Like most conservative bloggers Conservatives on Fire has focused mainly on domestic issues. I have, however, tried to keep an eye on events in Europe because I know in this day and age of globalization what happens there affects us here. Also, like most of you, I am not an economist and so I am constantly search the Internet for pundits that can help me understand the deluge of economic data that is thrown at us. Because of my background as an engineer, I look not so much for people who agree with me as I look for people whose logic works for me. I know full well that numbers do not lie; but, people do lie about what the numbers mean. So, that is why I look for logic at all times.
This past weekend I have been busy looking for answers to questions that plague my mind. Today I am going to recommend four articles for you to read. (I owe a debt of gratitude and a big hat tip to The Classic Liberal for the links to these articles.) The first three articles should be thought of as more like homework, for lack of a better term. It is my hope that you will invest the time necessary to read and understand what these articles are saying. For now, let me share with you my interpretation of these articles and, for the sake of argument, assume my interpretation is correct. (If you decide to do the homework reading, you can always come back at a later date and challenge my conclusions.) So, based on that assumption, what I am interested in today is your reaction to what I see as the only reasonable way to go forward. Here then is the reading list with a very brief description of what I think you will learn from each article.
Article 1. _ World Economy Hanging By A Thread posted at Financial Sense. To follow this article you will need to understand the term Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI). You can find a good definition at Investopedia. This article makes it clear to me that the European economy is on the verge of imminent collapse and will drag the US over the cliff with it.
Article 2. _ Sovereign Debt, Sovereign Bank Runs posted at LewRockwell.com. From this article you should see that the “Banksters” are about to be hung on their own petard.
Article 3. _ Bloody September posted at Zero Hedge. From this article, you will see that the economic indicators are getting worse almost by the minute. It suggest that we are already in recession but TPTB don’t want to admit it or they are blind to the facts.
Conclusion
My conclusion is that the Gloom and Doomers we correct all along. The debt/credit party that the central bankers and the political elite have enjoyed for so long is over. Europe’s economy will fail and it will fail soon. The US economy will follow. There is nothing that can be done. All attempts to turn the ship of state around will be over come by the brewing perfect storm.
When will it happen? It is happening as I write these words. No one can put an exact date on when the final collapse will occur; but, in my humble opinion, I will be surprised if it doesn’t happen before the 2012 elections. The collapse will happen no matter who we elect in 2012. Europe will see more chaos and violence in their streets and so will we. People will naturally panic. Heads of States will be tempted to impose martial law.
Recommendations
First let me say that I hope whoever is President ,when the collapse occurs, will refrain from imposing martia law. This would only prolong the agony. It would be far better to allow each governor to deal with the chaos and violence without Federal assistance. Also, the 2012 elections are even more important than ever. We will need the best people at the helm. We will need cool heads.
Okay. This brings me to the real subject of this post. I have been thinking about this solution for some time. I have not discussed it here before now out of fear of being ridiculed. But, this weekend I was delighted to learn that there are people, far smarter and knowledgeable than I, who are expressing the same thing that I have been thinking.
The second part of today’s title is: “Time to Forgive and Forget”. That is what I am recommending as the only plausible solution for reclaiming the future. All debts will have to be forgiven and forgotten. There is no other way, in my opinion, and that opinion is backed up by this article Endgame: When Debt is Fraud, Debt Forgiveness is the Last and Only Remedy. The author of this article is Charles Hugh Smith of the “of two minds.com” blog. It is this article that I hope you will read now.
This may seem to be a radical idea but if you think about, I think you will realize the logic of it. It will happen. We will either do it willing or we will be forced after years of agony to finally accept that there is no other way. America and all nations will need to wipe the slate clean and start over again. This is why the next elections are even more important than we may have thought. We will need the wisest of heads to leed us to a new beginning. We don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past. You can be sure the financial elites (the banksters) will want to start the game over on their terms. This we can not allow to happen.
Hopefully, whoever is President when the collapse happens, will seek out the best minds in America to map out a future based on solid monetary policy and based on the concepts our Founders originally intended. The sooner the idea of forgiving all debt is accepted, the sooner we begin the recovery process.
America, in my opinion, is better suited than most nations to rebuild. We are blessed with all the natural resources we need. We have abundant fertile land to grow all the food we need. We possess the industrial capacity to produce all that we need. Trade with other nations will recommence in the natural course of events. This pending economic collapse should be seen as providing us a second chance to get things right. We can do it! I am absolutely convinced that we among all people are best able to rebuild and we will learn from our past mistakes.
The Nanny State, the Welfare State, the Envirnmrnteal Extremist State and the Bankster Cotrolled Economies are over and we will never let them raise their ugly heads again. I am not depressed by the coming events and neither should you be. This will turn out to be the second chance we have wanted to provide our grandchildren a future worth looking forward to.
Well, that’s what I’m thinking. Wha are your thoughts?
m
loopyloo305
September 6, 2011
I hope that you are right Jim, you are much more optimistic than I am!
bunkerville
September 6, 2011
I will try and put my optimist hat on as well. My thoughts are that it will depend on how tough it gets for folks. From one of the “Three Penny Opera” lines. “Why even saintly folks may act as sinners unless they have had their customary dinner.” Last I heard we have about a 6 week energy supply on tap. Obama is doing his best to disrupt our energy. Cold and hungry people will make for not such a nice attitude. .
Conservatives on Fire
September 6, 2011
Oh, I think things will get ugly indeed. All I’m saying is there is a way to get out of the mess in a few years if our leaders keep their heads and seek the wisest minds in the country to show them the way. The debts will be forgiven and the bankers will eat them sooner or later. I vote for sooner because later could mean a decade or two.
Frankenstein Government
September 6, 2011
Interesting. I like the premise, But all debt is always paid. Either by the debtor or by the issuer. In this case, stiffing the issuers- central banks seems appropriate. Central bankers manipulated the supply of money and credit and thus created the boom followed by the mega bust. It would be about time for the elite bastards that engineered this sham to get a haircut. They are desperate and they will try to avoid that at all costs.
I don’t see a giant upheaval when the currency collapses. There will be a period when something new gets issued. It will be chaotic. I hope somebody with some balls is in the WH. Somebody like Paul to steer us through. That buffoon we have now- will be a disaster not to mention, nobody wants to collaborate with him. He is a self centered idiot and I think that is mostly why his entire economic team has abandoned him. I think he is a control freak and has to have everything his way. Which is often the wrong way.
In fact, we have disaster mitigation plans for virtually everything. Somewhere somebody is working on some sort of emergency transition plan. Trust me on this. I guarantee the central bank will have one. Let’s hope we have one of our own.
I’ve kept a keen eye on the euro. The place is collapsing. If Germany abandons the euro I am expecting a rush for the exits. The euro really was a ridiculous experiment. It can’t make the one world one currency types too happy to see their dreams blow up. Or China.
Good stuff Jim. Liked this piece a lot.
Conservatives on Fire
September 6, 2011
That’s what makes me smile ear to ear, Brian. When I say the debts need to be forgiven, I mean let the bankers eat them. It will go that way because we consciously decide that it is the only sane answer or it will go that way by force when there is nothing left but ashes.
Silverviddle
September 6, 2011
I’ve been thinking along the same lines myself, but I’m not smart enough to think it all the way through.
I don’t see any alternatives, however,
Thanks for the thought provoking post and the links!
Conservatives on Fire
September 6, 2011
It is not an easy concept to wrap your mind around I know. It goes against one’s principles. But I see no other plausible solution. If the interest on a country’s debt goes to 40 or 50%, there is no amount of austerity that can deal with that.
Always On Watch
September 6, 2011
I agree with the solution posited here.
But I don’t think this solution will be tried — until it is obvious to the vast majority that this solution is the only viable one.
Now, what about real-estate taxes?
Conservatives on Fire
September 6, 2011
I don’t know the answer to your question, AOW. When we finally accept the inevitable, society at all levels will need to reorganize from scratch. Property tax is a vile way for communities to fund themselves. Hopefully they will be smarter the next time.
Cheryl
September 6, 2011
Hey, Jim…
I’m amazed at your optimism. Does anyone think that China is going to forgive debts?? Really? They will exact payment in ways we don’t even want to think about, in resources, in land, and of course the New World Currency will be their money, not U.S. dollars. (They are already moving in, in droves, into Free Trade Zones all over the U.S.) The progressives have drummed up so much hate against America across the globe that America will be the carcass picked to pay the debts off. It will be deemed all our fault that the world financial stability is ruined. (and that may be partly true thanks to the American idiots who ran up this debt and sent stinking toxic derivatives all over the world.) So….I wish I could be as optimistic as you are, but I think our goose is cooked. I would like to think the global bankers have seen their last penny out of us….but I doubt that would ever be the case. Other countries who hold our debt are not about to just throw up their hands and go without payment willingly. Not to rain on your parade….just not thinking America will be forgiven anything. I get your point about the blank slate…but I think that is wishful thinking.
Trump is the only spokesperson out there who thinks the world owes us. His statements about how we have protected Europe and Korea, plus that Iraq owes us the oil, make more sense to me than everyone folding their hand and going home. He would not fold up. He would demand payment to us. I love that attitude…by the way.
I visited Mt. Vernon on Labor Day while in DC and wondered at the multitudes of visitors and the many languages spoken by them. The experience was left wanting….has become too commercial and the reverence for G. Washington was not there really. It had the feeling of a tourist trap….i came away disappointed. Mobs there….mobs and mobs. Maybe at least that is a sign that people are wanting to connect to the revolution that made us free. Don’t know. A really ironic thing though…the intro film said the Ford Foundation was one of the big contributors to the place….a progressive globalist one world government foundation is supporting George Washington’s home and museum??? Really weird. What planet am I on?? Don’t answer that….
Hope all is great with you…
Conservatives on Fire
September 6, 2011
I am optimistic. Cheryl. Not that I believe our leaders will recognize right away that debts must be forgiven. They will first try austerity and taxing which will only make matters worse. Failure to repudiate debt will mean unending world wide depression. It really will become evident that debt repudiation is the only solution. The sooner the world comes to this conclusion the better for everybody. At least that is how I see it.
Cheryl
September 6, 2011
I’m not sure what out years (ten, twenty, fifty?) you are seeing this reconciliation of global debt?? Merkel is in the middle of German angst over bailing out Greece still, as the German people are fed up with the idea. The EU is going to fall. (should never have been created in the first place) Multiculturalism has failed. Environmentalism as a doctrine and theology has failed in Europe as a financial engine….surely to heaven I wish our American leadership would get off that boat…and fast. Japan is failing. If there is a coming global collapse (looks like there is), I doubt the kindness and charity of the IMF, the Goldman Sachs, the Rockefelllers and Fords, the Fed, the UN, or any other power brokers sitting on top of the crisis they created. What in history would lead you to this conclusion of yours?? I can’t think of another example other than Americans forgiving debts after wars. With all of the progressive initiatives to redistribute American wealth out of the country and into the bottomless pits of the third world, where are you seeing this rainbow?? Name one global leader who has said debts should be forgiven and the world should start anew. And even if you could find one, what would make us think that America would get a good deal in that scenario?? I can’t see a (Fabian socialist) global progressive being anything but deliriously happy about a world wide depression…because the goal is to depopulate the earth.
http://alfin2100.blogspot.com/2011/09/debt-and-demographic-decline-breed.html
Still pessimistic…
Conservatives on Fire
September 7, 2011
I have to be optimistic, Cheryl. If not, there would be no reason for me to want to go on. The whole world will be going down the toilet together. World leaders at some point (the sooner the better) will have to recognize that there really is no other option than to clean the slates and then go forward, hopefully smarter for the experience. Nobody wants to live in a perpetual depression. Not even the Fabians. The Fabians are lost without other peoples money.
TexasFred
September 6, 2011
There is only one solution… And it starts with Obama gone…
Conservatives on Fire
September 6, 2011
that would be a great first step, Fred. Can we start tomorrow?
Pat
September 6, 2011
It’s so odd that you wrote that, Jim, and I’m glad you did. I’ve been thinking about that for a while. It’s sort of wrapped up in a belief that commerce is the unifying factor in the world. Here’s what I mean: Right now, China is doing well. However, if America goes down the drain (or Europe, for that matter), where will that leave China? Chinese aren’t going to buy what their factories produce. They will follow us right down the tube, and they can demand all they want, they need a strong and vibrant America to do well themselves. The interconnectedness of the global economy is very helpful in this situation. Just like we knew that we needed to help rebuild Europe after WWII for the good of our own economy, no nation is better off if any other big global economic power goes into the tank. If that is the case, and I think it is, coming to the conclusion the a RESET button needs to be pushed–with the qualification that things need to be done differently or all we’ll do globally is just run ourselves up to another need to reset–and debt forgiveness will be the logical way to go.
Trestin
September 6, 2011
There is certainly a storm coming. Those who prepare will be grateful they did.
Conservatives on Fire
September 6, 2011
As the economy slows down it will be interesting if the debt ceiling issue has to be addressed again prior to the elections.
Steve Dennis
September 7, 2011
I fear that you are right about the impending collapse, I feel that it is inevitable because nobody is serious about the problem. I don’t know what to do about it but I am not so optimistic that America will reemerge as the same country afterwards.
Conservatives on Fire
September 7, 2011
I hear you, Steve. As I said to Cheryl, I have to be optimistic. Otherwise, what is the use of continuing?
republicanmother
September 7, 2011
1.6 Trillion is fake debt that we owe to ourselves as the Treasury borrows from the Fed. Ron Paul has suggested canceling this portion of the debt to give us some breathing room. Why don’ they want to do that?
Meanwhile, the (SDRs) are standing by to take the place of worldwide currency. They don’t want to forgive the debt, they want to swap us into a new global currency. Then Pinky and Brain can “take over the world”.
Conservatives on Fire
September 7, 2011
Pinky and Brain have been running the world, rM. Of course THEY don’t want to see debt repudiated. but that is exactly what needs to happen. When the collapse comes, if the US would lead the way by repudiation its debts, 99% of the third world countries will jump on the bandwagon. Europe and others would be forced to follow and that would be the end of the banksters. Will it happen that way? I would love to say yes but they will instead try everything else first. Hopefully enough smart people will resist any attempts to come up with a new world currency because that won’t solve the problem. THE GAME IS OVER!
theCL
September 7, 2011
A few thoughts …
The above objection(???) came up a few times in the comments, but it misses the point. We can, however, blame that on the language used by Charles Hugh Smith. In reality, debt “forgiveness” will only come via debt repudiation.
As republicanmother noted, Ron Paul has already proposed doing this with Treasury debt held by the Fed.
Repudiating the debt will accomplish nothing without also shutting down the Federal Reserve.
None of the above can even happen unless “We the People” reject the Ruling Class wholesale.
More on repudiating the debt:
http://the-classic-liberal.com/repudiate-national-debt/
Conservatives on Fire
September 7, 2011
I abosolutely agree that the Fed has to go. You are also right about “forgiving”. I used the better word “repudiation” in some my response to comments.
John Galt
September 7, 2011
Good post with a lot of sensible thoughts and ideas.
I also agree that when things go bad is better to clean the slate, forget and forgive, and look to the future instead.
However, things gone bad in the past are due to changes in the power base of the nation. The power elite has managed to finagle a power base that is intricately involved and self-interested in their advantages and freebies won. It is hard to go forward without having to change this power base, otherwise they will fight you all the way and probably defeat you.
It is the system that has become corrupt. There is no going forward – not matter how much forgive and forget one does – if the power self-interest of the majority is against you.
So the question becomes – how do we change, clean, and purify the system.
Conservatives on Fire
September 7, 2011
I think I did mention a period of chaos and violence. There are probably two principle goals we must try to accomplish with the “Dependent Power Base”, First we must convince them that there really is no more money and that the promises that were made to them were made in bad faith. Second, we must play on their love of their children and grandchildren; explaining that we must suffer for a few years now so that the children do not have to suffer a much worse fate.
MK
September 7, 2011
“The Nanny State, the Welfare State, the Envirnmrnteal Extremist State and the Bankster Cotrolled Economies are over and we will never let them raise their ugly heads again.”
I’d like to believe that, but instinct tells me the western world has not quite had its fill yet.
Conservatives on Fire
September 7, 2011
We the people can make it happen if we have the will. It may be that we have suffer more before we can make ourselves do what is necessary.