The Last Gasp Of The Global Economy

Sorry my friends... I thought I had reposted this out from Transpicuous News when I published it last week..... apparently the internet fooled me again, lol.

D

http://transpicuousnews.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-last-gasp-of-global-economy.html

The Last Gasp Of The Global Economy

Brandon Smith of Alt Market summarizes the current global financial situation with a clarity and conciseness that is hugely lacking in the world of financial rose-coloured-glasses wearers.  The desperate trumpeting of the Main Scream Media contains a definitive shrill tone of panic that belies their plastic smiles as they try to convince the public that all is just wonderful in the world of "finance".  Anyone with even the slightest capability of rational thought can read the headlines and listen to the financial reports and KNOW that all is NOT right in the global economy and that the MSM are absolutely lying through their teeth.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is either working for "them", or completely brain dead.


....just sayin.


http://www.alt-market.com/articles/2394-we-have-just-witnessed-the-last-gasp-of-the-global-economy

We Have Just Witnessed The Last Gasp Of The Global Economy

Wednesday, 05 November 2014 07:00 Brandon Smith

It is difficult to find the motivation to write about the state of the global economy these days, if only because there is not much left to say. I feel like I am composing multiple obituaries for the same long dead corpse. Most of the Liberty Movement and I suspect a small portion of the mainstream market understand that there is no tangible or legitimate recovery, let alone a stable fiscal ladder to rest our feet upon. There is literally nothing left to the financial system but rigged statistics, false promises, and ever expanding debt. In fact, the concept of debt creation is the only thing holding our facade of an economy together.

You and I probably find this rather strange. We come from a long forgotten school of economics, in which demand, supply, and savings actually mean something in terms of our fiscal health. I have come across many mainstream economic acolytes and cultists in recent months who disregard ALL logic and reason, forsaking the realities of demand based trade and immersing themselves in a grand delusion in which central bank generated debt and inflation are the real source of “prosperity”. I feel sorry for them in a way, because the truth is right in front of their faces, and yet, they will never see it, not until they are buried alive in it.
Nothing makes this problem more apparent than the behavior of equities in the past month.
Stocks are, of course, a sham of the highest magnitude, but they do still say something about the greater truth behind our financial condition. The fact that many market traders clearly KNOW that it's all a farce, and are actually banking and betting on the scam, tells me exactly how close we are to the end of the line. The recent near 10% drop in the Dow at the beginning of Fall must have certainly been a shock for the day trading community as well as mainstream pundits. The assumption for the past few years has been that central bank stimulus guarantees a constantly growing bull market, and to experience a considerable decline in equities even while QE was still in action was at least a noticeable wake up call.
I suspect that this decline in markets was not necessarily planned by the central banks, and was a stumble in their scheme to keep stocks elevated until after the QE taper had settled. It was also a stumble I expected a little earlier, around the end of Summer to be exact. Since the drop, central banks and the mainstream media have reacted forcefully to manipulate public perception as well as investor optimism, but this cannot go on for much longer.
In almost every instance of market decline, financial news group Reuters has injected false rumors of more stimulus from the European Central Bank. This was also the case in October as markets began to crash. These rumors were later dashed by the Financial Times, but not before the mere mention of more fiat stimulus from any central bank sent stocks soaring yet again.
This also occurred when middle management Federal Reserve member John Williams hinted in interviews of the possibility of “QE4” if the economy began to show signs of regression. Williams, of course, has no say in the decision to reintroduce QE, but this did not matter to investors, who immediately latched onto the meaningless news like anxious children, and threw their money back into stocks again.
And, most recently, Japan's central bank announced a sudden and surprising re-ignition of stimulus measures to the tune of 80 Trillion Yen a year. This announcement, once again, sent global stocks skyrocketing, even though it was a stark admission by Japan's financial elite that all their inflationary printing efforts for the past several years have failed miserably.  As I have warned in the past, when bad news becomes good news because bad news promises more central bank intervention, the economy is truly on the verge of a reckoning.
Hopefully, we can all see the trend taking place here. With the end of the Federal Reserve taper now complete, and questions circling as to when interest rates will be raised, a market volatility not seen since 2008-2009 is returning. The ONLY measure that has slowed the crash is the use of false news stories hinting at further stimulus, as well as futile efforts by other central banks to pick up where the Federal Reserve left off. This shows that the investment world is so thoroughly addicted to QE that even the mere hint of another small fix of their favorite drug is enough to get them out of bed and excited. They know that the entire system is rigged by central banks, and they don't care. In fact, they revel in it. The only goal of your average day trader now is to profit on the scam for as long as humanly possible, even though the ultimate conclusion of the scam will mean the utter destruction of their profits and the end of their way of life.
I hate to use a cinema analogy for a very real threat, but investors today remind me of Joe Pantoliano's character in 'The Matrix'; the guy who is fully aware that the Matrix is an illusion, but wants to experience the pleasure of the illusion all the same. So much so that he doesn't mind being exploited like a slave by the system, and is willing to sacrifice all measure of truth and even the future just to get a taste of the fantasy again.
But what is the reality that the central banks are trying to hide, and why? This I have written about in detail on literally hundreds of occasions, so I will only cover the very latest news briefly here, and why I think the overall dynamic is about to change for the worse.
Global exports, and thus consumer demand, are plunging. Germany, the only pillar left to prop up the failing European Union, has experienced a severe decline in exports not seen since 2009.
China, the largest exporter and importer in the world, and Chinese companies, have been caught in a number of instances using fraudulent invoices to artificially inflate their own export numbers, in some cases reporting 50% more exported goods than had actually existed.
China's manufacturing has also declined for the past five months, exposing the nature of its inflated export stats and indicating a global slowdown.
The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of global shipping rates for raw goods, and thus a measure of demand for shipping, continues to drag along near historic lows.
The U.S. consumer (the only economic asset the U.S. has besides the dollar's world reserve status), has seen declines in spending as well as wages.
In the meantime, long term jobless Americans continue to fall off welfare rolls by the millions, making unemployment numbers look good, but the overall future picture look terrible as participation rates dissolve into the ether of government statistics.
How is such poverty being hidden? Foodstamps. Plain and simple. Nearly 50 million Americans now subsist on food stamp programs today, and this number shows no signs of dropping. In states like Illinois, two people sign up for food assistance for every citizen that happens to find a job.
But this is all rudimentary. Most analysts in the Liberty Movement agree that our fiscal structure is on the edge of collapse; what they tend to bicker about is HOW and WHEN the structure will collapse.
Guessing market declines has been extremely difficult in the midst of a fiat soaked fiscal environment.  Nothing is ever quite what it seems.  My predictions of a 10% drop by the end of Summer were off by three weeks. Because of the nature of QE stimulus manipulation of the Dow, our only real guide has been the timeline of the Fed taper, and the fact that major banks have been relying on fed fiat to continually cycle capital into equities through the use of low interest loans to corporations and the stock buyback scam. Company buybacks have given steady boosts to the markets at least since 2008, and many corporations are using up to 50% of their “profits” just to continue buying their own stocks.
This strategy, however, is reaching a point of diminishing returns as many companies are issuing too much debt in the process. IBM is a perfect example of a company that has hit the ceiling on stock buybacks.  This odd coordinated attempt by corporations and central banks to keep markets propped up even as companies sacrifice whatever debt stability they had left indicates a state of collusion between such institutions that goes far beyond the mere idea of "mutually assured greed".  Since at least 2008, there has indeed been a "conspiracy" amongst banks and international companies to generate a massive stock bubble designed to keep the masses calm and placated.  However, these groups understand, better than many give them credit for, that such measures will have to end, or be revealed.
With the taper finished and QE money drying up, it is important to ask a few questions. For example, how are companies going to continue to accumulate capital to dump into their own stocks if fed money is becoming scarce and consumer spending is in decline? And, if they can't continue stock buybacks because of a lack of funds or an overburden of debt, how are equities markets going to stay afloat?
And what about government debt? As it stands now, foreign interest in U.S. treasury bonds is waning. The vast majority of new bonds sold are short term. Until now, the Fed has been the primary buyer of long term debt, snapping up 10 year bonds from the market while other investors lose confidence in America's ability to pay off liabilities in the future. Now that QE is over, who is going to buy the ever expanding U.S. government debt? I aimed this question recently at a Fed cultist and his response was “Well...obviously somebody will buy it...”, though he couldn't specify.
The spike in short term debt purchases after the end of QE3 was also predictable, but it can only be sustained IF stocks begin to fall considerably yet again.  Think about it; interest in U.S. debt has been on the decline for years, not just because foreign banks are shifting away from the dollar, but also because stocks have been a much more attractive investment with greater returns guaranteed by Fed QE.  The taper announces a violent change in circumstances.  The only way for interest in U.S. debt to be energized, even for a short time, is for stocks to crash, leaving bonds as the only safe haven left.  I discussed this development in detail in my article 'The Final Swindle Of Private American Wealth Has Begun' at the beginning of this year.  All other investment avenues seem to be in decline, from foreign markets and forex, to commodities like oil.  Even gold and silver have taken a hit.  For the average investor, if a route in stocks occurs, they will immediately jump into bonds.  This plays into my theory on the coming financial end game, which I will be discussing in my next article.
Investor's are counting on an eventual QE4, but I think this might also be wishful thinking.
At the end of 2013, I predicted the Fed would indeed follow through with the taper of QE3, and that they would drastically reduce stimulus measures. I believe this is in preparation for a major implosion of U.S. markets in particular. The whole point of the taper is to support the illusion that the U.S. economy has recovered, and that the Fed has “accomplished its mission”. When a crash does take place, I think it will be ALLOWED to move freely and that new QE intervention will not be taken.  I have no doubt this crash will be blamed on an outside force or act of fate (the ebola outbreak, which is doubling in cases every three weeks, is a perfect possible catalyst), and that banks will be absolved of all blame in the mainstream.

Continue reading HERE

Why Is Independence So Frightening? Following the Leader...

Brandon Smith clearly outlines many aspects of the word "independence" that scares the shit out of people, and defines the word "leader" in it's true meaning in this article, "Why is Independence so frightening to some people?".

Beyond the definition of "Follower" and "Leader" and their defined roles in our society that this article outlines, there is also the dramatic influence of the programmed templates that we have seen play out over and over in our perceived "history".  As words are redefined to mean something different, ie: Leadership, so the templates roll on, continuing the perpetual indoctrination of political, religious, financial and social agendas.

The human template that has been programmed into our very brain over eons has made the questioning of these visible agendas almost impossible to verbalize, let alone fight against.  Even the perceived "Leaders" are stuck in the template groove that has been programmed into them.  They perceive that they are "Leaders" and yet even they are following a piper that is calling a tune that they may or may not hear. The vast majority of "leaders" are followers- of a "plan", an agenda, an ideal or even a dream. What most don't realize is that their plan/agenda/dream wasn't theirs to begin with.  I discussed this in my article "Co-opting the Co-opted" and on The Collective Imagination radio show this week with regards to Occupy Wall Street and Arab Spring.

Breaking the barriers of our brains programmed control mechanisms is the first step to real independence. To look within instead of without is the only way to achieve true independence.  Following yourself (heart) instead of following others (brain/programming) is the only way to BE and DO freely, and to move within a  of a system of control without being controlled by it. BE a Leader of yourself, and in that moment, others will SEE and understand.

Finally, to be a true "Leader" is to be absolutely responsible for yourself.  To stand if full responsibility and liability for your actions, kNOWing that your actions are always your OWN responsibility.  THIS is one of the most powerful fears that most people absolutely refuse to acknowledge: the abject terror of being completely responsible for themselves.

I believe independence terrifies some people because it requires a human being to challenge the unknown and take responsibility for the consequences if he fails. Followers trade in their mental and spiritual freedom to governments, oligarchs and gatekeepers so that they never have to face these difficulties. Sometimes, they are simply lazy. Sometimes, they lack confidence in their own abilities. Sometimes, they are just cowards. In any case, the result is the same: a life of relative ease riding the tides in a vast school of self-serving minnows but always prey to the ever circling sharks

As I have said many times before, there is only ONE rule:

DO as you wish, as long as you do no harm to another.

THAT is what taking full responsibility for yourself is all about.

If you REALLY want "Independence" then begin with taking responsibility.  Only then can you be free of the system that controls the masses.  Only then, can you  kNOW freedom and shake off the shackles of being a "follower" and become a true Leader:  A Leader of Yourself.


On to the article!   .... with my comments in blue as usual.



http://www.alt-market.com/articles/2307-why-is-independence-so-frightening-to-some-people

Why Is Independence So Frightening To Some People?

Thursday, 04 September 2014 03:25 Brandon Smith

In past articles I have examined the nature of power and division in our society and have always come to the same conclusion, that there are only two types of people: the people who want control over others and the people who just want to be left alone. However, there are also subgroups that swim within the boundaries of each end of the spectrum. Often, psychologists and self-help gurus attempt to promote the idea that the defining quality of the average person’s life is whether he is a follower or a leader. I have seen this spectrum applied to every political and social organization.

Ironically, I have heard so-called “leftists” argue that the nature of their ideology makes them more adept at leadership and that conservatives are more prone to become followers (ostensibly because conservatives tend to be more religious). I have heard the same argument from people on the so-called “right,” only in reverse. The problem is that very few people in our society understand anymore what it actually means to be a leader. Most Americans today are followers, whether they know it or not.  And sadly, followers tend to also seek out control over other people, if only to make up for the lack of control they feel in their own lives.  That is to say, most followers tend to pursue petty opportunities for leadership.

The concept of leadership has become ridiculously warped. ("Leadership" is one of the many words that have been warped and changed over the past few decades- D ) Many people feel that to become a leader, one must clamor his way through the system — be it government or corporate — and achieve artificial status, which others are conditioned to recognize and respect. One cannot become a designated “doctor”, no matter how personally skilled the individual, without earning the correct accolades from the establishment, accolades that are essentially bought at the right price or given as a pat on the head to those who excel at parroting the mainstream consensus. The same goes for scientists, economists, political authorities, etc. This creates a professional class, a percentage of the population whose opinions are treated with immediate reverence simply because of their titles. (.... like the so called Ebola "specialists" who are oh so knowledgeable yet spread disinfo ridiculousness?.... yea, let's not even go there. side note- I will be doing another update on the ebola "pandemic" very soon- D)

The reality often ignored in mainstream thought, however, is that many "professionals" are actually more clueless than laymen, if only because they have been subjected to far more complex indoctrination.  How many Ivy League economists, for instance, completely overlooked the inevitable collapse of the derivatives market and the housing bubble simply because they were taught by the mainstream system that such things do not happen in American finance anymore?  The truth is, a glossy diploma from the establishment does not necessarily make one intelligent, nor does it automatically make that person a leader to be blindly followed.

Others in our culture assume that leadership is measured by level of influence. Influence, however, can be stolen, rather than earned. The number of fans and worshipers a person retains is not a measure of the real man or woman. Some people lie about who they are to gain popularity, while other people devour such lies because they are desperate for an icon to show them the path to an imaginary promised land. Celebrity — whether by aid of media, finance or bureaucracy — is almost always superficial.

Still other men and women believe that leadership requires empty gestures of cultural rebellion. Do our style preferences, body art, sexual orientations, musical tastes, obscure philosophical hobbies and elitist attitudes really make us different or unique? No, they do not. These things are an expression of our orientation to others, not an expression of our inner selves. One can live a life immersed in what we believe to be the wildly eccentric and still be an empty follower, devoid of originality and independence.  My generation in particular has become so obsessed with superficial expressions of artificial individualism I think future historians will one day avidly study this era in stupified wonder.  How many times a day do we log on to our social media website of choice or walk outside our homes only to ask other people to love and adore our looks, our cynical but smarmy sense of nihilism, or our wit, carefully crafted to please as large a portion of the collective as possible?

This article from NaturalNews.com really says it all.  Even when putting on elaborate displays of their brilliant uniqueness through "selfies" and tweets, Americans today at their darker core are desperate for the approval of others.

Carl Jung, one of the few psychologists in history I actually find useful, once said that all human beings are in search of a particular treasure, a psychological or spiritual treasure that is unique to them and makes them whole. Many people spend the entirety of their lives searching for this treasure in the world around them, rather than looking within, and they end their days feeling mostly miserable and thwarted. They look for it in politics. They look for it in religious representatives (without ever understanding their true relation to the religion). They look for it in wealth and stature. And they always come up short. This is the life of the follower, a life of endless transference in which complete happiness is always outside of oneself, somewhere over the horizon or in the hands of others.

One might ask what any of this has to do with independence and liberty? But, consider the implications...

How many socialists and collectivists in the world think THEIR happiness is dependent on the taxation of YOUR savings and labor, YOUR acceptance, YOUR submission to their ideal society. How many collectivists seek to complete themselves by forcing others to participate in their philosophical fantasies? How many of them will call you a "narcissist" or a "terrorist" because you only wish to make your own decisions free from the social pressures of their arbitrary group? They do not look within; they look without. And if you happen to be standing in their field of vision, you might become a prop in their self-serving theater.

Also consider that such collectivists will never be satisfied with the control they find in the outside world because the perfection they seek does not exist.  Therefore, their efforts to force you to conform will only become more suffocating and demeaning to your humanity as time goes on.  Followers are a cancer that never stops growing.  They well eat up the Earth in order to diminish their fears.  They'll say they are doing it for the greater good, but in the end, they are only self absorbed brats playing at being socially responsible adults.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are many within the Liberty Movement who also suffer from the follower’s disease. They are the relentless crybabies on message boards screaming: “We keep talking about the problem but when are YOU going to give us a solution!?” Or they ask: “When is EVERYONE going to stand up and do something about this!?”  Or, "When are all of you going to realize the magnificence of MY solution and follow ME?" Notice the inclusiveness of such statements.  What they should be asking is:  "What can I do myself to fix the problems I perceive?" These people are always waiting around for someone else to take action, while never taking action on their own. They are followers by default of their own apathy.

These are the folks looking for the next George Washington (or to become the next George Washington) on a white steed ready to charge into the center of D.C. like some ill fated Light Brigade.  They are the bitter pills that rage over the fact that movement activists didn't support their favorite random silver bullet solution flavor of the week, be it Bitcoin to 'Operation American Spring'.  They are livid because no one will march lockstep behind them into whatever halfhearted battle they envision.  They become indignant when activists move to support methods outside of their ideal. They want YOU to follow the plan and planners THEY follow, no matter how poorly conceived the plan is, and if you don't, then you must be some kind of traitor.  They never consider that perhaps their ideal solution is actually destructive rather than practical, or that no one will rally behind them because no one has much faith in their abilities.

The point is, the fight for liberty is not a follower's game.  It is a fight that begins with individuals taking individual measures first and foremost, and if anything, inspiring others through their actions, not demanding fealty for themselves, or their pet strategies.

What can be done to instill independence and legitimate leadership in Americans once again? The conundrum is that such values cannot be instilled; they can only be encouraged. Each individual must make the decision on his or her own to stop looking for the world to fix itself, or them. Each individual must take the first step toward the long journey of becoming a self-reliant and self-owned human being. When faced with this conundrum, I can do nothing but make suggestions:

Find a useful skill, something that you love, and master it completely. Try to become the foremost expert on just one thing — not to impress others, but to challenge yourself. When people assert the incredible effort required to master a skill, they grow their sense of self-worth instead of measuring their worth by the guidelines of hollow academia or the collective.

Never look for traditional leaders. Always look for teachers. A real teacher is someone who seeks to make each individual his own leader through knowledge and empowerment. A real teacher has no desire to rule others, only to help others so that they do not feel the need to be ruled.

Independence comes from self-leadership. As long as you are reliant on the system or its participating oligarchs to decide your future for you, you will never be anything more than a follower, even if the system has given you a “place at the table” and a title to make you feel special.  As long as you are vying for approval from the system or the collective, you will never be free.  When you can stand in front of a hostile crowd of people and give your viewpoint without fear of how they may respond, then you are on your way to self-leadership.

If you see a problem in the world, stop asking permission to fix it! Stop waiting for the establishment to police itself. Stop concerning yourself with the actions of others and take your own actions, however small they might be. Revolutions are sparked in the minds of individuals and implemented by the hands of the courageous few. There will be no mass awakening (actually they are already happening! - D)  and there will be no grand march to glory, (No "marches" are needed when the people stop playing with the systems and take full responsibility for themselves and their actions- it's not about "marches" or everyone standing up together, it's about everyone just standing up! - D) so stop holding your breath. If there is an unrelenting evil in the world, then you must fight it if you expect anything to change. If you are the only person who recognizes it, then you may have to fight it alone.  The potential for success or failure is irrelevant. It is the fight that matters. (change the word "fight" for the words "self responsibility" and I agree. - D) 

If you are going to lead others, lead by example.  (This is such a vitally important point!!-D) Hopefully you have realized by now that true leadership has NOTHING to do with people actually following you.  Much more important is the ability to show people how to achieve something more by building something of your own. There are also far too many Americans who seek to falsely elevate themselves by attacking the achievements of others from the anonymous comfort of their computers, rather than doing anything constructive on their own merit. There was a time when Americans were respected as people of action, rather than talk. When you do talk, do so from a position of strength. Talk as someone who has actually done something worth talking about.

If you are going to join, do so with the intent to learn, and to teach. All organization must be voluntary if it is to succeed in the long term, and voluntary organization thrives when participants contribute their knowledge and skill sets without sacrificing their individual self determination.  The group does not outweigh the individual, because without the contributions of the individual, the group is meaningless.

Make a list of your dependencies. Do you have the skills to survive without a job? Without money? Without on-grid utilities? Without consistent aid from others? Can you live without modern comforts if you had to? Do you have the fortitude to endure great hardship? Have you ever endured great hardship, or have you avoided it your whole life? The more self-sufficient you are, the less you will need to look to the system or other people to make your decisions for you. You will become fearless, and fearless people cannot be ruled.

I believe independence terrifies some people because it requires a human being to challenge the unknown and take responsibility for the consequences if he fails. Followers trade in their mental and spiritual freedom to governments, oligarchs and gatekeepers so that they never have to face these difficulties. Sometimes, they are simply lazy. Sometimes, they lack confidence in their own abilities. Sometimes, they are just cowards. In any case, the result is the same: a life of relative ease riding the tides in a vast school of self-serving minnows but always prey to the ever circling sharks. I say don’t be a minnow; man-up, and build something of your own.

http://www.alt-market.com/articles/2307-why-is-independence-so-frightening-to-some-people