Repent -- The End Is Near

American Thinker ^ | July 28, 2010 | Monty Pelerin

[neverdem]

It is a lazy afternoon. Or at least it was until I came across a blog by Mish. There was little in the post that I didn't know or suspect, but this quote triggered a reaction:

It hides the economic substance of what's really happening-an unlimited taxpayer bailout.

William Black, a former no-nonsense regulator, described in that statement everything that has happened and continues to happen. It represents the federal government's approach to "saving" the economy -- subterfuge and no limits. Mish went on to add:

To address the situation, the FDIC is going to start selling U.S.-guaranteed FDIC senior certificates. However, it has no Congressional authority to do so according to former thrift regulator William Black.

These quotes summarized the double-speak, unconstitutional acts, bullying, outright lies, and trampling of the Rule of Law that now describes our government.

As I reflect on the country and where it is headed, it not easy to be optimistic. I have children and grandchildren who will not have the opportunities or amenities that I had. That is not my or their fault. No one has meaningful input as to what is happening. Everything is imposed, whether it is popular or not. We have become mere pawns in the Ponzi scheme of government. The Great Parasite has drained most of the life from its host (the country, its citizens, and its private sector).

The administration and other politicos, along with the media, do their best to promote a rosy picture. Images are all they have -- the TV actor who plays president, tax-forgetter Treasury Secretary Timmy Geithner, a supporting cast inexperienced in anything practical, a shadow government made up of czars, a press secretary disdainfully called "Baghdad Bob," and innumerable other disgraces. Republicans are not excluded from blame. The problems existed before Obama.

We are ruled by a political class that lacks ethics, integrity, and ability. We are lied to daily. We are not in an economic recovery. The financial crisis is not over. The reality is that the economy and financial system are in worse trouble today than they were two years ago. We have not seen anything yet compared to what lies ahead!

Your future is in your hands. When things erupt, the government will not care for your family. You will be "collateral damage," just as you were in the original bailouts. Main Street got job losses and massive debt; the power elite bailed themselves out with your money.

The current situation is especially dangerous because the ruling class is cornered. The economy has been pushed into a grave as a result of elitists spending money they didn't have, making promises they couldn't keep, and expanding government into areas where it does not belong. After fifty-plus years of abuse, the golden goose is on its deathbed. It is so laced with toxic debt, regulations, and cynicism that a normal cure is impossible.

To understand the intractable, if not impossible, financial problems in the U.S., see "Spiraling to Bankruptcy." Conditions in Europe are similar to the U.S.'s. As pointed out in "Welfare States R.I.P.," all democratic welfare states are on the verge of default.

It is necessary to provide only a short list of economic problems to see the critical condition we are in:

• Virtually everything you look at is broken and unfixable, from both a mathematical and political standpoint.
• All democratic welfare states are insolvent and incapable of meeting their obligations.
• Sovereign defaults are likely and will likely occur in domino fashion.
• Insane economic policies and regulations are making matters worse.
• Businesses are not hiring or investing because of the uncertainty that has been imposed on the country.
• Wealth, intellect, and corporations will flee this country.
• More than half of the states are likely to default on their obligations.
• Most major municipalities have pension obligations that will be unable to be met.
• Individuals are still over their heads in debt with no hope in sight.
• The housing market has farther to go on the downside. Foreclosures will accelerate.
• Commercial real estate is a disaster that has not yet hit full force.
• Joblessness is not improving and will get worse.
• Infrastructure has deteriorated. There are no funds available upgrade it to proper standards.
• Private pensions and union pensions are grossly underfunded and likely to become worse when financial markets tank.
• The welfare system is unsustainable and has to be dismantled.
• Generations have grown accustomed to entitlements and will not take kindly to the necessary reductions and eliminations.
• Education has deteriorated to levels such that many graduates are literally unemployable at a minimum wage, or at any wage.
• The banking system is insolvent, with many banks unlikely to survive.
• Social Security and Medicare are unsustainable programs that will collapse or have benefits so reduced as to make them virtually unrecognizable.
• Government guarantees of Fannie, Freddie, FHA, and a host of other programs will likely require $2 trillion-plus to honor at taxpayer expense.
• Anything the government touches, it destroys, be it social programs, the post office, Amtrak, education, or (soon to be) the entire credit system, General Motors, student loans, etc. -- and finally, the entire economy.
• The FDIC is in a deep hole from which there is no escape other than additional taxpayer bailouts.

This economic list is off the cuff and not comprehensive. Geopolitical risks, if considered, would produce another frightening list.

The world is headed for a Depression much greater than the 1930s. That is unavoidable at this point. An Economic Dark Age is about to descend on the civilized world. Every welfare state, to avoid failure, will have to cut entitlements and benefits. These solutions will be met with resistance and probably violence. The government model known as democratic socialism is dead. It will be dismantled one way or another. The power elite will not give up their roles willingly.

It is impossible to know how this crisis resolves. As Angelo M. Codevilla stated in a highly recommended article:

How the country class and ruling class might clash on each item of their contrasting agendas is beyond my scope. Suffice it to say that the ruling class's greatest difficulty -- aside from being outnumbered -- will be to argue, against the grain of reality, that the revolution it continues to press upon America is sustainable. For its part, the country class's greatest difficulty will be to enable a revolution to take place without imposing it. America has been imposed on enough.

History written a century from now will likely label the twentieth century as "The Myth of Government." Historians are unlikely to understand how and why citizens allowed themselves to be preyed upon by a ruling class.

For those who believe I am a pessimist, I offer this definition from Ambrose Bierce:

Cynic, n: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.

In Bierce's terms, I consider your characterization a compliment.

Monty Pelerin blogs at www.economicnoise.com.

[neverdem]

The Road to Freedom - A flawed essay collection charts the early history of the Mont Pelerin Society.

[Casaubon]

SOUNDS LIKE YOU NEED SOME

HOPE AND CHANGE!!

[Quix]

THEIR twin goals of

trashing all that is viable about America . . . particularly economically

coupled with their unparalleled efforts to corner as much personal wealth in the process as possible . . .

all speaks of idiots who think God is non-existent or not watching.

They are in for the rudest awakening ever.

Alas, other millions will also suffer horribly.

[Graybeard58]

Gloom, despair and agony on me, deep dark depression, excessive misery.

[paul51]

That is not my or their fault

Yes it is. As long as we let the rulers trample the constitution and disregard the will or the welfare of the people, we are to blame.

[neverdem]

Obama's US Assassination Program? Part 1

A Year and a Half of President Obama - Team Obama marks 18 surprisingly incompetent months in office.

Science Turns Authoritarian It's a better read at the source, i.e, links, blockquotes, etc.

It's time to end the excessive subsidies for corn ethanol

Some noteworthy articles about politics, foreign or military affairs, IMHO, FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.

[pandoraou812]

I think I will print this out & put it on the fridge.

[Skepolitic]

trampling of the Rule of Law

One cannot trample something that does not exist.

Stripped of all technicalities, the "Rule of Law" means that the government in all its actions is bound by rules fixed and announced beforehand -- rules which make it possible to foresee with fair certainty how the State will use its coercive powers in given circumnstances and to plan one's individual affairs on the basis of that knowledge. (Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, p 112).

After the final years of the Bush Administration and the more recent experience with the Obama Administration, the force of Rule of Law is virtually extinct in the USA. Particularly offensive to the idea of Rule of Law is the conduct of the State with regard to TARP (that was on Bush's watch), the subsequent bailouts and stimulus spending under Obama, the treatment of GM and Chrysler bondholders, health care reform, and finance reform. There is no fixed set of rules; they are all subject to change according to the whims of the State.

The Heritage Foundation has already recognized this in its index of economic freedom. For the first time in history, the USA no longer ranks among free nations. The USA is now numbered among "mostly free" nations like Bahrain and Mauritius. Once Section 9006 of the health care bill takes effect, the economic freedom of the USA will certainly decline even further.

[Skepolitic]

If you haven’t read it already, read America’s Ruling Class by Angelo M. Codevilla, which is referred to in this article.

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the/print

This is MUST reading. It’s long, but very much worthwhile.

[matthew fuller]

"I think I will print this out & put it on the fridge. "

Go to the blog listed at the end of the post and print that one out. The illustrations are great!

[steel_resolve]

ping

[Once-Ler]

If it wasn’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all.

[stevie_d_64]

“...if it wern’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all!”

[stevie_d_64]

Oops...Muh bad...But I’m only 9 minutes behind ya...hehe

[lentulusgracchus]

Go to the blog listed at the end of the post and print that one out. The illustrations are great!

"Mish" (a.k.a. Michael Shedlock) is a financial advisor and money-runner who is a regular contributor to the indie financial forum Minyanville.com, founded by Todd Harrison.

Many good articles there, and a coherent POV.

[Westbrook]

> Wealth, intellect, and corporations will flee this country.

Where will they go?

It’s pretty much the same, or worse, EVERYWHERE.

[SkyPilot]

As long as we let the rulers trample the constitution and disregard the will or the welfare of the people, we are to blame.

Here is the problem with your statement.

The people of this country have attempted to right things gone wrong:

- they have voted, only to have their votes de-legitimized by illegals, voting the dead, multiple voting, felons voting, suppressing the military vote, and outright theft

- they have taken to the streets to protest, only to be mocked in the media, assaulted by goons and thugs, spied upon and liberal groups, and seen riot police show up to guard/intimidate old ladies at rallies (not an exaggeration, look it up)

- they have prayed, only to have their faith assaulted from every possible angle, and their God removed from every single public sphere

Let me ask you, when that Clinton appointee judge (Susan Bolton) ruled yesterday that laws cannot be enforced because they federal government chooses not to enforce laws it doesn't want to for political purposes, what are the "people" supposed to do about that?

What recourse to the "people" have against such tyranny?

We have no James Madisons, no Patrick Henrys, no Benjamin Franklins, and no Sam Adams today.

What would you propose? Honestly. Make sure you mark your words carefully. People monitor this site. Your IP address is "findable."

You see the problem now, don't you. Empty rhetoric that we "do something." Do what?

We will vote in November. After that, all I can do is leave it in the hands of God. He is my warrior.

[SkyPilot]

Where will they go?

Some were going to New Zealand, Australia, or the Caribbean.

New Zealand is clamping down on who can buy property. Australia is still a good choice, but in reality, the government's long arm will get you where ever you go.

[The Duke]

I've been pondering the best model for surviving the times that may lie ahead in the not-too-distant future. At the moment I'm thinking the best model is that of a church.

Churches have small communities of people who know one-another well. Many have good space, including space to store food, etc. If the Internet is cut off they represent the opportunity to communicate with others regularly. They often have property where food can be grown. They even have international operations. And, maybe most important of all, churches are places that strengthen one's faith - and that may be very much needed in the future.

Of course, it couldn't be just any church.

[Elsie]

 

 

---

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.