I’m very serious when I share with people that almost everything we understand about the geopolitical purposes and impacts of sanctions against Russian economic interests is entirely fabricated. However, because the scale of the propaganda against us is so effective, breaking the mental/cognitive barrier is almost impossible.
It’s not that situations are ‘shaped’ or information is ‘manipulated,’ like would be the definition of the term “disinformation.” But rather that the entire construct of reality regarding the economic issues -as presented- is fabricated, created by massive financial interests, and flat-out lies; I mean, total unadulterated nonsense. Complete fiction.
This latest article from Reuters, and the accompanying graphic from ZeroHedge, only scratches the surface.
[SOURCE]
We are through the looking glass folks. Literally captive to the narrative as sold by our Western government officials, and there’s a huge one-way mirror; beyond which, massive segments of the grey zone are looking at us as if we are pathetic victims of professional propaganda.
The worst part of this dynamic is how the USA looks insufferably weak, because we are playing this massive game of pretending that only the Yellow Zone is participating in.
MOSCOW, Dec 27 (Reuters) – Almost all of Russia’s oil exports this year have been shipped to China and India, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday, after Moscow responded to Western economic sanctions by quickly rerouting supplies away from Europe.
Russia has successfully circumvented sanctions on its oil and diverted flows from Europe to China and India, which together accounted for around 90% of its crude exports, Novak, who is in charge of the country’s energy sector, told Rossiya-24 state TV.
He said that Russia had already started to forge ties with Asia-Pacific countries before the West introduced sanctions against Moscow following the start of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022.
“As for those restrictions and embargoes on supplies to Europe and the U.S. that were introduced… this only accelerated the process of reorienting our energy flows,” Novak said.
He said that Europe’s share of Russia’s crude exports has fallen to only about 4-5% from about 40-45%. (read more)
What Alexander Novak shares is stunningly accurate, only the ramifications are far more serious. This is why I am spending so much time trying to break the issue down into digestible portions.
Russia and Iran are now trading oil (and other things) in their own national currencies, not the petrodollar. This is the epicenter of a process initially triggered by the BRICS economic alliance and is now taking place in real time while the proverbial WEST pretends it is not happening. Now, it might sound esoteric, as if it is a disconnected or academic issue that doesn’t have real substantive ramifications, but that’s not true.
I can literally see how global trade is now cost-shifting as the dollar starts to weaken (become less used) as a trade currency. Again, like our domestic social issues, this de-dollarization process is “slowly at first,” but eventually this is going to come all at once.
As USA consumers we cannot see it yet, because we are inside an economic system that is entirely dependent on dollars. However, as the devaluation of the dollar continues slowly to happen, outside our dollar-based economy, the cost of goods, products and stuff in the ordinary life of people within the GREY ZONE is now stunningly less. It’s not showing up in currency markets (dollar -vs- fill_in_blank), because the currency trades are not part of the trade/cost dynamic outside the YELLOW ZONE.
Go into the grey zone and compare the price of “product X” to what you would pay in the United States for “product X”, and you will see the difference in the end consumer price is starting to widen faster. Identical goods in the USA cost much more than goods outside the “west.”
As the de-dollarization continues (mostly driven by the lessening of oil sold using the petrodollar), the disparity in price will get even more stark. As a result of this dynamic, wages in the USA (or the “west”) must necessarily rise faster; however, that’s only part of the issue.
If I took $200 into a Russian supermarket, buying only consumable food products, I would end up with about 3 shopping carts full of food. Take that same $200 into the average USA supermarket and you get one shopping cart or less. This is the scale of what is likely to happen in durable goods. The “cleaving” is underway.
Let me say that again, the “cleaving” of dollar-based price/value is underway.
Starbucks pulled out of Russia. The building still exists, the furniture still there, the equipment still there, just a different name, “Star Coffee” lolol. Starbucks is roughly $6 for whatever, the StarCoffee is $1. Same stuff. A cab/uber ride in USA might be $25, or in EU might be €30, but outside the yellow zone around $6 to $10/max. It’s getting crazy how big the difference is.
Now, the price disparity is not in everything, only in the products that do not originate from inside the yellow zone. The increased price of the yellow zone goods transfers into the grey zone when the product is moved. However, if the yellow zone and grey zone both produce an identical product (or service), that’s when you see the massive difference in price. [And no, this is not a lower cost labor issue]
Conversely, prices of goods originating from the grey zone shipped to the yellow zone will be far less than the comparable product created from within the yellow zone.
What is going to happen?
I suspect we are going to import even more products from the grey zone at a greater rate, because there’s a lower origination price and greater opportunity for profit. Wait and see.
China needs energy, Russia needs computer chips and tech. They are trading thusly. Now watch… if the sanctions are ever lifted, we will start importing Russian made electronic goods, because less expensive. It’s nuts.
Remember, our ‘western’ government is doing this to us on purpose.
The west tends to think just of Putin. But he has many astute people around him. For instance Lavrov, their foreign minister. I’ve read a number of his speeches. He’s smart, articulate and widely informed. He makes long speeches without notes, and is totally aware of all permutations and possibilities world wide.
Putin doesn’t exist in a vacuum, but the west always demonizes and personalizes a single scapegoat. There is so much more intellectual, historical and cultural depth on their side than the mere image of Putin as some kind of mad man. And he’s more lucid and poised than anyone in the G7 leadership by a long shot. Not to be underestimated.
Frankly, the USDoS and Bidenoids are utterly juvenile by comparison. That’s the most troubling thing about this. We are in the grip of a profoundly dysfunctional and disingenuous cabal of dilettantes and predatory interlopers of marginal talent and ability.
They are “The Great Mediocrity” of promiscuously credentialed lightweights trafficking in their arrested development and party loyalties without any concern or regard or for the trustee duty they trample with the arrogance of a distempered child.
The culture of malformed aging juveniles infesting our great institutions are entirely capable of getting hundreds of millions killed, as there are great vanities to preserve and hubris to protect.
This is all the idiocy of Joe Biden and the Neocon/liberal foreign policy establishment.
Trump actually had a strategy that would have broken up the BRICS in favor of a new U.S. alliance with India, Brazil and Mexico (recall USMCA was negotiated with Mexico first).
Trump had China on the ropes. He had close ties with Modi in India and Bolsonaro in Brazil. Trump believed that it was a major mistake to push Russia and China (historic rivals) together into an economic and military alliance.
So Trump sought to settle the European issues with Russia and forge renewed US-Russo ties through India to contain China. It was a brilliant strategy. Not to mention Trump’s work with Turkey, Pakistan, and even his hardline against Iran was having an impact in the Middle East. The Gulf nations (GCC), we’re making peace with Israel (whatever happened to that momentum?).
Trump’s ties in Latin America were strong. He had the Central American countries in check around immigration. Mexico was cooperating with the U.S.. South America was moving back towards a U.S.centric view, away from China.
To say Trump’s foreign policy initiatives were a great missed opportunity for the U.S. and the World is a massive understatement! Think about all the regions in the world where Trump was making progress in. Even in North Korea there was progress!
Only with our “allies” in Europe and Asia was there tensions, yet Trump had their number too. He just needed the second term to get them right.
Now with this foolish war in Ukraine, Russia is moving firmly into China’s embrace and China is using the BRICS to establish its alternate payment, trade and investment system. China will establish a currency reserve system that will soon rival that of the dollar and the Euro.
Stolen Elections have consequences indeed.
What should we be telling our congressional representatives? Would we as consumers and citizens of the US be better off if the sanctions on Russia were lifted? Is that something we should be advising the Congress?
As if those grifters actually care about what we think.
“What should we be telling our congressional representatives? “
Hilarious
Hahahaha!
Actually, I see it as entirely serious, that that is EXACTLY what we should be telling those who are supposed to represent and serve us, ..”Argo” as in argo f*ck yourself!”
Old song from the pressroom floor deep into the exhaustion that comes from 50 hours of overtime:
“Everybody here’s got a left and right ear,
but nobody here’s got an argo”.
“Argo what?” “Argo f*ck yourself!”
PDJT & MAGA chased out the Trotskyite war criminal Neocon rats to the Weekend At Bernie’s illegitimate cadaver Biden pretend government. That’s why the wars.
Fake News and War Party Lies
https://buchanan.org/blog/rule-ruin-republicans-124987
The neocons are in one business. War.
War.
What’s it good for?
Absolutely …💰💰💰💰
^^^!
I would direct each one to the nearest bridge.
News Flash!
Congress with but a few exceptions is not listening.
Oh they pretend to and know all of the right things to say.
They’re experts at the Potomac two-step, Jack.
If everyone but us is incompetent and stupid then how do they keep flogging us and winning?
Maybe we are the stupid ones.
We have been playing by different rules.
I believe that is about to change.
Because Republic. It’s a disasterous system when the average moral IQ is under 40. The elected elite know they have 2-6 uninterrupted years to dump trash over because they’ll never get impeached and they know it.
What could go wrong? You’re looking at it 🤷♂️
So very true.
In a Republic, as I understand the Republican form of government we are granted more than enough liberty to hang ourselves with an immoral lust for power and greed.
“Never interfere with your enemy when he is making a mistake.” Napoleon.
Everybody in the World knows something about history.
Its quite possible, the World is horrified by watching America dissolve into a war-crazed culture governed by third-world politicians!
I think the world is horrified that the US and EU have self indulged teenagers in charge of the future?
Its about the comfort zone, and who holds the whip.
1000 prisoners, 10 guards, why do they stay behind bars?
Auschwitz 1 million prisoners and 1000 guards, why did they stay to die?
Hamas 20,000, Gaza population 600,000
Victory only comes when you no longer fear death. Living, the hope of living, is the comfort zone.
That, the appearance of “normalcy” and perception of something to lose.
Janice was right, Freedom really is having nothing left to lose.
So long as one feels they have more to lose by acting, than by not,..they won’t.
Its only when they realise that by not acting, they guarantee that everything they hold dear is gone, and its ONLY by acting that possibly some of it can be retained or restored, that they have their “Patriot moment” and act.
And it can be either/both an individual and or a group occurence, haapens very slowly, ….and then all-at-once.
Russia’s head of their central bank has been extremely successful at bridging and reducing shocks to Russia’s financial system. Her name is Elvira Nabiullina. This is a very astute lady and it is interesting to read this translation from RT of their interview with her.
https://www.rt.com/business/589811-elvira-nabiullina-interview-rbk/
Very interesting, she candidly admits she should have raised their interest rates earlier in response to Russian inflation – hardly like the twaddle that comes out of U.S. Federal Reserve press releases.
Also, very poignant how she’s using free-market systems to adapt the economy swiftly.
We’re getting our butts kicked with our own game!
We’re the Communists Now!
What is refreshing is that she really knows the financial markets and is working to protect consumers from the effects of what the US is doing to Russia. She doesn’t seem to pretend either, as you noted.
But one difference in Russian inflation and that in the US is that Russian inflation is spurred by the traditional cause – consumer spending. Ours is spurred by energy restrictions, energy prices, and market manipulations, while Yellen and the FED pretend it is caused by consumer spending.
Sanctions are thinly disguised WAR! They can be worse than war!
And thus their plan is largely succeeding.
And we have Janet Yellen bowing down to Xi and Zelenskyy.
She is really an impressive
lady. Have only heard and
read good things about her.
Would you tell me HOW you get an RT subscription? When i click the subscribe button on their site nothing happens. I haven’t gotten it in probably 3 years. Do you have to use a VPN from another country? Thanks much! If anyone knows i would really appreciate the information.
Thank you!
This should be the centerpiece of a rally segment.
I believe “The Great Mediocrity” have been bought off by the WEF NWO TPTB. They have sold our country out for personal monetary gain and it makes me sick.
“but the west always demonizes and personalizes a single scapegoat.”
That is an Alinsky tactic; pick a target, freeze it and personalize it. It is the exact same thing they do to President Trump.
Indeed, they are crooks as well – but they are also stupid:
Congressman Comer has un-covered text messages from Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian business partner bemoaning the fact that “his dog is smarter than Hunter.” Which doesn’t say much for Joe considering the fact Joe once said, quote: “My son is the smartest man I’ve ever met.”
Joe isn’t smart either.
Maybe Joe can’t remember which son he was talking about.
Or that’s one smart dog, pity it can’t write or talk…
Checkmate: Yours is an excellent analysis of the external reality. Sadly the Third Term Obama Administration is deliberately bringing about the destruction of AMERICA! We do not have to wait for the onslaught of the “EXTERNALS” to destroy us. WE ARE BEING DESTROYED FROM WITHIN!
” The culture of malformed aging juveniles infesting our great institutions are entirely capable of getting hundreds of millions killed, as there are great vanities to preserve and hubris to protect.”
But think of all the medals and ribbons the DOD will be able to give out. Both to the living and the dead.
How long were we told Russia and China had ongoing disputes over their borders, even in the height of the Cold War? We in the US cheered China was goosing the mean old Soviet Bear.
However something got lost in translation. It appears many of those alleged Soviet-Chinese border disputes were between farmers on both sides of the boundary rivers, after winter melts changed the course of the rivers which took land away or gave land to one or the other along that “disputed” Russia-Chinese border.
It was hardly the makings of an other Korean Peninsula War.
It appears Putin loves his country.
Out “leaders” clearly do not.
Our leaders couldn’t care less about the US other than to destroy us. These aren’t leaders, they’re puppets of globalists. Every one of them bought and paid for.
They hate and resent the American people because we’re free. They do care, but it’s all hatred. They say so everyday.
We’re free? Where’d you read that?
I’m free. I don’t need to read it anywhere. We all make choices.
They’re ripping us off as fast as they can grab that cash and stash it, because IMO they know that gravy train is about to come to a screeching halt….about November of 2024, if not sooner.
No question about it, mycroft.
JB regime are all guilty of Treason against the American People and our land.
And the Christians in Russia already know what living under Communism is truly like!
The rest of the West (Yellow) sadly, will probably soon know too!
🤷♀️💁🤷♀️
It has been 32 years now since
the USSR/communism ceased to be
in Russia.
The Babushkas (grandmothers ) now
tell their children and grandchildren
stories of how it once was.
🤷♀️💁🤷♀️
The Babushkas (grandmothers )
now tell their children and grandchildren
what it was like to once live with communism.
It has been 32 years since the USSR/communism
ceased to be in Russia.
I do believe that their educational system
is better than ours in the US….😂😉😂
And ours here in Australia too! 😇 👍
Russian Education is much better than in the US. Russia teaches Its children truth.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/even-kremlin-knows-its-true-russian-textbooks-say/
Thanks for posting link.
I had a good chuckle with a big..yup-that’s the truth.
We have one true leader that does love this country and it’s citizens- President Trump
They had to lie, cheat, steal, and cover it up to keep him from sweeping the Nation in an historic win in 2020.
Such an interesting assessment, that we in the yellow zones are effectively being played by our governments. In Canada, the other day I walked out carrying three bags – $138. The same would have cost me about $70-$80 pre pandemic. Just a bag of crappy whiskas went for $25, now retails for $45.99. Completly unsustainable, just how they planned it. If I was not tied here Russia is looking better every day…
At some point somebody is going to publish a list of all of the globalist corrupt trash that caused all this. Their plan of having illegals turn on citizens could very well backfire when 300 million turn on a 1000 or so.
I hope. But im not feeling good about it. All of the people I talk to say “when it comes.to my front door, I’m gonna whoop them”. Well, if we all wait till it’s at our front door, it’s game over, and we all lose.
Never had to think in terms relative to after the nation falls. Yes, totally agree there will be defending at the front door, but there could a whole lot of people without front doors
I have a feeling that list of a 1000 or so could EASILY be crowdsourced right here on the Treehouse.
Try Mexico
I’d say no but by the time it gets to our front doors, the cartels will all have moved to the US, and Mexico might be a decent place to live. God forbid it comes to that….
Been enjoying Mexico 18 years! Visited 28 of 32 states! Married a beautiful Yucateca!! Gracias Dios!!
I commented on the ZH article this AM on PP.
Subsequently and related, two more articles came out on ZH this afternoon regarding the reverse repo Fed project underway since we had bank collapses earlier this year.
Without trying to regurgitate it and IF I understand the implications of what was described, that is going to unwind sometime in March.
The implication(s) I see is and has been one of my greatest fears regarding economic issues – a potential financial crisis like no other. Bank failures, lack of reserves to make loans, credit market freeze, seizures of monetary assets, etc, etc.
Outside of the bartering many discuss here, I can’t seem to figure out how to preserve capital outside of moving dollars offshore into another currency.
The potential of this scenario is real imo and could make the 2008 crisis look like a walk in the park.
Anyone out there better at finances and currency maneuvering that has sound advice would be appreciated to voice their opinions and options.
Additionally, news came out today also on the last business day of the year that shows core PPI exploded again, is expected to keep going up just as Sundance has stated.
Not a good day on business/economic news!
“Anyone out there better at finances and currency maneuvering that has sound advice would be appreciated to voice their opinions and options.”
That would make for a great SAF discussion thread.
BK ,Ive been sitting back just waiting for it to happen .
Ive believed for a long time they (wall street),will steal it all,pentions, everything.
It was a prediction of George Carlin ,and I believe he is right .
Will know it will take something fiscally serious to make dumb Americans buy into digital currency.
I think any hedging will be useless.
I hope I’m wrong about everything, but lately,I’m right way more than I’m wrong .
You voice my predicament.
I have ideas that I think may work. But then when I think out potential negatives, I keep coming back to your way of thinking.
Outside of goods needed or can be stored, the only things that comes to mind for me is physical precious metals or foreign currency offshore. Possibly commodity based stuff, but I just don’t know.
Scared to death of crypto – power failures, seizures, hacking, etc.
I’m 59 ,grew up poor ,I’ve had a psyical job my whole life .
I figure I’ll deal with what happens when it happens.
Money may become totally useless.
Strong people find a way to get by .
I prefer to go out with my boots on , if you get that .
I have stuff put away ,but I’m not in the country,so I’m half doomed if things go real wrong .
I hope things get better,but I’m not counting on it .
And I’m not worrying about it either .
They say only the strong survive , if I don’t , I plan on taking a few takers with me .
Good will sort us out in the end .
As I have said here before, Pennsylvania, Salt of the Earth people. Pennsylvania my beloved.
Can always consider a bug out plan, in the eventbit becomes real bad.
We’ve made the bug out move. Got out of Austin. On a beautiful large lake in the sticks. Soon to have three buildings with plumbing for additional family. There is always concern for my youngest child & hubby with four children and the fifth on the way while living in Queens. An important part of Mr Sundance’s article is the future of the petro dollar or as many call our fiat. Some central bank board dude says the American people have more faith in the dollar than the central bank. I agree. When that faith begins to wane, trillions will flow into assets. I believe it will be real money. That being silver and gold. There’s a wonderful book by Roy Sebag entitled “The Natural Order of Money.” He is a third generation farmer, mining investor, and investment management. In a nutshell, he states we live in an age of contrived moneys and parasitic economies. A solution must be given by nature and not the service economy. He believes when gold is money, cooperation between people and nature is sustainable. Thoughty, but well worth the read.
“And I’m not worrying about it either”
John PA has reached a state of wisdom.
I think some of the solution involves going back to the so-called old ways, skills we have not needed to think about in a longtime – like family, food preservation, growing from seed, etc but there are some of us out there trying to pick these skills up while also trying to figure out what the safe hedge is, if there is any. Diversification is good but colossal bank failure could bri
Sorry got cut off… I was going to say could bring unforseen, catastrophoc results.
You mentioned a few skills that are good, but one of the things I learned about several years ago was hydroponic gardening (growing vegetables and fruits in water). Looks harder than it is, but you need an indoor area out of the elements. Just a thought.
Hydroponics uses chemical fertilisers you have to buy, and periodically you have to dump and replace the water.
AQUAPONICS, uses similar hardware, systems etc. but instead of the chemicals, you pump the water from a fishtank, to your grow beds.
The bacteria in the growbeds converts the fish waste nitrites, into fertiliser nitrates, so fertilising the plants while cleaning the water for the
fish.
For cold climates, raise Trout, warmer climates Talapai.
Small denominations of precious metals. Some of us might have made mistakes not mixing up quantities. One guy told me a good commodity might be rolls of old silver dimes vs 10 Oz bars etc
Black Knight,
The Dollar is still king for now but I want you to use this logic to help you along…
For 15 years I’ve studied the BRICS and know it all to well and regardless of what they are doing in exchanging currencies, not one of these countries (Russia or China) is ready yet, to displace the dollar as we are still a consumer nation and both countries know this to be fact. Our Dollar is circulating the most around the globe so don’t stress it just yet.
Capital from around the world is flowing into our markets for one reason, War is coming! If you can, convert your dollars into assets or something of value, that’s up to you. I’ve known about Digital Currencies since 2013 but I was that tin foil hat guy back then.
The Dollar will collapse when there is no confidence in our government and I don’t mean American confidence, I mean global.
Good luck.
To those who might question what I just explained, I trade market for a living it’s my job to understand what goes on in this world.
Black Knight… seek out Martin Armstrong economics to help guide you through this as I only comment on the CTH and that’s rare anymore.
Thanks for the comment.
I’ve heard of Martin. I’ll check him out.
I’ve followed Martin Armstrong for more than a decade. That markets move through cycles of price and cycles of time is one of his primary beliefs.
Once in awhile, the cycles of price align with cycles of time, and you get sustained price moves of years, for commodities and currencies. Since 1995 excess liquidity has elevated equity valuations.
[my note] Add Big Tech monopolies today, because there are no higher profits than Big Tech in the history of the world. They own everything, and the grift is beyond one’s imagination.
We are in an inflationary cycle that is not going to get relief, due to multiple wars, and diminished production capacity. Mind you, Martin Armstrong predicted all of this from the earliest years I read his work and went to his conferences. It was staggering to learn and digest, and remains unfathomable to this day. But then you look at the Southern Border of the USA, and you know this is not normal, and few are using the words: infiltration and invasion. Congress doesn’t even care, save for < 100 Rs in the House. Martin says it’s the DC corruption that causes the unfavorable outcomes, such as our present invasion.
The S&P 500 is near enough to a multi-year high, and closed near enough to a 2023 high. This means there is little resistance above, but there are determined bears. Pick your support levels to suit your taste, but the market has broken out. The 2024 battle begins next Tuesday, but from the perspective of the elite, they can continue to elevate the market higher to bring more capital into the markets.
Liquidity is still massive in high finance, and plenty of leverage is available at rational cost. Only the frothy extremes with poor risk management are taking a hit. If you owned an Index Fund in 2023 you did well. Others are making fortunes, right now, including all the corporate insiders, with the S&P 500 closing 2023 where it has.
On an alternative currency, to survive through a time of dollar collapse, hyperinflation or even emp, consider guns and ammo, as currency.
You have something I want, but I have nothing you want, to barter with.
But, I have ammo; 12g, 9mm, .223 and .22 and I have quantities.
You know you can easily find others who want it, to trade forcsomething you want, you know its not counterfeit, and with the different denominations , can make small purchases.
And, there is enough in circulation that I believe it will be recognised as THE logical alternative currency.
And, transfering some of your wealth into ammo, it will only go up in value.
Some guns as well, for major purchases.
I recommend Simon Black’s “Sovereign Man” blog as another reliable source of economic and financial information.
https://www.sovereignman.com/articles/
Thank you for your advice.
“I’ve known about Digital Currencies since 2013 but I was that tin foil hat guy back then.”
So do you now recommend crypto? Which ones?
I agree on what you say about the USD. It will take a while to knock it off of its throne. But eventually, there will be a world wide vote of “No Confidence”. When the USD someday falls, it will be quick and hard.
also
X2 on Armstrong Economics. Martin Armstrong is a brilliant man.
Doug Casey, International Man is also a must read for those who want ideas and how toos to protect their wealth.
By the way ,I read zerohedge everyday .
It may be how I got linked into here .
Maybe thru the comment section,with a post .
Something led me here 🤔, that’s my guess .
Or Someone, John. I believe that’s how I found my way here…
Hands down the best site I have run across over the last 8 years
I’m with you BK. Since my husband’s sudden passing, I have been entrusted with quite a lot. I have someone helping me financially but it’s all as if everything is going to just great and Mutual funds are earning 5.3% blah blah. I’m like great, but what do I do when tshtf? It’s maddening l
Foreign stock market indexes maybe? India might do well, and some of the Asian countries. But holding stock through an American brokerage firm would seem to be a risk in itself.
Getting down to brass tacks, barter material: whiskey, ammo, cigs.
My daddy always said the only thing worth owning is God’s green earth. In other words, buy land.
Ditto on Crypto, especially since the idea is to find a secure haven and crypto is just not secure.
I think have to shift thinking, to envisioning a collapse of civilisation as we know it, which means NOT thinking in terms of a period of bad times, years to perhaps a decade, and then some return to ‘normalcy’.
Think instead of moving to self-sufficiency and a small close knit group that are interdependant, but not at all dependant on the grid/cord.
Think the Amish, as an example. They work together to provide everything they need, and are independant of, rather than dependant on the whole supply chain system.
They’ve already stole pensions. My advisor at the time had majority of 401K in high risk stocks. BOOM. I got robbed in 2002 and 2008.
I’ll have a full petion from UPS in a little more than a year .
It would be nice to collect it , but I might be better off just having the job if it’s stolen .
Gratz.
BK, I had a friend in Wales who always hated to see the end of a year…
Her philosophy was that no matter how dreadful it had been, she didn’t know that the new one coming wouldn’t be so much worse.
I used to think that was a defeatist way of looking at it.
I am now a firm subscriber to her view, as I think it is about to be proven tragically apt.
We’ve been herded into a financial abattoir by raging egotists and ignoramuses who comprise the Empire of Hate, Lies, War, Death…and Destruction.
And that’s the reality of it.
JMO based on a very large scale inputs – on the monetary front don’t move into European currency in any way, they will collapse first. In general, currencies are iffy all around.
Unless you intend on setting up a full front company with off shore assets (which should still be in hard assets, not currencies), the only possibilities in my view of what may come are durable goods: commodities, food and other supplies for self sufficiency, and property away from cities (after descent begins).
Here is why I say “after” on property…the picture speaks for itself. It’s housing prices vs inflation.
Another thing to do is set up local economies and supply chains between farmers, craftsmen, ranchers, and like minded people if you haven’t already – the closer the better. With the possibilities of what 2024 may bring one can most definitely not depend upon standard distribution and supply chains.
There is one major conundrum – any assets in pre-tax advantaged accounts, the very ones they lust after. Extracting it creates a decent sized haircut and potential loss of growth (depending upon what you do with it). My thoughts are learn about self-directed IRAs, investigate VERY thoroughly potential sponsors, pick one, talk to them, and set up a “just in case” plan that can be executed in hours – or at most a day or two and keep your eyes peeled. If the risk exceeds your comfort level or an event occurs on your list of “trigger events”, execute the plan. Keep in mind that waiting too late can cause the inability to rescue and convert the resources to hard assets.
Regarding ZH – they have some good info – but a very large grain of salt. Their data is often decent, but their analysis often isn’t in my (and others) opinion.
One note on any government generated pricing index, be it PCE, PPI, or CPI – they are not only manipulated, but the main numbers are year over year comparisons. That in an of itself can distort things. Here’s a chart I used in talking about our situation with a friend in October for illustration.
Note that in the September time frame of 2022 prices had made a large jump (steep ramp in the line, 5.4%) – so when things were compared to it this year, all else being equal it made things seem milder than they are. If you compared this year’s September to the values from August of 2022 instead of September, you would get a very different number that was not as mild. If you ever want a better feel for reality and don’t have a trusted source – get the real raw numbers from the Fed for the individual categories, weight them according to YOUR life style or for the business sector you are in, do a 3 month running average, and then chart it.
All of this with its own grain of salt – am not a “financial planner”, nor do any of my various occupational expertise buckets cover the topic. These are long reasoned views and ideas based upon many years of personal research, reading, and analysis of a diverse set of sources. YMMV.
Great input.
Not wealthy enough for the overseas thing you suggest.
Only currency I would even consider is Swiss franc.
Local thing already worked out.
The commodities, necessary stuff and real assets have same thought and have already mostly prepared for that with same views.
Agree on ZH conclusions and views on your rationale on economics and distortions thereof. Was a business major. And small investors.
Besides brokerage accounts and cash positions, moved all retirement funds into private IRA and Roth IRA and control everything.
Economics second or third favorite study behind history/politics and certain theology.
Well acquainted with the models and interpretations you discuss at end of your comments-am almost identical to your view.
Thanks again for your input!
Makes me feel I might be thinking it out right.
Semi retirement coming for me within 90 days.
Gratz BK.
As an FYI – overseas thing can be done with an LLC for a couple thousand to set up.
One thing to keep in mind about the Swiss – while ostensibly ‘neutral’, they’ve had their own bank issues and Geneva is currently the nexus of a large number of dark forces and then there is Davos.
Regarding private and ROTH IRAs – suggest you have a plan for rapid extraction and conversion. One possibility is PMs within the IRA with a physical delivery option if there is a need to extract rapidly. If it is in someone else’s hands – it can be taken…
Glad to hear you are much farther along than most! You’re welcome – just sharing my thoughts as you did yours BK.
Setting up local economies is something the estimable Catherine Austin Fitts has been advising for a long, LONG time. She is formidable, astute, and analytical. The powers that be despise her.
Her site is, I think, one to refer to for valuable information.
https://home.solari.com/
I like her , haven’t followed her enough .
Thanks for adding that for the rest of the tree – she’s been on my reading/watching list for a long time Betty and is very astute. Of course, you know she left the country due to what she perceived as coming, right? There are many who have counseled the same and/or independently arrived at the conclusion when ‘viewing the horizon.’
Note – the last sentence is about parallel economies, not leaving the country (which I would personally never do – it’s either here or heaven).
“Extracting it creates a decent sized haircut and potential loss of growth (depending upon what you do with it).”
Just curious what your thoughts are on anyone being able to give that haircut if things get so bad one has to yank it out.
Going to answer more than just your question for the benefit of others.
If all assets are pulled out of a pre-tax advantage account, then the tax bill becomes due and depending upon the amount, can put you in a significantly higher tax bracket.
Last time I checked 20% is taken “off the top” during a conversion to a ROTH or a simply “I want it all now” withdrawal and then you are supposed to settle with the IRS at the end of the year (pay more or get a refund). It’s the financial institution that takes that 20% off the top. It will happen unless the company you are dealing with is willing to break the law at that moment in time (VERY unlikely). In regards to the rest of potential taxes owed (if it puts you in a higher marginal tax bracket than 20%) – if things get to that point, does one really give a damn about the IRS and filing taxes at the end of that year?
One thing that can be done ahead of time to help with the tax side is start converting it to a self-directed ROTH account so that if/when you yank it, there are no taxes. In this way you can manage it to not exceed whatever limit puts you in a marginal tax bracket you don’t want to enter (be it your existing one or a higher one). Of course, time is potentially quite short, so my advice would be to do the first increment in January.
One other thing to keep in mind about ROTH accounts – there are penalties (10% of the amount withdrawn) if the account hasn’t been open for 5 years – so if you don’t already have an established ROTH to use, there is that to factor in as well. Talk to a tax consultant (which I most definitely am not) to know all the ins and outs!
I am well aware of the penalties for withdrawing before Uncle says it’s OK.
My question was about whether Uncle would be in any condition to care.
Of course, if it gets that bad, there may not be anything left to yank out that Uncle hasn’t already seized.
Did I not answer your question – and say I was providing additional information for the potential benefit of others?
If everyone doesn’t know what to do at that point then I don’t know what to tell you.
There used to be a time when men drew a line in the sand. And when that line was crossed, they kissed the women and children good bye, and understood damn well they may never be coming home.
If what you fear comes to fruition, then we will need men like these again. There is nothing to run from. There is no where to hide. Exhibiting fear will do nothing other than beget more fear. You strap up the boots, and you get to destination of where the ass that boot belongs in resides. And you put it in said ass. Or you die trying.
(Standing and applauding)
I totally agree and have already prepared for where you’re going.
But in the meantime, I’m trying hard to preserve what I have to the best of my ability.
Have been thru a personal war over 20 years ago.
They’re expensive just to survive. Much less win.
And my ‘fear’ is not for me. It’s for my country and those less fortunate than me nor have the ability or comprehension to navigate saving whatever they may have.
I’m certain I’ll be in better shape than most, but when people get desperate all bets are off. That’s a consequence of civil decay subsequent to financial and/or political implosion.
Are part of being more prepared.
But that’s my point. And I agree we must be prepared. And I am thinking of my country as well. In the meantime people won’t wake up until it’s allll gone.
So you need to be one of those boot strapped people. And you announce it to your neighbors as you are lacing up said boots.
Rally the troops on the way. Make sure your family unit is all together and heavily armed and stocked on food reserves. Bring your rations with you. And God willing, we end those bastards hard,,,,,,and fast.
The word is concern BK, not fear. Side note – I suspect there is much more we likely agree on than not regarding life.
The book, “the great taking’ talks about this. The author’s prediction is that every instrument of debt will be called in. Note that banking regulations were changed as such. Money you have in a bank is not an individual account with your funds in them. Those accounts are now legally loans to the bank. They could be defaulted on.
The other item I recall him talking about were mortgage loans. Any property that is encumbered with debt, no matter how small, can be called because of little known changes to the laws. At least that is what I remember.
They’re not going to like the response they get when they try booting someone out of their house that they’ve lived in for 20 years and owe 100K on a 400K house. What are they going to do? Kick half of the population onto the streets? Admittedly, they might try it. But it will be ugly unlike anything this country has ever seen.
Yes – they would do so, even plan to do so. Their intent is to either eliminate you or put you in a little room inside a huge prison called a mega-city (15-minute city, C40 city, etc, etc). You’re last comment is spot on – and the same goes for the rest of the world.
Why i went for raw, “unimproved” land, paid cash no payments, insurance etc.
Taxes are less than $100/year.
Haul water, $1.oo/300 gallons, compost toilet so no septic,..travel trailers with solar/propane/wood for energy.
It ain’t easy, but its possible.
Your nerves are understandable. This is perhaps the most difficult timeframe for investing in memory, since so much is out of wack from normal history. Anyone who confidently says they know what to do (including financial planners, etc) is probably wrong.
I’ve spent a lot of time on this myself. While I’m hesitant to provide specific advice, I’ve found the following two groups helpful:
https://www.fxhedgers.com/p/investing-like-its-1979?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1977532&post_id=140162342&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1nyjzm&utm_medium=email
Both of the above have some decent intersection, eg commodities and oil.
Overall, I think the key is diversification. That, and trying to stay calm. Good luck!
Think BK’s concern is more about the potential for confiscation of some portion or all of 401K and IRA funds, bank failures where they apply the newer rules (you lose your deposits), etc – rather than what to currently invest in.
As far as investing – IMO your key is correct, be it good or bad times.
As a country, we have run the greatest scam in the history of the world. We have counterfeited money out of thin air, and traded it to the world for actual goods that have been farmed, mined, or manufactured. In other words, everything’s been free for a long long time. It won’t last forever. And I don’t know what the other side of that looks like.
“Creature From Jekyll Island” G. Edward Griffin.
Having visited Russia from many directions and many times over the past 50 years, I learned one thing when it was the Soviet Union or became the post Soviet Union. Russia was never as relentless efficient, powerful or deadly as we were once told; nor is it as universally corrupt, deficient and lacking as we were also told.
Living under 1000 years of Russian monarchies leaves impacts on the present mind set of Russia today. Also explains their brief and ultimately unsuccessful flirtation with communism. Not unlike the intentional social disruption fomented during the French Revolution – from Enlightenment and the Rights of Man to the bloody Reign or Terror. And strong man Napoleon to stitch a country back together again. Putin more Napoleon than George Washington in this stage of Russian history.
One must travel the breadth of this country and observe it over time, with a clear picture of what one is told about Russia and what one finds. It is a country with a powerful 1000 year history, beaten up badly by both Napoleon and Hitler, yet it survived and won both horrendous assaults. Is it wary of the West – well think about what the West has done to it, giving its self-protection excesses of the Cold War context.
Russia today stumbles and lurches like every other major and complex country, yet it retains its Russian soul which is very different from ours, or Europe’s. Russia is a land and a people apart. We can live with that.
Deliberate. Deceitful. Disgusting. Depression.
deadly.
Sanctions have forced Russia to sell their gas to China, India and elsewhere at a reduced price. A lucky break for their buyers.
I’m really starting to feel like Neo waking up in that cocoon.
President Trump’s Truth Today
What a great way to frame it-“…BELIEVE & EXPECT ME TO WIN…!
Can we now finally admit there was no real invasion of Ukraine?
But first tell them there was no pandemic.
I will never agree that there is not a war going on in Ukraine. It is a real conflict. Not something faked for your viewing pleasure. Yes, there was an invasion of Ukraine in response to Ukraine’s plans for invading the Donbass.
I don’t know how you can read A Skeptic and look at the videos and not see that there is a real conflict going on with thousands of tanks, armored vehicles, trucks, aircraft, buildings, and people destroyed. Explosions of ammunition depots. Infrastructure destroyed with exact location data of each video. Millimeter by millimeter progress from day to day on maps of the conflict. Soldiers interviewed. Commanders interviewed. Bodies of the dead left in trenches.
Turn off the media and let the sun shine in.
CUT THE CORD
CUT THE CORD
CUT THE CORD
I did 2005!!! Freedom!!!
I am not speaking for my friend MP and I certainly am not looking to pick a fight with you Belle, who I consider an excellent poster. But as we learned later, like this example on the Ruder Finn Kosovo war, much of it was all lies,propaganda, and falsehoods. Allot of Ukraine is fake and if you ever saw Ron Paul’s address to Congress on Hamas, and the “Rough Guide To Hell” cover from the Economist, your seeing predictive programming on the Israel/Hamas conflict, which at the least was pretty convenient to Likud & their Neocon allies who are now back to being Trotskyite Democrat warmongers looking to finish their 7 nations in 5 year plan. The Hegelian Dialectic is a weapon they have sued against us for a very very long time. Enjoy the read on Kosovo. My salutations & friendship
The Hague Tribunal Found Almost No Bodies In Kosovo
http://www.hirhome.com/yugo/bodycount_delponte.htm
I stand with Belle on her
statement.
That is why many of us follow
independent journalists like
Patrick Lancaster who was
in Donbas covering the conflict since
2014 and who is still covering different
areas including Donetsk area.
There are many independent
journalists who have not yet been
shut down,demonetized or deplatformed.
And when some have been…..
🙂😉 they just go to another platform 🤷♀️💁🤷♀️
Social media and technology has changed
drastically how the news and information
gets out. Kosovo is but one example.
Vietnam is another.
Many of us do NOT follow mainstream
media.
They are proven liars.
Hooray! Mo msm here for almost 20 years! They are liars All!!
Christian missionaries serving in Ukraine / Romania / Slovakia / Bulgaria – missionaries in the true reformed tradition, not employees of Catholic Charities or the ELCA – have shown me photos and videos of the destruction wrought on Kyiv and lesser towns by this kinetic war. They’ve told me stories of 15 hour drives with food and supplies from Romania back into Ukraine, to help their brother and sister Christians.
While the causes of the war are almost entirely western fabrications, the war itself is a real thing, not a Reddit drama. Belle is correct.
IMO, the physical damage done to the Ukraine has mostly been perpetrated by Ukraine’s own leadership on its people. Tragic and evil are massive understatements.
WWI?
The Deagel forecasts indicate exactly this shift.
Concomitant with depopulation, the per capita GDP decreases/increases to uniformly about USD15k worldwide.
For Treepers unfamiliar with the Deagle Reports / forecasts, here is a very clear explanation from MetallicMan:
https://metallicman.com/the-shocking-2025-deagel-forecast-and-remote-viewing-the-future/
Here is another perspective on the latest Deagle Forecast:
https://diamondz.substack.com/p/is-the-deagel-reports-2025-depopulation
And here’s another, which factors in Big Pharma’s profit-driven war on humanity as well:
https://expose-news.com/2023/12/24/deagels-depopulation-forecast-confirmed-by-pfizer/
Horrific stats (NOT predictions) from that Pfizer report”
Confidential Pfizer Documents reveal 90% of Covid Vaccinated Pregnant Women lost their Baby
Pfizer state in the document that by 28th February 2021 there were 270 known cases of exposure to the mRNA injection during pregnancy.
Forty-six-percent of the mothers (124) exposed to the Pfizer Covid-19 injection suffered an adverse reaction.
Of those 124 mothers suffering an adverse reaction, 49 were considered non-serious adverse reactions, whereas 75 were considered serious. This means 58% of the mothers who reported suffering adverse reactions suffered a serious adverse event ranging from uterine contraction to foetal death.
THAT was as of Feb 28, 2021. I shudder to think what those stats have become as of now.
Seriously gloomy, GB Bari.
Agree. They’re definitely not predicting roses and sunshine.
Just remember it’s still only a forecast. A lot can happen to radically change the outcome they’re predicting.
President Trump Will Win Again!!
Gracias Dios!!!
Yes. Pretty scary stuff. The reports were issued but, as I recall, changed. No reason was given. I recall the U.S. population was predicted to be about 100 million by 2025.
Yes. A 70% drop.
If the illegal population were actually induced to leave, that would probably account for tens of millions more than we realize.
Wonder what the projections are for other countries, especially ones they might return to.
OTOH, nuclear detonations, a more deadly contagion (ala black plague and its roughly 30% kill rate) or even just a brutal and extended collapse of systems could account for all of the missing.
Dark indeed, if it wasn’t a massive typo. Will read the articles later.
Read it before, DC has added $2 trillion to our debt this year while (according to Bloomberg) Putin will clear $75 billion.
Unfortunately, 99% of people I know have no idea what BRICS is and why I laughed at the potted plant’s sanctions imposed on Russia almost 2 years ago!
The Sanctions weren’t put in place to hurt Russia. And they haven’t.
Another country was targeted.
Yeah right , I mean how many people can you actually have conversations about what’s going .
I’m more than surprised if I say something in public ,or at work, about the world, and what’s going on , and have a intelligent response.
Most people are fairly clueless about what is discussed here .
The schools weren’t dumbed down for nothing.
It’s not just the schools, it’s the news sources.
The belief that an oil sanction would have any effect was known as a political narration without any substance from the very beginning. Oil is as liquid that flows literally to all markets. Block one arena and it simply like water flows around the block. In this instance Europe’s block meant cheaper oil for India and China. Never did this change the. macro ebbs and flows of the crude marketplace.
Truth be known, I would bet that some of the crude in U.S refineries originated in Russian oil fields
Or Iran or Venezuela. I keep wondering why the prices are so low when WE aren’t really producing.
Actually, we are producing a lot, thats another mis-perception.
Good bet👏🤷♀️💁
How Russian oil is reaching the U.S. market through a loophole in the embargo | PBS NewsHour
☝️☝️ November 2023
Republicans hate you as much as democrats, how can you possibly vote for them?
Quite easily – the consequences are vastly more horrific if one doesn’t. The key is trying to primary the ones that show they are uniparty.
Which is why I relished Sundance’s article on the RNC and their lack of funds. The less they have, the more real people can fund MAGA candidates rather than corporations and the uniparty backing rinos.
Amen to that!
We know that. Which is why we are voting for specific R’s, not just any R.
Don’t vote? If all “Republican” voters gave up because the R Rino’s suck then we’d be 100% super majority of Democrats everywhere, good luck trying to undo that.
What’s the solution? I don’t know is the best I got other than a ground up take over, from local to state to federal; however, if you have 35+ strong states practicing extreme federalism then the Federal government would be nearly useless.
The reason you vote for them is because due to the platform they ran on, by sheer necessity they are forced to vote for SOME things that don’t destroy the country.
If we don’t vote or vote left, then we are putting in people that assuredly will vote to put us in reeducation camps.
What I don’t get is, why is this so hard to understand?
Same thing goes for everyone calling for all good homegrown young Americans to not join the military. Guess what!! If we stop that then the military will end up being filled with leftist scum that will happily turn all that heavy duty military equipment on those good young Americans, plus the rest of us, and kill us or control us all.
Why can’t people think through the long game? Those good young men will be the ones that stand up to their leftist commander and do what it takes to save the rest of us.
WAKE UP PEOPLE.
I have a cousin in Airborne now. Military tradition in my family stretches back to Aughrim.
Regarding the military, we disagree. That coming from a vet in a family like Colkitto’s and with family still active duty.
I think it is you who may need to “think it through”. Remember the current pool of young adults, especially the vast majority on the left. Do you really – honestly – think that the left will ever “fill the military” with their current crop of young adults? Seriously? If they do, do you honestly think they will be capable of effectively doing that which you fear?
Would also suggest you think about the majority of hot ‘wars’ the U.S. has been involved in after WW2 and what happened, particularly when it involved insurgencies of native people – be it in southeast Asia or Afghanistan or elsewhere. There was a very good reason that Brandon was almost universally roasted and laughed at when he made his fighter jet and atomics comment…
Lastly, denying the ability to prosecute their policies abroad is part and parcel of what is required to bring them to heel WITHOUT having to resort to a situation that only fools would wish for.
Over thirty years in electronics with major companies. Commercial electronics have mostly moved to China for a nominal increase in margin per unit. Thousands of American jobs tossed for a short lived 15% bump to profit, and that’s only one company.
Despite the multi-billion dollar subsidies from the Biden administration, both the Samsung chip making facility in Texas and the TSMC (Taiwanese) chip manufacturing plant in Arizona have postponed the start of mass production of computer chips from the end of 2024 to 2025. Why?
Shortage of skilled workers. While the US education system focuses on gender and racial identity and DEI.
That isn’t why – but it does make good propaganda by them. As an aside – the delays in Arizona have predominately been due to the building of the facilities, which hasn’t been a result of lack of workers with the requisite skills. Haven’t followed the Samsung situation as closely, so can’t say for sure, but suspect the same is true.
Remember that they are hardly the only companies in this nation who do leading edge chip manufacturing in this country…
2024 Can’t come quick enough…at least we will end this Stagnation of everything and bring us Patriots together for the fight of our lives
It’s not a fight we wanted or asked for. We just wanted to be left the hell alone. But the evil, greedy, dictator bastards couldn’t do that, could they?
Freedom can never be left alone, because everyone else in the world does NOT want you to have it.
We already are completely dependent on china and india for raw materials
With the exception of REMs, that is completely false (and even in the case of REMs, they exist within our borders).
What we are currently dependent upon them for is the majority of manufacturing.
Steel would be. a good discussion, as well as delineating literal dependence from functional dependence. IOW, capacity versus utilization.
Here’s some content from AISI on recent, November 2023, imports among a much larger report and additional available data from past years to compare….
“In November, the largest suppliers were Canada (534,000 NT, down 4% vs. October), Brazil (380,000 NT, up 266%), Mexico (248,000 NT, down 20%), South Korea (141,000 NT, down 16%) and Japan (86,000 NT, down 36%). Over the 12-month period December 2022 to November 2023, the largest suppliers were Canada (6,868,000 NT, unchanged compared to the previous 12-months), Mexico (4,308,000 NT, down 21%), Brazil (3,656,000 NT, up 32%), South Korea (2,600,000 NT, down 8%) and Japan (1,229,000 NT, up 1%). Below are charts on steel imports by country and estimated finished steel import market share in recent months.”
An important component of steel is something green extremists have been attacking, coal. A particular type of coal is used in the coke-making process, essential to domestic steel production. We can possess vast quantities of iron ore and alloying elements, and manufacturing facilities, but without sufficient coke, output dwindles. That’s only one example.
Big industry, great discussion. One of many essential industries under attack for decades. I finally gave it up and got out of the manufacturing business during Covid. I prided myself on making and repairing products with U.S. sourced metals and composites. Increasingly futile. Covid was the final nail.
Before manufacturing, I worked in oil and gas services during the 70’s. That would be another great discussion about literal and functional dependence. 🙂
I would make that capacity, (un)willingness to re-invest, ‘globalism’, regulations, politics… you know the drill. Yes on the metallurgical coal, which pours out of states like Wyoming across the border to ports in Canada and across the ocean to the sources you listed. Of course you saw the recent U.S. Steel events.
Not just big industry – but small industry, small retail, and other areas as well.
Yes it would – but in all cases it is by conscious choice…
Which, to my thinking makes the EV model a nefarious attempt to deplete the REMs. It’s not about climate or environment. The pushers of this nonsense are the same dolts that sold weak minds on plastic bags to save trees by eliminating paper bags.
It’s a way initially to limit mobility – but the end goal is the elimination of all private transportation (short of walking and other non-motorized methods).
God bless Pat Buchanan – he needs a job in the Trump administration.
They are dependent on us to buy things.
Lol.
What’s really crazy is our own oil reserves are tremendous.
Drill baby drill and our problems go away.
How do you make 34T in debt go away? Servicing the debt is soon going to be our biggest expenditure. There will have to be some really painful cuts and shifting of priorities. Of course, the scumbags in DC will want to cut SS just to make it more painful if their pet laundering operations are cut. It’s a giant mess and drilling, while extremely helpful, isn’t going to make our other problems just disappear. We were drilling 4 years ago, and while our economy was great, we still had/have a looming debt crisis.
I’m asking, not to start an argument, so don’t take it that way…. but what the heck do we do with our debt? If we just wipe it off the books, confidence in our economy collapses and we will be in a world of hurt for a very long time. I honestly don’t know how you fix this and if our economy collapses, you KNOW they are dying to usher in CBDC.
Start paying it off is one option. On the cutting, start with the $900 BILLION spent on handouts – more than ever to illegal aliens. Then you can add another $900 BILLION as identified by Rand Paul involving waste. Then there are the trillions that go missing via the DoD and all of the black budget money in the IC…
Plenty of silos (which are centrally orchestrated) to provide the funds.
The Treasury Department states that the average interest rate on the debt has now climbed to 2.97%.
$34 trillion in debt at 2.97%= a little bit over $1 Trillion per year just to service the debt. And I remember the debt clock first hitting the $1 trillion mark on October 22, 1981. And all the financial gurus said; “Don’t worry about it–We can easily afford it!”
And we have increased the debt over $12 trillion in just 5 years since 2018. Congress loves to spend our money and then even more that we don’t have!
Folks talk about we just need to grow the GDP to pay off debt, but it never happens because Congress just spends that much more and then some.
Bankruptcy; then the rich get richer, the economy collapses. The debt is on Our shoulders. That’s where We are right now. Bankruptcy of the US for the good of the world.
Hostile takeover or take back; tightened purse strings for 5 years, eliminate all expenditures not constitutional. the smallest government and military expenditures needed. Pay down the debt. Get back on the gold standard and prosper with capitalism.
God Help US
The financial debt is the least of our problems IMHO.
Western “leaders” populating the Schwabellian cadres are willing to sacrifice anything to see that the United States of America falls to the global Revolution, whether by division, economic collapse, invasion from within, disease, or de-democratization. They care not for the human toll unless the emerging truth about it (only temporarily) slows them down.
While crying “Systemic Racism!” they are imposing Systemic Fascism.
“They” are traitors to this country and should be punished as such.
How come Trump isn’t saying this, or louder if he already is? Like what’s he waiting for?
Trump never shows all his cards. Can you imagine how this would be played in the media?
They would call him a ‘conspiracy theorist’.
He is. Two days ago he Truthed that the border had completely collapsed and the country is being invaded
fact nuland to mccain to murphy coup Georgia in rose revolution plus cia troops on ground 2004 ukraine=bush restart cold wars 2008
nuland husband cofound pnac=create memo kill 7 iraq-syria country 10 days after 9/11
1>
2>
3>
The prisoners in Ukraine are being forced to be expendable props in a fake war.
So,,,, why would any of these staggering numbers of illegals even want to come here, legally or illegally? The free money they are given is not going to go far. And at some point the grifters in charge will cut off their gravy train as it is unsustainable.
I’d be very ticked if I left my family and walked from the grey zone for all the stuff I was promised in the yellow zone only to find free OR earned money doesn’t go far in the USA. I’m still a piss poor hungry schlub, only now I’m alone in a foreign land and culture.
Social Cataclysm as outlined by Democrat Confederate General Albert Pike who was also a 33 Paralleler
I’m terrible at remembering all that Ive read . Wasn’t he a mason , and Marxist ? Maybe even a writer ?
Yes sir.
General, Albert Pike war war € satanic vision
https://rumble.com/v3nzrqa-general-albert-pike-war-war-satanic-vision.html
They were promised a lot. When they don’t get what they are expecting they will be told it is the fault of white people.
They are ALREADY being told that…
They are being enticed and welcomed to come here to enact the Cloward Piven strategy. Which is to overwhelm the system so that the system fails. I read today that every illegal costs taxpayers $1,200. Add to that the $8,000+ that each taxpayer is spending more per year just to live and the system will breakdown.
CHICAGO’S FIRST MIGRANT WINTER
Do you mean $1,200 per month, per year, or? I think even $1,200 per month is a low ball figure.
Ever seen the Walking Dead?
By Season 3, the living humans are using zombie hordes as weapons against other settlements.
This is no different. I don’t know what sort of propoganda or mind virus is being used to drive these people here (well, except the convicts – that one is obvious).
Some are hostile troops, obviously. But most are here because they were herded here.
When the VISA cards are exhausted and there are no refills and no free food – what is that Will Smith line in I Am Legion?
“And then they got hungry. ”
And they are Everywhere.
Someone once said that we are 3 meals away from societal collapse.
Ask yourself what happens when the free money ends…in every case the people left without rise up and revolt. They are counting on it…
The Russians I sometimes observe on social media are living better than ever….. guess who isn’t?
The American People who are living under a communist Dictator Idiot Joey Banana’s Regime that is Robbing us Blind via (treasury looting money printing) and the lies about Inflation and the Crap JB Economy.
When it comes to the real President Trump, Russia, insurrection and racism, the deep state fabricates, lies, and makes up criminal activity that the deep state expertly commits on a daily basis.
So some are saying that the SHTF in January. Major bank failures.
This person says the Iraqi Dinar revaluation will help us a bit…
I’m thinking March/April.
After many of the primaries have been held? I didn’t think they’d want people to see Trump winning in any primaries so they’d make the SHTF early on.
That is more likely to be the trigger (him winning them) than the desire to prevent it from occurring IMO.
It’s a damned if you do and damned if you don’t scenario for them in some ways. If the financial SHTF, then that pushes even more of the population against Dims and Brandon. Of course, they also don’t have definitive control of the “when” – they’ve simply been pouring massive amounts of wood and fuel on the funeral pyre for some time now and there are many things that can be the match that lights it…
Kinda feel that , what’s it look like ?
If the repo window closes in March as predicted, the banks will have trouble with reserve ratios causing bank failures and a major financial crisis where credit markets freeze (no loans) shutting down businesses and construction projects. Ripple effect like 2008-10. Economy shuts down. Layoffs massive.
Ditto.
Also, it’s one thing for banks and credit and the economy to fail in a largely homogeneous, largely Christian country in 1929 to 1937.
It’s quite another for that to happen in a largely secular, diverse country recently invaded by about 12 million young foreigners, many of them hostile and none of them with ties to this land.
Chaos.
Having recently returned after spending about a year in a wonderful little country between Argentina and Brazil it was jaw dropping the cost of grocery shopping state side again. Prices seemed to have at least doubled from the year before. The wonderful little country I visited has to import 100% of their petrol(only nationalized business), and still the food(far superior quality) was priced half if not less than in the states now with no inflation during my visit. Also, as SD mentioned, uber/taxis costed about 1/3 from that of state side(excellent drivers too). Hotels/rent about 1/3 the cost as well. Best if I do not mention the realistic price of real estate and actual healthcare. US citizens are getting bamboozled at an epic scale.
Uruguay?
Heard it was pretty damn nice there.
Costa Rica is similar but real estate has risen over the last 20 or so years.
Very reasonable, stable, good medical care.
The Southern part of South America is heavily Caucasian.
Also heavily communist and socialist.
Please educate yourself on the form of governance in Uruguay.
Hammer found the nail. “The river of the painted bird”. Not once did I hear someone disgruntled with THEIR government, but that they were satisfied. Largest middle class per capita in South America. A very active, healthy, fit, and happy population. Their #1 priority is family which is also their greatest resource. Actual health insurance(more so direct with a hospital, although several options, including a safety net) is about 30-40/month USD. ER visit – $100. Need an MRI $100-150. The Doctors there think the “healthcare” system in the US is an absolute joke. They are a free and happy society that the rest of the world could learn much from. I assume the country has largely been “left alone” by the worlds filthy rich due to the countries lack of physical natural resources.
The consequences facing the US Dollar are simply the consequences of the actions taken by the issuing country. The world is a very big place, filled with billions of people who will not march to the US drum and do not have to. They have their own lives, their own interests, and their own ambitions.
Furthermore: to them, “Make [our_country] Great Again” is not just an acronym on a red hat.
Good thing we still have our industries that make stuff……….
I suspect the Gaza attack is not as it seems either.
First, ship stuck in Suez canal
Then, we see Task Force 153 form in early 2022
Then, Israel and SA announce rail line across both countries, which can be used to ship from east to west. Wouldn’t be surprise if it has a NG pipe line included. The Syria invasion was all about a NG that Assad refused.
Then 6B to Iran for hush money.
Then the attack with no defense of the border.
Israel, wipes out Hamas and will do the same to Hezbollah. Can’t have attacks on rail line.
Now we are told, who knows if it is true, attacks on shipping.
How convenient for Israel and SA, with stupid America in tow
Qatar / SA NG pipeline ran right up next to Israel’s border. Was in competition with Iran / Iraq line. Terminus was/is in Western Syria.
You may be on to something. Reroute that line thru Israel thru Gaza to the Mediterranean.
Additionally, a large NG deposit was recently discovered off that same coast.
“Who controls the Spice (Petroleum) controls the universe” Dune
Ain’t it the truth.
Unless . . .
The spice is about to not count any longer.
Lurking in the background are Tesla’s notebooks.
A DS cabal that manufactures control by creating scarcity would view free or nearly free energy as an existential threat, no?
And President Trump’s uncle was close to all that.
I mentioned this a while back. Petro-Spice is coming to an end. I have a book about this, but I just got it and haven’t hit it yet.
Interestingly enough Jonathan Pollard thinks the Hamas attack was a set up as well. I do find it very hard to believe Hamas could pull that off. That area is some of the most restricted and surveilled land on earth.
What a graphic! Too bad we have to live there.
Scrutinize it very carefully.
I go with the assumption all wars are planned .
Felt that way from the get go .
Wasn’t buying one of the most survailed borders in the world was surprised.
I called 🐂 shit from the get go.
Murder incorporated loves oiling the jaws of the war machine and feeding it with our babies .
As the Ukraine theater interest attendance started waning, a new theater was opened. Everyone should be aware of where the Neocons are now, with the fake Biden regime.
biblical prophesy … happening right in front of mankind … for all to see … ( believe it or not , it matters not weather you believe it or not …) mankind’s rule over this planet is almost over … ( thank ‘GOD’ … )
the USA does not have the necessary income to sustain the spending by the blob. the edifice is sustained with simple money printing. de-dollarization will continue apace even though in some cases the US dollar still is the cleanest shirt in the dirty laundry pile. yet as the money printing and debt pile up at some point there will be a major player that requires gold for payment of imports like France did in the 1960’s before president nixon closed the gold window for international payments.
so while illegal aliens can continue to boil across the border the sovereign usa states / local communities will have to cut services, raise taxes or borrow money to feed, house, school, clothe, provide medical services etc. to them. budgets must be balanced. it’s a mathematical equation that must be balanced. just a matter of time until the dam bursts for states / local communities if the invasion continues.
Agree, but I think the train already left the station.
According to Joe Bribem, the adults are back in charge.
What could go wrong Sundance.
“We have more liquid gold under our feet than any other country.” ~ President Donald Trump
”We could produce enough oil to power the world and pay off our National debt.” ~ President Trump
”They ask me who is the greatest threat, is it China, Russia, North Korea, Iran. I tell them no, the greatest threat to this country is the radical left within this country.” ~ President Donald Trump
Obviously he knows all of these things. He was privy to all of the information to prove his points. The left are the enemy within and they are destroying this country purposely. They are afraid of a 2024 President Trump win. You can see and smell their desperation. They are all traitors to this Constitutional Republic.
The Uniparty actors campaign on fixing problems that they never intend to fix and often times create themselves. PDJT & MAGA Populism was actually doing or trying to do, what these liars have been using as campaign issues, divide & conquer tactics, and racial/religious/class hatreds with no intention of ever solving. That’s partly why they hate him.
“Were we told the whole truth about the August 1964 incident involving North Vietnamese gunboats and U.S. destroyers Maddox and C. Turner Joy, which stampeded Congress into voting a near-unanimous resolution that led us into an eight-year war in Southeast Asia?”
Fake News and War Party Lies
https://buchanan.org/blog/fake-news-war-party-lies-126096
Congress basically gave authorization for the Vietnam War with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, a resolution based on ‘events’, part of which were highly exaggerated and part of which never happened. 50,000 more Americans then went on to die pretty much for nothing, except to provide cover for politicians, a political secdef and political generals.
“There is nothing new under the sun”.
A terrible waste of young men! On both sides. I spent 30 months of my teenage years wearing a helmet and boots on the ground. Made me bec a man quickly. Do or die.
CUT THE CORD
I despise them ALL! How can we ever overcome this willful, treasonous destruction of everything we hold dear?
The very unpopular but non-pretending answer is we probably can’t.
In any case, Voltaire said it is all predetermined. Albert Einstein said the same thing.
.
” But rather that the entire construct of reality regarding the economic issues -as presented- is fabricated, created by massive financial interests, and flat-out lies; I mean, total unadulterated nonsense. Complete fiction.”
Like a wide open border is a secure border and puny little man, rather than the mighty sun and earth, controls the climate, and the Department of Justice is just, and the FBI tells the truth, and the adults are in charge,and the Department of Defense defends the nation ?
“Russia and Iran are now trading oil (and other things) in their own national currencies, not the petrodollar. This is the epicenter of a process initially triggered by the BRICS economic alliance and is now taking place in real time while the proverbial WEST pretends it is not happening. “
How does that go now?
How did the dollar collapse as the world’s currency?
Slowly at first and then all of a sudden.
Sundance, how successful do you believe Trump can be in reversing what is happening?
All good things are difficult to achieve while bad things are very easy to get.
President Trump Will Win Again!!
CUT THE CORD
Just gonna leave this here (ref “1984”)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_geography_of_Nineteen_Eighty-Four
And here we sit on top of a fossil fuel “Fort Knox” within our borders concentrating on (blow the trumpets), “what’s-her-name,” Jenny Granholm taking a four-day EV road trip from NC to Memphis… (“If successful, could significantly cut U. S. emissions and reshape Americans’ lives”) Oh goodness, those were the Administration’s words…
A little off-topic but along the same vein: If you order a Starbucks large (veinte) cup of coffee, you get the SAME AMOUNT of coffee as is in a small cup. It’s an optical illusion – the coffee is simply in a taller, thinner cup. Try it some time (if you can stomach Starbucks’ bitter coffee.) Turns a pretty profit for a rip-off company whose philosophies don’t agree with mine.
Ha! I cannot stomach Starbutt’s coffee.
One thing starbutt coffee is good for is. You can pour it in a dead car battery and it will come back to life.
We will all have to barter soon to get by …
“A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day’s pay. And don’t waste the olive oil and wine.” Rev. 6:6
Thank you Sundance! I have been screaming BRICS at the top of my lungs, and people think me insane. The simplest breakdown of it all is this.
Andy Schectman stuck with it for years, and he is right!
If the many who follow the yellow brick road aren’t already disenfranchised and decimated by Big Government’s lies, they soon will be.
Where will they turn when everything dries up?
Will they turn back and trudge south back to the Grey Zone through untold dangers they’d already survived?
Or will they just drive up our streets and pillage until they are stopped?
Both will occur. Some Americans will too
The wealthy own both gray and yellow companies and land. So why would they care who is making the latest car or providing energy.
Only people can take it (energy, companies and land) away from them. One solution is to remove or reduce the population. So how many ways can you accomplish this?
There is no need. Every single country on the planet is in population crisis. Educated to them since the 1960’s. From divorce, to free love, to abortion, to transgender. The biggest problem the west had, was the amount of elderly, the drain on healthcare, benefits, pensions. That is why COVID, and that is why COVID took out 90% of elderly according to statistics.
“Covid deaths concentrated more than ever in the elderly
All told, the 65-plus age group accounted for nearly 90 percent of covid deaths in the United States despite making up only 16 percent of the population.”
B.S.
You, are way behind the curve on this one. Let me put your feet on the right track. People are dying more every year following the mRNA-based injections. And not by just a small percentage or the elderly. That’s right, the mRNA is now even in the water.
GWP -“Litigation Floodgates are Now Open” for mRNA Vaccine Injured: Comprehensive List of 90 Attorneys Around the World Available for Lawsuits Against Vaccine Manufacturers, Nov. 26, 2023″
This is only one simple example of thousands!
Far East Sakhalin Peninsula was undergoing an energy production boom – you could see the impacts in the quality of life in the towns benefiting from this Russia Far east oil development.
And producing the product on near a transit and/or pipeline route with ready access to China and then on to India, without going through any of the Russian Black Sea ports.
If they succeed in the —
“seize what we have freezed”
think of how this will impact
the credibility of our Financial
Institutions.💁🤷♀️💁
U.S. proposes G7 working groups find way to seize $300 billion frozen Russian assets — FT
☝️☝️☝️
US proposes G7 explore ways to confiscate $300 billion in Russian assets
☝️☝️
It will not end well.🥴😵💫
We can import as much as consumers want to buy from anywhere but I’ve never been into consumerism.
It’s a lifestyle choice that leaves consumers/people poor & oligarchs even richer. F-em.
I agree! We don’t need all that crap. The most important thing we need is a good library at home. Printed books, old ones.