉
The back cover of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, ©1899 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
So, in 2002, I read about the history of OZ (as in ounce- like the unit used to measure an Oz. of gold). That was around the same time that I started reading (and, in 2003, publishing) references to the global credit crunch that was emerging, as well as the impact on markets most sensitive to lending, like real estate. In 2004, I began focusing my publications on the specific issue of why fuel prices (like gasoline) were rising and likely to spike soon (like when gasoline in parts of Europe quickly went from $3 per gallon to over $11 per gallon), plus the predictable consequences of such a spike in fuel prices. I published “The real U.S. deficit: OIL” and then “Worth it’s weight in… OIL!” (which was a parody for the gold market enthusiasts who were still trumpeting the same falsehoods about gold that have been well-established as inaccurate since 1980, if not long before….)
Anyway, by 2005, I was watching closely for the first signs of a real estate crash in the US (as had been happening already in other parts of the world). The two areas that peaked first (and have fallen the furthest so far) happened to also be regions extremely sensitive to spiking energy prices, perhaps due to extremely high summer cooling costs in the sprawling desert metros of Phoenix and Las Vegas- like when someone is commuting 50 minutes each way in 105 degree heat with their vehicle’s AC cranked. Other suburbs throughout the US did not have that circumstance like greater Las Vegas and greater Phoenix, so the real estate decline did not hit in those places until later, and not as hard.
English: “Anna Laughlin as Dorothy in the musical extravaganza The Wizard of Oz, 1902” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In contrast, we can review Alaska, a fuel-rich state, and notice that there was a very different economic development during the same time. As oil prices rose 1200% from 1999 to 2008, Alaska’s oil exports ballooned their state’s economy, launching it up to the 2nd highest state in the US for per capita income. Further, while other state governments in the US were scrambling to figure out their budget issues (like how to borrow more money to stay in operation), Alaska was paying it’s citizens a socialist-style handout of several thousand dollars a year just as a dividend for living there. Where did all that surplus money come from? Surging oil revenues.
Magic pieces of paper are still cool, but so is magic liquid that can be used as fuel to fly airplanes and power automobiles. Also, magic little shapes called letters and words are very very very cool- like the magic sounds that people can use to direct the attention, perception, and activity of other people.
For instance, when a group of people get together and use intimidation and violence to force other people to pay them a portion of the productivity, what is that called? It is called extortion- except when it is called taxation. If the system of wealth redistribution is stable enough, it is called taxation and the agents of the system protect their monopoly on involuntary wealth distribution by violently punishing any competing extortion operations (or invading them to take over their territory and their racket).
Some economic interests favor cultural developments like masses being distracted by trivia (and the cultivation of psychological shadows of hysterical outrage), as well as the “entitlement society” and “enthusiastic borrowing sprees.” When the ownership of massive amounts of real estate changes suddenly, that is not only rather unfavorable for the debtors getting foreclosed on, but can be rather good for the creditors who suddenly own huge amounts of real estate outright.
Federal reserve police car, St. Louis, MO (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Wizard of Oz (1925 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Here are a few articles of mine that give more detail to recent history, and the first one has several links to my original publications plus a link to a video I made in November 2006 in which I reference events well-known by 2008:
“When the credit market shifts, [then] the real estate market shifts, and they are actually connected such that when the real estate market declines… that actually greatly effects [lenders] capacity to extend credit. So, what you have is a context where banks can collapse.”
Title plate of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (not the cover, it’s the interior title page), 1900 Wizard (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
On Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 9:55 AM, Phil P. wrote:
Conservative bashing is a popular sport for some, as is Liberal bashing for others. Neither of which, IMO, makes a positive contribution to moving ideas forward and solving the mess this country has gotten itself into.
I am a fiscal conservative and always have been. In addition, I am culturally tolerant, and always have been. I graduated from high school in 1963, six months after JFK was assassinated. I was in an auto store buying parts for my drag car when the news came over the old black & white TV behind the counter. My mother had shaken JFK’s hand at the Lubbock airport during a campaign stop. The country was going to the moon… there was pride & excitement in the air… and then the world stopped. Even though government spending was a lot smaller in 1963, I remember thinking that foreign aid seemed like a bad idea. Today’s solution of borrowing money to keep government programs running would have been considered blasphemy.
It used to be considered honorable to graduate from high school, get a job, work, pay your taxes and make a positive contribution to society. Nowadays, by an increasing number, it seems honorable to not work, and scheme a way to get a government check. We have welfare recipients that are on the 3rd/4th generation of no one in the family having ever held a job. And our government continues to want to grow entitlement programs to enable the recipients… even if we have to borrow the money. The concept of personal responsibility seems to have been lost in the entitlement, feel good society. As a fiscal conservative it makes no sense to me why some think it is a good idea to borrow money from China so Sandra Fluke can have free birth control.
Ronald Reagan has been called one our countries most successful presidents. Yet I was flabbergasted by his military spending, even though some would argue that was the only way to break the Soviet Union… by out spending them militarily. And while it did work… IMO it was fiscally imprudent. I also disagreed with Reagan’s attitude toward AIDS. I lost many business associates to AIDS, great minds, great spirits because, IMO, of Neanderthal thinking from the White House. The plague created a void of creativity in my world that has lasted for over 30 years.
In the 49 years I have been voting there has never existed the political will for a smaller government… and IMO, there has never been a “fiscally conservative” president. The policies of both parties have always been to expand, control and increase the governments power over the people… through regulation & taxation. As a small business owner I watch the policies of the current administration continue to do harm to the small business economic environment, while at the same time wasting huge sums of tax payer dollars on projects like Solyndra. IMO, we don’t have a taxation problem, we have a spending problem.
English: Protester seen at Chicago Tax Day Tea Party protest with sign reading “I am John Galt”. Edited to protect protester’s identity. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Where is John Galt?
John Galt. One of the founders and Secretary of the Canada Company. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Tags: federal reserve, Great Depression, Wizard Oz
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