Thursday, August 08, 2013

How to Avenge the Death of the United States

I, along with millions of others, are angry.

And we are angry because we have had our country, culture and futures taken away from us.

We were supposed to inherit the world's greatest country, and with hard work, a good education, and a good moral code, we would enjoy a great life.  Some of us would have great careers.  Some would have great families.  Others would have great adventures.  And most of us would have all three.  On top of it, there was a guarantee that we'd be reasonably safe and that this country, its economy, and its government would be reasonably stable.  We could focus on advancing ourselves and enjoying our lives, instead of having to fight just to maintain our culture, our nation, and common sense.

Of course, all of this is now rapidly becoming just a dream.  Yes, it was very feasible back in the 1980's when you had the likes of Ronald Reagan in office and the majority of the population loved America, what it stood for and were willing to fight for it.  But three decades of socialist brainwashing in the public schools, media, and government has resulted in an ignorant, entitled, and lazy electorate that cumulatively has rejected America, freedom, individualism and liberty, and instead replaced it with socialism, the lack of responsibility, commune, lies about the real world, and a vile code of political correctness.

And thus every aspect of America has been destroyed and we all get to suffer for it.

Romance (arguably the most important part of people's lives) has been corrupted as women are fat, narcissistic, arrogant and ugly, while men are weak, emasculated, timid and breakable.  The labor market is dysfunctional as you now need a masters in some worthless degree (and the debt that comes along with it) just to get a ENTRY LEVEL POSITION.  The government mandates we judge people by the color of their skin and not their character.  Generational unity has become a joke as one generation insists on living off of the others via social security, medicare and Obamacare.  We don't even have the self-respect to protect our borders, allowing people from the world's worst countries to come in and live off the government because it brings in more socialist votes.  Worse still the left has been so successful at brainwashing people you have the most spoiled brats in the entire world hating the country that afforded them a 1st world lifestyle.

And so instead of that stable job right out of high school, with the fit wife and two healthy children, and a car and house you can afford, with the knowledge and security that your government is working for you, you now have...

Ugly and disgusting options when it comes to choosing a mate
Children that are going to be brought up by the state
Student loans that prevent you from ever having a house
A lousy job market that will prevent you from ever affording a decent car
and a constant battle on your hands against a growing number of brainwashed, leftists zombies who are trained to hate you and wage war on you and your country daily through activism, regulations, taxation, lawsuits, lobbying and idiotic faux religions like global warming. 

The difference could not be more stark, and your anger could not be more justified.

But what do you do?

As I've said before, this IS a democracy, and for better or worse, the majority DID vote this in.  So you can't be killing people or taking up arms as it would be the antithesis of democracy - i.e.- you would be a tyrant.  But this still doesn't address how you stop this unstoppable trend towards socialism and the destruction of the United States.  Voting doesn't work when the electorate is getting dumber, more dependent, more parasitical and more socialist.  And write all the letters to the editor or try to reason with people, they are so thoroughly brainwashed they have become zealots - beyond reason, logic and fact.

Well my good junior, deputy, aspiring, official or otherwise economists, there's only one thing we can do.

Help accelerate the transition to socialism.

You see, trying to stop socialism is futile in that the majority of its adherents are again, zealots.  They are zombies.  They don't care about anything else but their religion, which just so happens to take the form of socialism.  They are so wedded to their ideology that it trumps facts, reality, truth, and data.  They are literally delusional and NO amount of reasoning, arguing, or rationalizing with these people will work.

How many times have you been at a 20 something party and gone in scores of circles with some ditz or some pansy of a man explaining, rationally, logically, and empirically your point, only to have them dismiss you with a bogus study from academia, flawed logic, or just get frustrated and call you an "ist?" (racist, sexist, etc.).  How many times have you tried to explain to the 32 year old mom that "no, there really isn't enough money to pay for all these kid's programs" only to have her respond with "well the rich have loopholes and they don't pay their fair share" (never once her ever looking at the federal budget).  I could go on, but you get the point - the majority of ADULTS (let alone children) do not care to be intellectually honest or take the time to study or think through their ideology.  And most people's lives are so void of any real accomplishment or meaning, socialism is the ONLY thing they have in their lives.  And any time you dare to introduce an ounce of sanity, realism, reality, facts, or data into their fragile world, you deliver a blow to their egos and their core, resulting in (at best) polite cognitive dissonance, but more often vitriol and hatred.

You will NEVER convince these people as they have no desire nor capacity for intellectual honesty.

The only option is to give them socialism full force and make them sleep in the bed they made.

How?

Well, here is where it is actually quite practical and feasible.

Understand socialism is parasitical (and by default, unsustainable) in nature.  It needs a host to do the majority of the work while the parasites live off of that host.

But what if that host goes on strike?

Yes, yes, "going Galt," you've heard it before, but have you looked at the numbers?

Already people have been going Galt since 2008.  A lot of this has been of course by force with the recession forcing unemployment on people.  But a better sign is the labor force participation rate which shows the percent of people who can work and are ACTUALLY SEEKING WORK.
















Again, some of frustration from not being able to find a job, but some are also changing their life views towards work and "making do with less."  This trend essentially proves the host is shrinking itself, producing less for the parasites.

Of course, the parasites in the US haven't been on a diet.  Government spending has gone through the roof, obesity of presumably "poor" people have ballooned as well, heck, we even give phones for votes to our worst citizens.

But if the host is shrinking, where does all the money come from to feed the parasites?

Thank you China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and other suckers federal government creditors:
















We have been running TRILLION DOLLAR PLUS deficits for the past 4 years and will probably run another for a 5th. 

Trillion dollar surpluses are proof positive the host is no longer large enough to sustain the parasites and the system needs a blood transfusion.

In other words if it wasn't for the Chinese, Japanese and other suckers federal government creditors this "economic reckoning" would have occurred a long time ago and the full price of socialism would have finally been borne by the parasites and socialists.  Without borrowing, prices for every good would skyrocket.  Electricity and energy would become a crippling expense.  Shelves would not be as full, if not outright empty, giving EBT card holders a dose or irony.  In general, a whole host and slew of economic consequences, always associated with socialism, would rain down on the ignorant electorate giving them the much needed economic slap across the face in the form of starvation, hunger, cold, disease and general physical and mental pain.  But as long as the suckers creditors are there, lending money, politicians can at least keep the lights on, buy votes, and postpone the inevitable economic punishment that will come.

So how do we get our creditors to turn off the line of credit?  How do we get them to stop lending the US government money so society can actually pay and experience the full costs and price of socialism?

Tank our credit rating.

Understand that if enough people were to go Galt and go on strike, the US' economic fundamentals would sour enough that it would have an effect on our credit rating.  If GDP were to start to contract, instead of grow, it would make the Chinese very nervous.  If consumer spending were to tank, instead of grow, it would make the Japanese very nervous.  And if the labor force participation rate, labor force productivity, and other measures of labor utility were to tank, it would make the Saudi's very nervous.

In short, if a critical mass of people were to just

quit
stop spending so much money
drop down to part time
downsize
and in general minimize themselves

our economy would contract to the point even the Chinese, Japanese and Saudi's wouldn't lend us money.  The line of credit is cut, nobody lends any more money to Obama and Pelosi, their bribe money runs dry, and their parasitical constituents force the first time are not bailed out of their mistakes.  EBT cards run balances down to zero.  The welfare check bounces.  Your disability check is late.  You student loans aren't funded.  The buses aren't running.  And it all wouldn't matter anyway because there's nothing in the shelves at Wal-Mart because 25% of their work force went Galt and are at home living off of their home grown veggies.

Of course, grinding the US economy to a halt like this is not likely.  And the reason why is the beta-debt-ridden-wage-slave.  The single, largest and most powerful part of the US economic engine are those hard working, loyal, wage slaves who plain cannot afford to "go Galt."

Why?

A whole host of reasons.

They have a family.  They have a wife/husband.  They have a mortgage.  They have car loans.  They have student loans.  They have their kids student loans.  They have to pay for hockey.  They have a credit card debt.  They have a line of credit.

In short a goodly portion of the US' economic engine is ball and chained to their jobs via debts they can barely afford and families that are dependent upon them.  They will slave away for 3rd world illegal immigrants who hate them because they need to make the next lease payment on that Lexus SUV for wifey.  They will slave away for the quadruple single mom who is majoring in Women's Studies because they need to live in that McMansion in that good school district where the property taxes are sky high.  They will slave away for any parasite because the banks, mortgage companies, car companies, credit cards, and divorce/legal system has them by the balls.

There is some good news however.

These beta-debt-ridden-wage-slaves are NOT the innovators or creators.  They are not the entrepreneurs or the business developers.  They are SLAVES, they are CONFORMISTS, they will NEVER create a Microsoft, an Apple, a Wal-Mart or what have you.

That is where you renegade, non-conforming, misbehaving, individualists come in.

I contend, though I have no hard numbers to back it up, there are enough individualistic people, who are not ridden with debt, not beholden to their families, that we could lop off at least 4% GDP, sending the US economy into recession.

How?  By becoming Minimalism Pirates.

If enough people, who can afford to go the minimalism lifestyle, were to just up and quit their jobs, drop down to part time, or heck, even go on the government dole, you will do your share in helping bring the socialist system down.  Also, in spending less, you will also do your share to bring the socialist system down.  In just having a critical mass percentage of the independent minded types, the future or current entrepreneurs, just go Galt and become Minimalism Pirates, that should be enough to slow the US economy down, send it back into recession, increase the amount the US needs to borrow, and decrease its credit rating.

Of course, this requires some sacrifice on the part of people going Galt.  Say you have a great career and you can't "scale it" to part time.  YOu need to work full time, you might lose your skill set, you worked hard for what you earned.  It may not be worth it.  But if you're like most people, you hate your job, you hate paying taxes for socialist, parasitic scum, and with some cut backs in spending, debt abatement, you can minimize your "economic footprint" and enjoy a freer life.  You know that family, friends and loves ones are the most important thing in life, and thus you don't need that Mercedes and thus you don't need to work.  You know sleeping in will help boost your health vs. a daily stressful commute every day, and so you only work part time telecommuting.  And while you wake up, refreshed, drinking your coffee at 10AM, finishing your "work" by noon, you go out and ride your motorcycle, watch cartoons, write that book you always wanted to write, or spend time with your kids.

And if that's how you have to defend America and strike back at the parasitical socialist scum of this society, then so be it.


49 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two things: If you're enjoying the decline, why be angry?

And two: Why praise Reagan? He was responsible for a huge amnesty program and he kicked off the pattern of huge deficit spending.

CONservatives have been no more useful than liberals in preventing the decline. (My bias: Not a registered voter. Voting is for suckers)

Carl said...

Last year I retired at age 56, giving up a 6 figure income. No kids, no debt, and the realization that I was sacrificing my health, mentally and physically, contained in a cubicle, and surrounded by beta wage slaves; almost to a man just vibrating in place. The overwhelming feeling of helplessness from the onslaught of the liberal/socialist agenda started the ball rolling.

I had been entertaining chucking it all 2 years prior. Finally took the plunge by downsizing possessions, paying off all debt, retired, sold my house and took the profit from the sale to build a steel building that will serve as a garage and contain a 400 sq ft efficiency apartment. Fortunately I purchased 37 acres of ranch land in northern AZ 20 yrs ago and when the building is complete I will have no debt. I will be living off grid and hopefully will be able to harvest enough water to grow a sustaining garden.

I gave up a lot. When one does so, obviously there is some doubt as to wether the right decision has been made. I ran across Aaron's book outlining how to enjoy the decline. That reading and this follow up post has reaffirmed I made the right call.

Also it doesn't hurt that my property is very isolated, extremely quiet, has mild year round weather, is full of wildlife, surrounded by miles of ATV trails, and home to some of the darkest night skies in the US. And no fucking cubicles.

Glen Filthie said...

Great stuff as always, Cap.

As I am the biggest arsehole among your fans the role of the Devil's Advocate should naturally fall to me.

As a generation inheriting a chit burger...let us put our lot in perspective: consider the Greatest Generation. They were your parents' parents, they were forged in the depression of the Dirty 30's (which make our troubles today pale in comparison). Not only that, they were handed the responsibility of fighting and winning World War 2 - handicapped by socialist shit bags like FDR. They won through some seriously tough times not by giving up, but by gritting their teeth, digging in and plowing forward.

Put our current lot in perspective: In a couple years Obama will be a bad memory. Detroit, New Orleans, the state of California and Massivetwochits will be broke. There will be no money for single moms dumping their husbands for a welfare check. Nobody will loan them money. They will HAVE to get their poop in a group or starve. Some of the dumber and lazier ones probably will.

You young ones (under the tutelage of your Captain and his peers) are resourceful, intelligent - and best of all, you are as independent as your grandparents and great grandparents. There is nothing they have done that you can't. Plus, you have tools they could only dream about.

By contrast, these idiot socialists and parasites are lazy, weak, and unmotivated. They can afford to blow you off now because the gov't provides them a meal ticket. When that gravy train de-rails they will become a lot more receptive to reason.

Don't despair! You don't win wars overnight. You win them by not giving up, taking your wins and fighting your losses.

I personally have every confidence in our young ones, Cap - and in their role models. Trust me, you will be making a lot more sense to a lot more people as time goes on.

Keep it up! And fergawdsakes - don't despair!

Anonymous said...

"As I've said before, this IS a democracy, and for better or worse, the majority DID vote this in. So you can't be killing people or taking up arms as it would be the antithesis of democracy - i.e.- you would be a tyrant."

This is a democracy. However, our Founders never intended this country to be a democracy,and especially not one with suffrage for everyone.

The Founders extended the vote to white land-owning males only. Turns out they were extremely prescient. Even without the studies we have now, they knew that white land-owning males wouldn't go for socialism, hell, they wouldn't even go for "democracy" as we know it today. It took women's suffrage, and many years of dumbing down, to make that happen.

How can we protect our beloved land and set her back on the right course? It's easy. Lose the "democracy". The Founders would very much approve. Look at the Federalist papers and any off-the-cuff remarks on democracy made by the framers of the Constitution.

The reason the majority voted for this is because (A) 51% of potential voters are female, and (B) we allow "Latin-Americans" and blacks, with their communist-ey cultures to vote,also (C) the youth vote, as youths of all groups are hopelessly corrupted by the liberal establishment the voting age should be raised to around 30,the age when people these days seem to "grow up" (relatively speaking).

Those people need a police state to survive. They can't interact in the same way that white adults can, I'd be willing to bet even though I do not know for certain that they never reach the same level of mental or emotional maturity as a white or an Asian,even though they generally reach sexual maturity faster.

It's cruel of us to inflict freedom and personal choice on them, and it'd be suicidal of us to allow them to inflict their police state on us. The long-term solution is separation. The short-term solution is disenfranchisement.

Raise the voting age (which has been raised and lowered multiple times,so no problem there),strip women,blacks,and latinos of the vote,and the Republic is saved.

Fail to do this, and nothing else you do can forestall its collapse.

Anonymous said...

Great post. I'll be doing the same in the UK (same situation but with insane weapon laws on top).

Copperhead Joe said...

A couple of years ago I told my best friend I was contemplating this. The catch was that I would probably be giving up on getting married and starting a family. I can't describe how much less that little catch matters to me now after just this short time of in-depth observation and thought.
I'm 43, self employed engineering consultant. Will gross about $150k this year, and I think I'm heading for the doors after maybe one more year - just topping off the tools, metals, storable food, etc.
With the self-employment tax, what I send in quarterly estimated just makes it feel not worth it, especially when I see where it is going.
Already have the 60 acres and the cabin. Guess it's just making arrangements over the next year. Probably take a 6 month gig every couple of years if I can find one, other than that just enjoy life as it comes. So be it.

Anonymous said...

Great post. Like many others I have noticed that since the 2012 elections there is s growing tendency to throw in the towel and let the Free Shit Army have their way. It really seems 2012 was the last hope, however small, of turning things around, at least peacefully anyway.


I have a family and a good job but unlike most almost no debt, just a small mortgage. Better yet I have land in South America where my wife is from. We always planned on leaving the US some day but since the last election we have decides to speed things up. All our spending has been drastically cut (actually long ago) and we are focused on betting a house built in the next year. When the checks run out things will get ugly here and I have decided it will be better in a county accustomed to poverty than in one rapidly introduced to it.

At time I wish it were not so but but it seems the deck is so stacked it is time to start planning on saving my family. Fighting seems a lost cause as the situation has worsened despite the best efforts of conservative the past few years. As pointed out when one goes to a party (which I rarely do any more for this reason) and discuss politics and economics it is clear that the majority in this country is delusional and very many more just don't care. There will be no persuading these people of the evils and lies of progressiveness/socialism, the indoctrination is too deep. This fight will not be won at the ballot box. Next best option seems to be let the FSA get what they voted for and deserve. Unfortunately many good people will be hurt in the process but watching the socialist masses suffer their self imposed fate will ease the pain a bit.

Carl said...

From an article linked by Ace, by Kevin Williamson.

https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/353797/print

Well worth reading the entire article.

Barack Obama is the first president of the democracy that John Adams warned us about.

Democracy never lasts long,” Adams famously said. “It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide.”

Enjoy the decline.

A Man for All Seasons said...

Actually, GNP is not growing right now, and hasn't grown for years. It is only phony govt statistics saying otherwise. http://www.shadowstats.com/

This is obvious if you think about it. Growth in GDP represents the increase in economic activity, minus the increase in prices due to inflation, so if you have a 4% increase in economic activity, and 2% inflation, you have a net 2% increase in GDP.

Well, as you know, the inflation rate is understated. They leave out food and fuel, which are the things the have gone up the most. The cost of food and fuel must be born by the economy whether they include it in the inflation rate or not. Therefore, the true net rate of economic growth has been negative continuously since 2005, and for most of the past 15 years.

They also use a number of other tricks to tweak the inflation rate and make it appear lower. In fact, the methodology for all government statistics has been tweaked every couple of years from the start. Any charts of historical employment, or CPI, or economic growth are consistently exaggerated over time.

Paul Murphy said...


Democracy?

Obama (and democratic senate candidates) counted nearly 100% of the votes from nearly 100% of the voters in areas where you couldn't get a 30% turn out for free beer.

Romney/Ryan, in contrast, got about two thirds of the vote in about two thirds of counties counting votes.

Democracy? I don't think so.

---
Oh, and while your solution has some emotional appeal, I doubt it can be made to work. Try mine: www.winface.com/amt - suggesting that we tax the unearned benefit people get from working for financially secure employers like government and academia.



Anonymous said...

"Trillion dollar surpluses are proof positive the host is no longer large enough..."

Think you meant 'deficits'.

Kristophr said...

Two things: If you're enjoying the decline, why be angry?

Because, unlike socialist rotters and thieves, we grieve for what was the greatest republic on earth. Once it all crashes, we will be converting the hippie scum who did this into Soylent Diesel, and laughing our asses off as they scream.

And two: Why praise Reagan? He was responsible for a huge amnesty program and he kicked off the pattern of huge deficit spending.

Reagan made the mistake of trusting that the Democrats would cooperate on closing the border afterwards to illegals, instead of sabotaging efforts to limit immigration to those who apply lawfully.

And his spending was needed to crash the Soviets ... which he did. At a tiny fraction of the amount of debt Obama had piled on.


CONservatives have been no more useful than liberals in preventing the decline. (My bias: Not a registered voter. Voting is for suckers)

You are either lying, or are hopelessly ignorant. Compare Obama's spending numbers to both Bushes and Reagan, and get back to us.

Dance...dance to the radio said...

Well guys, I invite you to come to Canada where we have a Conservative government that is incrementally rolling back the welfare state and increasing freedoms for everyone.
Sure, we have socialized medicine and it needs to be fixed but we don't fear illegal immigration from our southern border.
Although, we might have to step it up in a few years.
And our socialized medicine is nothing near the monster Obamacare is shaping up to be.

James Wolfe said...

If things continue to get worse, which I believe they will, when my kids have finally moved out I am considering selling my house and buying one of those extra tall and long panel vans, converting it into an RV. Maybe buy some land with minimal utilities so I can park there from time to time but be on the road whenever possible. And if things really get bad just head south.

Anonymous said...

Everyone I know says "go Galt". Can't do it. Read Assimov's Foundation Trilogy and "go Seldon" instead.

Take everything that's good and right, find your own place, teach your children and start over.

What the West has is too important to let die. Keep it going for the next lot willing to fight for it.

Dana Arnason - Leader WI Party of Saskatchewan said...

Cap, what a great article, again you have nailed it.
Going Galt is not an action, but a state of mind. Going to a gulch is not necessary but relocating helps in readjusting perspective. And, the point of view Rand espoused is: I am not beholden to any other person for their sustenance. What we are witnessing is the collapse of the system wherein the reliance on the virtue of others paid for the 'compassion' of government. Government is a beast, coercion, violence, and a necessary evil. A powerful servant and a terrible master. But. Inevitable when humans associate; for some form of government will arise, the question is will it be an oligarchy or not. Those are the only real choices, some 'enlightened' group dictating how it will be, or free individuals enjoying life, liberty and of course a diligent pursuit of happiness.
I read Atlas Shrugged as a teenager (1970's), and the insights gained allowed me a pretty good life until the early 90's, when the Lower Mainland became a place I did not want to raise my children in. I came home to Saskatchewan in 1997 and looking back did in a way go galt. Lower cost of living, much less stress, far less taxes paid to the beast, and a particularly self reliant people as neighbors.

Dana Arnason said...

Cap, what a great article, again you have nailed it.
Going Galt is not an action, but a state of mind. Going to a gulch is not necessary but relocating helps in readjusting perspective. And, the point of view Rand espoused is: I am not beholden to any other person for their sustenance. What we are witnessing is the collapse of the system wherein the reliance on the virtue of others paid for the 'compassion' of government. Government is a beast, coercion, violence, and a necessary evil. A powerful servant and a terrible master. But. Inevitable when humans associate; for some form of government will arise, the question is will it be an oligarchy or not. Those are the only real choices, some 'enlightened' group dictating how it will be, or free individuals enjoying life, liberty and of course a diligent pursuit of happiness.
I read Atlas Shrugged as a teenager (1970's), and the insights gained allowed me a pretty good life until the early 90's, when the Lower Mainland became a place I did not want to raise my children in. I came home to Saskatchewan in 1997 and looking back did in a way go galt. Lower cost of living, much less stress, far less taxes paid to the beast, and a particularly self reliant people as neighbors.
Dana

Anonymous said...

"So you can't be killing people or taking up arms as it would be the antithesis of democracy - i.e.- you would be a tyrant."

The Founding Fathers would disagree here. Most Americans in 1776 were loyal citizens of their king. Arms in some way, in even the most abstract sense, are necessary to let the higher quality leaders rule the high quantity prole trash.

The feminized proles will later say they were patriots the whole time. Sure.

Dave said...

Brilliant. We ought to start calling this the "Cloward-Piven-Clarey strategy".

Do have kids if you can though. Not only will they help you bleed the system faster, you ensure that someone in the next generation will have a clue.

Paul E. Zimmerman said...

$11,490 per yer income.

That amount or below, the Feds call a single person "impoverished." Then they offer to throw a bunch of money at you.

Is it though? Minus the payments I make on my debts each month, my on-going expenses plus a decent amount of spending money each week (the amount I allow myself right now, actually), total about $600 less than that for a full year.

Work less, live just as well (better, really), and watch the leviathan crash and burn, knowing that I helped to bust its kneecaps? Priceless.

Anonymous said...

I would suggest that we fight rather than roll over. If we let Socialism win then which variety are we to choose? Would it be National Socialism, or Socialism of the Marxist variety, or perhaps a caliphate?

We are on the edge of the abyss and O-bozzo and the socialist Democrats are poised to plunge the United States and the World into a thousand years of darkness. The death toll will be massive as well. Just look at the past. Not counting wars, Hitler managed to kill 6 million Jews, Pol Pot 1 million, Mao Tse Tung 60 million and Stalin 20 million.

Obama's friend and confidant, William Ayers at one time contemplated the deaths of 1/4 to 1/3 of all Americans should his group ever achieve power. Well guess what? Whose protoge is now in power?

Anonymous said...

This is the best synopsis of the current situation. I am in the process of downsizing my salary, location , taxes paid etc. You are absolutely right. To kill the beast we have to turn America into a large Detroit. I look forward to my indebted neighbors losing their jobs, etc.

Anonymous said...

The decline I believe, started in the late '60's and early '70's under Johnson and Nixon.

In the mid to late '70's industry began to leave the U.S of A. It accelerated during the '80's and '90's.

Here is a book, though written in 1988 has some background on what has been happening:

http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Power-Council-Relations-American/dp/0882791346/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376060630&sr=1-1&keywords=shadows+of+power

Dreamer said...

Captain, let me play devil's advocate. Because I want to see what's the rebuttals to the said arguments. And because the devil's advocate arguments have some truth too.

First, let's establish the undeniable.

1. The labor participation statistics is declining.
2. The Millennial Generation is a generation starting up with more debt and less income than the previous generations when they were at the same age.
3. Various statistics of things like White Americans will only be a plurality in the future years.

There's also the semi-undeniable

1. American women quality (just can't be presented with the same cold hardness of labor participation rates, college debt numbers, and youth employment numbers).

Now we can begin up the devil's advocate part.

State Prosperity - It is a major tenet that leftist thinking is the cause. A common expectation is the eventual bankruptcy and dissolution as it develops to the logical conclusion citing California debt and etc. It is also viewed as the canary to the future as such states pursue such policies. However, there's two common rebuttals to this view.

First, is the statistics of conservative states versus liberal states. Liberal sites are quite aware of things like debt and the Millenial Generation difficulties (much made aware by the OWS people). The common explanations by leftists commonly point out that the hardest hit is the conservative states and the Millenials are better off coming to their areas.

Second, the leftist state themselves. There's large and vast areas that are liberal centers and not showing signs of distress. Detroit is a crazy blue city. And there's been plenty of news about California debt. But then let's look at Massachusetts. Or super liberal cities like San Fran. Massachusetts is in the black for its budget and enjoying the presence of plenty of high-tech companies, finance, and other industries. Touring Boston shows hustling and bustling city.** San Fran - the most liberal city I can think of - continues to show little sign if you look at the crowded shops and businesses (San Jose, on the other hand, you'll find plenty of depressing, empty storefront in downtown). To me, this challenges the idea of the inherent self-destruction of liberal areas - if it is always that true, MA should have become Detroit 20 years ago (and there was a time of decline in the 50's-70's when the textile industry died) San Fran, despite the reports of high homeless vagrants and etc, they seem to be just a nuisance while every street seem to be prospering with not-broke people. What is the rebutal to such example (give it time is not a valid rebuttal, it been said for years, and the individual don't have time to keep waiting when deciding personal philosophies to guide life choices).

In short, the liberal ideology can cite to examples of prosperity. Through both the numbers of many states and outright physical examples. One must ask how much are we really dying?

SenatorMark4 said...

1099-GOV. Is it hard to understand? Wage slaves are foced to take a W2 for NSA/IRS tracking. Working contractors, if there are any left, get their 1099-MISC.

FAIRNESS demands that recipients of government dollars earned through endless queues in stale bullding get their 1099-GOV for their 'income, redistributed'.

Once we determine what WE deided in the mimimum income, whatever the source, then a 1099-GOV's untaxed value will drip over to the mimimium untaxed for W2/1099-MISC.

Government at every level issues W2's and 1099-MISC to their slaves/contractors. Porting the data over to the existing systems for NSA/IRS reporting would take less than a month.

1099-GOV is FAIR, accountable, and measures pandering quantitatively.

Zorrita said...

In the first three months of 2009 the company my husband works for furloughed a good part of it's workforce and laid off the rest. My husband was furloughed. He received unemployment during this time and then went back to work half days for another three months (at which point the unemployment benefits stopped). His health insurance benefits remained intact.

Here are the facts:
We have five kids. I was pregnant with #5 at the time.

I do not receive an income (I defy anyone to say that I don't work!)

We homeschool.

We garden.

We hardly ever eat out.

We do not eat junk food, rather foods that offer the most nutritional bang for the buck. We have been known to eat dandelions from our back yard.

We tend to be fairly crunchy.

I sew, cut everyone's hair (including my own if necessary), bake bread, use natural/herbal medicine, make compost. Breastfed all my babies. I personally consider reclaiming old knowledge to be a challenge and fun.

We don't really have our kids involved in a lot of outside activities, because that becomes a logistical nightmare, and truthfully, soccer, ballet, etc. really don't significantly improve a kids life. My boys were much more into building catapults out of legos, anyway. We already kept birthday celebrations to a minimum (homemade cake and favourite homemade meal. Bliss!)so that was no biggie.

Murphy moved in so to speak...Our dryer broke, the dishwasher died, and then the TV went kaput.

Guess what? It turns out that you CAN hang laundry out to dry until your sweet husband can fix the dryer himself using info found for free on the internet. Washing dishes by hand is not so bad. Plus, you can teach your older children to do this and it's a life skill they will have forever. If you have the internet you can watch all kinds of entertaining/educational things on youtube (and at the time HULU) for free. We never had cable anyway and didn't really watch that much TV. We decided to "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." If it couldn't be fixed with duct tape and or #8 wire it couldn't be fixed.

We had plenty of food, clean water, shelter (our mortgage at the time was hundreds less than what most pay in rent and always made our payments on time) and clothing. We also had a loving and supportive church and family community. They didn't support us financially (although they would have if we'd needed them to.)

We never took a dime from the American taxpayers. We had some savings that we used, but very little debt. We were okay. Maybe it sounds corny, but we also had each other.

When we were preparing our taxes the following year, we were a little stunned to see what my husband made in 2009. The situation was somewhat stressful, but we never felt "poor". Never hungry. The kids were happy, healthy and learning new things. Thriving, really.

That total for the year of 2009 for our family of seven was $37000.00 and some change.

$37,000.00. Just let that sink in for a moment.

It can be done. It's not even that hard!

I have zero sympathy for people who claim to be poor on more than that with fewer or no kids. Cry me a damn river.

Laguna Beach Fogey said...

"I...are angry" < seriously?

Anonymous said...

Just as I was reading this, I overheard four male co-workers laughing and guffawing over the fact that their wives order them around like servants.

Disgusting.

Donttreadonmatt said...

Great article. More and more, liberty minded people are realizing the going Galt is the only choice left.

I did an analysis earlier this year on how a family of four can go Galt as well. As a previous commenter stated, I call it "Going Galt Cloward-Piven Style." Check it out. The results are pretty depressing for those still slaving away and supporting the beast.

http://the-black-brigade.blogspot.com/2013/02/going-galt-cloward-piven-style.html

Starve the beast and suck it dry at the same time.

Carl said...

Ain't nobody rolling over. Cap's point is the fight is already lost. Obamacare is now law and the GOP is unable to do anything to stop it (assuming they want to, which is debatable) and amnesty is about to add 20 to 40 million new low wage, low information "citizens" in the US that will demand access to entitlements in some fashion. The GOP is in the process of helping make it happen.

The question is not if we're going socialist but how fast. With the GOP now irrelevant and no meaningful adversarial press we will go at warp speed.

"We" are firmly in the minority now and there is no party even approaching an electable majority that would represent us and be able to lead a fight against the liberal hoard.

My responsibility now is to enjoy my remaining time on this rock and try to avoid the worst of the effects of the decline.

Self-exiled Spaniard said...

+1 on going sheldon, recommend reading Asimov's first, second and third Foundation books. Plus the prequel.

Would also recommend A Canticle for Leibowitz and READING The Postman. There is hope, yet much work ahead.

patriarchal landmine said...

'So you can't be killing people or taking up arms as it would be the antithesis of democracy - i.e.- you would be a tyrant."

true, but violence is inevitable. the rampaging hordes of fatherless thugs and desperate socialist government enforcers will be coming for everyone eventually. the decline will not be a peaceful one.

lozozlo said...

@donttreadonmatt

Great article! But your site requires registration to comment (as opposed to anonymous or name/url) so I won't comment there, but will instead post here for everyone's consideration if our dear host would be so kind as to allow me:



Your article was excellent, but I do have a few quick questions.

In the meantime, before the economic collapse, you will have more free time to spend with your family

Why not spend more free time with your family after the collapse too? That time with your family is much more important than any material possession you could be earning, above and beyond what you need to live. A man's life does not consist of his many possessions, right? :-)

can you and your family live off of roughly $40,000 per year, when your largest monthly expense, your mortgage or rent, is gone? Can you live off of $3,300 per month? Can you live off $770 per week? Can you live off $110 per day

Especially if you have no mortgage, how could you not? Almost all people historically did - americans have a hyper-inflated sense of what you need. What possible budget could someone have that, post housing, met the following criteria

a.) consumed $3300 per month
b.) consisted only of what is necessary and reasonably desired.

If you need more than $3300/month, then you are doing it wrong, and probably wasting tons of money on consumerist garbage.

lozozlo said...

@Matt

an update - read zorrita's amazing comment above.

@zorrita - are there any marriageable clones of you out there? :-)

Anonymous said...

The tragedy is that if you pull this off it will be seen as a failure of capitalism.

Anonymous said...

Cappy great rant. I would only note a couple of things. Well, one really. I think the QE was a proof of concept test.

For the last several years the largest buyer of US bonds have been ...... the Federal Bank. Oddly, and in somewhat of a paradox, only recently have the foreign investors started to come back. The reason is our debt has increased uncertainty in the bond market, and thus the return rates. (higher risk/higher returns) See here for instance http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/johnransom/2013/08/05/crash-government-bank-losses-of-192-billion-benefit-obama-n1656028/page/full

And for the Fed buying our bonds here... http://goldnews.bullionvault.com/if-not-foreign-buyers-then-fed-qe

That doesn't change your premise, it's just another dance step added to the eventual demise. And, I heartily agree. Nothing will change until we finally say "enough" and lay down. And say gimme my phone, damnit!!! Where's my food stamps!! Give me my bailout! I want what everyone else is getting from my work! I think I'm going to go back to college, get me a huge student loan and then just walk away and cry to someone that I need debt forgiveness. And that it's not fair or something. Let's this idiocy collapse under it's own weight instead of trying to carry the burden that added to daily.

The Phantom said...

Cap, you worry too much. If you don't like the flavor they're serving where you are, -move-. Its a concept that has served me well over the years.

Also, don't forget that crooked politics and graft makes all kinds of opportunity for getting your tax money back. -Somebody- is getting all that dough, go work for that guy. Under the table, of course.

Anonymous said...

Cap, we morons prefer to call this the 'Let it burn' method.
Lower earnings to the point that you get any taxes back, apply for every federal subsidy, grant and handout you can.
Grow your own food, buy locally -- cash under the table, do odd jobs here and there for cash, etc.

So, Let It Burn™ and gimme a match.

James Wolfe said...

7 years ago when my wife left me with two kids and a mortgage I learned very quickly that I needed to find a budget I could live within. And to make matters worse a number of bad things happened all at once, my car which was 14 years old finally died and I had to buy a new one (used but new for me), the 16 year old home air conditioning system gave out, and various appliances started falling apart, and to make things worse I got laid off from what was a well paying IT job. In other words I was screwed!

But I didn't give up. I didn't have a choice. I learned to fix and replace things like blower motors, condenser motors, thermostats, run capacitors, attic exhaust fans, washing machines, brake lines, power steering pumps, and learned basic plumbing.

And when the air conditioner system finally was no longer serviceable I bought window units (one every few months when I had the extra cash) which now a days are only a couple hundred dollars a piece, some of them are even portable so you can move them were you need them and you can turn them off in rooms that you don't need. The furnace I can keep running but I completely separated the cooling system from the furnace since it mostly just blocks the air flow now. And to separate rooms that are never used but don't have doors I put up cheap heavy curtains. They keep the heat or cool from escaping the rooms where I want it.

The last repair man who fixed the furnace automatic valve simply banged on it a couple times to unjam it. Cost me only $60 instead of several hundred and told me if I needed any maintenance done on it again or needed parts cheap to just call him rather than the company he works for. Basically barter. I'd much rather pay him cash he can keep rather than some company that will pay him what's left after taxes. I'm all about starving the beast. Help my neighbors feed their families but screw the damn leeches.

OmegaPaladin said...

Well, I understand why you are angry. I sure as hell am angry too. But what I don't get is how this plan is any better than out and out revolution.

So the US goes bankrupt socialist. What does that accomplish? Do you have any evidence that doing this is going to do anything other than help destroy America? Do you have any evidence that something better will arise from ashes? Do you have any evidence that the government won't just seize your property and enslave you?

The let it burn approach is great for emotional satisfaction, but it is not a rational response. At the very least, trying for a revolution has the potential for a better outcome, and let's you say that you didn't just let your country slip away.

Donttreadonmatt said...

@lozozlo - Will fix that, and thanks for reading. I think what I meant is that spend time with your family before the SHTF, because after it hits it's gonna suck. Might as well live in fantasyland with your family, because by default you'll be spending more time with family when reality comes crashing down. Now that I think of it, strengthening your family relationships prior to collapse is essential. My point with the dollar amounts was to show just how easy life would be if you're living where you want to live, rent free, while going Galt cloward Piven style.

@Omega - the collapse is just the first step. Personally, while I am a libertarian, I will support the appropriate strongman of my choice in the post collapse chaos. Lots of deadwood to clear out in a post collapse political, social and economic environment. I am hoping for a Cincinnatus - the roman general George Washington drew on for inspiration. If the people of this country prove they can make revolutionary changes to our broken system peacefully and absent an economic collapse, then I will rethink things - but the point of the reelection of Obama is that the people of this country are beyond all help and hope, and so we must change our tactics. With the revelations regarding the NSA, IRS, etc., the need to crash the system ASAP is approaching critical. Starving the beast and sucking it dry accomplishes that end by legally and peacefully using the system against itself.

Anonymous said...

"you will do your share in helping bring the socialist system down. "

I am working on a new source of energy that could be used to back the printing press.

The government will never die and will become more powerful than ever.

I refuse to be a slave to the market.

Anonymous said...

More money! Less responsibility! Shorter hours! No stress! More freedom! It's all about me! This is the rallying cry for gen Y women. In my option the main driver for the decline is disengaged men.


Anonymous said...

"Of course, all of this is now rapidly becoming just a dream. Yes, it was very feasible back in the 1980's when you had the likes of Ronald Reagan in office"

Reagan? You mean the man who practically outlawed guns in California and then not only reinvented Nixon's "War on Drugs" but took it to heights never before imagined?

NO THANKS!

Zorrita said...

@lozozlo

Marriageable clones of me? Maybe, but I think they might be in very high demand, especially with this crowd ;-)

CostelloM said...

Of course for the legion of men who are legally slaves via child support and alimony simply stopping or going minimal means jail. They have to leave the country to find freedom... which *I* did! :)

Anonymous said...

You forgot "STOP PAYING TAXES".

Of course, the terror and fear of the illegal, unconstitutional and completely corrupt "tax court" system has everyone shaking in their boots, after all illegal imprisonment is not fun.

However, you can dodge, deflect, avoid, and above all BARTER.

Don't have a useful skill you can parlay into income? LEARN ONE.

Stop feeding the damn machine.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand the point about debt. I have a lot of debt but not job and no assets. What exactly can they do to me?

she_said said...

Achieving "Galt" is impossible with a country that has a printing press. I didn't believe it either. But, as history has turned out - it makes absolutely
ZERO difference. A ton of us tried. Honestly you are a little late to the game. This was a huge movement when the recession first started. Google it.

I'm sure I even wrote about it on my blog years ago.

I really take offense to your belief that letting the US fall into a fully socialist country will some how make people turn towards capitalism. If they don't
have access to the things they want? How do you expect that to happen? Investment goes away. Companies stop wanting to sell items into those countries. They don't gain the skills to build those things. As time goes on the
brain drain gets worse/ They get more used to government benefits or rationing cards.

It is a fallacy that socialists don't turn to capitalists on their own. I come from
the socialist/welfare system. My mother was one month shy of being 15 when I was born. What makes people turn away from socialist beliefs is getting that first job
where they could buy a car with the taxes they pay from a years work. Having a goal to work towards. Even if that is just a flat screen TV.

I would tell all your readers - you can either work your ass off when you are young. Or you can work your ass off when you are old. And if you are super stupid at life - you might get to do both. Get a fucking job. Even if
you hate the shit out of it. That's why its called a job. Not Disneyland. Even if you have to start at the bottom and work up. But everyone is too good now to work up the ladder. Life isn't fair. Some will have to work harder than others to get the same result.

The problem with most of these millennials is Gen X told them to follow their bliss. Well, I found out pretty early in life that not everyone can be astronauts and
firemen or veterinarians. Well, that used to be the things kids wanted to be when I was growing up. I wanted to be a vet, but figured out I could survive that way. So I went into a computer company as a receptionist and worked my way into tech. From the bottom up. Find any way into a company. Then find any way
you can to move up to get more skills. They used to call that intern-ing. Like Steve Jobs did. Honestly, without the "Slave" parents of Jobs, Gates, or even
Sam Walton - none of those companies would exist. You need to get capitol from somewhere.

I adore you Cappy, but Cuba and Venezuela pretty much shits on your theory.
No sign of a turn there.

Snarkolepsy,