Submitted by Simon Black of Sovereign Man blog,
One of the greatest lies of the modern financial system (and that’s really saying something) is about inflation.
The puppet masters who control the system have managed to convince people that deflation = bad, and inflation = necessary evil.
Perhaps the even bigger lie is that of the actual inflation statistics. They tell us that there’s no inflation… or minimal inflation.
And they tell us that the ‘target’ rate is 2%. Bear in mind that 2% annual inflation means your currency will lose over 75% of its value during the course of your lifetime.
But these figures are massively understated. And you don’t have to look hard for proof.
US postage stamp rates, for example, are set to increase this weekend. They’ve been going up almost every year since 2006.
This weekend, the rate for a one-ounce first class letter will rise to 49c from 46c, a 6.5% increase. And the price to send a postcard will rise from 33c to 34c, a 3.0% increase.
If you take a longer-term view, the price of a postcard back in 1951 was just one cent. This means that the dollar has lost over 97% of its value against postcard shipping rates in the last six decades.
Let’s look at this another way.
According to the US Department of Labor, the average household income in 1950 was $4,237. This means that the average US household could afford to send 423,700 postcards back then.
Today’s median household income is $51,017 (and that’s from a majority of dual-income households). This means the average family in the Land of the Free can now afford to send about 150,050 postcards.
It’s a huge difference. The standard of living denominated in postcards has declined by nearly two-thirds since the 1950s.
Short-term, long-term, the conclusion is the same: Inflation exists.
And any suggestion to the contrary that inflation is ‘good’ or at least a ‘necessary evil’ is simply a lie. It destroys both purchasing power and standard of living.
Rational, thinking people need to be aware of this. If you hold a lot of your savings in a bank denominated in paper currencies like the dollar or euro, you will lose.
And I’d strongly urge you to consider holding at least a portion of your savings in stronger, more stable currencies, or better yet, alternative asset classes that cannot be inflated away by central bankers.
This includes productive real estate, precious metals, or even collectibles.
Good advice.
In a debt based money system the reality is that the average man out there busting his butt to get ahead in the long run will never get ahead. The Fed targets for 2% inflation. After 35 years of working, a man’s savings will only buy half of what it once did. Everything will have doubled. Imagine what happens when there is 5% inflation, 8% inflation, or 10% inflation. John Williams at ShadowStats has inflation running at 8.8% in December. At this rate half of one’s buying power will be gone in 7.9 years. The real reality is that the average working man is having his labor stolen from him. Work for 7.9 years, have 3.95 years of labor stolen. Taken. Gone. Talk about an evil money system. But that is what it’s all about. Keep’em working, keep’em borrowing and drowning in debt.
David – the average man will not get ahead via hard work, inflation or no. Average will not cut it in the new global economy. So sorry. Average will get you a very modest lifestyle, at best. With heavy inflation, not even that.
david, Tennessee Ernie Ford agrees with you.
Okay I was fine with this article till the end. WTF is “productive real estate” and “collectibles” Precious metals I get, are collectibles food and water? Because if the economy goes to shat your comic books and dolls will be worthless as will any collectible guns unless you have ammo. If you think an economic collapse is coming then productive real estate and collectibles will not feed you or keep you safe. Look sheeple if you do not have two weeks worth of food and water stored for you and your family, which even FEMA recommends then you are behind the power curve. If you think I am some kind of prepper alarmist ask the good people in WV what they have been through without water for 3 weeks, and how all the stores sold out of water immediately. Wait! This article is about inflation I just paid 4.52 per gallon of propane well above the 3.60 retail price. Greed and inflation are killing me!….us!? Is productive real estate commercial real estate? Because I think I saw an article on this site saying it was in the shatter also…..so am I too late for the big real estate bonanza???
LL, it used to get you a modest lifestyle. Now, forget it.
With only 46% employment, and 20% on food stamps, well, you do the math. We’re in a hidden depression, or the onset of one of which we haven’t realized the consequences.
The magicians and puppet masters haven’t figured out the rest of the story, but everyone else knows how it ends.
For all to know, the postal increase is ONLY temporary.
TLate
I would consider “productive real estate” any real estate that shows a profit. Moreover, I would consider small(ish) to medium farms productive real estate. Farms are a going concern. Folks who move out here come in two flavors: rich pukes who want to “get away from it all”, while standing around impressing everyone with how much land they own. The other is the person who realizes a farm is a producing, going concern and makes the land produce things the community needs – veggies, fruit, meat, milk, etc..
And what’s wrong with being a “prepper alarmist”?
Putting away a year’s worth of food is starvation insurance. People forget that our current climate only came into being around the year 1850 or so with the end of the Little Ice Age, and that large amounts of food could only be grown with the advent of oil-derived fertilizers. Now, we’re looking at Big Ag and Monsanto messing with the natural order of things, as well as our oil supply being called into question… storing food is only prudent.
Putting away a few hundred or even a thousand gallons of diesel fuel or kerosene means you can heat and light your home, no matter what. Or run your vehicles (tractor, truck, etc) sparingly, for a very long time – which means your farm is still producing, still in business.
Putting away firearms and ammo? Well, if you haven’t done so by now, you’re ass is sucking buttermilk, innit?
Buying a few thousand dollars worth of silver coin, maybe even a little gold, as a hedge against the dollar imploding and/or hyperinflation seems prudent as well. Not to resell to get even more phony-baloney fiat currency, but as actual money.
Putting away stores of medicines is a no-brainer. Our meds are produced hundreds, even thousands of miles away. Perhaps even in another country. There is no assurance that the flow of medicines we need will continue uninterrupted in the future.
You say “Prepper alarmist”. I say “wise and prudent”.
Billy you and I are on the same page. I said in case someone considers me an alarmist prepper .
You can never be too prepared. I fully agree with the boy scouts mantra of “Be Prepared” Rely on yourself then you can only be disappointed in one person……just sayin!