Economic pressures

[Danny B]

The parasite tries to instill meaning in our lives

Continuing;
22 million Americans work for the government

Considering only “means-tested” programs, such as food stamps, Medicaid, and housing assistance, around 35 percent of Americans live in households that benefit from government assistance.
Approximately 76.4 million or 44.4% of Americans won't pay any federal income tax in 2018,

the economy is entirely an artifact of the human population. Humans are controlled to a great deal by our emotions. Martin Armstrong's economic model is based on changes in confidence. The government manipulates the economy to try to manipulate the confidence level. Federal debt is going up faster than exponentially so, they can only claim to be temporarily successful.
As their grand experiment in managing the markets winds down. We are connected at the quantum level so, word gets around Princeton Egg

The post-war exuberance gave us the baby boom. Today;s economy gives us the baby bust. As more and more job niches disappear, we refuse to bring children into the world. The more advanced a country is and, the more intelligent the people are, the lower the birth rate. Japan leads the way. The Japanese girls are all looking for their "farm boy". Evidently, the pressures of city life run counter to the desire to reproduce.

The State is by nature a PREDATOR. By NECESSITY, it must enforce control over it's citizens. China has just warned it's people that times are going to get tough. China has rolled out it's social credit system where it watches your every move, night and day. Not content with that, it now has a system that predicts when you will commit a crime.
The demands of the techno society run counter to the desires of the humans who don't want to be a cog. The needs of the State run counter to the desires for freedom that are innate in most people.
As artificial intelligence reduces the need for new "cogs" in the process of production, man will continue to lower his birth rate.
As the State rolls out new ways to monitor and control these cogs, the people will rebel in the only way that they are still allowed.
They will go on strike in the maternity ward. They will continue to kill themselves rather than live a meaningless life.

[Danny B]

Kaczynski and our innate needs

Gambier posted a manifesto from Kaczynski in American ruling class. I'm going to do some excerpts from it.

"1. The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have
been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly
increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in
“advanced” countries, but they have destabilized society,
have made life unfulfilling,
The
continued development of technology will worsen the si-
tuation. It will certainly subject human being to greater in-
dignities and inflict greater damage on the natural world,
it will probably lead to greater social disruption and psy-
chological suffering, and it may lead to increased physical
suffering even in “advanced” countries.

only at the cost of permanently redu-
cing human beings and many other living organisms to
engineered products and mere cogs in the social machine.
Furthermore, if the system survives, the consequences will
be inevitable: There is no way of reforming or modifying
the system so as to prevent it from depriving people of
dignity and autonomy.

4. We therefore advocate a revolution against the in-
dustrial system.
5. In this article we give attention to only some of
the negative developments that have grown out of the
industrial-technological system.

34. Consider the hypothetical case of a man who can
have anything he wants just by wishing for it. Such a man
has power, but he will develop serious psychological pro-
blems. At first he will have a lot of fun, but by and by he
will become acutely bored and demoralized. Eventually he
may become clinically depressed.

History shows that leisu-
red aristocracies tend to become decadent. This is not true
of fighting aristocracies that have to struggle to maintain
their power. But leisured, secure aristocracies that have no
need to exert themselves usually become bored, hedonis-
tic and demoralized, even though they have power. This
shows that power is not enough. One must have goals to-
ward which to exercise one’s power.
35. Everyone has goals; if nothing else, to obtain the
physical necessities of life: food, water and whatever clo-
thing and shelter are made necessary by the climate. But
the leisured aristocrat obtains these things without effort.
Hence his boredom and demoralization.

Consistent failure to attain goals throughout life results in
defeatism, low self-esteem or depression.
37. Thus, in order to avoid serious psychological pro-
blems, a human being needs goals whose attainment re-
quires effort, and he must have a reasonable rate of suc-
cess in attaining his goals.

When people do not have to exert themselves to satisfy
their physical needs they often set up artificial goals for
themselves. In many cases they then pursue these goals
with the same energy and emotional involvement that
they otherwise would have put into the search for physi-
cal necessities. Thus the aristocrats of the Roman Empire
had their literary pretensions; many European aristocrats
a few centuries ago invested tremendous time and energy
in hunting, though they certainly didn’t need the meat;

39. We use the term “surrogate activity” to designate
an activity that is directed toward an artificial goal that
people set up for themselves merely in order to have some
goal to work toward, or let us say, merely for the qake
of the “fulfillment” that they get from pursuing the goal.

[Danny B]

Kaczynski continued, autonomy

41. For many if not most people, surrogate activities are
less satisfying than the pursuit of real goals (that is, goals
that people would want to attain even if their need for the
power process were already fulfilled).

42. Autonomy as a part of the power process may not
be necessary for every individual. But most people need
a greater or lesser degree of autonomy in working to-
ward their goals. Their efforts must be undertaken on
their own initiative and must be under their own direc-
tion and control.

44. But for most people it is through the power process
— having a goal, making an AUTONOMOUS effort and
attaining the goal — that self-esteem, self-confidence and
a sense of power are acquired. When one does not have
adequate opportunity to go through the power process the
consequences are (depending on the individual and on
the way the power process is disrupted) boredom, demo-
ralization, low self-esteem, inferiority feelings, defeatism,
depression, anxiety, guilt, frustration, hostility,

45. Any of the foregoing symptoms can occur in any
society, but in modern industrial society they are present
on a massive scale. We aren’t the first to mention that the
world today seems to be going crazy. This sort of thing is
not normal for human societies.

46. We attribute the social and psychological problems
of modern society to the fact that that society requires
people to live under conditions radically different from
those under which the human race evolved and to be-
have in ways that conflict with the patterns of behavior
that the human race developed while living under the
earlier conditions. It is clear from what we have already
written that we consider lack of opportunity to properly
experience the power process as the most important of
the abnormal conditions to which modern society subjects
people.
http://editions-hache.com/essais/pdf/kaczynski2.pdf

[Danny B]

China slipping fast,,, corporate debt rollover

The rulers are always trying to control their tax slaves,, nothing new. Power corrupts and, attracts the already corrupted. It follows that; we can expect our leaders to be corrupted. It IS different this time because the powers of surveillance are FAR more advaned than ever before in history.

Armstrong has predicted big changes in both 2020 and, 2032.
"ANSWER: The 2032 date is the conclusion of this Private Wave. That is when the power of the West will begin to shift to China for the next cycle that begins thereafter. The 2020 date is when the confidence begins to noticeably begin to turn down for the AVERAGE person. "
"We will be running the computer models on the 2020 election. But preliminary indications show that we will see a sharp rise in violence. Neither side will accept the results."
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/f...2020-and-2032/

French deplorables, "It drew attention to the economic, cultural and political exclusion of the working classes, most of whom now live outside the major cities. It highlighted the conditions that would later give rise to the yellow-vest phenomenon."
"eripheral France’ is about the geographic distribution of the working classes across France. Fifteen years ago, I noticed that the majority of working-class people actually live very far away from the major globalised cities "
They tend to be people in work, but who don’t earn very much, between 1000€ and 2000€ per month. Some of them are very poor if they are unemployed. Others were once middle-class. What they all have in common is that they live in areas where there is hardly any work left. They know that even if they have a job today, they could lose it tomorrow and they won’t find anything else.

" It is exactly the same shock that the British elites experienced with the Brexit vote and that they are still experiencing now, three years later.

The Brexit vote had a lot to do with culture, too, I think. It was more than just the question of leaving the EU. Many voters wanted to remind the political class that they exist. That’s what French people are using the gilets jaunes for – to say we exist. We are seeing the same phenomenon in populist revolts across the world."
https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/0...e-unstoppable/

China
"Outstanding yuan loans were up 13.5% at the end of 2018 from a year earlier… In addition, debt issued by private enterprises increased by 70% year-on-year from November to December last year"
"China in 2019 faces a ticking Credit time bomb. Bank loans were up 13.5% over the past year and were 28% higher over two years, a precarious late-cycle inflation of Bank Credit. Ominously paralleling late-cycle U.S. mortgage finance Bubble excess, China’s Consumer Loans expanded 18.2% over the past year, 44% in two years, 77% in three years and 141% in five years"
"The IIF’s data show total global debt — owed by households, governments, non-financial corporates and the financial sector — at $244tn, or 318% of gross domestic product at the end of September, "
"January 16 – Washington Post (Robert J. Samuelson): “Government debt has tripled from $20 trillion in 2000 to $65 trillion in 2018, rising as a share of GDP from 55% to 87%. Household debt has increased over the same years, from $17 trillion to $46 trillion (from 44% to 60% of GDP). Finally, nonfinancial corporate debt rose from $24 trillion to $73 trillion (71% of GDP to 92%)… According to the data from the IIF, emerging-market borrowers face $2 trillion of maturing debt in 2019"
"“A record $3.9 trillion of emerging market bonds and syndicated loans comes due through the end of 2020."
Credit Bubble Bulletin : Weekly Commentary: Monetary Disorder 2019

Crouching tiger, crouching dragon, 1/20 China posts slowest growth in 28 years in 2018, more stimulus seen – Reuters
1/20 China slump squeezes workers, hammers consumer spending – APN
1/20 Visualizing the snowball of global government debt – Zero Hedge
1/20 Does the corporate debt mountain pose an avalanche risk? – France 24
1/20 Straw in wind? Near-junk ratings dominate US corporate bonds – DR
No US officials in Davos - Trump cancels plans for Mnuchin And Pompeo to visit forum
1/20 Facing populist assault, global elites regroup in Davos – Seattle Times
1/20 There is no Plan B: Theresa May to resubmit plan on Monday – Mish
https://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/201...d-likud-starts
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/...h-state-morris

[Danny B]

China roundup,, BAD news

You know by now that a crash in China will really upset the apple cart. Here is a repost of a few numbers.
Finally, nonfinancial corporate debt rose from $24 trillion to $73 trillion (71% of GDP to 92%)
Bank loans were up 13.5% over the past year"
So bank loans are up but, productivity is down. Where did the money go?
"1/20 China slump squeezes workers, hammers consumer spending – APN"
1/20 China posts slowest growth in 28 years in 2018, more stimulus seen

China developed foreign markets but, lost them from undercutting the wages / consumptive power of their customers. That means that they have to focus more on domestic consumption.
1/21 The number of births in China hit its lowest level since 1961 – CNBC

Read Martin Armstrong and, you get another story.

Much had been talked about last week about the slowdown in China and on Sundays release we finally saw the latest. China GDP released at 6.4% but industrial output beat expectations. Both domestic and regional markets took this news as positive, as it tends to reflect a manageable slowdown rather than the feared ‘hard-landing’. Both Shanghai and the Hang Seng gave up early gains, but still finished up +0.56% and +0.39% respectively."
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/m...nuary-21-2019/

2016
"Nobody knows for sure, but when we look at things that are harder numbers to fudge...our estimate is growth probably about 3.5 percent versus roughly 7," said Gary Shilling, "
China's Xinhua reported that November railways cargo fell 15.6 percent year on year, but the state statistics office said industrial production through the year was up 6.1 percent. "What? Did they just produce the goods and leave them on the factory floor and they never went anywhere?" Scissors asked.
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the growth in old China for the past year or so has been somewhere around zero — it's nothing like 6.8 percent," Straszheim said,
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china...223117645.html

"January 15 – Bloomberg: “China’s credit growth exceeded expectations in December, with the second acceleration in a row indicating the government and central bank’s efforts to spur lending are having an effect. Aggregate financing was 1.59 trillion ($235 billion) in December, the People’s Bank of China said on Tuesday. That compares with an estimated 1.3 trillion yuan in a Bloomberg survey.”
"South China Morning Post (Amanda Lee): “China’s banks extended a record 16.17 trillion yuan (US$2.4 trillion) in net new loans last year…, as policymakers pushed lenders to fund cash-strapped firms to prop up the slowing economy. "

China cuts refiners' oil import quotas with first 2019 allowances | Reuters
China's commodities imports falls highlighting economic weakness .
Oil & commodity and rail car loadings falling bad.

"In addition, debt issued by private enterprises increased by 70% year-on-year from November to December last year, indicating that the central bank’s efforts to support the private sector are working.”
So, debt is increasing but, imports, productivity and exports are falling.
" Bank loans were up 13.5% over the past year and were 28% higher over two years, a precarious late-cycle inflation of Bank Credit. Ominously paralleling late-cycle U.S. mortgage finance Bubble excess, China’s Consumer Loans expanded 18.2% over the past year, 44% in two years, 77% in three years and 141% in five years. China’s industrial sector has slowed"

"Typically – and as experienced in the U.S. with problems erupting in subprime – nervous lenders and a tightening of mortgage Credit mark an inflection point followed by self-reinforcing downturns in housing prices, transactions and mortgage Credit. Yet there is nothing remotely typical when it comes to China’s Bubble. Instead of caution, lenders have looked to residential lending as a preferred (versus business) means of achieving government-dictated lending targets. Failing to learn from the dreadful U.S. experience, Beijing has used an inflating housing Bubble to compensate for structural economic shortcomings (i.e. manufacturing over-capacity). This is precariously prolonging “Terminal Phase” excess."
To sum up, China built way too many factories and now has decided to pay for the related costs by inflating a housing bubble. That doesn’t sound very smart.

But China’s screw-up is just one in a very big crowd. Noland points out that the other emerging market economies are doing something similar:
https://www.dollarcollapse.com/borro...tion-slowdown/
Remember that newly printed money is counted as part of the gdp.

2017--- China's debt surpasses 300 percent of GDP, IIF says
The problem is simple but, unsolvable.
Wiki " The Chinese government is also demolishing rural villages and building new cities and towns to relocate villagers to. It ultimately aims to integrate about 70% of China's population, about 900 million people, into cities by 2025.[8]"
"China's urbanization took 22 years to increase to 39.1% from 17.9%. It took Britain 120 years, the US 80 years, and Japan more than 30 years to accomplish this."

China needs to create 15 million jobs every year.
China to add more than 50 million new urban jobs in 2016-2020 ...
Their gdp has gone negative. Population is falling. China has replaced real commerce with simple money printing.

China Housing Crash | The Coming Bubble Collapse - Gord Collins
Forget the Trade War. China Is Already in Crisis - Bloomberg
China's Coming Financial Crisis and the National Security Connection
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-...-debt/10713614

Trump is singing to China;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGLGzRXY5Bw

[Danny B]

Kunstler,,, shale oil

Kunstler is a life-long democrat who very much dislikes Trump. He has come out and claimed that the destruction of the rule-of-law is FAR more serious than anything that Trump might do. Here is another admission from Kunstler.
"Donald Trump, of course, being the designated bag-holder for all the financial blunders of the past decade"
He goes on; "There should be no doubt that the money part of the story is on a slow boat to oblivion. The world has been running on loans to such a grotesque degree that it’s managed the impressive feat of bankrupting the future. The collateral for all that debt was the conviction that there were ample amounts of future “growth” up ahead to service that debt. "
"(the USA) faces the existential dread of realizing that there is no more borrowing with the collateral gone. Translation: when the Federal Reserve discovers it can’t cue up yet another round of “Quantitative Easing” (QE) and ZIRP without destroying the value of the dollar — which it might do anyway, since monetary inflation is a great benefit to those who can’t pay back their debts, and the USA is the biggest deadbeat of all. An inflationary depression won’t be the same as the deflationary depression of the 1930s, "

"Note: the growth predicament is hugely misunderstood in this land, because the shale oil “miracle” was such a dazzling stunt. America is now producing above 12 million barrels of oil a day, two million higher than what was thought to be the all-time peak of 10 million a day in 1970. That is extraordinary indeed. We are the world’s leader in oil production now, ahead of Saudi Arabia and the wicked Russian bear. What most Americans don’t know is that this stunning feat was accomplished with hundreds of billions of dollars in borrowed money (debt) that will never be paid back."
He doesn't mention that much of the shale oil is too light to be useful. THAT is why we are now an oil exporter.

"But the shale oil industry has had a negative cash flow since it started around 2005. "
Coming Attractions - Kunstler
Oil is an absolute necessity for long-range transport. Trucks and planes.
1/22 Solar beats wind to the bank – PV Magazine
1/20 Europe’s new-generation nuclear staggers over the start line – Platts
We can get by on the oil that we already have if we shift energy demand to hydro, solar and wind. I personally hate nuke power. We have 245,000 spent fuel rods that must have water circulated on them for the next 10 years. The cost of decommissioning a plant is astronomical. Just as natural gas has killed coal, I hope that solar kills nuke.
While it would be nice to think that the FUSOR or MEG would make a grand entrance, I'm not going to hold my breath.

1/22 Nobel Secretary: awarding Obama the Peace Prize was a mistake – PI
1/22 Feds prepare to bail out “vast majority” of 90,000 Sears pensions – Zero Hedge
The Pension Benefits Guarantee Corporation was set up long ago to do just that. but, they are undercapitalized. Sears was destroyed by vulture capitalists in a hostile takeover. There are a few "winners" and 90,000 losers.
1/22 Tax cuts could be the ‘front line’ of China’s fight against slowing growth – CNBC NOT a prayer of success.

[Danny B]

Armstrong,,, Freak Chart,,,the Left is bonkers

Armstrong has some interesting articles. Everybody writes about wealth inequality. Very few write about inequality of intelligence and motivation.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...y-of-wealth-2/
As the dollar goes up, it wipes out all other currencies,
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/m...-transactions/
People are replaced by machines. The State tries to support a growing percentage of the population. It raises taxes. There is less money available for discretionary spending.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...onomic-growth/

The Green Overlords, https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...ist-overlords/
" Their global warming dogma has taken over the government, the media, and education to push their agenda. The rise of the Yellow Vests is clearly a direct confrontation against this Green Overlords’ agenda."

Interesting article on cycles.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...ology-reality/
"She illustrated a chart which showed the 300-year cycle in the energy output of the sun. I was stunned. I then spoke to her and showed her my Economic Confidence Model and how her cycle closely tracked the ECM for the rise and fall of empires. That added some explanation behind mass migrations etc., which I picked up from the data and history. "

GMO: Is the US stock bubble bursting? Our model says yes – Zero Hedge
Lance Roberts: the case for a 50% market correction – Peak Prosperity
1/22 Dow falls 300 points amid fears of slowing economy – CNBC

Millions of workers have been displaced by automation and are being supported by State money.
1/23 What happens when the easy money runs dry – Casey Research
1/22 UBS warns of headwinds after clients pull $13 billion – MSN
If they pulled it OUT of a bank, WHERE did it go?

The Freak Chart, https://northmantrader.com/2019/01/22/the-freak-chart/
"View it from a big macro perspective: Central banks have done their best to lead a global economy back to organic growth coming out of the financial crisis. The promise was full employment and inflation back to 2%. If you look at the official statistics they’ve met their unemployment goal, but they kept missing on the inflation front. Why? Because they are fighting the greatest deflationary force known to man: Technology. Companies like Facebook and Netflix have stamped out massive audience businesses requiring few people to serve them.
The scalability of technology is incredible. Hence the economic model has changed and it’s all a bit inefficient for the many, but highly effective for the few. It is no accident that wealth inequality has expanded to the extreme degrees we witness today. It’s no accident that the tech titans are the richest people running around the planet. And given central banks’ desperate actions to ward off these deflationary forces they’ve enabled not only the renewed acceleration of asset bubbles again benefiting the very few, but they’ve also encouraged the taking on of unprecedented government and corporate debt and BBB rated junk debt in the process."

"1929 top, 2000 top, 2018 top (if 2018 is a top), but there is little denying the obvious: The $DJIA stopped twice in 2018 at a trend line that dates back to the starting points of 2 major crashes. 1929, and the 2000 technology crash."

1/22 In Versailles, Macron vows to reform to avoid king’s fate – Reuters
That slimy P.O.S. is just like Kushner. all these so-called leaders who have NO stake in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOgtALakLEY&t=95s
1/22 Venezuela arrests rogue officers after military revolt in Caracas – Newsmax
Sadly, Venezuela got so rich on oil that they let their agriculture sector wither away.
The Left has gone so nutso that they are tearing down the system.
http://thezman.com/wordpress/?p=16219
1/22 With Kamala Harris a 2020 candidate, Trump stands no chance of reelection – Ind
1/22 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, crusher of sacred cows – Rolling Stone

The left is so single-minded obsessed with taking over and destroying Trump and everything that is not "theirs", they have lost all perspective. Armstrong said that neither side (the loser) will accept the results of the 2020 election. If you think that the current shutdown is bad, just wait until we have complete paralysis.

1/23 Chilling Davos: a bleak warning on global division and debt – NY Times
Yeah, 1500 private jets showed up so that they could complain about the poor people rising up.
1/22 Pre-Davos survey shows sixfold rise in global CEOs’ gloom – Guardian
The Greens are working hard to reduce population. That masses don't want to be culled and smothered. We have already reduced our fertility rate but, they want more death.

[Danny B]

Post-work is an early death

Lucky me. I found a couple of articles that I don't need to excerpt.
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/p...d-without-jobs
And
https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...pitalism-begun

We already see a collapse in fertility and the birth rate. Too many people see a world that they don't like and, they refuse to bring children into this world. What about the people who are already here?
Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death for ages 10-24. (2016 CDC WISQARS)
Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death for college-age youth and ages 12-18. (2016 CDC WISQARS)
More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, COMBINED.
Each day in our nation, there are an average of over 3,041 attempts by young people grades 9-12. If these percentages are additionally applied to grades 7 & 8, the numbers would be higher.
Youth Suicide Statistics - Parent Resource Program

Our prime motivation is survival. What happens when all work is done by machines and we can just sit around?
Native American women still have the highest rates of rape and assault
Drug use, ". A consistent pattern emerged, showing the lowest rates of use among Anglo youth, higher rates among non-reservation Indian youth, and the highest rates among Indian youth on reservations."
THE THREAT OF HOPELESS BLACK MEN - Chicago Tribune
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...774-story.html

Jan 31, 1986 - Black men in America`s ghettos have long since been relegated to the ... Jobless and hopeless men are worthless as husbands (no matter how ...

So, what happens to the general population if "all" work is done by machines. There will always be a need for humans to repair these machines but, what will everybody else do?

Running towards a Post-Scarcity economy – MyNestEgg – Medium
https://medium.com/nestegg/running-t...y-3d03aa27682f

Mar 25, 2017 - Post-Scarcity (enough abundance for everyone) Every socio-economic transition is born with the infrastructure and knowledge of the system before it. A post-scarcity economy is no different. The internet, AI, and automation are shaped in the free market as much as these technologies disrupt the market.

Supposedly, artificial intelligence is our last invention. Everything that we might need will be invented and built by machines. We lose a major center to our lives.

Why do retirees die so soon after they retire? - Quora
Early Retirement May Be The Kiss Of Death, Study Finds | HuffPost
Is Social Security to blame for so many men dying at 62? | Fox News
Death Rate Rises for Single, Divorced Retired Men - AARP
F]Predictors of Mortality Among Newly Retired Workers - Social Security
Early Retirement, Early Death? - WebMD
It is simple. People don't care to live if they have no center to their lives.
" After age 65, the early retirees have a 37% higher risk of death than ... People who retire at 55 are 89% more likely to die in the 10 years after ..."

Along with death by retirement, there is suicide as an escape mechanism
"Similar to love, which is a broad totalizing dimension encom-
passing mind and body, suicidal wishes are a pervasive
irrepressible condition that incorporates the individual as
a whole; in love everything seems wonderful, in suicidal
states, the condition is best understood not so much as a
movement toward death as it is a movement away from
something and that something is always the same: intolerable emotion, unendurable or unacceptable anguish.
Reduce the level of suffering and the individual will choose
to live. An unpleasant sensation is often localized in the
chest and hypochondrium. The mind tries each option to
release the tension but never finds a safe haven and ends
up convinced that nothing will bring relief. In preventing
suicide, one looks for any indications in the individual
representing the dark side of their internal life-and-death
debate. And such perturbation contributes to the motiva-
tion for suicide, with lethality being the fatal trigger."

Those who are suicidal also often feel worthless, with emotional impoverishment
and loss of self-esteem."
https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/pdf...7-5910/a000327

Mankind just isn't prepared to sit back and do nothing

[Danny B]

The untenable life,,, shale & gas,,, pension funds & ZIRP

Ray Dalio runs the largest bond fund in the world. All decisions are made by the computers. The humans are there just to make sure that the computer is fed correct information. Is that our future,,, playing attendant to a machine?
Man is a social animal. We judge ourselves on our contributions to our family and society. Technology has removed this connection. We sit in front of machines telling other machines what to do. The destruction of the nuclear family is just one more step demanded by machinery. As soon as the screen comes on, ALL social interaction come to a halt. Just what do WE get from all that?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9dZQelULDk

Shale oil, "But this dynamic appears to be a growing problem, one that could soon catch up with the industry. “It is also worth noting that with the continued growth in U.S. shale production, an increasing percentage of the new wells drilled are being consumed to offset the steep decline from the existing production base,” Kibsgaard told shareholders and analysts on Schlumberger’s earnings call. “The third party analysis shows that in 2018, this number was 54% of total CapEx and is expected to increase to 75% in 2021, clearly demonstrating the unavoidable treadmill effect of shale oil production.”
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-G...-US-Shale.html

So, they drill new wells to make up for the decline in old (3Years old ) wells. But, don't worry, there is a lot of natural gas.
\'Flaring' wastes 3.5% of world's natural gas : Nature News & Comment
North Dakota flared off $1 billion worth of natural gas last year ...
Scientists Show Connection Between Gas Flaring and Arctic Pollution
China never seems to miss an opportunity to try new ideas.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...r-someone-debt

Pension funds are still sinking. ZIRP really wiped them out.
"Bloomberg puts the beginning of the “end” at 2023 on a national aggregate level, calling it an extrapolation, not a prediction. Pretty serious, but not surprising"
https://www.birchgold.com/news/were-...on-fund-crisis
1/24 Euro tumbles after Draghi warns risks “have moved” to the downside – ZH
1/23 France and Germany take major step toward EU army – Zero Hedge
Well, they aren't going to attack Russia. Who does that leave? Greece is flattened. Maybe they plan to attack Italy.

[Danny B]

Civil unrest, race & crime, left & violence

Martin Armstrong and the left;
"The Presidential election of 1824 was really the start of the Civil War.
The left is historically always the violent side. The right argues to be left alone. The left cannot sleep at night because they worry the right is not submitting to their control. The revolutions in Russia and China came from the left. The French Revolution was also a leftist movement and that is where they began with the “Commune” project. It was the French who convinced Marx about Communism."
"An American Civil War certainly becomes possible between 2024 and 2026 if tensions continue to rise"
So, do you think that tensions will continue to rise?
https://alphanewsmn.com/the-civil-wa...r-has-arrived/

Ocasio Cortez is going to bring socialism to the masses. I can see from evidence that she isn't well-read.
Costs and Consequences of Socialism-in-Practice
https://www.aier.org/article/green-n...-new-socialism
The world is moving into economic collapse. That, in itself will bring civil unrest. Here is an excellent article on the situation in Europe. They are pretty much screwed.
https://capitalistexploits.at/wp-con...r-Eurozone.pdf
So, what else will go wrong as sovereign debt collapses and poverty sets in?

If you search on, Benefits Of Ethnic Diversity, it returns pages that tell you that racial diversity is great for everybody.
If you actually read the studies and evidence, they conclude that racial diversity breeds crime.
Edit, https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...0tt_sJf-ZzGYiB
The truth is; we work together to promote the survival of our clan. "Others" who are not clan are seen as competition. As resources diminish, we will focus on our immediate genetic group and look at all others as competitors / enemies.

So, the left initiates the violence. We've seen plenty of that where people get beat up just for wearing a MAGA hat.
Singapore Summit Proves Why Democrats Lead the War Party | Black ...
https://blackagendareport.com/singap...lead-war-party

Democrats Are the Real Party of War - The Baffler
https://thebaffler.com/latest/democr...l-party-of-war
Is America headed toward a civil war? - USA Today
Is the U.S. on the brink of civil unrest? - The Globe and Mail
What are the chances that America's disunion turns into Civil War ...

We also face collapses in the biosphere.
https://www.peakprosperity.com/blog/...e-already-here

[Danny B]

Destruction by the Dems,,, destruction by the neocons

Ever since LBJ instituted the War on Poverty, America spent $25 trillion mostly on handouts. The results weren't as advertised.
How Liberal Policies Destroyed Black Families - The Daily Signal
How the Democrats Destroyed the Black Community....and no one noticed
The Black Family: 40 Years of Lies: Rejecting the Moynihan report caused untold, needless misery
https://www.city-journal.org/html/bl...ies-12872.html

America doesn't have a gun violence epidemic. Democrat cities do.
https://www.americanthinker.com/.../...lence_epidemic...

Mar 26, 2018 - America doesn't have a gun violence epidemic. .... The vast majority of those cities have been run by Democrats for ... are the top 20 cities with the highest gun murder rates in the U.S. per capita. ... Every city is majority Democrat-controlled.

The liberals demand that we get rid of the grading system in schools. Since all people are equal, we shouldn't assign some kind of personal score.
The Dems and liberals work overtime to remove all personal responsibility. Unfolding socialism would work to remove all motivation. Since all democracies are mob rule, the Founding Fathers gave us a democratic republic. Federal debt is at $22 trillion and, unfunded liabilities are at $213 trillion. America might have survived emerging socialism but, it can't survive the incredible cost of our wars.
The 'war on terror' has cost the US nearly $6 trillion - Business Insider
Add in another $4--6 trillion for veteran care and war-debt interest.

The War on Terror has brought us a LOT more terror.
The War on Poverty has financed a lot more births of poor people.

"Criminals cloak their thefts in all sorts of justifications, some of which, like socialism, become full-blown political doctrines. Ironically, a larcenous litany of demands and rationalizations are efflorescing at a time when whatever is left of the overall profit pool has been drained. It has been mortgaged multiple times, just as hordes of the unprofitably incompetent, who had no hand in producing it, clamor for their “fair share.”
"The favored groups shelter in their safe spaces—government and its rackets, crony corporations, academia, the media, and Hollywood—living on the delusion that there will always be someone who will produce, without question or protest, for their benefit."
Instead, that illustrious group is demonized at every turn, and the demands on them become ever more absurd. They are guilty because they’re productive, and must expiate their guilt by producing for the unproductive, whose incompetence makes them morally superior."
"Twits who can’t replace a light bulb demand free schooling and medical care, guaranteed jobs and incomes,"
"If you’ve found your safe space and you’re incapable of producing marketable value that exceeds its cost of production, you’re dependent on the profitably competent, but their very existence is a constant reproach, a reminder of your own inadequacy.
One month into the partial shutdown of the largest safe space, it’s obvious that not only has the sky not fallen, but unsurprisingly, America is doing just fine without those 800,000 furloughed workers that even the government considers nonessential.
https://straightlinelogic.com/2019/0...y-robert-gore/

Political correctness has gotten to become a religion. Everybody follows the gospel and NOBODY who is running the show has any kind of idea of the truth about our financial condition.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...l-correctness/

Our public servants have a much higher wage schedule that the private sector. Still, they go on strike for more. They have been very creative at finding the money for their salaries.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...u-owe-tickets/
Since 2007, the DEA has taken $3.2 billion in cash from people not charged with a crime.
From 2005 to 2010, government seizures of assets from both criminals as well as innocent citizens went from $1.25 billion to $2.50 billion. Federal authorities seized over $4 billion in 2013 through forfeiture,
The public sector is at war with the private sector. The producers are at war with the non-producers. Automation is at war with the human job market. The bankers are at war against everybody.
Here's something for you Britts, https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...british-press/
Trump said that the debt won't blow up until he is out of office.
https://www.peakprosperity.com/forum...y-bit-bad-fear

[Danny B]

Bots and fake economies,,Destruction by taxing-a constant

1/27 If markets get crazy, US debt, yen and gold the best ‘safe havens’ – CNBC
WHY would the Yen be a safe haven if their economy refuses to grow?
1/28 Japan data scandal: Tokyo admits 40% of its economic data is “fake news” – ZH
Well, so much for the Yen.
Facebook announced that it had shut down over 1.2 billion fake accounts during Q4 2017 and Q1 2018.
1/28 The fall of Facebook has only just begun – Zero Hedge
Nearly 48 million Twitter accounts could be bots, says study - CNBC.com
Over 40 percent of activity on the internet is fake - TechSpot
The Internet Is Mostly Bots - The Atlantic
So, what is this going to do to advertising revenues?

Armstrong has advice for Europeans trying to hold on to their savings when the GOV is trying to take everything.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...-a-black-hole/
Armstrong, "The cost of government always rises to oppress the private sector since the public sector becomes addicted to revenue. The people either leave or revolt in their struggle to cope with the persistent unpredictable demands of the government that historically NEVER lives within its means."
Our understanding of the economy is incredibly important, yet it is completely ignored by those in power. Nothing is possible without a properly functioning economy for the very existence of civilization depends entirely upon the function of the economy.

Historically, when the government loses sight of their purpose and sees itself as the embodiment of sovereignty instead of the people, then it begins to abuse the people with regulation and taxation.
As the government tried to stretch its grasp of taxation, they were, in fact, planting to the seed of its own destruction. Taxation is not a divine right of government. It is to be limited to the voluntary contribution from the people to share the benefits of communal living. Once taxation is seen as a divine right of government this will lead to the diminished rights of the people and then the rise of economic tyranny.
If we look at the fall of Rome, the first asset class to decline was real estate, as you cannot take it with you when you leave town.
Taxes are the great destroyer. You are an economic slave if you simply cannot retire without having to pay taxes. Taxes reduce economic growth and lower productivity for they are no different, economically speaking, from some gangster demanding “protection” money to operate a business. Rome prospered as long as it had a minimal flat tax.
The cycle is very clear. First, we have the attraction of the city with low taxes and regulation where people come together to create economic booms. Governments will then become greedy with taxes and over-regulation. This will then lead to the downside of the Bell Curve and result in the death of the empire, nation, or city-state. It is always the same pattern no matter what century or culture."
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...r-city-states/

"Elizabeth Warren adopting the position to impose a wealth tax of two percent on people with assets of 50 million or more.
In order to impose a Wealth Tax, that means that absolutely EVERYONE would then by law be compelled to list everything they own right down to your wedding rings so the state could then calculate your wealth to impose a tax. You will have to prove you are under the $50 million limit to qualify for an exception. This type of tax would absolutely destroy the Right to Privacy. It does not matter if it starts at $50 million. How do they know you have less than $50 million unless you still report all your assets to says you are exempt. They government needs to know everything you own. "
"Elizabeth Warren is the new Karl Marx advocating communism in slow motion. To sell the income tax in 1913, it was to be just 1% and ONLY on the rich just as she is claiming today with her Wealth Tax. Ever since, the income tax has risen to 94%, dropped to 35%, rallied back to 91% and then eventually fell to 31% to rise again to 39.6%."

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...he-us-economy/
The State tries to support more and more of the populace as automation eliminates their job niche. Originally, the State just supported people who had no abilities that were in demand by the private sector. The schools were dumbed-down. The qualification demands of the private sector continued to rise. Employment displacement by automation has risen rapidly.
There is no happy ending to this story.

1/28 Dangerously cold record low -20 temps to hit Chicago, Midwest – Mish
The AGW people told us that this is a sign that global warming is real.

[Danny B]

Government money everywhere

"The largest employer in the world announced on Dec. 15 that it lost about $450 billion in fiscal 2006. Its auditor found that its financial statements were unreliable and that its controls were inadequate for the 10th straight year"
In 2006, David Walker, the comptroller General refused to certify that the U.S. budget was accurate.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...122300653.html

"Secondly, we have governments who have directed that a percentage of pensions MUST be “conservative,” and that they EXCLUSIVELY own government bonds. Even the Social Security system is 100% invested in government bonds. While no OECD countries impose a ceiling on investment in government bonds, there are actually four countries applying minimum floors that require they own government debt. In Austria, for example, pension funds are required to invest at least 35% of their assets in mortgage bonds, government bonds, and euro denominated debentures. French pension funds must invest a minimum of 50% in EU government bonds. In Denmark, pension funds must invest a minimum of 60% of their portfolio in domestic debt."
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...wn-govt-bonds/

Chinese investments most at risk from US sanctions against Venezuela

China opposes sanctions against Venezuela says US will be responsible for consequences
1/29 Huawei: China calls US charges ‘immoral’ as markets slide – Guardian
Making America great, one Chinese bankruptcy at a time.

"Today US
government spending typically averages a fifth to a quarter of GDP, and with ―transfer
payments‖ that add another ten percent or more. This transition is common among
―advanced‖ countries, with most of them operating with governments that are closer to fifty percent of the economy. Do those variables matter?"
cas.umkc.edu/.../Does%20Excessive%20Sovereign%20Debt%20Really%20Hur t%20G...

https://nypost.com/2018/09/22/next-c...ssion-experts/
During the current reprieve from the shutdown, GOV has taken the opportunity to charge up all the EBT cards with the money for February. No telling how long it will be shut down after the reprieve expires.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzspsovNvII


Young Texas girl figures it out

This was written by a 21 yr old female who gets it. It's her future she's worried about and this is how she feels about the social welfare big government state that she's being forced to live in!
These solutions are just common sense in her opinion.
This was in the Waco Tribune Herald, Waco , TX Nov 18, 2010


Put me in charge . . .


Put me in charge of food stamps. I'd get rid of Lone Star cards; no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho's, just money for 50-pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.


Put me in charge of Medicaid. The first thing I'd do is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations. Then, we'll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, and nicotine and document all tattoos and piercings. If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, smoke or get tats and piercings, then get a job.


Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in a military barracks?
You will maintain our property in a clean and good state of repair. Your "home" will be subject to inspections anytime and possessions will be inventoried. If you want a plasma TV or Xbox 360, then get a job and your own place.


In addition, you will either present a check stub from a job each week or you will report to a "government" job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, whatever we find for you. We will sell your 22 inch rims and low profile tires and your blasting stereo and speakers and put that money toward the "common good.."


Before you write that I've violated someone's rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules.. Before you say that this would be "demeaning" and ruin their "self esteem," consider that it wasn't that long ago that taking someone else's money for doing absolutely nothing was demeaning and lowered self esteem.


If we are expected to pay for other people's mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices.


AND While you are on Gov't subsistence, you no longer can VOTE! Yes that is correct. For you to vote would be a conflict of interest. You will voluntarily remove yourself from voting while you are receiving a Gov't welfare check. If you want to vote, then get a job.

[Danny B]

Modern Monetary Theory

Both Benjamin Franklin and Adolf Hitler created money out of thin air to provide liquidity to the lower loop where the actual work is done. Both got a war for their impertinence. Creating "money" to pay for actual productivity is NOT inflationary to prices. If you increase the money supply commensurate with the increase in wealth, there is no automatic price increase.
EVERYBODY knows that the Central Bank must create the money supply,,, as opposed to the Treasury creating the money supply. If the Treasury did that, it would cause great inflation.
Armstrong, "Actually, there would be no issue if the government simply created money to fund its normal expenditure. Historically, that will produce very modest inflation."
There you have it. When the head of the FED was a Presbyterian, Paul Volker, there was no such thing as a 2% inflation target. When the chosenites took over the FED, 2% inflation was perfectly accepted and rational.
The FED sucks out $ 1/2 trillion a year from the taxpayer.
" The crisis is when you borrow to fund that deficit spending. In 2019, interest expenditures may now exceed the cost of defense. It is far cheaper to create the money needed than borrow and keep rolling the deficits forever. Then the cumulative interest keeps rising and crowds out all other expenditures. This is what is happening."
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...-inflationary/
Here is an excellent article on Modern Monetary Theory That explains and justifies EVERYTHING that Armstrong claims.
https://www.themacrotourist.com/posts/2019/01/23/mmt/

" 40% of millennials are still dependent on mom and dad."
And they are NOT buying houses.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/m...estate-market/

1/31 China mfg activity contracted for the second-straight month in January–CNBC No, NO, NO. I read that they are growing at 6%
1/31 British car production slumps to five-year low – Guardian
1/31 Europe stays in gloomy mood as Germany slashes its 2019 outlook – Bloomberg
Germany depends on Great Britain buying their cars.
1/31 Europe launches SWIFT alternative to fund Iran – Zero Hedge
Just like russia and Nordstream, the Europeans need carbon energy.

[Danny B]

MMT is not new

MMT is something that has been around for a long time.
Thomas Edison, "Objecting to the fact that the Government planned, as usual, to raise the money by issuing bonds which would be bought by the banking and non-banking sector — which would then have to be paid back with money raised from taxes, and with interest added — they proposed instead that the Government simply create the currency it required and spend it into society through this public project."

"“That is to say, under the old way any time we wish to add to the national wealth we are compelled to add to the national debt.

“Now, that is what Henry Ford wants to prevent. He thinks it is stupid, and so do I, that for the loan of $30,000,000 of their own money the people of the United States should be compelled to pay $66,000,000 — that is what it amounts to, with interest. People who will not turn a shovelful of dirt nor contribute a pound of material will collect more money from the United States than will the people who supply the material and do the work. That is the terrible thing about interest. In all our great bond issues the interest is always greater than the principal. All of the great public works cost more than twice the actual cost, on that account. Under the present system of doing business we simply add 120 to 150 per cent, to the stated cost."
"“But here is the point: If our nation can issue a dollar bond, it can issue a dollar bill. The element that makes the bond good makes the bill good. The difference between the bond and the bill is that the bond lets the money brokers collect twice the amount of the bond and an additional 20 per cent, whereas the currency pays nobody but those who directly contribute"
Prosperity UK » What Is Money? » Thomas Edison on Government Created Debt-Free Money

You can see that the problem has long been recognised.
The bankers insist that all money must be created through the bond market and, passed through their greedy hands.
The Federal Reserve has an education department. You can bet that they don't teach that Central Banks are an enormous drain on the economy.
https://www.federalreserveeducation.org/