The Great Wake-up Call20 October 2008
The Great Wake-up Call
by Thomas Greco
Sometimes
it's a severe pain in the chest, sometimes shortness of breath,
other times dizziness, numbness, disorientation or loss of muscle
control. These are symptoms of something seriously wrong,
a warning of impending health crisis, a signal that something
needs to change.
In
our collective experience known as political economy, we
are experiencing symptoms of distress. The real estate bubble
and subsequent bust, the financial meltdown, deepening recession
and inflation are all telling us that something is wrong, that
something needs to change.
The
mainstream media don't tell us what or how. They are part of
the system that is trying to maintain the status quo. They will
give space to minor policy adjustments and legislative
proposals, but not to the kinds of deep structural changes or
emergent systems that can make a real difference.
Fortunately,
there are independent media and information sources that are
devoted to providing the kinds of information people need.
Back in June of this year I viewed an amazingly good documentary film titled, Zeitgeist. I recommend it
highly. Get it here.
Most of the information in it was already known to me, and includes
much of what I’ve been trying for years to tell people in my own humble
way. This film is well put together and pretty accurate as far as I can
tell. One aspect that was somewhat new to me was the material that
shows the congruence among the various “redeemer” myths going way back
B.C. That part, and some of the political material, won’t go down
easily with true believers of any stripe — the devout and patriotic,
but if one can keep an open mind, there is much to be learned - much
that could save our lives.
Now there is an addendum to the Zeitgeist
movie that focuses more attention on the “money problem,” economic
imperialism, and emerging sustainable technologies. The Zeitgeist: Addendum
can be downloaded from the same site or from Google.
The first twenty minutes do a creditable job of describing how our
conventional political money is created. It’s a good supplement to the
films Money as Debt and The Money Masters that I
previously recommended.
The next part of the film features John Perkins, author of Confessions
of an Economic Hit Man.
He does a superb job of clearly explaining how the empire achieves
dominance over other countries, giving examples from his own
experience. As he describes in his book, there are three levels of
action. The imperial forces first try to corrupt the country’s leaders
and get them to play along, saddling their people with huge debt loads
and selling off government owned assets. If that fails, they will stir
up internal opposition and either overthrow or assassinate a
recalcitrant leader. If that fails, the military will be sent in as a
last resort.
In recent years, the reluctance to use the last option seems to have
diminished, as war affords opportunities for great profits to be
amassed by political cronies and well-connected companies, and the
power of Congress to mount opposition to military adventures has all
but evaporated.
The original Zeitgeist movie contains important information about
the central banking system and the Federal Reserve. If you don’t have
time to watch the entire film, a relevant seven minute excerpt can be
seen here.
My new book will give a different perspective on the global
problematique, and is unique in offering practical approaches that will
enable us to “escape from the matrix.” I still expect it to be out by
early next year.
Hal Turner Shows the new Amero Coin and Describes the
Impending Collapse of the Dollar.
For the past several months the internet has been abuzz about the
elitist plans for the North American Union and the new Amero currency.
Now Hal Turner shows a coin which he purports to be an Amero coin
issued by the US government. Is it? You decide.
Whether or not that coin is authentic, one thing seems certain: the
US dollar is headed for oblivion and a new monetary regime is being
prepared by the powers that be.
Wars and bank bailouts are being paid for with increasing amounts of
“empty dollars.” The money supply is being inflated with legalized
counterfeit at an unprecedented rate. Besides ballooning budget
deficits, there is the chronic trade deficit. The US continues to
import more than it exports, relying on foreign governments to buy US
government bonds to finance the deficits. The value of the US dollar
must therefore shrink ever more rapidly. The savings of the middle
class will be wiped out. Dollar denominated assets, like bank accounts,
CD’s, bonds will become increasingly worthless while your debts will
remain. Price increases may be temporarily held in check by the credit
crunch as more businesses fail and more people lose their jobs. But the
handwriting is on the wall. It’s a credit crunch for main street but a
lavish abundance of credit for Wall Street and the
Military-Industrial-Banking complex. Much higher prices and lower
dollar values must follow.
What to do?
Mike Adams provides some pretty good advice on his website,
NatutalNews.com. Take a look at his comprehensive special report, How
to Build Your Financial Safety Net.
The thing that’s missing in Adams’ report is how to protect a nest
egg. How do you protect the value of the assets you have? Here are my
thoughts on that.
As prices bottom out, use your money to buy selected real estate and
useful things of real value.
Get out of dollar denominated securities - bank deposits, CD’s,
bonds, etc. Keep only enough liquid to are satisfy demands for payment
of taxes, utilities, etc.
What are the alternatives?
Buy anything that can support you and your family directly - a home,
productive land, gardens, orchards, woodlots, durable clothing,
equipment, knowledge, skills, books, computers, etc. Buy selected
foreign currencies. You might
also help to build a sustainable economy by buying an equity stake
(shares) in (small and medium sized) companies that are geared toward
producing necessities of life in an earth-friendly way.Some promising
industries are organic farming, renewable energy, pollution
remediation, and complementary medicine. Above all, make
friends, nurture your communities and form new ones. As my good friend
Sergio Lub says, our best security is not in money or gold or material
things, but in our relationships and our willingness to help each
other. The effectiveness of actions by isolated individuals is severely
limited. It will take organized cooperative action to really protect
ourselves and get through this transition stage. Organize mutual
support networks, including local credit clearing unions and
currencies. My upcoming book will provide detailed advice on how to do
that, but many of the ideas are already available on this blog (Beyond
Money) and my Reinventing
Money website.
WIR - Current Operational Realities
Susan Witt of the E. F. Schumacher Society has recently filed a
report on her trip to Basel, Switzerland, during which she queried
fellow Rotarians about their experience with the WIR Bank and WIR
credits. It makes for some interesting reading. I’ve posted it with her
permission as a
page on this blog. WIR is an important case to study. Bes sure to
read the other documents about it that are on this blog and my website. And here’s a bit of levity:
Uncertainty has now hit Japan. In the last seven days, Origami bank
has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank has announced
plans to cut some of its branches. Yesterday, it was also announced
that Karaoke Bank will go up for sale and will likely go for a song,
while shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended today after they
nose-dived. While Samurai Bank is soldiering on after sharp cutbacks,
500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is
something fishy going on at Sushi Bank, where it is feared that staff
may get a raw deal.
Q: George Bush was asked today “what did he think of the Credit
Crunch?”
A: He replied: “It was his favorite Candy Bar.”
Off to Thailand.
Keep smiling,
Tom
