This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse Blog
Our Disneyland Economy
By Michael Snyder
Disneyland is known as a place “where dreams come true” and where every story always has a happy ending. But there is going to be no happy ending for the U.S. economy. Wishful thinking has resulted in one of the greatest stock market rallies in history in recent months, but like all childhood fantasies, it won’t last. The real economy continues to deteriorate, and we can see this even right outside of the gates of Disneyland. Every night growing numbers of homeless people sleep on the pavement just steps away from “the happiest place on Earth”. It can be fun to “play make believe” for a while, but eventually reality always catches up with us.
Without a doubt, the stock market has been on a tremendous run. Since Donald Trump’s stunning election victory in November, the market has been setting record high after record high, and it is now up a total of 17 percent…
The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its 23rd all time high of 2017 yesterday closing at 21,532. There have been a total of 120 days where the markets have closed since President Trump’s inauguration on January 20th. The ‘DOW’ has closed at all time highs 23 of those days for nearly 20% or one-fifth of the days the market has been open. The market is up 9% since the inauguration.
Since the election on November 8th the DOW has closed at record highs an amazing 40 times! Nearly one-fourth or 24% of the 168 days the markets have closed have been record highs since the November 8th election. The market is up 17% since the election!
If this surge was supported by hard economic data, that would be something to greatly celebrate, but that has not been the case at all.
Instead, stock prices have become completely disconnected from economic reality, and now we are facing one of the greatest stock bubbles of all time. As Graham Summers has pointed out, stocks are now trading at price to sales ratios that we haven’t seen since the very height of the dotcom bubble…
Earnings, cash flow, and book value are all financial data points that can be massaged via a variety of gimmicks. As a result of this, valuing stocks based on Price to Earnings, Price to Cash Flow, and Price to Book Value can often lead to inaccurate valuations.
Sales on the other hand are all but impossible to gimmick. Either money came in the door, or it didn’t And, if a company is caught faking its sales numbers, someone is going to jail.
So the fact that stocks are now trading at a P/S ratio that matches the Tech Bubble (the single largest stock bubble in history) tells us that we’re truly trading at astronomical levels: levels associated with staggering levels of excess.
There is no possible way that this is sustainable, and just like before the 2008 crisis a whole host of experts are warning that disaster is imminent. One of them is John Mauldin…
Looking with fresh eyes at the economic numbers and central bankers’ statements convinced me that we will soon be in deep trouble. I now feel that it’s highly likely we will face a major financial crisis, if not later this year, then by the end of 2018 at the latest. Just a few months ago, I thought we could avoid a crisis and muddle through. Now I think we’re past that point. The key decision-makers have (1) done nothing, (2) done the wrong thing, or (3) done the right thing too late.
Having realized this, I’m adjusting my research efforts. I believe a major crisis is coming. The questions now are, how severe will it be, and how will we get through it?
And even though the stock market has been surging deeper and deeper into bubble territory in recent months, the middle class has continued to shrink and poverty has continued to grow all over the country. In fact, because so many homeless people have been sleeping at bus shelters across from Disneyland lately authorities decided to completely remove the benches that they had been sleeping on…
The vanishing benches were Anaheim’s response to complaints about the homeless population around Disneyland. Public work crews removed 20 benches from bus shelters after callers alerted City Hall to reports of vagrants drinking, defecating or smoking pot in the neighborhood near the amusement park’s entrance, officials said.
The situation is part of a larger struggle by Orange County to deal with a rising homeless population. A survey last year placed the number of those without shelter at 15,300 people, compared with 12,700 two years earlier.
But simply removing benches will not make the problem go away.
Homelessness has been growing so rapidly in Los Angeles that the the L.A. City Council actually asked Governor Jerry Brown to formally declare a state of emergency.
And in New York City, street homelessness is up 39 percent over the past year.
This is where the real economy is heading, but a rising stock market makes for much happier headlines.
Many major cities around the nation are passing laws to essentially make it illegal to be homeless. Forcing homeless people to go somewhere else may mask the problem for a while, but it certainly doesn’t do anything to solve it. In my new book entitled “Living A Life That Really Matters”, I talk about how real love is not just about loving those that are just like us. Rather, real love is about caring for people no matter what they look like and no matter what they are going through.
Unfortunately, the economic suffering that we are seeing right now is just the beginning.
Just like in 2008, the major financial crisis that is coming is going to greatly accelerate our economic problems. And just like last time, millions of people are going to lose their jobs, and millions of people are going to lose their homes.
Homelessness is already worse in many parts of the nation that it was during the depths of the last recession, and what we are going to see during the next economic downturn is going to be absolutely unprecedented.
So don’t look down on those that need a helping hand, because in the not too distant future you may find yourself needing some help.
Michael Snyder is a Republican candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District, and you can learn how you can get involved in the campaign on his official website. His new book entitled “Living A Life That Really Matters” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.
Prepare! Food, Water, Toiletries, Meds, Fuel, Precious Metals, Firearms/Ammo, Family/Friends with the same preparedness, Sheltered Home, etc. God Bless!
It will be fun to watch my rich neighbors 401k turn into a 101k.
Those neighbors did nothing to you; your jealous. No moral man relishes the misery of an innocent other.
There is only “not guilty” but no such thing as “innocent “. They were never there for me.
Right now those 401K’s turned in to 601K’s and if they were smart they would get out right now, sell and pay off all debts, and pay the 10% Tax on it. Then move the rest of the money within the 401K Fund to Paper Gold or Silver, even if it is in paper. Better than any other equity out there going forward from here poised for a great sell off. Gandhi is Ex Military, and he was taught well by the Military to hate and destroy everything including nations, so same with his neighbors. And Jealousy is taught by religion, since he probably worships a jealous God as well. So that is expected from that sort of background.
Yes my God is a jealous God and you shall have no god before him, including a 601k. I would only need permission to destroy, it is what I was programmed to do?
“And Jealousy is taught by religion…” Taught? Really??
“… probably worships a jealous God as well.”
I worship a jealous God.
I am a kept woman. Kept by God.
I’m glad He is jealous towards me. That means He loves me, even before I loved Him.
He loves you too WWTI. Prayin’ for ya.
CSS is a pompous know it all. Ignore him
Perhaps, Grandee, he could look up what the word means in the original language. I don’t think he understands.
It will be fun to watch my rich neighbors 401k turn into a 101k.
That is the problem with this stock bubble.
401Ks
You can’t withdraw your money until you retire or leave your job. The money is trapped.
For most, it is a tough choice, quit your job and get your money on a “what if” or stay where you are and hope nothing happens.
If you contributed into your 401k a percentage of it ( not all) can be transferred into an IRA. From there you have more options both regarding investments and withdrawals.
Since the late 1950s (yes that early) the solvency of Bretton Woods was in jeopardy as more currency was produced than gold to back it up. All pretexts of long term stability / sustainability were dismissed in August 1971 when gold transferability at $35 / oz was ended. Increasing intervention in the quest of a managed economy, reminiscent of communist central planning (different players, same result) increasingly divorced money from value. The trend of deregulation, culminating with the abandonment of Glass-Steagall sealed the fate of honest investing. As the late George Carlin said, “Its a big club and your not a member”.
Author Michael Snyder is a complete utter moron, who lies, distorts and manipulates the truth. Shame on you for posting the piece of crap article. You’re an a-hole.
I JUST READ AN EXCELLENT BOOK CALLED ISLAND OF THE LOST: SHIPWRECKED AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
IN 1864 TWO SHIPS WRECKED ON OPPOSITE SHORES OF AUCKLAND ISLAND, 285 MILES SOUTH OF NEW ZEALAND, UNBEKNOWNST EACH TO THE OTHER.
ONE CREW DESCENDED TO INFIGHTING, CANNIBALISM, MURDER, STARVATION, DISEASE, CHAOS, AND DEATH
THE OTHER CREW ORGANIZED THEMSELVES, FORAGED FOR FOOD, BUILT A SHELTER AND A FORGE WHICH THEY USED TO BUILD A 19 FT SAILBOAT, AND SAILED BACK TO NEW ZEALAND AFTER BEING STRANDED FOR 1.5 YEARS.
READ THIS BOOK
Michael Snyder knows nothing about anything. He is a law school flunkie who can not make it in law and he spews fear porn BS daily.
The fall is only a matter of time!
Louisiana Eagle
Especially when reality has been suspended as it has been now. One has to look no further than the stock market and our remarked restrooms to see the great suspension.
thought you said “remarkable restrooms”
gave me a giggle 🙂
laeagle, the question is what will happen first (1) an economic collapse or (2) war. The options seem to be neck and neck at this point!
It looks like I’m going to keep cable/internet, so it looks like you guys are stuck with my nonsensical ramblings for a while longer. Sorry to get your hopes up, but I’m here until the fat lady sings.
Grandpa and Justice,
The Stock Market is bloated almost beyond imagination. The rapid steep ascent to the current levels cannot be sustained and as the energy powering the ascent runs out of steam (QE) it will have to come down, perhaps at an even more rapid rate resulting in a crash! Can Trump and his team mitigate the crash? How much of this is being manipulated by the Deep State on purpose? There is so much hatred that they have declared an all out blitzkrieg against Trump and the people who elected him.
Justice, I too am not sure which will come first. The DNC supposedly is broke but most of the richest people on earth seem to support the globalist agenda which is the same as that of the Demonrats. They may find it unpalatable to bring down the economy because it would definitely cut into their wealth. Other possibilities include epidemics and plagues and of course natural disasters which are beyond their control (Deep State, NWO, Globalists, Communists, Demonrats, etc.)
Keep posting as long as you can!
Louisiana Eagle
I have lots of stocks that have never gone down…. food, guns, ammo, tools, etc. In fact here’s a poem lol.
Trader Bob bought some stocks
Stashed in a safe with many locks
“I’ll be rich” he’d always say
Against all odds he’d make his play
I’ll retire and live the dream
The market seemed to go full steam
Then one day it all went down
And his portfolio ate the ground
His worthless papers were no good
He never listened like he should
Now a broke and homeless man
The victim of a foolish plan
He sat and cried “it’s all so cruel”
A broken, sad and desperate fool…..
I like it! Definitely do not want to be like Trader Bob!
Genius, LOL! Another good one.
Thank you. I just wish I had saved my old poem about shopping, man that was a classic!
A desperate fool becomes a govt tool.
Justice, I for one enjoy your posts. So stop that about ‘nonsensical ramblings’. I know some others who ‘nonsensical ramblings can definitely be applied to but I’ll leave them nameless. We already know who they are. I’m also here til’ the fat lady sings.
Time to take stock! The current rise in the stock market is not sustainable!
Louisiana Eagle
Yeah….so they’ve been saying for nearly ten years…..
Truth is, as long as the FED provides nearly free money, and no return on savings (forcing savers to seek yield in the market), the DOW has no limit.
Or it could crash and burn tomorrow if enough folks get antsy. If you play the market (like a casino), set tight lower stops and let it ride.
TnAndy, beware those stop orders! They are NOT guaranteed.
Please do a little research, because in 2008 many stops found NO BUYERS. Way back when I worked for the SEC, stops are not guaranteed, they are conditional upon certain factors. However, do some research because my recollection is not what it used to be.
From (MarketWatch) — I believe in stop loss orders to protect stock positions or to lock in gains. When the stop loss is triggered, your stock is automatically sold at the market at the best available price.
The best available price? Unfortunately, that can be a misnomer.
Do not enter your stops in the market through your broker.
Either watch them yourself like we do, or use a service like tradestops.
Off topic but related dept.:
“Let us not make trouble. We ask to be left alone.
But if they do not leave us alone, then is the trouble theirs, and the penalty.
My fingers are gone, as you see…yet I have the joint of one thumb left, and it can pull a trigger as firmly as did it’s lost neighbor in the old days.”
—Jack London, in Koolau the Leper
And, he stated that leprosy was brought to Hawaii by the importation of Chinese laborers. Sound familiar?
I’ve been to Kalaupapa.
Of all of Hawaii it is probably
#2 in the top ten most beautiful
places in Hawaii. I consider Na Pali
coast #1 and my back yard #10.
It is ironic that they dumped what
society thought was trash,
in what most people would
consider a paradise.
TnAndy,
I agree with you. I got out as much as I could in 2008 and never reinvested. It was kind of a mistake because look at where the Market is now! I still have some 401K in stocks but…surely it is time to move everything out! Unfortunately, it is not so easily done!
Louisiana Eagle
rellik,
We had Carville here in Louisiana. It was shut down in 1999 but they have an interesting Museum. The disease is called Hansen’s Disease and is treatable. It turns out the local armadillo can harbor the disease as a result of their unique anatomy. The disease can spread in places where people live in close quarters and hygiene is not all that great. It was not uncommon in the Scandinavian countries over a century ago but as living conditions improved it has become a rare disease.
What you pointed out is ironic! One of the interesting things about Leprosy or Hansen’s Disease is that the infection resulting in the loss of limbs and sores is not from the Mycobacterium leprae but secondary infection of wounds by the usual culprits like Staph and Strep, etc. The Mycobacterium particularly like to colonize the superficial nerves resulting in loss of pain sensation to fingers and toes, much like what happens in diabetes. Secondary infections set in after they have been injured. The irony or paradox is that it turns out it is a good thing to be able to feel pain! No pain, no shame, no gain, no fame!
Louisiana Eagle
CNTL-P does not produce more jobs, available goods and services.
Crashing markets are not triggers of events, but the results thereafter.
Shuttered store fronts, empty parking lots, increasing lines at food pantries, and desperate pricing and loaning schemes, etc. are more telling. These things you have to see for yourself.
So while some may say “this has been going on for years..” well, that is exactly how this sort thing builds. Like a well orchestrated symphony slowly going into a crescendo. Only the Conductor and those players reading the sheet music knows when that will happen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L_isSGyVqU
Ahhhh–but if you know the composer, watch the attitude of the orchestra and conductor, you can tell where the symphony is going.
Especially if you have been an avid student of the music world and the composers there in.
And just like after the US Civil War, (((carpetbaggers))) will move in to pick up assets for next to nothing.
Do not be greedy! Get out while the going is good!
Louisiana Eagle
The Prudent man sees danger and takes refuge but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
Proverbs 22:3
Did they have a stock market back then?
Arby5,
Thanks for the verse. That whole chapter has a lot of great advice and worth reading. There is a lot of wisdom for the prepper. Here are some different translations of the same verse Prov 22:3;
New International Version
The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
New Living Translation
A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.
English Standard Version
The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.
New American Standard Bible
The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, But the naive go on, and are punished for it.
King James Bible
A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
Holman Christian Standard Bible
A sensible person sees danger and takes cover, but the inexperienced keep going and are punished.
International Standard Version
The prudent person sees trouble ahead and hides, but the naive continue on and suffer the consequences.
NET Bible
A shrewd person sees danger and hides himself, but the naive keep right on going and suffer for it.
New Heart English Bible
A prudent man sees danger, and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
Aramaic Bible in Plain English
A prudent one sees an evil man being scourged and is powerfully instructed, but fools pass by him and suffer damage.
GOD’S WORD® Translation
Sensible people foresee trouble and hide [from it], but gullible people go ahead and suffer [the consequence].
JPS Tanakh 1917
A prudent man seeth the evil, and hideth himself; But the thoughtless pass on, and are punished.
New American Standard 1977
The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,
But the naive go on, and are punished for it.
Jubilee Bible 2000
A prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and receive hurt.
King James 2000 Bible
A prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
American King James Version
A prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
American Standard Version
A prudent man seeth the evil, and hideth himself; But the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
Douay-Rheims Bible
The prudent man saw the evil, and hid himself: the simple passed on, and suffered loss.
Darby Bible Translation
A prudent [man] seeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.
English Revised Version
A prudent man seeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
Webster’s Bible Translation
A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
World English Bible
A prudent man sees danger, and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
Young’s Literal Translation
The prudent hath seen the evil, and is hidden, And the simple have passed on, and are punished.
And just to bring the verse in context,
1 A good name is to be more desired than great wealth,
Favor is better than silver and gold.
2 The rich and the poor have a common bond,
The LORD is the maker of them all.
3 The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,
But the naive go on, and are punished for it.
4 The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD
Are riches, honor and life.
5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
He who guards himself will be far from them.
Excellent work, Laeagle. Thanks
Thank you. To me, there are only two versions of the Bible: the King James Version (KJV) and the Knockoff Jew Versions (KJV).
of course they did.
Man kind hasn’t changed much, in fact, not at all. 🙁
we are a predictable bunch, we are.
The course has been set. There is no time to take evasive maneuvers! The iceberg is looming large. All hands on deck!
Louisiana Eagle
David Stockman Warns The Market’s “Chuck Prince Moment” Has Arrived… “Only More Dangerous”
“Make no mistake, this is the Chuck Prince Market Redux. Only the daredevils and Wall Street dancing machines would dare buy here.. For everyone else, the present blow-off top is surely a godsend… Never has there been a better opportunity to get out of harm’s way..”
Uh oh! A Snyder article! Cue the frantic, ignorant Snyder haters who, rather than just not read the article and move on, have to show us how much “smarter” they are. Yawn. You don’t like Michael or JJ, go away, and just don’t read this. The rest of us read this and consider it along with a full complement of other informationl.
Wow, entire posts are now being deleted or even edited removing words in a post. What’s up with that? No Free speech zone here.
SNYDER AGAIN? Oh well, back to sleep.
I hate to say it but the bad news is, there are already 9 massive bubbles waiting to pop. If you think 1929 was bad. You are about to see by far the worse financial collapse the united states has ever seen, you can thank the government reps on both sides (democrats and gop) working with the global elites the banking elites, the rich & famous for making it happen. because they have already bought there underground bunkers and remote islands with there fully armed security with military grade equipment & food supply’s that can last up to 30 years on your tax dollars. it really says you just got screwed big time.
Homeless population exploding, what else is not new. People will do what they have to do to stay alive, economic conditions are that bad. Food is way too expensive at every major grocery chain, just obscene prices for total nutritionless garbage filled with fake food additives. One would think the stores would lower prices to reflect economic reality, but no the costs only go up. I found some 26 ounces of canned peaches at Dollar Tree, they were good quality from South Africa, only to then see an article stating that the store had PCB or something lined can goods. The bad stuff.
Well… when you have to pay the pickers/farm hands $15 an hour… the truck drivers that haul it to the processor… the plant worker… the driver that hauls it to the store… and the clerks at the store… Not to mention all the electricity, fuel, *INSURANCE*, and all the expenses associated with farming… It’s a wonder that a gallon of milk isn’t $75. Or a loaf of bread for $50.
Ever see a rich farmer? Or are they just *barely* surviving if they have *absolutely* no problems every single year?
Milk is subsidized by the govt. In my area I see alot of poor farmers riding in nearly new top of the line 1-ton trucks.
Got 4 peach trees out, 2 of one variety, 2 of another. Frost got the blooms on the 2 of one variety this spring (bloom at different times), but the other 2 gave us more peaches than we could can and freeze….several bushels off each tree.
Frost got most of the blossoms on the Bartlett pear (it has a few pears), but the red Moonglow variety is loaded with fruit. Got 4 more of them I’m training “espalier (sp?) to grow on a tall retainer wall, hopefully the heat off the wall will help with late spring frosts.
Got 40 young apple trees out….a few of them have fruit this year, but next year we should have more apples than we can eat.
Put another 100 “Jewel” variety strawberry plants this fall in a new raised bed, got 15 gallons off the 250 plants we’d planted in previous years, renewing them with their runners.
Blueberries did pretty good….several gallons off the oldest couple bushes, got dozen younger ones out…when they catch up age wise, ought to have a lot of berries.
That’s about it for the fruit growing…
We have apples, pears, strawberries, blueberries, goji berries, chestnut trees.
My peach tree died after 5 yrs. 🙁 Will re-plant this fall.
Other fruits I can get through my church and all the Mennonite connections. Last year I canned carrots and beats from there.
I will say, planting a celery root from the used main plant was a bust.
aljamo,
“People will do what they have to do to stay alive, economic conditions are that bad.”
I witnessed the dismantling of a tent camp and removal of a group of homeless people yesterday in downtown New Orleans by Mayor Landrieu’s police and sanitation department. Today, the tents were back up and it look like they had reclaimed a beautiful little spot near I-10 and Tulane Ave under the Crepe Myrtle trees.
What are people to do? The S has HTF for many people!
Louisiana Eagle
Wall Street is completely disconnected from the rest of the economy. I love to hear the experts in the MSM tell the audience the economy is getting better and better and all is well. The majority of jobs created are part-time, make about 10 dollars an hour, with no benefits. No nation can have a sustained middle class with only jobs like this created. Meanwhile, the gov’t and MSM try to convince the millions of sheep all is good. The middle class is shrinking dramatically every year. Soon, there will be only a small class of wealthy, a middle class that is only a fraction of what it was even 10 years ago, and a very large lower middle class and poor. You can bet it isn’t by accident.
Don’t be naive, the gov’t only sees the working people as disposable resources, and frankly, despise us. Our elected officials will not repeal Obamacare; I didn’t say they can’t , I said they won’t. Special interest groups and lobbyists have thrown too much money at them to change currents policies that benefit only the corporate interests. What the voters and citizens demand is of no real consequence. Same goes for other issues like tax reform. Remember, you are not important. Just pay your taxes and shut up.
Wealth has become so extremely concentrated beyond what could occur normally given the laws of economics, corrupt officialdom has assisted to create that 1% with boundless greed and wealth setting up a system where gov’t and corporations benefits only each other.
I read Americans can’t afford the average $33,000 car any longer.
They have a new formula one must meet to buy one if financing is the issue.
10% down, 48 months, insurance/loan pmt. to be no more than 10% of yearly gross income.
But, they can still get loans for 96 months!!!!
JayJay, I don’t make enough money to even WORRY about credit so I live without it. My cars come private owners for cash only. I get liability insurance only because all my cars have been too old for full coverage. Nowadays the insurance companies won’t even write a full coverage policy on any thing that’s over 15 years old.
The sky is falling! The sky is falling! (((Sometimes even chicken little gets it right!)))
Here we go again. Been hearing this for years.
Here we go again with Doubtful. People said EXACTLY what he is saying above in Oct., 1929… just before the got slaughtered. Doubtful will be right… until he isn’t. And then he will be dead wrong.
This was done on purpose. No one in their right mind would think “The solution to the national personal debt problem is borrowing MORE!”
Ya… the said the “credit freeze” was the problem… No ‘tards… borrowing money is the problem.
When 95% or more of our total economy is based on borrowed money (personal, business, governmental, etc) something is *WRONG*.
Borrowing is stealing from your future to *HAVE IT NOW* like some spoiled child. $40k for a car… when you make $20k a year… are you insane? If you make enough to afford a car that expensive… SAVE UP and pay cash. If you can pay for it out of your pocket, then you can’t afford it. It really is that simple.
And at every level, people are Borrowing to PAY OFF LOANS. I’m sorry, but A: You can’t borrow your way to success and B: You can borrow your way out of debt.
And that’s why the credit freeze hurt so much… people couldn’t borrow to pay of other loans.
Lowering the interest rate and printing ungodly amounts of money could have NO other effect than to kick the can and make things *drastically* worse than they would have been otherwise.
Gov isn’t the solution, it’s the problem. They don’t know what the F*** they are doing. Go read take an economics course… you’d be FLOORED at how stupid the professor/book is. They believe the “trick” to success is this nasty tightrope walking while juggling knives of debt… and to be even more successful, you need to trick others into borrowing too.
It’s a house of cards that will *necessarily* come down.
Just look at the national debt and deficit. You can’t shrink the debt until the deficit is *COMPLETELY* gone… yet the deficit is growing… They are borrowing money to pay loans (and borrowing money to give to shi*bag countries.) and borrowing money to give to worthless able-bodied scumbags who are to lazy to work.
*Of COURSE* it’s going to crash… and *hard*. I’ve already sold off almost all of my investments, and the rest will be sold off and moved into bitcoin by the end of this year. I’m then leaving the country, as there is a great chance that the US will be hell on earth (think dark ages of barbarism) after the next crash.
Math in a part time economy of 1
$7.25 X 20hr X 4wk = $580 gross
Lowest apartment rent in area:
1brm $379
$580 – $379 = $201 gross
Food?
Utilities?
Car payment/maintenance?
Fuel to pt job?
Health and hygiene goods?
And don’t forget to “feed the pig” as the propaganda puts it.
TOTAL: One big f*****g mess!
(Don’t forget your fiat dollar value has been depreciated 98% from 1917 gold standard value)
I guess since the “two income” family is just scraping by they should really start pushing polygamy to bump up to “three income” families.
🙁
The mega churches really pack em in on Sundays. The haul is so big the pastors can live in a mansion and own a fleet of cars and a jet or two. Homelessness is a problem the CHURCH should be dealing with. All these talking head pastors should form a task force, pool their resources and get to work on the problem. Other smaller churches could then follow suit. If cities give the churches any problems then they need to file complaints or take legal action.
Interesting. You never read about me, of course, any this is just a nom de plume above, but my wife and I adopted a 20 year old half black, half Mexican fellow whose parents had been murdered. Neither the Mexican nor black side wanted much to do with him, as he was a “half breed.” We put him through his Certified Medical Assistant cert, for starters, paid for place for him to live, etc. He was a good kid. You will never know my real name, nor should you. But, while you are totally correct, there are “vanilla” Christians out there doing just what you say.
See Who Really Cares by Dr Arthur Brooks, Syracuse University, for more details on the fact that there are MANY of us doing a LOT out there. You just will never see us, nor know our real names.
Test,
I’ve been wanting to thank you for all your well articulated, well documented and insightful posts. I appreciate your presence here. Thank you for sharing what you are doing, not just “talking the talk”, but, actually “walking the walk”! The Master did say, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you have love one for another”. May God give you all the strength and courage sufficient for your need each and every day!
Louisiana Eagle
Just goes to show you Religion needs to be taxed just like any other business. Its all based on fraud anyway, or just jail the snake salesmen, and stop looting and fleecing the stooped sheep with false promises. Again, show me just one person out there who got everlasting life as promised? And is several hundred years old. That’s called “Affinity Fraud.”
I have yet to see one religious person who got everlasting life, like a lottery winner who is holding the big check smiling for the cameras like a winner. Show me or STFU.
CSS,
I like a lot of your postings and you do have some great points but I am worried for you, just a little (actually a lot!). I am reminded of a couple verses in 2 Peter 3:1-7, where it says,
“1Beloved, this is now my second letter to you. Both of them are reminders to stir you to wholesome thinking 2by recalling what was foretold by the holy prophets and commanded by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers (and mockers) will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4“Where is the promise of His coming? they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.” 5But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water,…6through which the world of that time perished in the flood. 7And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men….” from the Berean Study Bible
If there was only one book that I could have for TSHTF/TEOTWAWKI, it would be a modern translation of the Bible, a Study Bible! Read it for yourself, it has already saved millions of lives! You would be amazed what you can learn!
Louisiana Eagle
For anyone thinking of selling all their holdings Warren Buffets favorite holding period is Forever. Just saying……..
Who knows what will happen with the economy.
Regardless, the frugality and practicality of your choices will play a decisive part in whether one becomes homeless or financially secure.
Some ideas:
Buy a large tent for camping. Buy lanterns and other camping equipment. Instead of expensive trips, make camping, fishing, and hunting part of your family life. It makes good practice for survival.
Solar lights placed in your front and backyard are not that expensive. Costco sells some nice sets of eight. I bought several sets and I really am glad I did.
__ if you live in an apartment, you can grow food in pots. There are even five foot orange trees that are nice on a porch. The fruit is normal size, but you only get a few oranges. Don’t throw away the peal. Shave off the Orange peal and add to cookies, bread, or cake; or put it into chocolate or homemade candy.
If you are worried about money, learn to cook and sew. Grow your own food. Boys need domestic skills, too.
__
B from CA, I would be financially secure if I would stop prepping. Trying to prep for a grid down situation is a very expensive proposition. The list of things a person could conceivably use in such an environment is endless.
Also, I will try anything to avoid living in a tent/homeless. If I can’t find a relative or friend to take me in I will REALLY try to rent a room (garage/basement or even part of their property) from someone. The life expectancy of the homeless will be terrible.
Justice:
Prepping should save you money, at least in the long run. The tent could be used on your own property, if your backyard is big enough, to house an adult child so that you could rent out his/her bedroom; or, so you could use it for storage of food and necessities. It is often your thought process and your energetic ambition to go from thought to action, or lack of such, which separates the haves from the have-nots.
I have been rich and I have been poor. Not only is it better to be rich, it is probable to be rich, if you think ahead, have purpose/a goal, and persever.
Luck is the most important thing in life besides Spirit. With luck you are born brilliant, healthy, good tempered, and with positive characteristics. For the rest of us, we will manage as best we can with what the Good Lord and Mother Nature bestowed upon us.
The worst mistake a poor person can make is resenting wealthy people. The whole concept of privilege for example is self defeating. You don’t learn how to become rich from a homeless person, usually. But don’t snub poor people or look down on them. First off, it is mean. Secondly, they can be a help sometimes.
Once I was having a conversation about a rich and famous person who was difficult to get in to see, a soft meek older lady interrupted the conversation. She was the maid and saw him practically every day. Had we given her the cold shoulder, it would have been our loss. Also, rich people are sometimes paranoid and pretend to be poor. And of course there are the poor relatives. Maybe they are homeless but their parents are multi-millionaires.
__
:yawn:
Locally real estate and rents have been rising one percent a month in an area of high unemployment. people are being evicted from rentals to raise the rent on them. Greed is king. Homeless people are every where and every time I drive into town now I see fist fights on the sidewalks. It is insanity Added to this they are importing illegals to take up housing and to put on the state medical plan when they do not have the money to pay for it now. For fun they have legalized heroin and want to lower the voting age to 16
Legalized heroin and weed. But then I just read a law has been passed making it illegal to eat or smoke while driving. Uh huh. I’ll be sure and adhere to that bitch law. Because if I take a sip of coffee in my car that just might make me a lawbreaker.
When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing; when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favors; when you see that men get rich more easily by graft than by work, and your laws no longer protect you against them, but protect them against you … you may know that your society is doomed.
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was brilliant!
Asking whether there are enough dollars is like asking whether there are enough inches, degrees, pounds, letters, ones, zeros, and tally marks, in the world. It’s just an abstract idea, used for organization.
Both liberals and fiscal conservatives have a superstitious fear, of what amounts to placeholders, yet, with very little inclination to use your own standards of measurement, in your own designated grounds, safe places or no-go zones.
Beaumont,
Can you elaborate a little on your second paragraph? Thanks. I think you have an important point that you are making but I am too dense to understand it.
Louisiana Eagle
The greatest SCHMUK bubble of all time.
God willin’ and the creek don’t rise, see ya’ll Monday.
The stock market is based on the moods of the stockholders and buyers. Anything can turn their confidence and optimism to panic. Right now, the stockholders believe that Trump can improve the economy. If they decide that Trump can’t get things done, the stock market could take a severe drop. Little bit like a crap game.
Well We have a new addition to my BOL, one of the Preggo Doe’s on the back property finally had a baby Fawn, saw it today for the first time. It was funny, the doe stopped, and the fawn ran up to the doe, and looked as small as a large cat with long legs. I bet the fawn is less than 10 lbs. The Doe’s keep their fawns out of site pretty good, so it was a real treat to see. I think there are 2 other yearling bucks and another preggo doe in the thick woods behind me yet on the property, so I’ll be on the lookout and try to take some photos. Also had 20 Wild turkeys come in for a visit today also. I spread out a few handfuls of cracked corn daily and just by doing that, it attracts a lot of wild life daily. Squirrels, cardinals, doves, turkey and deer, and at night raccoon and possum. So include some cracked corn and few metal trash can bins to store it in, as part of your preps for obtaining wild game as a backup plan and protein if you need to. Go visit a feed store and stock up. And no, I would not eat possum or cardinals, but the rest, sure why not.
CSS,
You sound like you are getting attached to the critters in your BOL! I love it! Those deer can be cute and cuddly. It is quite something when you are able to call in a Tom with clucks and purrs, and they are gobbling and doing their thing as they approach you! It is an awesome experience. Enjoy and have fun!
Louisiana Eagle
I certainly enjoyed the words of wisdom from B from CA. You are a good example of how everyone should live and think. Thank you.
If people would learn skills to make it on their own maybe there would be less crime. I am seeing a lot more brake- ins and robberies right now, so its picking up. Lock your cars.
“a good example of how everyone should live”? Really? More like a good example of someone that has too much times on their hands and needs another hobby.
The basics of physical life are food, shelter, clothing, and personal safety. Most of our “wealth” is in stocks; pieces of paper, that are temporarily valued at a certain price. When they go, there will be a genuine distribution of wealth.
The economy will not crash until the fed lets it crash. As long as the dollar is the world reserve currency(and it still is) the Fed can keep printing money to infinity and the dance will continue. I believe WAR will come before an economic melt down does, simply because the 1 % that controls wealth IN THIS COUNTRY has no real advantage to shutting down this economic merry go round, they don’t control ALL the money yet so why not prop up the corpse until they do. War on the other hand is much harder for them to control, too many moving parts and too many variables. At some point soon I feel the rest of the world especially the Chinese and Russians will decide the American economic system has beggared the world enough and try to pull the plug on the dollar, when that happens there will be WAR.
Bigbluedrew
Outstanding analysis
Bigbluedrew,
I agree. Excellent analysis. “As long as the dollar is the world reserve currency(and it still is) the Fed can keep printing money to infinity and the dance will continue. I believe WAR will come before an economic melt down does, simply because the 1 % that controls wealth IN THIS COUNTRY has no real advantage to shutting down this economic merry go round…” I don’t foresee them (NWO, Globalist, Elites, etc.,) intentionally shooting themselves in the feet. It is quite possible that they do not control things/the economy/geopolitics as much as we give them credit for and things can quickly get out of control.
Louisiana Eagle
The stock market has become too big to fail.
Most of the market is on its own, but about a dozen high end stocks are pretty openly and tightly manipulated by the FED and US Treasury. They make the market set the records. The manipulation is done with puts and calls and requires little money for the contracts, but the volume creates huge pressure on the market.
This market won’t crash until they want it too, or a big enough black swan event occurs that causes them to lose control.
Small investors beware, you won’t be able to sell as fast as the bots, when it does crash.
There is an old proverb in the Far East that says, “When elephants mate, the grass/brush gets trampled”! Small fry better get out of the way!
Well of course homelessness is up. Homelessness always (and only) goes up during Republican administrations.