Where's the fun in being right about something if people are suffering
Whilst not monster-significant in itself, the UK pre budget report earlier this week was, for me, the final straw
The UK is officially broke
The only solution the UK government has to offer is a small reduction in tax on discretionary consumption. A cynical incentive to encourage a few more people to buy just a little bit more imported shit to stick on the final bill
Even using the most optimistic figures, our government has admitted that the country will be driven deeper and deeper into debt until at least 2015
The banksters have won
Again
The reaping will begin shortly
What a lot of people don't comprehend is that the really big fortunes are made not in economically good times but in the immediate aftermath of economically awful times
As mentioned previously, the heavily promoted ideas of the likes of Klein and Taleb support the fairy tale that 'Disaster Capitalism' and the exploitation of completely unexpected financial catastrophes is in some way a new idea
That's a lie
The truth is that these kind of events are totally predictable, often deliberately engineered. and carpetbagging is as old as the hills
...though the concept of people funding their own serfdom, by thoughtfully stuffing their future overlords' carpetbags full of 'bail-out' cash, is a nice new touch
Ordinary UK citizens will now endure decades of debt slavery, where increasingly huge slabs of national income are siphoned off, directly and indirectly, in interest payments
At some point the government will attempt to reduce the value of debt with a Weimar/ Zimbabwe style printing frenzy...
That's assuming the existing system actually holds up
Otherwise things could get very interesting indeed
The New Look UK Treasury Team c. 2012On the bright side, British police will be packing 10,000 shiny new tasers real soon now and the roll-out of the new ID/ Ration/ Travel Permit/ Record of Personal Indebtedness Card is well on its way.
The UK will start looking and feeling just a teensy wee bit like a naturally-moated, open prison
Snake Plissken - reportedly thinking about settling down in SE London
There are paths we can follow to avoid the oncoming mess but no-one in mainstream media and politics, and depressingly few in the alternative media are talking about them
Of course, these are just the worst fears of a serial pessimist
For everyone else, here's a picture of a puppy...
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15 comments:
Your reading of Klein - supporting sudden 'unpredicted' events is surprising to me. I was of the opinion she held these events as being rather staged. True, I haven't read TSD, but I've listened to her speeches and a number of interviews.
The unprecedented debt will be declared unworkable and the solution will be "e-money" (after or accompanied by a recall of gold to stop independent trade) You'll see.
Visa to introduce first true cash replacement by end of 2007 - We're 11 months into that process. The date of the statement (LONDON, 22 November 2006) and the first shockwave of the subprime crisis' is of course, pure and utter coincidence.
Biometrics India (to prevent Mumbai 2) here we come.
In fairness to Klein, the myth of unpredictability is more Taleb's thing. Klein's contribution is to suggest that 'Disaster Capitalism' is in some way new which is, to put it mildly, bullshit
Unlike Taleb, Klein does hint at the possibility that the occasional crisis is occasionally helped on its course but its meagre fare for even the most undemanding Loon
"Klein's contribution is to suggest that 'Disaster Capitalism' is in some way new which is, to put it mildly, bullshit"
Fair enough :) LOL.
There are paths we can follow to avoid the oncoming mess but no-one in mainstream media and politics, and depressingly few in the alternative media are talking about them
Some thoughts on the same: What's left of the 'liberal' 'left'? And is it worth a light?
Ironically, the word verification for this comment is "critics". Spooky.
"... completely unexpected financial catastrophes is in some way a new idea."
Taleb's problem is the rigour of his method. Going back to the 'Turkey and Farmer' story. The rigour of his method only allows him to make predictions from the perspective of the Turkey; not the farmer.
Taleb rails about Quants in his work but ... he's essentially a Quant. He describes himself as an empiricist (have a look at www.fooledbyrandomness.com); hence, sans evidence of what the Farmer gets up to; the Turkey has no more information other than being fed on a daily basis.
Still sticking up for Taleb. But I appreciate the point you're making. Distinction is that Taleb doesn't have intent like the rest of 'em.
They're printing the money precisely so our currency will collapse and we'll be forced to accept the Euro. Meanwhile more of us lose things of real value such as our homes.
'Biometrics India (to prevent Mumbai 2) here we come.'
Exactly right.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Immigration-Leak-Shadow-Immigration-Secretary-Damian-Green-Arrested-Under-Official-Secrets-Act/Article/200811415163745?lpos=UK_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15163745_Immigration_Leak%3A_Shadow_Immigration_Secretary_Damian_Green_Arrested_Under_Official_Secrets_Act
It begins...
@anon
sans evidence of what the Farmer gets up to; the Turkey has no more information other than being fed on a daily basis.
Exactly. Financial and political decision at all levels depend on access to reliable and factual information. And a lot of critical information is obfuscated, suppressed, or kept a secret.
So the black swan of many is a perfectly foreseeable event for a selected few.
Even if you happen to figure something out, you have no way of being heard and taken seriously, nor a you in any position to take advantage of it.
They're printing the money precisely so our currency will collapse and we'll be forced to accept the Euro. Meanwhile more of us lose things of real value such as our homes.
A lot of people are asking me do I think the pound is going to reach parity with the Euro
I'm not sure the UK deserves to get off so lightly
Observance of customs and laws can very easily be a cloak for a lie so subtle that our fellow human beings are unable to detect it. It may help us to escape all criticism, we may even be able to deceive ourselves in the belief of our obvious righteousness. But deep down, below the surface of the average man’s conscience, he hears a voice whispering, ‘There is something not right,’ no matter how much his rightness is supported by public opinion or by the moral code.”
Gustav Jung
What’s in a system?
We in the United States have grown acclimatized to a system that first dehumanizes us and then inevitably feeds on our dehumanization, sucking away at our resources, our rights, and our resistance while we scamper frantically around in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.
We would like to imagine that it is our agency that drives us, and that our lives are under our control. The truth, however, is that we are the ones under control. The reason we do not notice it is that this control is masked as security, which we have been told is synonymous with freedom.
Recently, I passed through an airport checkpoint monitored by the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) and witnessed the “system” rear its ugly head yet again.
TSA is one of several security gifts from the Bush administration, or rather, from the twisted conjunction of corporate business and state power that oversees and safeguards our “freedom” and “democracy” through an elaborate system of control mechanisms.
Immediately in front of me, an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair was trying to reason with the security guard who was asking him to take off his sandals. “What do you want me to do? I didn’t wear socks so you could see my feet since I’m unable to bend over and take off my sandals.”
“Sir, you must comply with policy,” the guard said in a raised voice, as three other TSA agents moved in behind him, arms folded ominously across their chests, and surrounded the elderly man in the wheelchair who requested their assistance, doing what he could to “comply.” None of the guards stepped forward to take off his sandals for him in order to check his feet.
In exasperation he shouted, “I’m asking for help, and you won’t do it, so what do you want me to do? What the Hell am I supposed to do? What are you afraid of? I’m an old man in a wheelchair! Are you afraid of my sandals?”
The guards would not allow him through the x-ray until he eventually lowered his voice. We must never upset the status quo, because that is an important pillar of a system that holds change in dread. Do not rock the boat, and don’t you dare speak up, lest it indicate that something is wrong.
It requires no crystal ball to see that we are embedded in a system that has no qualms about harassing old men in wheelchairs or making pregnant women walk through x-ray machines. It is the same system that is killing scores of Iraqi and Afghan civilians daily, and killing the planet systemically. It is a system that requires us to be sleepwalkers, rather than alert and sensitive humans.
as usual, The Daily Mash (i.e. a couple of blokes with an internet connection) beats the State Broadcasting Company's coverage hands down...
THE PURGE BEGINS
On the subject of the TSA...
Still sticking up for Taleb. But I appreciate the point you're making. Distinction is that Taleb doesn't have intent like the rest of 'em.
no, I don't think he has intent
and it's not even required
production of an effective media/ cultural narrative simply requires some deft mixing of the plethora of available commentators - a little bit more volume here, a little less there and you're good to go
the plot thickens
The leader of a commando unit involved in a gunbattle Thursday inside the Taj said during a news conference Friday that he had seen a dozen bodies in one of the rooms.
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His team found a gunman's backpack, which contained dried fruit, 400 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, four grenades, Indian and American money and seven credit cards. The pack also had a national identity card from the island of Mauritius, off Africa's southeastern coast.
The attackers were "very, very familiar with the layout of the hotel," said the commander, who disguised his face with a scarf and tinted glasses to hide his identity.
He said the militants, who appeared to be under 30 years old, were "determined" and "remorseless."
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