Keep On Rocking In The Free World

The Burning Platform ^ | 4-27-09 | Jim Quinn

[iThinkBig]

The American Republic is 226 years old. The Roman Empire lasted 13 centuries before collapsing. The Roman emperors attempted to stave off the collapse by providing bread and circuses to the masses. Feeding Christians to lions worked only for so long. I picture Caligula “Mad Money” Cramer exhorting the masses that the worst was over and not to worry about the Vandals and the Huns. Nero “Mustard Seed” Kudlow probably saw a recovery on the horizon as Barbarians were at the gates of the city. Cleopatra “Money Honey” Bartiromo was proclaiming that the stupid masses didn’t know what was best for the system. Caesar “Glimmers of Hope” Obama was sure that if they just distributed more bread and added a few more circuses, things would improve by the Ides of March.

The false prosperity we have been experiencing for the last thirty years has come to an abrupt conclusion in the last 18 months. The amount of wealth destroyed is beyond comprehension. Household net worth has declined by $12 trillion in a matter of months. It will take years for average Americans to restore their wealth to 2007 levels. If your investment portfolio has declined by 50%, it will need to increase by 100% to break even.

[iThinkBig]

Good article and lots of room for debate on some of it's key points. I agree with most of it, think some of the harping on the Boomer Generation not totally appropriate but you be the judge. For disclosures sake, I am not a Boomer.

[Snickering Hound]

The author needs to read a book before throwing that “Caligula” metaphor around.

Caligula ruled 400 years before the collapse of the empire and in fact the empire expanded for another century after his rule.

[US Navy Vet]

Yes but things are MUCH more compressed today. 100 years during Roman Times is like 10 of 5 years today.

[Question_Assumptions]

The song Rockin’ in the Free World comes off a lot differently if you don’t blame America and hold people responsible for their own actions. To get the liberal message from it, you have to assume that people aren’t responsible for their own behavior.

[Snickering Hound]

Yes but things are MUCH more compressed today. 100 years during Roman Times is like 10 of 5 years today.

Not at all.

The late Western empire was hammered down in a few decades by some really bad emperors and barbarian kingdoms taking advantage of shifting loyalties.

Valentinian III, Ricimer, and Anthemius from the late empire would make much better comparisons.

[ChicagahAl]

Couple of inaccuracies:

"false prosperity we have been experiencing for the last thirty years"

His chart shows that from 1952 to the present, US Household net worth fluctuated between 300% and 350% of GDP. It was in 1995 (Clinton) that net worth began its climb to 450, corrected to 375 under Bush, then spiked to approximately 470. It has now returned to just above 350, which is close to it's historic range.

"Americans have no choice but to substantially increase their rate of savings"

The phony chart of the "savings rate" is quite popular with people who either don't get it, or who want to make a phony point. The "savings rate" does not include investments, and also does not include IRA's, 401k's, 503b's, etc. It is basically made up of savings accounts and similar products. As retirement accounts have become popular, Americans have shifted their "savings" from taxable, bank accounts to retirement plans. If you add retirement savings to the "savings rate", the graph goes sideways, not downward. Why would you not count retirement savings in the savings rate? Also, the right side of the chart looks horrific, but it's designed to look that way. If the consumer debt were more correctly calculated as a per cent of either GDP, household income, or even household net worth, it would tell a much more accurate story. Again, I suspect there is some axe to grind here, even if it is just for the purpose of telling a sensational, juicy story.

As far as bashing the Boomers: I'm a Boomer. It's not my fault, it's just when I was born. I see this as two things - blame somebody, anybody, and Boomers are a convenient target; Ginning up public sentiment to not allow us to collect anything from the Social Security System that we have been paying into for forty-five years. Hitler blamed all of Germany's woes on the Jews, and the people bought it. Obama is going to try to pull the same thing by demonizing people over a certain age, which includes the Boomers' parents, as well.

Food For Thought.

[wastedyears]

I got mine in black. I'm rockin'

[Nuc1]

As a boomer I can tell ya I've carried my weight all my life. And I have carried a bunch of other peoples weight. And I remember carrying the gubmint. And I remember the gubmint stealing from me through inflation three times the savings intrest rate. And I remember all the smarmy little gen X, Y, Z..et al. marching and supporting libtards nationwide. And I remember the Greatest Generation putting the socialists/progressives in power. And you now blame boomers? Ridiculous!

[skipper18]

“The phony chart of the “savings rate” is quite popular with people who either don’t get it, or who want to make a phony point. The “savings rate” does not include investments, and also does not include IRA’s, 401k’s, 503b’s, etc”

The things you list are not savings, they’re risk capital. These things are chips you have placed on the craps table. Monies you have gambled with are not savings.

[ChicagahAl]

"chips you have placed on the craps table. Monies you have gambled with are not savings."

LOL. I'm not sure if that was intended to be humorous, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that it was.

Especially given that a large amount of Retirement Plan money is in Bank CD's, US Treasuries, Money Market Funds, Fixed Annunities and other such vehicles.

I don't think they allow retirement money to be used for Video Poker or Lotto Tickets.

[the invisib1e hand]

Keep On Rocking In The Free World

Can you cite Neil Young on FR?

[brewcrew]

Except I’m pretty sure Mr. Young played a Les Paul on this song.

[iThinkBig]

You started becoming my new hero. Wasted years screen name have to do with Iron Maiden?

[Cacique]

btt

[iThinkBig]

“Yes but things are MUCH more compressed today. 100 years during Roman Times is like 10 of 5 years today.”

Bingo. The scale seems to be a decade in the Information age. This was the problem of our leadership, thinking that they would all sit on top of a global empire. The Chinese figured out how to buy supercomputers and run financial simulations a decade ago. Some were inept in this thinking and others committed treason in aiding the greatest heist and transfer of wealth in global history.

[iThinkBig]

Here is a commenter from Burning Platform site which I believe is fair to describe the Boomer generation. And I know there are many exceptions to the rule about Boomers, that is why you are here on FreeRepublic :)

“Hi Jim,

It is hard to defend the Baby Boomers; however, you would be fighting many of the same negative characteristics if you had been born a few years earlier. The Boomers were born in a time of peace and security when we were encouraged to go out and explore the safe world. The parents took this step because the evils from the last fourth turning had been defeated (or at least they thought so.)

During the ‘60s and ‘70s, we took the exploration to another level. We took for granted that there would be peace and prosperity while trying to find out who we were. It was easy to see the Viet Nam war for the sham that it was. The leaders (who were foot soldiers during WWII) were much better followers than leaders. They expected the Boomers to follow with the same blind devotion that they showed during WWII. Unfortunately, Boomers weren’t GIs and the GIs didn’t earn our respect.

The Generation Xers were born during this time of tumult. Silents and early Boomers were too interested in exploring themselves than focusing on the needs of the new generation. Your generation was essentially abandoned … forced to raise themselves. You were the latchkey kids. Your generation mastered skills at a very early age that most Boomers have never learned. You learned to rely on yourself while we took it all for granted. The skills you learned in your early years will be very beneficial during the next decade. The old Boomers will have to learn them or perish.

During the ‘80s and early ‘90s, the later Boomers decided to abandon the second turning. Baby on board placards became the rage. The Yippies became the Yuppies. Because we were used to having everything given to us, it was an easy sell for the constant marketing attack to convince us that debt wasn’t a four letter word. We had seen the ravages of the ’70s stagflation and knew that money wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on. Why try to amass more worthless paper money when new cars, houses, vacations, etc. could be had for a mere signature? It was a marriage to be consummated in hell.

The early ‘00s were just an extension of the ‘90s … other than a stock market dip and a few errant plane trips. By mid decade, the stock market had recovered and the housing frenzy made most folks think that they were very prepared for retirement in style. It didn’t help that most of the government statistics had been massaged to hide our trip down the economic staircase. It didn’t help that Boomers had always trusted the melodious hucksters in media telling us that the good life was just a promissory signature away. All our experience and rosy measures made it seem like the future was going to be better than Disney’s 1950s vision.

Now it looks like the economic chickens will come home to roost for the Boomers. The bottom third have very close to $0 net worth. The next third won’t have enough to retire without some public assistance. The top third have enough to get by or do very well. One thing that Strauss and Howe wrote about the Boomers was that they would be dragged kicking and screaming into the next turning, only to eventually embrace it and make it their own.

Because the most of the Boomers won’t have a choice, they will become destitute. The system is in such shambles that the tiny Gen X group won’t be able to support the 2/3 of the boomers who “need” help, buy all the overpriced McMansions to keep those prices unreasonably high, keep the stock market constantly overflowing, educate the relatively large Millennial generation, and still have enough left over to make it all seem worthwhile. But, because Boomers are Boomers, they’ll make destitution chic. That way, you won’t be able to gloat about their problems.

I see our country’s problems as so monumental as to be virtually insurmountable. We have too much debt, our infrastructure is crumbling, our dirty manufacturing jobs have been exported, we’re too dependant on oil, and our citizens have been down classed to consumers. On top of that, as a group, people of this nation know more about the American Idol contestants than the members of the Supreme Court. We’re soft, we’re stupid, and we’re lazy (generally speaking.) That indictment crosses all generational boundaries.

I got angry enough to write my Congressional contingency when the bailout was being voted upon last September. Since each member voted for the bailout - contrary to my request - I felt obliged to vote for someone else. I proudly wrote “Dr. Ron Paul” in for President and “Jesse Ventura” for Vice President. It didn’t do any good, but I’d do it the same way again!

As a country, our options are quickly diminishing. The only thing keeping us powerful is our military. They defend our borders (when allowed,) they police the seas, they keep the rogue nations at bay, and they indirectly keep the politicians in power by providing security for the companies that contribute to politician‘s slush funds. They are the only thing backing our fiat currency. They are just doing the job they swore to do.

Unfortunately, the power brokers in this country understand how important the military is. They play the fears, the naivete, the gullibility, and the arrogance of the American Consumers in order that congress will be allowed to patriotically vote in such a manner as to give the power brokers more power. Until we upgrade ourselves from mere consumers to become citizens again - demanding prudent and sane action from Congress, we’re destined for more of the same policies that have brought us to this point. I actually expect that to happen. I fully expect that an apparently destitute Boomer will lead the charge.”

[mysterio]

I love Neil Young’s music.

[iThinkBig]

“LOL. I’m not sure if that was intended to be humorous, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that it was.

Especially given that a large amount of Retirement Plan money is in Bank CD’s, US Treasuries, Money Market Funds, Fixed Annunities and other such vehicles.

I don’t think they allow retirement money to be used for Video Poker or Lotto Tickets.”

How about pensions? Who manages those funds? We should start a debate about this.

[US Navy Vet]

And this country has has some true POSs in the White House since Jan 1989(W included).

[ChicagahAl]

"Here is a commenter from Burning Platform site which I believe is fair to describe the Boomer generation."

Actually, the comments are nonsense, when used to describe the Boomer generation.

I had 600 people in my high school graduation class, over forty years ago. Many of us served in Viet Nam. There were more of us who made the military a career, than there were hippies in my class. Some of my classmates are still in the military (yes, we are in our 60's). Trying to paint the entire Boomer generation as Anti-War, Peace-Love-Dope, NitWits, is a massive fraud. Everyone I know, of my generation, has worked hard all their lives. They all raised their kids the best they could. And they are charitable and patriotic.

People like to overlook the fact that the Boomers weren't the rule-makers in the 60's; it was the generation or two ahead of us who made the rules that changed the world. Boomers were born from '46 to '64, which means that most Boomers were still kids in the 60's. Most were teenagers or even preteens.

No group is homogeneous, but I see the younger generations as much more selfish and narcissistic than the Boomers ever could have been. The Flower Children were media sensations precisely because they were the minority. The vast majority of us played by the rules,worked for a living, and served our country.