The Corruption of the Economics Profession

From a reader, answers I provided are italicized.  Figured this may address many questions people have about velocity, why there isn't inflation, the corruption of the economics profession, and let's not forget ripping apart the parasite classes of society:

Hello Captain,

Longtime reader of your site here. I remember when it had the black background. Back then, you used to do more econ heavy site, which is why I, as an economist, was drawn to it. Although you've since changed direction, I find myself still reading. I don't always agree with you, but I continue to read to get your take on things. 

I have some questions though that have been bothering me and I thought I'd send them your way to get some insights. Like you, I am libertarian minded when it comes to the economy. I favor smaller, decentralized government, a minimal welfare state, and balanced budgets.

I used to be a big Austrian. The Austrians, as you know, have been predicting for some time that massive inflation would follow the Fed's printing efforts. The logic, as I understand it, is that inflation is a monetary phenomenon, and the expansion of the monetary supply would accordingly result in massive price increases.

But... this hasn't happened. Except for in commodities like food (whose prices have been risen for a variety of supply reasons), inflation has been relatively stable. What gives? To paraphrase the Wendy's lady, where's the inflation?

1.  The reason we haven't see inflation is because the marginal propensity to consume and invest has gone way down.  In other words, Obama, the debt, and the general socialist direction we are going is scaring away any investors, businesses and entreprenuers.  Also, many people are just simply not spending any money as they're afraid of the cripplling effects of government debt AND the future taxation that would imply.  Because of this you can pump the banking system FULL of money, but that money will remain unlent and in reserves, never seeing the light of day in the real economy AND THUS not cause inflation.  Also, banks are pretty much prevented from lending out any money now due to Dodd Frank and their own incompetence (ever try to refi a house today?)  So in short, the money is tied up in the vaults of banks and not until it is lent out will it cause inflation.

TO see this look at the velocity of money at the FRED database.  This mathemtically shows just how little faith we have in the future.

My second question concerns the debt. With Reinhart-Rogoff's excel error, everyone is pronouncing the end of austerity. I don't think that's the case, but I'm starting to wonder whether the Keynesians have a point. It seems impossible to cut our way out of the debt. We're still paying off debt from WW2. Isn't the more logical answer to grow the economy, and thus reduce the size of the payments relative to GDP.
I am not stupid enough to recognize that growing the economy is easier said than done. Though I have been straying from the libertarian gospel for sometime now, I know that the government multiplier effect is non-existent at worst and exaggerated at best. Even if the Keynesians have a point about growth, they don't have a point about fiscal led growth.

2.  Yes, the logical choice is to grow the economy to dwarf the debt, but to do that in today's economy would require government spending because the private sector is basically scared into inaction.  Of course, there's a problem.  Government doesn't really produce anything.  AND on top of that the problem the Keynesians face is a psychological one.  Again, the debt, the general hatred towards production, success, wealth, and innovation Obama and leftists have in this country is scaring the producers into inaction, meaning most government spending will be symbolic, ineffectual, and never spurring real economic growth.  The pump will never be primed.

Another problem the Keynesians face is that to get the economy growing again means getting the productive people producing again.  But, bluntly, these are the enemies Obama and leftists hate and want to punish.  I don't credit Obama or the democrat leadership with the knowledge of economics or intelligence to piece this together and realizing they'll never get the economy to grow because their policies are antithetical to economic growth.  However, this no doubt is causing some traditional Keynesian economists (who DO want the country to succeed) to pull out their hair...or what little hair economists have.

 Finally, my last question concerns the heterodox nature of libertarian economics. Given that the economics field is dominated by neo-Keynesians or some variant of that, isn't it odd that the supposed correct answers, the Austrian/libertarian school, are so outside of the grain? I guess what I'm saying here is a reformatting of a tired leftist argument on global warming. So many of the experts believe it, therefore it must be true and if you deny it you are insane/stupid/ignorant/pick your slur here. How could it be that those who have dedicated their lives to the study of economics are so wrong about it, if they really are?

3.  Economics, like all the other liberal arts, has been co-opted and hijacked by lesser minded people who use it as a means to avoid real work.  It is no coincidence they spew (typically) leftist solutions because that is how they get paid in government-financed academia, leftist-non-profit think tanks, and government itself.  What angers me most is the hypocrisy and arrogance of these people.  On one hand they claim to be trying to help people, but while on the other hand they are selling nearly a billion westerners down the river so they can advance their own faux career.

The end WILL COME and I say that not out of some kind of religious zealot prophecy, but simply because their current economic model/system/ideology is not sustainable.  With no production and government expected to resolve all problems AND having that government merely act as an agent for wealth redistribution one of these days our creditors will turn off the line of credit, call our debts due and the life blood that supports the system (other people/countries' monies) will stop flowing and the system will crash. 

I believe this is the way to go because, as you point out, everybody is believing the lie and the stupidity.  And not just the professionals and leaders of our country, but the idiotic masses of voters who are truly some of the dumbest people in the history of human kind.

So I say light up a cigar and enjoy the decline.  There's nothing you or I can do to stop stupid or ignorant.  But we can enjoy watching the welfare class revolt when their EBT cards don't buy jack or their welfare checks bounce OR there just plain isn't anything in the shelves of grocery stores to buy.

Cpt.

Nannies Aren't Mommies

From our British Agent in the Field:

Good morning Captain! I just had my 79th birthday, I am a woman born in England with ancestors who came from other places as well. I very much enjoyed your piece on children and would have written a comment but prefer to speak directly to you. I was brought up by a trained Nanny and in unusual circumstances, that is, a war which involved moving from place to place and living on the minimum amount. Nothing can be worse for the developing mind and soul than being put in a group of other children supposedly supervised by a woman with no personal interest in them. Many women can be good nursing mothers because nature and the hormones kick in here. Later one is in the absolute power of one person who is most often NOT INTERESTED AND SELF ABSORBED. I do not speak from experience here but from observation. I am an historian by training who was lucky enough to make a living as a librarian\archivist here in North America. Thanks to Vivien, my nurse/ nanny/ governess, a Methodist by the way, I was instructed in the basics of the Christian faith [I am now a convert to Catholicism] and a sane person [well, maybe], my sister owes her very life to this woman. Growiing up with adults dying all around one for something greater than themselves plus some knowledge of God gives one the core belief that it is all for a purpose. Well, enough! I could go on and on as my friends ofteen remark... Most important: Children are not here to be our slaves and playthings as you say.

Thank you!

Epic Fail in Tornado Chasing

I have returned from a day of chasing tornadoes.  None of which were brave enough to set foot on the planet while I was driving around.  Just further proof it is tornadoes that are afraid of me.

Though a member of the Cappysphere seems to have suffered some tornado damage.

And That's Why I'm Packing an AR 15

Correct.

Some Very Practical Advice for Young Men

And you young men should listen to your elders so you have a better life than we did!

Before You Major in Law...

consider this first.

Using Politics to Compensation for Lack of Talent

This is the latest and last installment of "Confessions of a Worthless Degreed Person" our interview series with Jorge Gonzales. 

Not that the other episodes weren't interesting, but this one was my favorite in that two very interesting observations were made.

1.  100%, not "most," not "the majority" 100% ALL of the women in his college were leftists and liberals.  It is proof of several things

    a.  These young kids are nowhere near as independent minded as they like to think they are
    b.  They are obviously brainwashed
    c.  The vehement responses he got when painting something "politically incorrect" only further proves my "Leftist Zombie" theory.

2.  I was amazed how you can no longer just make a work of art.  It MUST have a political meaning behind it and it MUST be leftist.  This is of course nothing but a ruse to overshadow the fact none of these "artists" have any talent.  None of them can be considered "artists." 

It's very much worth a listen despite the poor audio quality as it shows you just how far and psychotic this part of life has become since leftists have taken it over.

QOTD

Regarding the post "The Enslavement and Imprisonment of Western Children"

"I am from an older generation than most of your readers. We had children because remote controls for TVs were not invented yet."

A Feminist's Dream Come True

Ah, yes.  Argentina.

A woman in power (by her own merits of course, not because she was married to the previous president).

A compliant leftist parliament.

Hot latin guys.

And non-western culture.

A feminist's dream come true.

What could possibly go wrong in this wondrous utopia!?

Heh heh.  Just you wait.

Bachelor Work Camps, The Soccer Mom Myth and More

on this latest episode of The Clarey Podcast!

You're Better Off Playing Video Games and Drinking in Your Mom's Basement...

than majoring in the liberal arts.

And I'm not joking about that either.  You WILL be better off.

Curse His Velvety Voice

Davis Aurini has finished the recording of "Worthless" on tape.  Will be available soon.  But if you want to hear his "made for radio" voice he has put up the first chapter for all to hear.  Of course, it is fair that I warn you in advance, his voice is like heroin to the ladies.  You girls will not be able to resist and will be begging for more.

Boris

Coming this summer!

The Enslavement and Imprisonment of Western Children

Once again, for the cheap seats, I will make my claim that I do not hate children.  Matter of fact I will go so far to say I probably like children more than the average American or western parent in the fact I've actually taken the time to assess whether I would even make for a good father before fornicating and bringing innocent little souls into this world only to suffer under my poor and reluctant parenting.  I will even go further and claim that unlike most adults today, I have not forgotten what it was like to be a child and therefore empathize with them.

However, in being an adult I have the added benefit of hindsight and a birds-eye view.  I can look back with adult eyes and assess, analyze and view kids today as well as look at my adult peers and see how they interact with children.  And the unfortunately I've concluded our (adults') relationship with today's children is not so much of one of love, kindness and discipline, but rather one of convenience, advantage and slavery.

We literally enslave and imprison our children for our benefit.

For example, take religion.

I don't think I ever ran into one religious adult, yesteryear or today, who uses religion as an optional tool to instill virtue, morality, and discipline in a child.  A tool of which can be discarded or kept at the child's discretion when that child reaches an age of which they can determine their own religious beliefs. Instead, the majority of instances the child is used as an asset for the religion.  A borderline annuity of future collection plate donations, that is brainwashed before it is even cognizant or sentient, and then guilt-tripped into further compliance with the threat of eternal damnation and excommunication from the church.  And before you start making accusations of cynicism, ask yourself this question - have you ever seen or forced your own kid to participate in the Christmas service at church?  Forcing them to memorize hymns they don't understand and play the manger scene?

Was that for their benefit, god's benefit, or yours?

That's what I thought.

If religion doesn't convince you, just look at how we treat "having children" today.  While, yes, I will admit, there are many loving parents who truly love their children and have them for all the right reasons, sadly they account for the minority.  This is evidenced by the percent of parents who actually bring up their own children versus outsourcing it to a third party.  Be you ghetto/trailer trash, getting knocked up in your teen years and outsourcing the upbringing of your child to the state or you be uppity higher class folk who pay a nanny to take away the inconvenience of raising your own child so you can pursue your own career raise your child, let us be very clear what you are stating with your actions.  You view your child as a physical asset.  A thing to "have.  A cute little toy that you do not credit with having its own personality, intelligence, consciousness or soul.  It is no different than a luxury SUV or an accidental consequence for fornicating without protection.  Regardless of whether you are using it as a social status object or a reason to collect more in WIC/welfare, it is clear once again the child is there to serve you.  It is a slave, it is a prisoner.

Finally, if none of that convinces you (or perhaps none of it applies to you), just because the parents may not be unconsciously enslaving their children, doesn't mean the rest of society isn't.  Namely the education industry.

If there is an example of how we abuse, enslave, and take advantage of our children, the United States' (and most other western nations') educational system is it.  From the age of 5, we have our country's WORST people act like they're educating them, when in reality they are doing far worse.

At best they are baby sitting the tykes (thankfully taking those crying, liability-brats much-loved-children off of our hands, which is why very few parents ever complain).  But worse they are typically (though not always) our most incompetent and lazy citizens looking for an easy "career."  Too lazy to learn a skill or a trade, millions of worthless and lazy people declare "education" as a major not because they nobly care about the children, but like the idea of 3 months off, avoiding math at all costs, and being practically unfireable.  But the absolute worst is the brainwashing that occurs by these despicable people.  Indifferent about providing a genuine education to these children and preparing them for the real world, members of the education industry are first and foremost interested in brainwashing the little tykes into voting for future socialist causes, namely, more money for education, thereby guaranteeing their own financial futures.

However, the slavery is not merely relegated to K-12.  Not by a long shot.  There's still blood in those bodies that need to be sucked out and by god, we're going to get every drop.

First, you have every leftist, educator and teacher union thug pushing for the expansion of "pre-K-12" and "early childhood development.  Such efforts have already manifested themselves in the form of "Head Start" and the multitude of before and after school activities that are nothing more than breakfast, lunch and dinner programs.  Leftists and socialists are only more than happy to have the government take on more and more of the role of parent as it further secures future income for their racket "profession."  And lazy, pathetic-excuses-for-parents are only more than happy to have that little crying bastard their beloved child outsourced to the state.  Besides, "it's for the chilllllldrreeeeeennnnnn."  And there's no amount of other people's money and government indoctrination that's too good for them, right?

Second, it's not like the slavery ends at 18.  Not by a long shot.  Matter of fact this is when the child-enslavement kicks into high gear.  For after 13 years of indoctrination you can actually sell these young skulls full of mush on the idea of going into debt to the tune of $100,000 for worthless degrees that have no hope of ever providing a positive rate of return.  They are so deluded and misled they will actually spend anywhere from 4-8 years of their lives listening to worthless people spew worthless liberal arts and humanities, and they give these vermin their money.

Finally, as the slave starts to approach 30, and has jumped through all the hurdles, giving the adults and the education/enslavement industry the best years of their lives, $100,000 in tuition, and unwavering blind brainwashed loyalty, they finally have nothing left to give.  They have been sucked dry of all their youth, all their money, all their energy and creativity, and thusly are...

kicked to the curb.

The adults no longer have any use for them (and the real world certainly doesn't).  They have served their purpose - to entertain and support other adults.  Besides, there are always newer and younger batches of slave-children being fed into the machine.  This child-slave has nothing left to offer and is thus discarded.

Normally, this would enrage and anger most slaves.  However, there is one, final ingenious trick the slave masters played on their young victims.  They instilled in their children slaves unassailable egos.

With 13 years of K-12 brainwashing, as well as 4-8 years more in college, the education-slave industry lied to the children-slaves.  They told them "how great they were" how "intelligent they were" and how they were bound for "great things if they just followed their heart and the money would follow."  And when faced with the reality that most of them had;

1.  No skills or trades that were employable
2.  No future job prospects
3.  Trillions of dollars in student debts
4.  Just got suckered

their egos can't handle it.  Why, they're just so gosh darn intelligent!  Don't you know she has a 3.85 GPA in sociology?!  And instead of owning up to their mistakes for believing the BS the education-enslavement industry, they do what they were trained to do - lash out at the enemies of their indoctrinators.

"Evil big businesses."
"IT's the corporations MAAAAN!!!"
"It's George Bush!"
"It's white males/oppression/racism/sexism!"

So brainwashed are they, they will even continue to vote for socialist programs that mortgage their futures such as social security, national health care, medicare, etc. and some are so brainwashed, they merely double down hoping to become a slave master themselves by working for the education-enslavement industry.

Most, however, with time, will realize when they're 40, 50, even 60 that they are the ones who are to blame for believing the lies the adults told them.

But frankly, I don't care about them because by that time they are no longer children.  They're adults.

Adults who should known better.

Enjoy the decline!

Financial and Economic Wisdom

I was talking with Danny from 504 when in Florida and he was telling me how he knew nothing about economics and that's why he liked my site.  I often forget that a lot of people come here for the economic knowledge and that, though, logical and self-improving, the Manosphere doesn't really have a "financial advice" hub making me the "resident economist" of sorts.

He wanted to know where to get educated on finance, investing, economics etc., and while the internet is certainly a place for self-learning, there are couple class and resources I've developed over the years that may be of benefit for those of you looking for financial advice.

#1  The Blog

If you look in the top left of my blog there is a little search box that will search my entire blog for posts on whatever financial topic you are looking for.  Understand this blog is NOT designed to be like a class, but over the past 7 years chances are if there's a topic you're interested in, I have at least written about it.  This is a good start to get some free information.

#2  My Introductory Finance Class

Many years ago, 13, I wrote a basic introductory finance class for an online company. I was younger then and though I've improved in my writing, it was basic enough and I was young enough that it REALLY resonates with students.  It is a BASIC, INTRODUCTORY COURSE to investing and financial planning.  It is ALSO "conventional" meaning it doesn't go into the prospects of the government confiscating your IRA's, the collapse of social security, etc. (though I do touch on those things).

Yes, it costs money, but if you're looking for a place to start and to have a good road map providing you context for future learning, I recommend dropping the bucks on it.

HOWEVER SINCE THIS IS A CLASS OF ANOTHER COMPANY YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO BEHAVE AND NOT BE POLITICAL.  These are real college classes, they just happen to be online.  You can find the closest class to your location here:

Stocks, Bonds, and Investing: Oh, My!

#3  My Stock Analysis and Valuation Class

This is the class I originally wanted to write.  Not everybody is going to have an interest in investing in stocks, HOWEVER, in all honesty I would have to say this is the best class I've ever seen that teaches people about basic accounting and how to read financial statements.  You may not want to invest in the stock market, but it is a GREAT skill to be able to learn how to read an income statement and a balance sheet.  Again, it costs money, and AGAIN YOU WILL BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR, but if you are looking to go beyond basic finance, this is the class to take.

 The Analysis and Valuation of Stocks

Additionally, if there are any specific classes you are interested in, let me know because I have access to their entire catalogue of classes and can post them here.

#4  Khan's Academy

I have not checked in there in a while, but I would surmise by now Khan's Academy has hopefully started to branch out into the finance, investing, economics world.  Last I checked however, it was still pretty IT/Science focused.  Regardless, keep an eye on them for future free classes.

#5  Books like "Economics in One Lesson," the "Books for Dummies" series, even Rich Dad Poor Dad are great resources for people looking to get by on the cheap at the library.   I also plan on a future book on economics, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

#6  Libertyclassroom.com.  It's a classroom, it's liberating, it's libertyclassroom!

#7  THis was sent to me by Wall Street Oasis.  Some good stuff here too:

• Anatomy of the 10-K - one of the most high quality posts we've had on the site, written by a hedge fund portfolio manager
  
• MD at top HF invited me to have dinner...should I go?, and part 2 (the follow up) - a tell all story from a female grad student who was invited for dinner by a managing director to "discuss career opportunities"
• How to Develop a Personality - a great story on keeping/growing your personality while spending most of your hours at the office

Hopefully this will provide those of you interested in personal financial management with some options and help your future financial endeavors.

Cpt.

QOTD

"Hamsters gotta hamst!"

The Bachelor Tax Cometh

If it isn't paying property taxes while you have no children

or paying higher income taxes and not being able to deduct/itemize your non-existent children

it will be something else where other people want to tax the childless bachelor.

Enjoy the decline.

I'm Not Simon Cowell, I'm Aaron Clarey

I rarely post people's comments.  This is in large part because I am lazy and it takes effort.  However, every once in a while somebody will say something absolutely brilliant that it mandates I post it.

This is the opposite.

This is a response from (what I believe to be) a drunk 34 year old woman.  She is responding to this post from several years back (emphasis mine).  I have done a copy and paste job so you can see her post in true, unedited form.

I cannt stand guys like you. You think ur all that and she was probably interested in you because, I don't know UR ok looking and near her age?? What makes you think you deserve a model in her 20's? Who are you? Simon bleeping Cowell? Wouldn't you rather have a women who is mature and experienced and confident because she now KNOWS who she is not like some flaky college girl and since your talking about marriage is must be on your mind so a women in her 30's is looking to settle down. She and already got the partying out of her system and WANTS to get married. So go ahead and be like that. It's your loss not mine I'm 34 and there R still LOTS guys to date. I post a dating profile and get 50 responses in 20 minutes. So I KNOW I'm still wanted and by the way u know whats funny you went to all the trouble of that making that graph and I didn't even bother to read it. :) 

Normally I would dissect this, but I have a feeling this is meat too tempting to the hungry lions so I'm going to let you guys light this one up.

Have fun boys and girls!

PS - And for cripes sake, with the questioning of my looks thing again!  Can't my critics at least look me up on teh interwebs to see if I'm just an ugly, pissed off loser in his mother's basement?  Here's a picture of me teaching a salsa dance class in my "mother's basement" playing video games and watching porn because I can't find no girlz.  Cripes.

Modern Day College Students

"I continued to google search various phrases and sentences that seemed too well crafted for the ability of my students and found out that out of 92 students, 89 had plagiarized.

The next day I ripped into them. I lectured them about how plagiarism was completely unacceptable, they would all get F's and blah blah blah, they weren't listening. And sure enough I got called into the principle's office.

The "dean" then lectured me about how I was overly harsh on the students and that they "didn't know" they weren't supposed to plagiarize. He then went on to read complaints he took in a survey from my students about my performance, one of which was a complaint about this ever so slight speech impediment I have (I cough due to allergies more frequently than the average person). I was to also let all the students write a new paper. I was dumbfounded.

I was to apologize to these students for their plagiarism. Only in a 2 year degree mill.

It was here that I realized that if I was going to keep my job I was just going to have to play ball and pass these kids no matter what. But the trick was to show them still who was boss because by this time they thought they owned me and had won. Never mind their degree would be worthless. Never mind with that kind of attitude they would get fired in half a second. In their little minds they "won" and now life was just going to bend over for them, if not the dean would always be able to save them and would bend life over for them.

But I would get my revenge. For the next class in the next semester was statistics."

Why They Never Lose Weight

Nobody likes fat.

Sorry, that's a truth, if you don't like it I'm sure there are some Oprah youtube videos spewing lies that will make you happy.

But if you wish to live with us in the real world, nobody likes fat.

It's disgusting.

It's unhealthy.

It damages relationships.

And it damages the host.

However, during one of my long days working by myself, allowed to ponder the meanings of life, I was trying to figure out what was the resistance to people losing weight when the solution is well known and obvious.  And I think I have figured it out via economics.

Understand when you are asking somebody to change something about them be it losing weight, giving up smoking, increasing muscle mass, etc., you are not merely asking them to hit the gym, watch the calories, or give up smoking for that month.  You are asking them to do that for the rest of their lives.

This prospect, whether consciously realized or not, is daunting to the brain because you aren't asking that person to suffer temporarily for the next month.  You are asking them to dedicate a significant amount of their time for the rest of their days towards to something that their previous behavior proved they did not enjoy.  In other words it's the equivalent to asking somebody to take on a part time job when they really don't want to. 

In this regard I feel a little for my fellow overweight people or scrawny folk because who really wants to spend more of their lives working at what is effectively a part time job they won't enjoy?  I hate lifting weights, and if it weren't for MP3 players I probably would hate running too.  The question is whether the gains from engaging in such behavior (higher social status, better looks, better pride, better/more sex, etc.) is worth the cost (mind-numbing working out, opportunity cost to time spent running, lousy food, etc. for the rest of your life) and this cannot be answered for everybody.  However, for most people, that answer is yes.

I'll say it again for the cheap seats, if I had spent a fraction of the time I spent going to night clubs and trying to chat up girls and instead just hit the gym I would have been immensely more successful in my early years.  If you set down the booze and video games so you can knock out 3 miles a day, not only will your physical looks improve, so will your health.  And ladies the fact still remains that the ONLY thing a guy can first ascertain about you is your physical beauty.  The list goes on, but unless you REALLY hate working out (and I mean hate on a level of hating hipsters and child molesters) it is in your best interests to lift weights, hit the treadmill, watch what you eat and improve your physique.

Yes, it is going to suck.  And yes, it is something you'll have to do for the rest of your life.  But it will be worth it in the end.  And besides, if you find out it isn't worth it, then you can always go back to the status quo as it is very easy to get fat.

Part time job.

Ode to the Ladies of The Manosphere

Stingray was kind enough to link to me.  If you love the ladies of the Manosphere, I suggest you visit her site.  Also if you are one of the lovely ladies yourself, you may like the podcast she linked to.

Beyond Help

Arguably the single largest complaint or criticism I received about "Enjoy the Decline" was that unless you were a single bachelor under 40 who didn't have kids it wouldn't apply to you.  Of course, this is not true as the book is actually quite family-oriented, so much so I think it would surprise most of my regular readers just how "pro-family" I am in the book.  However, the criticism did highlight an aspect of human psychology that I found interesting, specifically its inability to accept "being totally screwed."

Understand when I say, "being totally screwed" I'm not talking about a temporary condition where after you make a couple course changes and strive a bit you are back on track.  I'm talking about life changing decisions that cripple you in one way or another for the rest or the majority of your life.

So for example, let's say you did some drugs back when you were 14, the cops busted you, and at that moment you said, "Dude, I am so screwed."

Are you really screwed?

Sure enough, though the sinking feeling of panic that set in your heart suggested otherwise, three years later you graduate from high school, go to college, and when you're 29 you laugh at it realizing how inconsequential it was.

Now let's say you're 14 and you get pregnant or impregnate somebody.

OK, NOW YOU'RE SCREWED.

And the reason why is that is at minimum 20 years of your life gone, spent raising your child.

For the most part "severe, life-crippling screwed" comes from having children you can't afford.  Matter of fact, I believe this so much, I believe you should need to have a license before you start spawning children.  However, there are other stupid mistakes you can make that are also life-crippling.

Majoring in something stupid and going into debt for it.
Buying a house or cars you can't afford.
Racking up credit card debt to the point you have to file for bankruptcy
Marrying somebody who is abusive
etc. etc.

These life-crippling decisions and the consequences of them cannot be overcome in a few short years.  Matter of fact, they are decisions that will punish you for the rest of your life and only until you die will you be relieved of their consequences.

So my question is this:

"What do you want me to do about it?"

Not so much to my critics of "Enjoy the Decline" but to people like this who have obviously screwed over their lives so much there is no hope whatsoever they will ever recover from it, but then complain when society can't bail them out.  By definition being "beyond hope" means NOBODY and NOTHING can help you.  So whether it's a book like "Enjoy the Decline" or all the "moral support" you're going to get from your family and friends, NOTHING is going to unscrew you out of your situation.

In short what I think it is, is the inability of the human brain to accept that it's life is over.  Matter of fact, it's probably even worse.  That it's still going to be alive, but have to suffer a life of strife, agony, suffering and pain and not enjoy the care-free happy life they were expecting.  And when faced with accepting such a prospect, the average human brain simply doesn't.  It denies it's going to have to suffer for the rest of its days and complains about the lack of solutions.  However, it also fails to realize there ARE NO solutions.  The only solution is that they will have to suffer, a prospect political promises backed up by lot of redistributed wealth and borrowed Chinese money has numbed most minds to. 

Regardless, in the end, the solution is very simple - don't make stupid decisions that will cripple you for the rest of your life.  Don't have more kids than you can afford.  Don't major in stupid subjects.  Don't expect government to support you.  Don't have kids when you are a teenager.  And for god's sake, don't complain to me when my book can't work miracles by helping the helpless.

Latest Epidsode of The Clarey Podcast

In this episode Aaron showcases his new recording equipment and software as he talks about how he'd rather have a celebrity roast than a funeral, how church was so boring he actually read the bible, why everybody should write a book, how it's sad men can no longer ask women to dance, and that yes, he is indeed good looking.

When the Heathens Come Over the Hills

don't expect me or any other guy to lift a finger except for our loved ones who proved they are worth saving and risking our lives for.

How Hyphenated American Studies Hurt Minorities

Associates Degree in Heavy Metal

For the Patron Saint's Name of Frick.

From our British Agent in the field.

Again, I REALLY should be sipping a cocktail on a beach for the rest of my days as EVERY student and parent in America should be reading this book.

Saving Another Soul

From a reader:

I heard about you on the Tom Leykis Show and I immediately picked up your book! "Worthless" was the most valuable investment I ever made!Now I don't have to fear ending up like my Leftist sister who graduated with an Anthropology degree & now drowning in debt with no job! I am also obsessed with your YouTube videos and I agree with you on virtually all of your topics! You are one of my 4 biggest role models along with Tom Leykis, Adam Carolla, and Dennis Prager. I'd be thrilled if I could stay in touch you & write to your advice every once in a while. Thanks!

-Brice in California

I appreciate Brice's e-mail, but it also reminded me of a little story I need to share.

I was at the Orlando International Airport waiting on standby.  Since my plane wasn't going to be coming in for a while, I was looking for one of the coveted electrical outlets to plug my phone and computer into.  As I scoured the area I walked past a young lady who I believe to be a janitor or baggage person.  She was talking to another co-worker and I caught a segment of the conversation:

"I know it doesn't pay well, but I getting my degree in Anthropology.  You have to follow your dreams."

I wanted to rip her a new one, telling her to stop being so idiotic and naive.  That she was never going to achieve anything of note or worth,  that there were a billion naive young 20 somethings just like her, and that this lousy job she had was going to be the only job she could get, even after completing college.

Of course, this would have been impolite and probably land me in trouble.  So instead  I walked up to her and asked:

"Excuse me, do you know where there are any electrical outlets?"

She said, "Yes, there's one down the hallway on the left."

I figured it was the anthropology major's equivalent of "Do you want fries with that?"

Regardless, look, don't have your child grow up to become the janitor at the airport with $75,000 in student debt.

Just have your child grow up to become the janitor.

Not everybody has to go to college and you only hurt your children pushing them into a worthless major that they're not going to use.  There's nothing wrong with being a janitor or a baggage guy.

There IS something wrong being financially crippled because you or your parents were a moron and you ended up majoring in crap.

Sling-Shot Religion

An interesting piece by Athol Kay about a couple where one of the spouses turned "religious" and was born again after 20 years of being anti-religious.  This caused some stress in the relationship, not just because of the philosophical or religious change in the spouse, but because it now brings on the specter of one person having a higher moral authority over the other.

While the piece is one of advice, it also happens to be a perfect example of what I like to call "Sling Shot Religion."

I have not mentioned this term before (because I literally just came up with it in the shower 3 minutes ago), but I have addressed it amorphously across multiple posts in the past.  Namely, it is my complaint against and disgust with people who abuse a religion, joining one not to praise a god or something altruistic as that, as much as it is an ulterior and self-serving purpose (business connections, finding a spouse, etc.).  But what I could not peg down was a term that would describe people who abuse religion to give them presumed "moral superiority" over others.

I was originally intending "leverage," but I liked the phrase "sling shot" because it references how various satellites and space vehicles use the mass and gravity of a planet to "sling shot" and go faster for its own benefit.  i.e.-Voyager 1 didn't go to Jupiter to visit Jupiter (well, it did) as much as it used Jupiter's gravitational force to fling it out into interstellar space.  And there are people in all religions who are "sling shots" and not genuine practitioners. 

The problem with sling-shot religious people though goes beyond merely joining a church or a mosque to make friends or drum up some business.  They are particularly cowardly people, sometimes outright evil, because they crave power AND are willing to resort to hypocritical means to get it.

The church, for example, has trouble with young men becoming pastors because majoring in "divinity" is not only easy, but you immediately get authority as a pastor (whether you believe in the religion or not).  Many pastors abuse their position, not just reveling in their position, but many times using the bible or the religion to excuse unfair behavior against others or preferential behavior towards themselves.

The born-again christian girl is another example.  I don't have to go into the number of girls I dated that would use "Jesus" for any number of non-religious reasons.  "I can't kiss you until we're engaged."  "I can lay here in your bed in just my skivvies but we're not making out."  "Unless you pray with me and go to church, we can't date."  "We can't have sex, but we can do anything else."  Again, these sling-shoters don't really believe in the religion, but enjoy having the benefit of a rationalization hamster in the form of a holy script to lord power over you and excuse their own immoral behavior.

In short, much like "crusaderism" I wanted to point out "sling-shot" religious folk because these are bad people and are a threat to your happiness and freedom.  It's just that in order to avoid the threats these people pose, the first step is in identifying them, explaining what they're doing and how they think, and explaining why they do such things.

Not Good for My Tornado Chasing

Lousy stupid tornadoes. 

This only PROVES my 100% correct theory that the reason I have yet to see a tornado is not because of bad luck or a lack of them, but rather they know I'm looking for them and they are AFRAID OF ME!  And thus, when they know I'm coming they COWARDLY retreat back up into the clouds!

The Mathematical Impossibility of Retirement

Permit me some really rough mathematics.

In my introductory course to basic personal finance and investing, one of the first things I have my students do is go to this website and calculate how much they need to save for retirement.  It's a good exercise for everybody to go through, but the primary point is that (if you tinker with the calculator) you'll realize each person needs roughly $1 million in savings to retire.

With 6.5 billion people in the world that ads up to $6.5 quadrillion (the number after trillion) in required savings to invest.

Now, I'll grant you "retirement planning" and things like 401k's and RRSP's are really more of a western phenomenon and most people in 2nd and 3rd world countries don't have retirement plans, so let's just say the roughly 1 billion people in countries where they do have some kind of retirement program need to save up for retirement.

That brings the total amount of required savings down to $1 quadrillion.

Just one problem.

There isn't $1 quadrillion worth of stocks or bonds in the entire world.  Matter of fact, according to the World Federation of Exchanges, there's only about $55 trillion in equity and $82 trillion in bonds, leaving us with $137 trillion in securities, only 14% of the total amount required to finance the retirements of 1 billion people (it is duly noted here there are other securities, however, bar commodities, things like mutual funds and ETF's are merely compositions of stocks and bonds.  I admit we could throw in the commodities market and REIT's, but you'll soon see the point I'm trying to make).

There are some other problems as well.

First, the majority of the $137 trillion in securities is owned by the richer classes.  It is not equally spread out across the 1 billion westerners.  So the average 401k schmoe is less likely to have the $1 million in his account.

Second, though primarily held by 1st world nations, some of that $137 trillion IS held by 2nd and 3rd world countries.  In other words, the above optimistically assumes all the stocks of the Shanghai stock exchange are held by westerners solely for their precious little 401k plans which simply is not the case (heck, foreigners hold most of our debt anyway). 

Third, the bond market has a ton of debt that is, frankly, never going to be paid back and be defaulted upon.  $16 trillion (intra government holdings duly noted) alone of which is the US federal government and roughly an equivalent amount in those kick-the-can-down-the-road socialist utopias in Europe that are currently already defaulting.

So of that $137 trillion, can we roughly assume only a third of it is going to go to help finance people's retirement plans?  So roughly $46 trillion, i.e. 95% short of the amount necessary for people to retire.

Now there is one other variable I have not accounted for (and, truthfully, am having some difficulty figuring this one out, but I think I have it pegged, though would appreciate any criticism or thought on it)

Not everybody is going to retire on the same day.  

As the 401k Clergy will rush to point out,

"See!!!  See!!!  The stock market goes up though!  You're not assuming any growth!  You're assuming everybody cashes in today when they will in fact amortize out and we all know the stock market will go up by the magical amount to pay for everybody's retirement!  See!!  See!!!"

And they're right.  Not everybody is retiring today and the markets will grow.  So let's do a little more (admittedly rough) math.  The magical $46 trillion needs to grow into $1 quadrillion to pay for the current 1 billion westerners' retirement plans.  And while these people vary in ages from new borns to nearly dead, assume 35 years for the markets to grow (half of people's life expectancy to roughly approximate the old and young).  We'll also optimistically assume an 8% annualized growth rate, meaning the market will increase roughly 15 fold in those 35 years.  Even with this idealistic scenario (where governments never default, corporations provide annualized returns of 12%, there's no inflation, and Obama's Magical Job Unicorn farts out jobs), the total global market capitalization for stocks and bonds will be....

$665 trillion. 

Still about 35% short of the total.

Now, again, this was VERY rough mathematics and I'm sure somebody will find something wrong (and please do inform me if you do), but using this very rough litmus test it shows once again conventional retirement planning is flawed.  The amount of growth necessary in the capital markets will not be sufficient enough to pay for everybody's retirement.  And it is not even so much the rate of growth in the prices of stocks and bonds will be inadequate, but rather the increase in earnings, profits, dividends, and solvency of bond issuers will not be there to legitimize or rationalize current prices.  In English, this means as people flood the market with retirement dollars P/E ratios will go up, dividend yields will go down, and financial deadbeats (in the form of most western governments) will continue to borrow money at low rates they will never be able to pay back.

People who are planning for retirement need to consider other forms of retirement beyond their IRA and 401k's.  They need to look at skills, property, commodities or just working till they're dead.  Not just because they didn't save up for retirement, but because the prospects for growth just isn't there.

Did you like this article?
Were you intellectually stimulated?
Do you now have something to talk about at the water cooler, thereby impressing your friends and making your more attractive to the opposite sex?

Then buy one of Aaron's books!

Worthless - The Young Person's Indispensable Guide to Choosing the Right Major
Enjoy the Decline - Accepting and Living with the Death of the United States
Behind the Housing Crash - Do you hate bankers?   You'll hate them more after this!
Top Shelf - The "best of" series of Captain Capitalism.  Why search the blog when this will do?

All are available on paperback and Kindle.

From 0 to Assault Charges in 30 seconds

In a previous post of mine I left out a lot of detail because the nature of the post required it. However, there was a sub-story of legitimate worth that would have detracted from the primary one and it is now that I wish to share this sub-story with you.

Without going into detail, my friend and I were at a downtown party.  This is one of those deals where they close off the street and in a municipal politician's Keynesian wet-dream attract tourists and locals to support the local economy.  I got wind of a salsa club half a block from the "sectioned off block" and then set off to find some dance partners for me and my buddy.

I approached I believe 5 different groups of girls/women with the honest and polite intention of merely scoring some dance partners.  However, one stood out because of the lightning speed at which the situation deteriorated to the point I knew to step back otherwise the law would get involved. 

At a distance they looked to be upper 20's maybe even early 30's.  But as I approached improved vision showed me they were younger 20's.  Already committed to the flight path I followed through and made my approach.

"Howdy!" I said, only to receive blank stares from the three girls that populated this group.

"Me and my buddy are looking for some dance partners.  Found a salsa joint just a block south of here and wondering if you girls would be interested."

Two of the three girls were silent, but the third (and prettiest) one spoke up with such an arrogant tone that it stirred an agitated darwinian response in my psyche.

"Ummm...no.  I'm not interested in dancing with you."

I paused for what seemed to be an eternity, but (in hindsight) recouped probably lightning fast to this condescending response.

"Who says I'm asking you?" as I put my arm around her slightly overweight, but shy redhead friend.  "I'm asking the redhead."

The two silent girls were...well...silent.  But the blond, obviously insulted by my "game on" response, got angry.

"Nice try.  It's time for you to leave."

Somewhat angered myself I said, "What if they (referring to her two shy friends) want to dance?  We only need two, not you."

And that's when the situation really started to deteriorate.

"You better get out of here or I'll kick your ass."

And her face was serious.

It wasn't that I was intimidated by a dime-a-dozen cutesy 20 something girl, it was the audacity any woman (girl really) would threaten to kick my ass for what was a request to take her and her friends salsa dancing.

Again, it seemed like an eternity.

To recoup from the outlandishness I just got threatened by a 20 something child, and to assess the now rapidly escalating volatile situation, and to predict where the current path was taking us (me to jail, her to the plaintiff's desk)  and to concoct the precise words that needed saying, seemed to take forever.  But again in hindsight, it was lightning fast.

"Yeah, you and your 90 pound ass." as I then proceeded to look away and disengage.

This exchange transpired in what was no more than 30 seconds, but it was a very valuable 30 seconds that not only I learned from, but every young man should learn from as well.  A fair amount of American women have been brought up so spoiled, entitled, impolite and easily-offended, there is now a HUGE risk is merely approaching women.

I'm not saying not to approach.

I'm not saying not to make your play.

I am saying that girls today, with society spoiling them for every one of their 20 youthful years, can go from 0 to "Assault Charges" in literally under 30 seconds.  And you NEED TO CONSTANTLY ASSESS THE SITUATION and know when your innocent attempt to score a dance partner is RAPIDLY turning into an unwanted advance from a guy and thus an excuse to feed the "drama-queen monster" a reason to file a faux complaint of harassment to the local constable.

I hate to sound old, but this REALLY DIDN'T HAPPEN IN MY DAY.  At least the Gen X'er women would politely turn you down or just say no.  It never, once in my (probably) thousands of approaches deteriorated to the point so quickly that a violent event would have consequented in under 30 seconds.

But there is another lesson I want all of you to pull from this.

And it is not to brag, but to clearly paint the picture of what was really going on.

Me - salsa dancing, ballroom dancing, fossil hunting, economist who writes books, goes on great motorcycling escapades blah blah blah.

My buddy - millionaire pilot who lives DT St. Petersburg, can fly wherever he wants, whenever he wants, drives a luxury car, etc. etc.

Both - in great shape, financially better off than most, etc. etc. 

How much do you want to bet these girls in 15 years from now in their late 30's, early 40's are bitching and whining "where are all the good men" when there were two accomplished (by the veritable definition) men

OFFERING TO FREAKING TEACH AND TAKE THEM SALSA DANCING!!!!???

Again, there are times where I wonder if maybe if we men are in the wrong, and our advice no longer applies, but it is instances like these that only reforge and reinforce there is a war on, and we didn't start it.

But by god and by damn we will finish it.

Why I Throw My Hands Up In Futility

It's kind of like cancer.  After a while the body just gives up because it's coming from all sides and it's obvious the host no longer has the will to live.

Making Euthanasia Fun

"For example, Clarey is the only guy I know who can write about euthanasia and make it seem like a real fun time."

a review by Matt Forney

When You Have to Divorce Yourself from the Country

"...don’t think your country is too good to follow that path. There’s nothing magical about a patch of dirt that prevents it from such ends. The Roman Republic was just as prominent and successful as the United States. Look what happened."

Some pretty heavy writing.

On a related note, again, the 50's were superior and you will wish we had such a culture today.

I Link So I Can Drink

Writing takes effort, thought, planning, and wit.

All of which is severely impaired if you just want to get hammered during the daytime, play video games and enjoy the decline.

So I link instead!

$6.3 trillion for illegal aliens.  Though the argument of illegal immigration is not a financial one.  It's a philosophical one.  If everybody in the world can come here and not adhere to American culture, then why have a country?  Let's just be an open "place to hang" for the whole world and us citizens can work hard to support everybody else in the world because it's compassssssionnnnaaaaate.

"The Lawyer Bubble."

Why Glenn, WHY??? Why did you lower your standards and write for USA Today???  (didn't even know they were still around).

I said it before, and I'll say it again, CHARACTER TRUMPS DIVERSITY.  There is NOTHING valuable in diversity unto itself.  It is a leftist scam to split the country along racial lines, create victim groups they can bribe with money for votes, and a way to excuse criminal/unacceptable behavior if the perpetrator happens to have a trait of a victim class.

This is your bed.  You are now allowed to sleep in it.

The End of STEM

Looks like there are 3 graduates in STEM for every 2 jobs in the market.  Employers also seem to be hell-bent on importing cheaper STEM graduates from foreign countries.

Solution - default on our debt to these countries since our government and employers prefer foreigners over their own citizens.  It's the least we can do and it's actually economically justified.

In the meantime it looks like the trades and minimalism is the route to go for most.

Why You Should NEVER Have a Business Partner

Story 1

Guy I know decides he's going to buy out an old sandwich shop and run it for his retirement plan.  He has enough money, but not enough time to manage it.  He finds an old buddy from his high school days to manage the shop.  Sure enough after mortgaging his house to the tune of $300,000, he finds out his business partner is not managing the shop effectively, they're losing money, and they guy is handing out free food to friends, almost to the point of embezzlement.  He has to take out another $150,000 from his house to buy his partner out and now manage the firm on his own which he has not the time to do.

He is depressed.  He is miserable.  He has wasted the past decade of his life and with nothing to show for it.

Story 2

Another guy I know decides to start a business with a friend.  There is are barely any real start up costs, but some and since both are young, these start up costs are significant and thusly shared 50/50.  After depleting what little savings they have, one of the partners decides he wants out and demands he get his capital back.  The guy I know has to borrow money from his father to buy the guy out, and once again, now has to manage the firm (which the other guy wasn't really doing anyway).

Story 3

A good friend of mine went and worked for this older fellow who was planning on retiring and needed somebody to take over his business.  He agreed to train my friend in and invariably give him the company for all the labor and sweat equity my friend put into learning the ropes.  My friend received a minimal wage and upon taking over the company would have to pay out 33% of the profits, but be able to keep 67% of the profits for himself until the guy inevitably died.

Unfortunately, the old man had some health problems and completely cashed out his company dishonoring this agreement he and my friend had.  My friend only managed to get a minimum wage as he no longer wished to take over an insolvent company whose accounts and assets had been raided.

I could go on, but there is no limit to the number of stories where a partnership was started, one of the partners was a loser, and the whole business went down the toilet because of it.  However, it is not so much the entertainment value of such stories that is important, as much as it is the financial lesson everyone should glean from it -

NEVER

EVER

EVER

going into business with a partner.

Let me explain why.

If I were to estimate the number of partnership that failed based on my experiences in banking, I would say about 80-85% of them failed.  And they

ALWAYS

ALWAYS

ALWAYS

failed because ONE partner was a loser and didn't carry his weight.

The reason such a high percentage of partnerships have this "loser partner" is because of the binary nature of partnerships.  Losers, by definition, cannot support themselves financially and are always on the cusp of insolvency.  Because of this they are constantly coming up with scams.  It is important to note the difference between a "scam" and a legitimate business idea as one could claim any loser like myself who can't hold down permanent slavery employment would be a scammer.  However, business ideas MAKE MONEY, the purpose or aim of the scammer/loser partner is to merely access somebody else's capital so they can live another year or two without having to work.  i.e.-they have no INTENTION of making money, they merely (like Solyndra) need somebody else's capital to finance their "business idea."

This brings in the nature of the second partner - the capital provider.

With the smooth-talking sales guy, looking for a sucker to finance his "idea" they naturally seek out friends, even old long lost acquaintances to finance their scam.  These capital providers usually are normal, hard working people who have saved up their pennies and dimes and are looking for a better rate of return than what they're getting on their savings account or 401k.  Sure enough they are sold on the idea, cash in their retirement account or the equity in their home and are now financing a sports bar with the "idea guy" running it into the ground and drinking the inventory on the side.

Again, 80-85% of the partnerships I saw had this binary relationship.

The irony, of course, is that this means the majority of partnerships should never have been partnerships in the first place.  They should have been sole-proprietors.  Not just because you would be jettisoning the loser partner, but out of all the partnerships I've seen 100% of them were not big enough to warrant two people to start them, either for capital or labor.  The other person was just completely unnecessary and was extra baggage, if not a risk.  Additionally, there is ALWAYS a leadership battle when the ownership of the company is 50/50.  It is the WORST of all situations in that the largest single advantage a small company has is that decisions can be made QUICKLY and thus outmaneuver their competitors.  I've seen more energy spent bickering over business decisions between two equal shareholders than energy put into managing the business.

The REAL reason people go into partnerships is psychological.  Namely they're scared and daunted by the task of embarking on a business venture and thus the perceived risk-sharing seems appetizing.  Also, a lot of people are bored and would like somebody to manage the company with.  Many friends have become enemies because while they made great friends, they made horrible business partners.  The larger point though is that starting a business is not a "fun" thing to do and your psychology should play no role in a financial decision.  Additionally, if you do have a genuine business idea, then the last thing you would want to do is SPLIT THE PROFITS WITH OTHER SHAREHOLDERS.  Again, it is a FINANCIAL decision.

Now, the reason I bring all of this up is because I know my readership.  I know my lieutenants, economists and Cappy Cappites and I know many of you are of the pro-capitalist, unemployable, self-employment types. And because of this you will likely be offered the opportunity to engage in or start a business with another person. 

DO NOT DO IT.

Unless the company REALLY needs two people's labor or two people's capital, it's best that it is started, managed and owned by ONE person, be it you or the other guy.  The risks of having your savings plundered by some scam artist, not to mention your profits halved should the business prove successful, is just not worth it.

The Moral Difficulty of Going on Welfare

Kerry Lutz interviewed me today and he hit on a very important psychological and philosophical facet of life many Americans are facing today, specifically, should you collect government assistance.

I have caught much flak for this, especially in the review of my book.  Matter of fact, if you were to take away all the reviews that lambast me for my suggestion you collect as much government money as possible, Enjoy the Decline would have a near-perfect 5 star rating.  However, this addresses the crux of the situation.

Should you collect government assistance?

The only argument I can portend is that if you can, then hell yes.

The issue is no longer one of morality or independence, but practicality and mortality.  The idea of an "independent" person is laughably long gone.  How many women's studies professors are there that claim to be "independent women" but still suck from the government tit via their state-subsidized professorships?  How many "bankers and finance professionals" are there that only owe their careers to a bail out or FDIC over-regulation that mandates their job?  How many government employees have you heard COMPLAIN that they really don't do anything on the job?

This stupid, idiotic, idealistic nostalgia of the 1950's is long gone.  Nobody in America has the desire nor loyalty to adhere to some kind of over-arching purpose, or country, and are therefore completely and totally in it for themselves (consciously or not).  So stop being naive, stop being idealistic and just take the check when you can.

You must realize that the idiots that populate this society have voted in such societal rules.  And that they, in voting in such rules, have absolved yourself of any kind of responsibility you have to this nation or its people.  So stop being the sucker and start being the advtantager, because in the end all you will have managed to do

"working hard"

"being a good American"

yada yada yada 

is be the host for faux "American" parasites.

Enjoy the decline!

Bill Ayers - A Worthless Human Being

This is what you get when daddy pays for everything and doesn't hold you to standards, discipline or morality.

A spoiled little brat who becomes a professor.

QOTD

"The older I get, the more I realize that having TV in the home is a terrible influence."

Pax Empyrean

Danny Impersonates the Captain

So I'm at the "Manosphere sleepover" and Danny from 504 decides to break out some rare talent.  Specifically a "Captain Capitalism" impersonation.

A huge language warning, but you must listen at least to the point where Bill from Apocalypse Cometh has issues with Danny's dog.

Tasteful Risqueness

Again, the ole Captain is NOT against you ladies sending in pictures of you "enjoying 'Enjoying the Decline'."

Get it?

ENJOY Enjoying the Decline???

The pun I mean.

Because the word "enjoy" which is the active verb references the exact same word in the title?

Ya get it?  The punchline I mean.

Anyway go buy Enjoy the Decline.  Available on Kindle and on Paperback.



























And no, I don't know how pretty girls help sell books, but somehow they do.

The Man Who Went Galt

This is the latest.  My buddy conveniently had a flight to the Bahamas.  I got to ride co-pilot:

No GDP was produced in the production of these pictures.

"Evil" is the "New Good!"

Oh, the sarcasm and cynicism is just priceless. 

True, but priceless.

The Importance of Revisiting the Meat Market

As most of you know I am spoken for.  Took a while, but the benefits of it taking a while and dating 300+ of America's...COUGH COUGH...WHEEZE WHEEZE...PHLEGM PHLEGM...

"finest"

kind of puts things into perspective so that when a quality candidate comes along (one every eight years) you know to capitalize on it.

However, that being said, there is a thing called "euphoric recall,"  a term an alcoholic friend of mine taught me about.  It means that your brain tends to remember only the good things or good times and forgets the bad ones.  I believe it is a survival mechanism in that if your brain remembered all the bad stuff in your life, you'd become depressed and suicidal.  But that aside, the principle applies in the same regard when it comes to courting and playing the field - your brain will remember only the good times of your single swingin' bachelor/ette days.

Because of this, after some time men (and women) will tend to only fondly remember the good aspects of dating and playing the field.  They will then start to wonder about their current spouse/boy/girlfriend/lover, or just the concept of settling down in the first place.  But what they forget is the sheer hell and pain-in-the-assery those "good ole times" were.

Thus, why I recommend "revisiting the meat market."

As I sit here now typing, my pilot-bachelor-millionaire friend and I just returned from "Friday Night" in St. Petersburg, Florida.  Every Friday night they section off the bar area of downtown and the night clubs, cigar lounges, and bars open up.  We headed out to the cigar lounge to smoke, but as luck would have it, I also found a salsa club just a block south of the "Friday Night" festivities.

However, when we reconnoitered the salsa club there were practically no women to dance with, prompting us to think we'd surely be able to convince some women to come dance with us back at the "Friday Night" festival.  I thought this would be a breeze given the levity of the festival and figured it would only be a matter of approaches to convince a couple girls to join us, but, ahhhhh yes.... euphoric recall.

The first group of girls "didn't know how to dance."

The second group, "no thank you, nice try."

And the third group!  Mercy, a veritable 23 year old bitch told me "nice try, it's time for you to leave."

(And to dissuade any arguments that I was dejected or butt hurt, no, in all honesty I was merely, literally, and honestly asking girls if they wanted to join me and my buddy at a salsa club.  And to further address any additional arguments, yes, I was on my game, was charming, wasn't creepy, etc, etc, etc.and my approach was one of NOT hitting on, but a genuine and friendly request that some girls come dancing with us (for example, I asked no one particular girl, but GROUPS to join us)  Also the approaches were aloof, indifference and nonchalant.)

Regardless, my point is the responses were just so hostile and arrogant that it reminded me of just what a pain in the ass it was trying to play the field, when in fact we WEREN'T EVEN TRYING TO PLAY THE FIELD!  We were just trying to get dance partners.  And thus, there is a lesson for both those of you who are spoken for and those of you who are single.

For those of you (men) who are single, my god.  I don't envy you.  I've been off the market for a while, but not that long.  And even in that short time the arrogance and hubris of women has increased 2-3 fold.  To see someone as young as 23 dare to have the rudeness to dismiss a request to dance with "time for you to go" only tells me they have been approached so many times their courtesy and etiquette has been obliterated by their egos.  And while admittedly this is a sample pulled from St. Petersburg and is not representative of all girls in America, it is once again further proof the wisdom us old fogies have is needed more than ever.

For those of you men who are spoken for, I HIGHLY recommend revisiting the meat market.  Not so much to hit on girls, but to be reminded as to just what a pain in the ass it was suffering such brats in your youth, and what a catch you have back at home.  I have the benefit of being able to use a platonic vehicle in the form of dancing to test the attitudes of women today, but simply revisiting a meat market or a bar and faux talking to a girl will more than make you appreciate the attitudeless woman who entertained your offer to take her to a movie 10 years ago.

I'll say it again for the cheap seats.  I ALWAYS and CONSTANTLY worry that the wisdom we gained from our experiences 10-20 years ago will not apply to the current generation, and in no longer being applicable, turn out to be erroneous, misleading, and thus, detrimental.  But the situation has WORSENED, NOT IMPROVED making our advice and experiences all that much more important for the young boys of today.

Stay frosty, boys.  Stay the freak frosty.

(Did you like this post?  Then go here and buy something)

I'm Right, You're Wrong

I received a little blip of traffic that made it on my radar.  Not a ton, but something was sending me a little traffic.  Looked it up and found this.

In short it is a semi-disagreement-response to my post about how emulating Cary Grant would help increase your chance with the ladies.  However, it is not so much a disagreement piece about being charming like Cary Grant, as much as it is a critique of people thinking somehow the 40's and 50's were better in America and that today is just as good as it was back then.

But there's just one minor problem with this specific critique.

He's wrong.

And I'm not saying this as a matter of opinion or a matter of arrogance, I'm saying it as a matter of fact.  He is wrong.  And not that his post was scathing or even unpolite, it is that he highlights something that really irks me - when people mock and ridicule people for daring to think yesteryear was better than today.  So permit me some evidence.

First, this picture.

This is a picture of a soup line in the Great Depression.

Do you notice something about it?

What is odd about it?

Oh, that's right, even though we were in the depth of the worst economy in the past 100 years people still dressed their best when in public.  Today, our society doesn't even come close to that.

Second, here's an interesting comparison of searches.

"College Girls"

and

"College Girls 1940's"

Admittedly, in intellectual honesty, I'm all for a little T&A, but not when talking about the quality and caliber for marriage material or people I'd like to associate with.

And for those of you who are arguing that "college girls" would naturally default to a more rated r version of images, fine, try another search for a more intellectual group

"slut walk protest"

Third, the chart that should have won me awards, economic growth is decreasing (despite the government's best efforts to artificially inflate it).  Our current generation is only about 55% as productive as the previous generation and this is WITH advances in technology.

Fourth, debt.  I'm not even going to link to any charts or data because this is just common knowledge.

Fifth, dependency.

Now I could go on and on (and on...and on......and on), but the simple fact is that Americans today are:

• lower quality
• lower caliber
• uglier
• fatter
• lazier
• more dependent
• and just all around
• poorer quality

 humans than their 1940's and 50's counterparts.

And while there are certainly some areas society is doing better in than in the past (say computer technology), for the most part the majority of economic and sociological data proves the people and society in the 40's and 50's were superior to Americans today.

I don't want to hear any inferior, minds-of-weaklings arguments about "moral relativism."

I don't want to hear any inferior, minds-of-weaklings ad-hominem attacks.

I don't want to hear any inferior, minds-of-weaklings name calling.

And I don't want some trumped up worthless liberal arts academic study done by some equally worthless professor who couldn't hack it in the real world using biased data to advance a political agenda.

No sane, rational, mature and intellectually honest adult can look at society today and say today's Americans are just as high quality or better caliber than yesteryear's.  I don't care how much you may disagree with it, you can all sit there, pout, hold your breath until your face turns blue and scream at the top of your lungs just what a mean-poopie head I am. Because in the end, barring some miraculous economic growth, the economic realities of our laziness and inferiority (in the form of massive debts) is going to come crushing down on us.  And when that happens you will be BEGGING for the days American's had the temerity, work ethic, and drive in the 1940's, because, frankly, that's the only thing that is going to save this or any other country.

If this post provided warm fuzzies, then return the warm fuzzies by buying something (you were going to buy anyway) on the Captain's Amazon site.

Krauser Enjoys the Decline!

New review on Enjoy the Decline.

Why aren't you enjoying the decline?

It's a Horrible Life

Just a hello to all the economists and lieutenants out there from Florida!

Remember to enjoy the decline!

The Lie of a Generation

“When I was in my 40s, I realized I had become invisible to men of my own generation,” said Brings, co-author of “Older Women, Younger Men: New Options for Love and Romance” (New Horizon Press). She noticed younger men, often raised by feminist women, were intrigued by and admiring of her success and experience, whereas older men seemed threatened and expected women to play traditional roles."

Whatever you got to tell yourself sweetheart.  Whatever you got to tell yourself.  It isn't going to be us who suffers.  Just you and the idiot women who actually swallow the lie.

Hyphenated-Named Women

Stay frosty, boys.  Stay frosty.  They're out there.

The Three Urinal Paradox

Warning - this is guy humor.  All complaints from women will be ignored.

Because of the average amount of traffic that goes into the average men's bathroom in a public place, more often than not you will find three urinals.

HOWEVER

ONE of those urinals will be placed lower on the wall, obviously for young boys who cannot yet reach the adult male urinals (though a really good arching technique will work).  This results in the traditional set up of the "3 Urinal Bathroom"

There is, however, a design flaw in the 3 Urinal Bathroom.

If you walk in and ALL THREE urinals are available, which one do you choose?

100% of the time you will choose the one on the far left.

Why?

Because you are too manly to use the little boy's urinal and you don't want to be in the middle urinal in that it would force you to potentially stand next to another guy (and therefore be potentially construed as gay).  This leaves the left urinal as the most "manly" choice.

However, while this may absolve you of the decision, it presents the classical "Three Urinal Paradox" to the second man.  And every man in the world will at one point in their lives BE THAT SECOND MAN.

Since you have occupied the far left urinal, the second man gets a choice:

Be gay or

Be a little boy.

If he takes the middle urinal, he's obvious flaming gay.

But if he takes the far right urinal, he's obviously not a real man and is a little boy (maybe even a pedophile).

There is no third option, thus resulting in the paradox.

So men of the Capposphere, which one do you choose if the far left is occupied.

I know my answer.

Make Believe James Bond Linkage

As I play "James Bond" in Florida and the Caribbean, here is some linkage from the kind agents holding down the fort at Fort Cappy:

Housing Market Bubble Part II

I'm getting my Bachelors of Arts in Porn.

Karl has a competition going on where you can win GLORIOUS HAT!!!!

I know a lot of you have been taking an interest in silver so thought a little post/podcast on the supply side of the silver market might be of interest.

This is laughable.  They're going to try to ban guns from (get this) ILLINOIS PUBLIC HOUSING!!!

Happy Day for Says Uncle as he approaches 9 million!  Mayhaps somebody from Cappy could be his 9 millionth reader!

Why can't I find a maaaaaaaannnnnn??!!!!! (picture IS safe for work, but just gross)

Suicide Bombing Civilians? It's All Good!

Outstanding chart to show you just what kind of evil in the world exists.