“The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.” ― Thomas Jefferson
Yesterday the government reported a “modest” August budget deficit of $108 billion. That’s one month folks. This is another example of how the government and their mainstream media mouthpieces portray horrifically bad, extremely abnormal financial data as normal and expected. They pretend everything that has happened since 2008 is just standard operating procedure. They follow the Big Lie theory to the extreme. The masses have been so dumbed down, desensitized, and taught to believe delusions, they can’t distinguish the abnormal from the normal.
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Those in power pretend near zero interest rates eight years after the recession was supposedly over is normal. They pretend $500 billion to $1.4 trillion annual deficits are normal. They pretend 20% unemployment is really 4.4%. They pretend the stock market is at all-time highs due to an improving economy rather than central bank easy money and corporate stock buybacks. They pretend $20 trillion of debt and $200 trillion of unfunded welfare promises is no problem. We are living in the grand delusion.
The $108 billion August deficit brought the year to date deficit to $674 billion. With one month left in the fiscal year, the deficit will end at approximately $750 billion. Does that strike you as normal? The propaganda media will spin this dreadful result as positive by saying it is down from $1.4 trillion in 2009. They won’t mention it is up 70% from the 2015 deficit and the highest since 2012. No one ever mentions the annual deficit in 2007 was “only” $161 billion. As a cherry on top of this mass deception, the total budget deficits reported since 2002 totaled $9.4 trillion, while the national debt rose by $13.8 trillion. Just a slight $4.4 trillion accounting discrepancy among friends.
The chart below reveals some fascinating insights into the depths of debt depravity we’ve descended. With interest rates near record low levels, interest on the debt of $275 billion exceeds the total receipts from corporate income taxes. The Fed will never willingly normalize interest rates because allowing rates to go back to 2007 levels would blow the budget deficit sky high. Even an Ivy League academic can figure that out.
The supposedly fiscally responsible Republicans hold both houses in Congress and the White House. But there is no fiscal constraint being practiced by anyone in Washington D.C. Social Security, Medicare, Interest, and Obamacare are on automatic pilot accelerating rapidly. Congress just increased the war budget by $100 billion, because war is our main racket. Tax cuts for corporations and an infrastructure boondoggle are on the way. And providing tens of billions in hurricane relief funds is a given. This pretty much guarantees a $1 trillion deficit next year.
Total government revenues (aka taxes) are only up 2% over last year. Something seems amiss. The relentless narrative spewed by Trump, government bureaucrats and the corporate mainstream media is we have added 1.5 million new jobs in the last year and corporate profits are at all time highs. If the economy was booming wouldn’t individual income taxes, Social Security taxes and corporate income taxes be booming? Shouldn’t they be pouring into the US Treasury’s coffers? Somebody must be lying. Can you guess?
We know they are lying. We know the $20 trillion debt will reach $24 trillion by the end of Trump’s first term. We know the $200 trillion of promises will not be honored. We know entitlement spending will skyrocket as Boomers retire en mass. We know the tremendously overvalued stock market, bond market and housing market will crash, ushering in part 2 of this financial crisis and triggering the worst phase of this Fourth Turning. We know war is in our future. We know our leaders are corrupt, self serving, sociopathic liars working on behalf of their Deep State masters. We know we’re screwed. But we pretend everything is normal, because doing something about it is too hard.
The fake narrative of a strong economy must be flogged by those in power as they continue to rape and pillage the wealth of the middle class through the extraction of taxes, fees, tolls, premiums, co-pays, deductibles, and rigged market gains. The chart below is a truth bomb obliterating the narrative. More than one in three households has $0 of savings, with 57% having less than $1,000. A major car repair can easily reach $1,000. A new hot water heater is $3,000. With insurance deductibles in the thousands, a medical issue exceeding $1,000 is common. This may explain why credit card debt has reached new all-time highs. Families are surviving on credit card debt. Sounds positive.
Retail and restaurant sales are stagnant at best. Retail store closings and bankruptcies are on track to exceed levels reached in 2009. If you recall, that was the worst recession since the 1930s. The average American has not experienced an economic recovery. The false appearance of recovery has been achieved through excessive money printing by a Federal Reserve working on behalf of criminal Wall Street banks. The fat cats are richer than ever. This farce is not sustainable. Our entire economic recovery is nothing but a Potemkin Village erected by Yellen, Wall Street, spineless politicians, corrupt government apparatchiks, and fake news media corporations. It will not end well.
“There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved.” – Ludwig von Mises
Good article Jim.
Unfortunately,very few people care about this,or are too scared or intimidated to act upon it.
The things Admin displays are the “new normal”. After so many years of this, it becomes ingrained on many that this is just the way it is.
Of course, we all know it can’t go on forever, but who thought 10 years ago it would last this long?
Bring on the 4th Turning climax!
Great article, spot on
Only criticism, is the question about how much one has in their ”savings account”.
I have savings but I don’t keep it in a saving account which yields 0.2% interest
“We know we’re screwed. But we pretend everything is normal, because doing something about it is too hard.”
We’re not screwed, the fraudulent status quo is screwed. No one around here pretends anything is normal, we know it’s a fiasco and there’s nothing hard about doing the right thing.
Otherwise, I agree with every last word.
Hard farm I thought everybody would be fine cleaning houses for over $100k per year . This has been my criticism of many on this TBP . The real figures are horrific and the few spikes of prosperity are anomalies . Average people are screwed and in many cases we need only look in the mirror to find a complacent culprit . Those who took the red pill have been peeling back the onion layers for a decade or more but no one listens in great enough numbers to stop the inevitable .
Recall the bitching & moaning about a $15 an hour minimum wage? Well at 40 hours thats $31,200 a year. Anyone who calls that wage “outrageous” hasn’t been in a grocery store lately. (“Make America Great Again” = BOHICA)
Jeebers H Crumb. More of the math impaired.
Let me tell you what will happen in my business if the min wage is raised to 15 bucks an hour.
15 is entry level for us. That means everyone who is at or near that wage gets a raise of at least two bucks an hour because I cannot pay ‘min wage’. Then they get added responsibility and someone gets laid off. That’s one less guy in the workforce earning what you consider a ‘liveable’ wage.
Most small to medium size businesses will be forced to follow this model. My guys won’t work for min wage, that means higher wages which means others have to go to compensate for it since I can’t raise prices forever without that affecting my revenue stream as well.
The math either works or it doesn’t and that is not something a central planner can decide for a business without some very unfortunate consequences. My guys are hoping and praying that this wage raise doesn’t go through. No one wants their head put on the chopping block.
Morons abound.
Bingo. That and add in the stupid payroll taxes and what not (you know, higher wage, higher tax) and you get a formula for simply hiring robots instead of humans where possible. Stupid government idiots can’t do math, all they know how to do is wave a gun in everyone’s face, rob them, and continue upping the ante. Debt, no problem when you can rob everyone, at gun point to get more money.
Now, they have the problem that they can’t even rob enough anymore, (real treasury receipts have been on a steady decline) as they have milked the middle class almost dry. Can’t squeeze more blood from the carcass. If the Fed was not money printing to the extreme, this whole house of cards would already be down and dead.
Its actually worse than that. Higher minimum wage eliminates jobs for the lower class and younger people. It forces business owners to regulate hours to avoid being forced to pay for health insurance or other benefits. The only way to cover expenses is to raise product or service prices which creates less business, less profit, and more expense. Only an idiot or a liberal give it away fool believes in any minimum wage.
along with pretending to care about the little guy,the real reason the left in this country wants a high minimum wage is that most union contracts are tied to the minimum wage–when it goes up,union wages automatically go up–
the minimum wage was never held out to be a “living wage” – it was instead a part-time wage, a summer job wage, a not-too-much of brains or brawn needed wage, a teenager’s wage, a learning curve wage and a place to start wage. i made $1.65/hour in the 70s and nobody then expected it to be a living wage, or anywhere close.
a teacher in a southern state may have a starting wage just above $30k these days, and you apparently think an ice cream shop worker should make as much. the all-in cost for a $15/hour worker with taxes, workman’s comp., FICA, Medicare, etc. is $40k! and if the guy who mows your lawn makes the same as a teacher, it’s party over already bitches. small business catastrophe dead ahead.
Average starting salary for a public school teacher in Mississippi is $31,187. (Catholic schools undoubtedly pay even less, but you get free communion). So someone starting off dunking fries at Burger King would make more money that a new teacher with an education degree. Would that make sense? Maybe a national minimum wage is even dumber than the idea of any minimum wage at all. The name of the country, after all, is not actually “America”. It’s “The United States of America”. So – radical idea – let the states do what’s best for them. The average chicken farmer in Arkansas makes less – after expenses – than $15/hour. If Arkansans had wanted to institute a $15 wage, they’d have done it already. It’s always the goddamned tattooed, dreadlocked freaks in DC, Boston & Berkeley who want to tell the rest of the country what’s best for them. Fuck.
I just read Credit’s comment, and he/she already said it better than me. Fuck again.
“So someone starting off dunking fries at Burger King would make more money that a new teacher with an education degree.”
But somehow, magically, the administration keeps getting bigger, the district keeps crying about how they have no money for classrooms and their gold plated health plans keep getting fully funded. Bullshit.
I don’t give a damn if teachers don’t make any more than the Burger King employee. And neither should anyone else. Maybe, if sheeple would ask why the administration keeps growing, and the parents are still being asked for toilet paper and glue sticks each year, because “we can’t afford it” before ticking the X for yet another multimillion dollar tax and bond hike, there MAY be some accountability. Until then, it is just the same old tired and worn, poor teachers, they get nothing meme, while they hire another gaggle of useless guidance counselors, diversity managers, bullying advocates etc. And, each one of them needs an admin assistant as well, you know because they have a PHD or Masters in something and once you get that paper on the wall, you can’t possibly be expected to type your own letter, or manage your own calendar……What a flipping joke….
most of the bs is because of federal govt laws and coercion–
and HUGE amounts of the $ spent is because of special ed/special needs kids–
there are kids in school who have their own individual aide who’s job is to be sure that the ventilator does not come out of their mouth–
Any reason you cited the state second from bottom in teacher pay as an example?
Ok, I’ll bite. I know someone who runs a retail store in a city that passed a “phased in” $15 min wage. Although it takes effect over years he can’t hire anybody right now. The media has them all thinking they are worth $15/hr right now. It turned his business plan upside down overnight, not over two+ years. At a time when he’s constantly worrying if his cashier can do basic math, let alone if they are skimming, now he has to pay $15/hr for a wage he was paying $10/hr for as of a few months ago? A +33% raise in all his prices would cover the gap but who is going to come in and pay that price climb overnight. Instead he’s cutting hours and letting people go. His hours are WAY up but he’s the owner and doesn’t count. BTW, when working 100 hour weeks if he were paid $15/hr for that time he would still be making more than the salary he takes, not inc. overtime. Chew on that for a moment.
Minimum wage for entry level positions is fine for part time , retired or students picking up some extra cash the problem is the bulk of jobs being generated are part time low pay so of course people are demanding more . Benefits such as health insurance and a legitimate retirement fund adequately funded is out of the question for most businesses now . So subsidies for working people spiral our nation out of any competitive advantage we ever had . The very people demanding higher wages at any job are now typically people that have been passed over and left behind about 94 MILLON at last count as they are taxed out of existance for government workers to retire in their mid 50’s and chuckle at the private sector and are convinced they would do better than their uncle sugar job yet a large portion I have meet would never get beyond lunch before they would be asked to leave
A $15/hr wage in most states is equal to about $27/hr including the taxes and workman’s comp, and that assumes that the business isn’t paying Obamacare…
Did your health care provider up the dosage on you again?
Ya’ average people are screwed, but I’d like to tell you of someone who refuses to be screwed.
My friend is a recent (12 years) legal immigrant from a north african country. She started working the line at a fast food joint. It was her first job, she did not find a job in her home country. She became a manager of said joint 8 years ago. She saved her money. She bought a house, closed on Wednesday, paid 30 percent down. She achieved the so-called American Dream and never gave a damn about what anyone said about what she could not achieve.
She will, of course, be subject to whatever the world has in store for the rest of us. But, she has saved for the future, continues to save for the future, and will struggle with the rest of us to keep paying her mortgage and providing for herself… but she does so with determination to succeed. One more thing, she became a citizen 3 years ago.
Another immigrant I know well (the ex) did the same more than 30 years ago… and she is black.(from a south american country) She never gave a damn that what she accomplished she was told she could never do… she just kept her head down moving in the direction of success. Racism??? she never let it get in her way, never even acknowledged it…
Americans are a disaster. They grow up an entitled bunch of ignorant, selfish, babied morons. Well, the world is about to slap the stupid out of us…
This is standard operating procedure for politicians. Rape the future to give themselves another term or two in office….Applies to things like WW1 too, killing millions and destroying the UK’s future so British politicians don’t have to admit they blundered.
Problem is I’ve heard “It will not end well” certainly the last 15 years: I’m tired munching up prepper supply which has gotten stale…
Exactly!!
You’re doing it wrong then. Don’t buy and store foods you would not normally eat anyway. It takes a little extra thought but it can be done. Once you’re stocked up, use it as a pantry, restocking as needed as time goes by.
Besides, food preps are generally only going to last you months at most. In a real SHTF scenario, all survivors are going to reach bottom fairly quick and if you’re still running around fat dumb and happy smelling of ribeyes and all the trimmings, you’re gonna have bigger problems in short order.
The fact that collapse is inevitable doesn’t seem to bother you if it doesn’t come right away….sounds like somebody on welfare.
“The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity….”. It’s interesting Jefferson did exactly that when he financed the Louisiana Purchase with credit from a foreign bank.
Marsh Rabbit, c’mon, What a wise investment the Louisiana purchase was, doubling our land mass for pennies while generating $trillions in benefits. There is at least a tiny difference between productive debt and the unproductive? Going into debt for a college degree that will establish a significant return over a lifetime (not French literature or black culture studies, etc) is productive. Going into debt to purchase a depreciating shiny bauble, not so wise. Kinda basic, right?
I agree Jefferson made the right call, but it put him in conflict with his anti-federalist views. And the Federalists were probably correct that had they done this, Jefferson would have objected on Constitutional grounds.
Actually that’s not true. They paid a down payment in gold of approximately 3 million, accepted the responsibility for claims of Americans against France and sold bonds to fund the balance. The bonds were sold through Netherlands and British banks, but they were all paid off by 1823, exactly one generation (20 years) from the date of purchase.
Posterity refers to subsequent generations.
semantics,. T-bonds financing our current debt range from 10-30 years. So you’re cool with them, right???
That isn’t what I said.
I’m not very good with discussions that aren’t fact based, ask my wife. I always look for the specifics and then work from there.
The bonds that were used to purchase the landmass between the Mississippi and the Rockies from Canada down to the Gulf of Mexico was an asset, a tangible piece of real estate. It allowed for westward expansion and for settlement and eventually for vast amounts of mineral, material, and commodity based wealth to be extracted for hundreds of years to come. A bond based on our so-called ability to pay back in 30 years on projected tax revenues is…
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Comparing the two because the word “bond” is in them is not only impractical, it’s completely without equivalence.
Ditto the word “posterity” which refers to future generations, not our own. If a generation is 20 years then those bonds were not the same as the ones issued today. I had a very difficult time finding an approximation of the total value of outstanding government bonds, but 6 trillion seems to be the number most often cited. To determine if that’s payable you have to look at what the total revenues are annually over the life of the bonds, minus expenditures (and Jim, correct me if I am mistaken) but that number looks to be in the red. And that’s if everything stays the same and no other expenses come up. In short, there is no conceivable way to pay those obligations back without borrowing more money. Comparing the Louisiana Purchase Bonds to our current ones is like comparing The Vanderbilt wealth to a crackhead’s holdings.
Marsh Rabbit is a broken record. He makes the same comment every time a Thomas Jefferson quote is used. Trying to educate him is useless.
He is a lawyer, after all. His stock in trade is to argue his point and win. To hell with right or wrong. I had a school chum that became a Harvard lawyer tell me that one must be able to sell their own mother down river to be a good lawyer.
Pretty sure that “total value of outstanding (federal) government (bonds)” is now up to about $15T. That’s ~ $19T, less intragovernmental borrowings (money owed to Social Security) of about $4.1T. Hopefully info sources aren’t playing semantic games by making meaningless distinctions between treasury bonds, notes & bills. Of course, that doesn’t count money owed by states, counties, municipalities. Nor does it count “unfunded liabilities” – as it shouldn’t because those are just promises, and most of those are going to be repudiated.
I’m good with that, I’d finance that purchase with credit from North Korea if such a deal were available today. 828,000 square miles of land for $15 million (~$250 mil. today) or about a third of the United States, including vast amounts of rich land and resources. It includes the entire mid-western breadbasket.
Jefferson bought an incredibly valuable asset at a fire sale price…Light years difference.
Great article. This may explain why they won’t build the wall. The fuckers want a way to escape when we’re chasing them with pitchforks.
Lol. Love the imagery!
These are the articles that bring me here, and why I stay. This is the message that is important. There is a catastrophe looming, and everywhere I look people bury there heads in the mud.
I was speaking with my landscaper today. He runs a small business, employs a few folks. He is furious, like any small businessman would be. He knows the world is crazy. He is sick to death of political correctness, of the welfare state, of the loonies that surround us everywhere. His,plan is to retire as soon as possible, and do his level best to put the crap,out of his mind best he can.
Every small businessman I know – every one of them – feels the same. Who is going to create jobs and growth when all those folks say “fuck it, I am tired of supporting all the worthless bastards out there”?
Does anyone really think that the tech/internet companies, priced at 200 times earnings, is really a value to society? That those wisps of smoke actually can add real value in the long run? Who,is going to actually make and do things when real producers down tools and walk away?
Does anyone in their right mind really think the welfare state is sustainable? Does anyone really think passing Sander’s universal Medicare bill, with ZERO detail on how to,pay for it is smart, given that no cost controls on medicine currently exist?
They use Australia as a shining example,of universal healthcare. It is anything but, let me tell you. If you do not have private insurance as a supplement – mine is around $8000 a year – you are screwed. You do not choose a doctor, and you get to wait until the least competent quack that is willing to take the pittance the govt pays finally has room for you.
It is insane. All of it.
Yes, it is insane. Not sure what the stats are in Australia but here at home small businesses account for a huge percentage of the employment base:
“As of December 2015, the Canadian economy totalled 1.17 million employer businesses. Of these, 1.14 million (97.9 percent) were small businesses, 21,415 (1.8 percent) were medium-sized businesses and 2,933 (0.3 percent) were large businesses.
Key Small Business Statistics – June 2016 – SME research and statistics”
Our government is now talking about increasing federal taxes on small business by upwards of 50%. Now couple that with an increase in the min wage by about the same amount and tell me what you think will happen to what is left of our economy. Resource based businesses (small and large) are struggling. Retail is struggling.
Government has its hand placed directly over a button that will cause an economic nuclear disaster and no one gives a shit. It’s mind boggling. I suppose we reap what we sow.
Of course they have to increase taxes, Francis. Someone’s gotta pay for the “free” healthcare. It’s like the saying “If you think it’s expensive now, just wait until it’s free!”
i saw a bumper sticker once about nationalized healthcare–
National healthcare will combine the efficiency of the postal service with the compassion of the IRS.
Fidel’s son is doing his best to wreck Canada, and making a lot of progress!
Prepping is a responsible thing to do but no one has a warehouse capable of storing enough to hold out very long under any normal circumstances let alone catastrophic events man made or natural . When credit market controls evaporate and the trucks slow or stop delivering and the average grocery store is wiped out in 72 hours . Then and only then will people make a move . It will probably simmer for a short time and then boil over to what limit or end is the question . The powers that be will lose many of the JUST DOING MY JOB minions then you will see a side of humanity pushed over the edge .
The point of prepping is not to outrun the bear, but to outrun the guy next to you. Do you seriously think normies are going to make it past 6 months post-SHTF? After the population collapses – assuming no nuclear exchange – there’ll be enough land for the survivors to forage.
Well, you could easily store a year’s worth of food in a concealed cellar, but will need a secure location and a number of able bodied household members to keep it from the locusts if things really go south.
But everybody should have 30 days food, which will be all you need in most emergencies…
What’s wrong with zero interest rates? Who complains about 3% mortgages? Or, zero percent car loans?
After 9-11 ….. which resulted in two huge towers collapsing into their own footprint at free fall speed and Bldg 7 collapsed the same way even though nothing hit it, all caused by something, not airplanes, perhaps thermite …… fuck, I got distracted …….. did not President Bush command us all to go out shopping? Yes, he did. Who are we to disobey? Especially after the gift of ZIRP.
Has The Donald spoken out against ZIRP? Nope.
ZIRP and MAGA are intricately bound together. We should not fuck with a good thing. ALL of our economic problems would be solved if you cheap bastards would just buy more stuff! But, you won’t so, if this joint comes crashing down you’ll find blame by looking in the damned mirror.
I don’t often comment on economics but I think what I offered here is pure gold.
Stucky…………….we are A-OK; I loaded up on you via the thread on WTC as I knew you had a thing for the ‘controlled demolition’ viewpoint. Just wanted to shake the cage.
Anyway, it was a controlled demolition. My mother knows it was and she is a Democrat and died in 2009.
Note: I mentioned Democrat as they are generally gullible, ignorant, and/or stupid and it is amazing that my mother knows it was a controlled demolition.
Edit: And you don’t !!!
“Stucky…………….we are A-OK;”
Well, that’s the best news of the day. Really.
You may not have noticed, but I’ve been flinging a lot of shit lately; newbies (I think I ran off Dan III) and regyoulah’s alike have not been spared my wrath. I can’t fucken believe not one single soul voted for me to be da Judge. I’m losing supporters faster than Hillary at a Mensa convention.
So, yeah, I’m pretty stoked that we’re A-OK.
KoKo – Just so you know, my cat that died of extreme old age in 2002 KNEW it was a controlled demo and he was a stupid cat. Yet to this day Stucky can’t see that damn WTC7 fall down in that fashion WTF?
Nice try, BL. You get an “A” for effort.
But, I will NOT be sucked into THAT topic.
Auf Wiedersehen.
The blindness, it BURNS Stucky……..
Zero intrest rates screw everybody that saved for their future because their intrest earnings are so low as to be insignificant . Mean while the stock market runs up wildly devaluing all the savings responsible people amassed never looking at what supports those run up gains that will evaporate into dust in a few flash trade millaseconds . Like the Boy Scouts “Be Prepared”
Oh.
Wet dish rag!! ?
Just buy stuff that can be used in a Mad Max world with skills like MacGyver.
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Fungibility matters.
Stucky, the “buy more stuff” thing only works when you have an economy that is based on consumer spending — like ours used to be (71% of our economy was consumer spending).
Jim wrote a lot of articles about why that wasn’t / isn’t sustainable. He’s documented the collapse of retail, housing, automotive — all bubbles of consumerism brought about by cheap money (near-zero interest rates).
All this, though it lasted for decades, is NOT SUSTAINABLE. And what cannot be sustained will fail. The problem is, we don’t yet know what the next engine of economic growth will be — some said services, but we all know how that’s working out. Perhaps it’s military, with resulting destruction. It could be AI or some other tech, though I doubt it. We just don’t know yet.
I haven’t been a lurker here for very long and I have a limited historical perspective as a result. I have followed what were purported to be prophecies for the past 40+ years however. The “end of the age” scenario stuff. I have prepped several times now in anticipation of “the end”, and have eaten or discarded my aged out supplies several times as well. I’m tired of waiting for it. I can’t tell you how many investment opportunities I passed by thinking them too risky to take a chance on with my limited resources and the short time remaining. I’m not a person of means. I’m basically right in the middle of the Bell Curve financially and intellectually. I’ve done my best to plan a retirement for my wife and I, which has been insanely complicated and beyond me. What I’ve done is bought a home and trying to get as much equity as possible in it, in order to provide a foundation for our retirement. I understand that that is soon to evaporate out from under me. I also found employment with a company that provided a pension and health insurance for us. I planned on Social Security as well. I trust your analysis Mr. Quinn. And from it I gather that all of this will disappear. Absolutely terrifying. I will not be able to take care of my wife, and as a traditional male, I’m devastated by the prospect. I’m still working and have a few years to go to reach the magic of age of 65.
I have a crazy opportunity in Canada. It’s a wing and a prayer. I can work for a medical marijuanna producer, a good friend, for terms that would completely secure my retirement. Great base salary and profit sharing with huge end of year bonuses. In 5 years or sooner I’m done. The problem I see there, if you’ll excuse the pun, is the growing competition. I can’t believe I am even considering such a move. Life is surreal right now. My question for you, for all of you here at the most excellent TBP is, what can I do at this point to make a go at surviving what is to come? Even with faith, I’m scared.
Skills, confidence, knowledge, family, community, positive attitude and the will to survive.
Easy-peasy. ( I would have added Japanesey but I didn’t want Amazon to de-list TBP due to community standards, so I didn’t)
Thank you friend. I appreciate your kind words.
Your wife???
Dammit, all this time I thought you were a female. You know cuz ….. RAVEN …. how many dudes go by that?
Anyway, nice post, fer sure.
If you get that job, could you please send some sample Weed to SSS? Imagine the joy you’d bring to him!
Did you just assume that because I was married to a chick thst I wasnt one as well? Lol j/k!!! Yeah. I get that alot about my name. It’s really an allusion to Trickster. Thanks though for your support Stucky. I certainly will send that care package if I take that job! Lol. I’ve thought about you often since you’ve been sharing your personal experiences. I hope things improve quickly for you. You’re one of the good guys and a class act. You continue to be in my prayers. God bless.
Thanks for the kind words, MISTER Raven!
Dahum, I just love this place when we all get along!!
“one of the good guys and a class act.”
sounds like raven is already sampling the stock–
😉
Do you hear what this heathen is saying about your goodness Stucky? May the fleas of a thousand camels infest his armpits! 😉
How do I delete my overreaction above? 8^(
Raven,
What level of risk are you willing to assume? Are you a Vegas high-roller or a nun?
Your Canadian friend sounds like a real entrepreneur, all right. But that’s OK – if YOU are one too.
But then again – what is a “sure thing”, these days? My government is full of crooks, liars and stooges – can hardly find five I trust enough to turn my back on them. Major corporations have balance sheets that are part wishful thinking, part sheer lunacy – what is Facebook _worth_? How long will it survive? What are its REAL ASSETS to justify its’ share price?
Growing pot in Canada might be the best opportunity you will see. At least the population density is lower than in the US, so fewer cannibals will come looking for you if the Crunch comes. And you can use the off-spec, defective and obsolete assets to ease the pain if necessary.
But it all comes down to what risk level you are comfortable with – and what you assess the EXISTING risk level, here, doing what you are now, to be. Know yourself and win all your battles – know your enemy and win the war.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. If you giving me some things to the and I appreciate that. All the best.
In answer to your original question: gold, guns and grub.
Stucky, you might have been thinking about me. I was Araven for quite a while, but I gave it up after too many people assumed that I was male!
“what can I do at this point to make a go at surviving what is to come?”
My 2 (non)cents. Knowledge, “prepping” is 90% knowledge and 10% “stuff”. Me personally, I have a lot of books that I can leverage for knowledge that I don’t have in case SHTF, medical, farming, engine repair, that kind of stuff. Health, I try to keep as healthy as I can by being active and eating decently. I keep a decent amount of cash and silver (coins and rounds) in a safe. I’m proficient with firearms (rifle, pistol, crossbow, and pellet rifle) and can load my own ammo in a pinch, yes I have the materials. The wife and I had wanted to do the camping lifestyle when we retired, so I went ahead and purchased a small RV travel trailer and a truck to pull it with, paid ’em off, so I have a roof over my head. I’m making double house payments to get my mortgage paid off, and I stay out of debt as much as possible. I detest credit card debt, always have. I’ve diversified my “savings” to include an HSA account, 401k that my employer contributes to, and saving/checking accounts in both a “big” bank and a small local credit union. The credit union account has an ATM card only so it’s not linked to any online activity, and can’t be. The wife and I keep at least 1-2 month’s worth of food in the pantry and I have a shopping list in case of any “sudden” events that may arise. I may not be “prepped” for the zombie apocalypse, but I’m confident that with my knowledge and ingenuity that I’d be able to take care of the wife and myself if things deteriorate dramatically, which I do expect. I believe we’re not in for a SHTF single event, but a slow decay with sharp “events” interspersed. Even if nothing happens, I’m setting myself up to be as self-sufficient as I possibly can. Given that I grew up on a small farm in Maine, this actually comes naturally to me anyways. Hope this little spiel helped.
raven……………great question. It is far down this thread and I don’t think it will get the attention it deserves. There are a few people on TBP that can help and hope they do.
It is the competition issue and the concern that the business wil go under and your starry-eyed riches disappear.
IMO, if you were younger, even married, go for it. Since you are older and nearing retirement – it is a no brainer to me. But, I am a conservative fella. I am assuming your home is paid (no mortgage).
Raven
Pretty easy decision. Go for it! Don’t wait for the end of world. It will get here, for you as it will for me, soon enough..
Love your attitude. Confidence is shaky for a paradime shift of this magnitude at this age. I think we’re ready for an adventure however. Thanks!
take the pot job in Canada. just do it.
Please explain. The money is so alluring. That’s not always the best standard to judge a major life change on.
I have some bad news for you, Mr. Raven: you and your wife are going to die. I know the television convinced you immortality was achievable with only a few easy payments but it lied. People living much past 65 is the aberration, not the norm. You should take solace in the time you’ve had and not worry about the future. Your future is a hole in the ground. Deal with it and move on.
Guessing this is Mr. Quinn. But whoever you are, I made an effort to be respectful of the experience and intelligence here, and this is how you respond? Okay then. Since you seem to possess the attribute of omniscience, post the winning Powerball Numbers here for our benefit you fucking miserable piece of shit. Better yet, stick a revolver in your mouth and pull the trigger and rid us of your incessant pessimism cock sucker. Happy now bitch?
Lighten up.
Admin NEVER EVER posts under any other name except his own.
That Anon is some other chicken shit coward.
I have a short fuse right now. Appreciate the check Stucky.
You’re welcome, sir!
It’s a good thing I was able to point this out BEFORE Admin saw it. His Rod Of Correction is terribly swift and painful! ?
What is this – Penthouse forum? Leave Admin’s Rod of Correction out of it.
(For anyone under age 50, Penthouse was a magazine, printed on what we used to call paper…)
You mistake serenity for pessimism. I know you understand on an intellectual level, but part of you still clings to the absurdity that you can somehow escape the inevitable. This clearly causes a great deal of distress which ironically hastens your demise. When you stop focusing on how you’re going to live, you are free to focus on actually living.
Anyway, best of luck in your green industry endeavors. Lord knows we could all do with some dank bud.
Thanks for the explanation. My apologies for the outburst. Stressed the fuck out with all the bullshit going on.
Raven, stress is a bummer but on the bright side you’re thinking. How many are in the ignorant masses. They have something to really worry about but are oblivious. A big step in helping you will be to get with Chris Martensen at Peak Prosperity.com. Fabulous dude with all the reasonable answers you’d hope for. His book “Prosper” gets your head screwed on with actionable things you can do to be prepared and even thrive in all the BS. The 8 forms of capital are priceless. On a positive note-you’re half way there already. You have identified problems and are seeking solutions. Huge!
Steve. THANK YOU! I haven’t heart of Chris Martensen before. I will check him out tonight. So appreciate your support and direction!
The pot biz will be a major success in general, like all the vices. If you think the goal line is 65 years old and your done=bad mistake. Inflation will wipe you out a couple of years down the line. You gotta keep working until the day you find yourself looking at the roots and not the grassy side of things. A profitable hobby-dynamite
We’re ready to take a risk on securing a better future, but are aware that they rarely work out as envisioned. The terms of my employment are such: 75,00.00 a year, 5% of profit sharing annually between 10 employees (I have the financials and they appear sound), I will have in hand 1.25 mil after five years plus salary. He will sell if offered the right price and may solicit buyers as the market gets hotter. 5 years max. He’s getting licensed this month so this a ground floor opportunity.
Well, Raven, if you don’t take the opportunity, I will. A bonus for him is that I don’t use any kind of dope, so he need not worry about me sending the product up in smoke.
The $75K a year should be enough. Live like someone making $25K, save and invest most of what you have left after the gooberment takes their cut of your swag. If you get the profit sharing (in stock), that’s a very nice bonus.
Don’t invest in “paper assets”. Invest in a remote farmstead that you can visit on weekends and retreat to when the house of cards falls apart. Also, remember that prepper food can feed you for a couple of years or until bands of predators take it; a supply of heirloom seeds will feed you for the rest of your life. Trees and other perma-crops are also nice.
Sure, the big guys will probably buy out or drive out the little guys, starting in about 5 years. No big deal. Your share of the buyout will set you up for life.
Not every day someone gets the chance to enter a new market segment at the beginning. I have known people who got profit-sharing funded stock in start up companies in new market segments. They all became multi-millionaires. So will you, if the company is successful. The company will be successful if the owner doesn’t start using his own product.
I’d be careful on that move or at least plan for it possibly being short lived. I’ve read somewhere the big players (Mega corps/Tobacco) are just now seeing the government taxation potential and associated willingness to legalize. The mega corps are looking at the profit potential and are ramping up to vertically engage that market. I read they are targeting the Central/South Americas for land acquisition. Small start-up players may be pushed right out of the picture (bankrupted/legislated out) sooner rather than later. That being said there may also be a buyout opportunity you can take advantage of.
We’re ready to take a risk on securing a better future, but are aware that they rarely work out as envisioned. The terms of my employment are such: 75,00.00 a year, 5% of profit sharing annually between 10 employees (I have the financials and they appear sound), I will have in hand 1.25 mil after five years plus salary. He will sell if offered the right price and may solicit buyers as the market gets hotter. 5 years max. He’s getting licensed this month so this a ground floor opportunity.
Raven, have no fear. Though some may say differently, LOVE and FEAR are opposites. Let go of fear — you may have to peel a few dozen layers of your onion! — then get in touch with your heart, the seat of Love. Spend some time calming mind. If you still feel that internal tug to go forth along a path less traveled, I’d recommend going for it. I’d rather go shoulder to shoulder with a plant (herb) that has survived thousands of years than a society | culture | country like ours. If Canada seems to foreign, try California! Listen to Neil Young’s Gold Rush album. 😉
Somehow the left seemingly continues to hold the oral high ground while essentially selling the next generations down the river into debt.
“A minor car repair can easily reach $1,000.”
Fixed it for ya.
And a new hot water heater is more like $1,500, not $3000…unless you have a 6000 sq. foot home with 5 bathrooms. (Just got mine replaced a few months ago for $1,250, a 40-gallon unit that costs $425 but with installation labor rippoff, the cost ballooned to $1,250.)
Interesting video from Black Pigeon on Japan and how it is handling debt in a native population demographic that is shrinking without immigration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoSnGXS1WVc
I find it hard to believe nearly 2/3 of the population has less than 1000$. Maybe it’s just an awful truth I don’t want to believe. Based on what I see when I drive by the restaurants at night (always full) My guess is these would be the people that have less than a grand. These same people probably don’t have more than a few days food as well.
Nice truth bomb Jim. I have been hearing about this crack up boom for some time. At this point the longer it takes to get in gear the harder it will be on everyone. My hope is for it to all go down at the end of winter/ early spring. Something about bringing out your dead in the middle of winter just doesn’t sound like fun anymore.
(It’s time to borrow, just to buy enough food to last two years – BGM.)
The Strategic Significance
of “Russia Hacking the Election”
“The importance of North Korea for Russia and China lies in its geography. Korea is situated in the one theater of operations where Russian and Chinese military forces can unite most effectively together.
“The next point to be made about Russian and Chinese war preparations is tricky. In the modern world, military aggression is generally viewed as bad. Those who start wars of aggression are said to be criminals. It follows that the governments of Russia and China want the United States to start the next world war. They want the United States to be criminally culpable. In fact, for many decades Russian military textbooks have assumed that the next great war will be started by the Americans. We read in V.D. Sokolovskiy’s authoritative text, Soviet Military Strategy, “The class essence of bourgeois military strategy lies in the fact that it serves the reactionary aim of preparing war to destroy the most progressive social system — socialism — and to prevent the inevitable development of mankind along the road to communism.” (p. 515, Rand Trans).”
“It is, in fact, part of Russian and Chinese military doctrine that a future war will be started by the Americans. But do not be fooled. The Russians and Chinese will choose the time and place to begin the war. Through a satellite country they will engineer an irresistible provocation (i.e., an alleged lunatic brandishing nuclear weapons). To this end they have built up Iran and North Korea.”
http://www.jrnyquist.com/strategic-significance.html
…
Moran.
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Thank-yew verah much.
Do the small things well, with good care. That will come in handy when the Façade falls down. Let the Cloud people self immolate, fuck em.
The author forgot one word when describing “the masses”: powerless. Especially when singled out.
You never know what life will bring .I had surgery to fix a herina July 21 now with more test the doctors have found a bockage in my heart.Will need more surgery according to them or I will have a massive heart attack some time in the near future.I am glad all this is happening now . Maybe I will be in good shape by the time we collapse into Nothing.
This is probably a good time to get your health check-up . Through Blood work and other tests the doctors can “see ” what’s going on in your body. I am going be in good health soon so I can still die a miserable , painful death after we collapse .God is Good.
I call it the apocalypse cupboard. The AC holds all of our home canned goods plus other food purchases. We garden, raise meat rabbits and have few hens for eggs. We’ve done something similar as long as we’ve been married, 43 years. We’ve owned two farms and moved another half dozen times. We both have worked our asses off, and are proud of what we have accomplished. We called each move an adventure. Currently we live within spitting distance of the Pacific Ocean. I’ve been waving the SHTF flag for years, she, for the last four or five years. My honey asked me a few days back, if I had enough ammunition. I answered “yes,” even though she left an opening the size of a new Glock. (God I love that woman). My munitions are mostly defensive, shotguns, handguns etc. Neither of us feel the need to survive the coming shit storm, but we both think we can assist our grown children, grandchildren and other young through it. Life is nothing more than surviving as best as one can. I look at the coming events as a challenge and since it seems inevitable, I would like to see it happen. Hindsight may reveal that we are living through the reset now. It is likely that all the bullshit we are witnessing may be the opening chapters. Life should be lived with gusto. Move to Canada, smoke some Canadian pot and continue your life. Just do it, and fuck Nike.
Don’t worry we’ll print more!
Team Goy
If you were wondering why the stock market is at all time highs, look no further.
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Administrator
Any idea what percentage of those assets are bought with stocks?
Any idea what percentage of US stocks are owned by central banks?
You know Jim, that’s just a correlation and correlation is not causation and blah blah blah blah….
“Fiddle-dee-dee, I won’t worry about that today, I’ll worry about that tomorrow”___Scarlett O’Hara
What CAN we do about this mess Miss Scarlett, we iz just house workers, we can’t do’s nuthin ’bout da Fed. How iz we gonna git 20 TRILLION dollahs?
Hush up Pork, Rhett Trumpter will save us…….But Miss Scarlett, Rhett Trumpter has gone and turned Yankee and sided with the banks and da Fed. I hear tell that he iz over at dat Belle Pelosi’s smooching up dem’ Dems.
Well Pork, Tomorrow is another day.
Yassum Miss Scarlett……
*****TEAM GOY NEVER CHANGES
I would be shocked if the debt was only $24 trillion 4 years from now. I am assuming at least one of those years is going to include a recession and thus will have a $2 trillion deficit for just that one year.
I wonder, did Jefferson write that before or after the Louisiana Purchase?
No matter. Anyone who would have the bust of Alexander Hamilton grace his home is all right with me.
Besides. The purchase might be the only thing the federal govt can show a return on.
greg,you survived–are you back at the doomstead or somewhere else?
Hey Tampa…I came to the Settlement at 3 pm the next day. No power, a breaker box bent by the snapped top of a volunteer Cherry falling upon it and a downed power line down the power pole road leading to the river from a shitty Water oak. Two days later fellas from Talladega strung the hi voltage back up and me and the gal are doing great.
As I’ve noted, what was left of the Bitch Goddess Irma, her eye passed over the area. Sadly I’ve discovered a burst or tornado, had cracked the base of a cedar which I fell today. Maybe I can find a mill in these parts and make memorable use of it. Cedars are tough to grow from seed so I’ll have to get a sapling somewhere. Highway 90 is strewn with trees in the Suwannee river management area. All cracked
midway up and fallen to the south.
The little,big river has risen a mere foot or two so that’s not going to be a problem like the Santa Fe. Hope you’ve got power there.
Vintage TBP. It was timely, sharp and needed, thank you.
Hot water heater three grand !!!??? Boy I always knew Philly was shitty, but $3000 for a hot water tank? Admin, because I love your stuff, and because i’m your cross state neighbor, I will drive a new hot water tank, 40 gallon, 50 gallon, gas or electric, whatever, across that God-awful turnpike, and deliver it to your domicile, for a mere $2,500!! Pittsburgh love and altruism at its finest right here! Just say when sir !
i’m in butler. i’ll ride with you for fun and bring my tools along, but let’s get out of philly quick when the job’s done. it sucks there…
I bought a 40gal gas water heater w/10 year warranty from Lowes for $700 – delivered. Installed it myself in about 3 hours.
$3k is about right for my hourly rate.
Yo Jimbo, you’re right, sumbitch, the Silver Lining. Fuck the constant Doom and Gloom. The Rich don’t make nothin, create anything, grow something or build anything meaningful. They’ll be lost without their money, which has no intrinsic value anyway. Let em die in a ditch. We’ll just pick up the pieces and carry on.
A different kind of swindling,asset forfeiture.
Good news-the House just voted to roll back Sessions’ recent action where he put asset forfeiture on steroids.
Let’s hope the Senate concurs.
https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/congress/item/26911-amash-s-amendment-rebukes-sessions-on-asset-forfeiture
New water heaters are not $3,000.00, they are around $600.00 for a decent unit.
Also, why would one wish to heat hot water? /sarc.
My apologies for posing the following question after arriving at this party so late, but I have been wondering about it for a while.
All of the economic data seems to point toward a financial reckoning of giant proportions, yet the facade stays up. Does anyone know if government owned real estate and controlled water ways (and all of the oil, minerals, etc contained thereon or thereunder) are reflected on the US’s balance sheet? I am not sure how it could even be valued (prior to a sale on the open market —I mean how much is 90% of Nevada worth?) Maybe the assets to liabilities is not as bad as it looks (if the real estate is not reflected in the books) I am not a numbers guy at all so this question may not even be relevant, but the idea struck me as a possible explanation as to why the US is still walking — I mean financially of course. Culturally, the US is dead.
Excellent question. Try looking for a sizable Florida river lot. You’ll find them owned by at least three different government agencies. A fire sale of gargantuan proportion might be in the offing when the time comes. But…who will have the money ? ( loaded question)
O ye of little faith – I think there are enough good people out there to weather the coming financial shit storm – good example is recent hurricanes, folks band together to carry on. I can see a “great disturbance in the force” but total anarchy? Not likely. May come down to bartering pigs for awhile, but some means of exchange will take place. Such as Bitcoin, that takes the govt. and banksters out of the loop. I have a few pieces of silver and gold set aside as well.
A financial reset would actually better the middle class, as they won’t lose as much as the “rich”. Hey – if my gold was revalued to 5000 an ounce, why, I could pay off everything (left from a bad divorce, I’m debt free otherwise) and maybe even afford a new truck!!