Life On The Far Side

Let’s take a moment to ponder some numbers.  No math, just visualization.

A million is one thousand thousands.  A billion is one thousand millions.  A trillion is one thousand billions.  And the US national debt (not counting entitlements and other obligations) is $14,3 trillion.  That’s more than fourteen thousand billions.

Bill Gates, of Microsoft infamy, is said to be worth about $56 billion, give or take a night at the Sofitel Times Square.  So, 14.3 trillion divided by 56 billion is 255 Bill Gates to pay off the US national debt.  Considering he’s got more piles of paper than just about anyone else on the face of the planet, I would guess that it would be next to impossible to pay the debt.

Put another way, it would take every man, woman and child within the borders of the US paying $47,667, to pay off the debt.  Now, according the US Census Bureau, the average income per person over the age of 14 in 2006, was $26,036.  By this measure, every human being in the US would have to give up two years’ salary to pay back what Congress has so liberally borrowed.

One final take on this matter is to look at Gross Domestic Product, or the entire output of the US economy in one year, which in 2009 amounted to $14.15 trillion.

In other words, the country is broke.

Why does this matter?  Well, when the largest economy on Earth goes tits-up, it tends to take a lot of the world with it.  The fall of the Roman empire, arguably the largest economy of its day, at least in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.  When it crashed and burned, it left a black hole in history that took 500 years to recover from.

Granted, things moved a lot slower back then, and what replaced the secular Roman empire (the Holy Roman Empire) was not exactly into promoting private wealth and welfare.  In fact, they burned, hung and excommunicated a great number of folks who were trying to build a strong middle class.  Galileo just happened to notice that some things in the sky didn’t circle the Earth, and look what that got him.

Certainly, there are strong and emerging economies, primarily in Asia, that could step in to fill the gap, but likely their moment of glory would not include the Americas or Europe.  The latter would have to muddle through on their own, and who knows how long it would take before those regions would even be moderately comfortable.

When one is in the midst of a major shift, such as the downfall of the US Empire, it’s often hard to perceive the events that are swirling over one’s head.  On a micro scale (standing in your yard), everything seems pretty much normal for a while.  Later, things start to change ever so slightly: no more Sunday drives in the country, more chicken than beef, letting some home repairs slip.  Then a bigger hit: taking the kids out of private school, down-sizing the family wagon, letting major home repairs slip.

It truly is a case of boiling frogs; day by day, you don’t really notice it, until one day you look around and think, “Hey!  Where did my quality of life go?”

I think there are two reasons I am relatively free right now, 1) I refused to buy a house unless I could pay more than 50% down, and finance the remainder in less than 10 years, and 2) I bought a lot of gold and silver when it was $270 and $5, respectively, after selling all my stocks and closing my 401(k).  That was 1999.

 I took a 10% tax whack on the 401(k), which was replaced by a 500% profit on the metals and 0% loss in the several crashes since that time.  Then they changed the rules to prevent people from cosing out their 401(k)s.  Why?  Well, that brings us to the point of today’s diatribe.

               

Posted Tue 17 May 2011 08:11 AM

"....The Obama Administration will raid federal retiree programs to help pay for government programs.
"The Washington Post" reported:

The Obama administration will begin to tap federal retiree programs to help fund operations after the government lost its ability Monday to borrow more money from the public, adding urgency to efforts in Washington to fashion a compromise over the debt.

The proverbial writing was on the wall, with this one.  It was only a matter of time until politicians started salivating over the pile of paper with pretty pictures sitting in these retirement accounts (indeed, in ANY account, soon enough).  At this very moment, it’s ‘just’ federal employees and military folks, but make no mistake, your 401(k) is in the chute and will come to the butcher’s hand sooner than laer.

How can they do this?  The answer is quite simple, yet complex at the same time.  You see, they own you, all that you have, and the productive output of your entire life.  And when you die, they take whatever you leave behind.

I hear you scoff.  Most folks do.  But, you are, in fact, property of the state.  The Certificate of Title and Deed is what we commonly call the birth certificate.  The mechanism is a little-known ‘conspiracy theory,’ known as “The Strawman.”

Here’s a brief description of how it works: in the late 1800s, most Western nations were incorporated under the auspices of the Vatican (which is why US presidents always run to Rome shortly after getting seated).  When you were born, a ‘certificate’ was issued that effectively made you a wholly-owned subsidiary of USA, Inc.  That made you, your output and your possessions liable for the debt of USA, Inc.  Before incorporation, most people’s births were written in a ‘family bible,’ or some other personal and private document.  The only reason for a census, in fact, is because most births weren’t registered in some cental database.

Have you ever noticed that ALL legal and official documents have your name in all-capital letters?  That’s the name of your corporation.  You’re not told this because if you know it, then it’s possible for you to control YOUR corporation.  You are CEO, after all.  Oh, and the registration number for your corporation’s filing?  It’s called a Social Security number.

I know you’re skeptical.  I was, too.  It was all rather voodoo-sounding and pretty outrageous, when I first started looking at it.  Later, after I learned more, I was able to drive around in my car with no tags, inspection, registration, or driver’s license, and I got over 100 tickets dismissed.

If you Google, “The Strawman Theory,” it brings up over 600,000 hits.  Most of the information will get you thrown in jail.  I know from personal experience.  There are two sites I trust to have fairly good information.  One is ShowMeTheLaw, and the other is LegalForum.  The folks who run these have their heads screwed on straight when it comes to educating others, and using this information.

The first thing you should do, though, is get a copy of Black’s Legal Dictionary (or click here).  Start by looking up words you THINK you know, like “bill,” “note,” “vehicle,” “transportation,” and the list goes on.  Oh, “person” is another really god one.  These are all words that people use commonly in court and other legal matters, without having the first clue what they are saying in ‘legalese.’  You must learn to differentiate between ‘terms’ and ‘words’ immediately.

The next step is buying as much gold and silver as you can, without showing an ID or making a record of the sale (difficult, but possible).  You can also try to get your 401(k) money.  There used to be a number of ‘qualifying events,’ such as tuition, medial bils, etc.

Finally, and this is the one I most enjoy, fill out ALL forms (public, private, etc.) using both upper and lower case letters, and if anything asks for your country of birth, do NOT put USA, US, United States, etc.  Use only the name of your state, province or other political division.  Again, use upper and lower case letters.

Most importantly, do NOT give your Social Security number for anything.  Get cash-card cell phones at Wally Mart.  Buy things with cash.  Shop at flee markets and mom-and-pop stores.  Think about everything you do and what traces you leave, and start reducing them as close to zero as you can.

The rest is study.  A lot of study.  Learning the truth about the world around you is half the battle.  The other half is using the information you learn.

Why is this at all important in your life?  Go back to the top and look at the US national debt, then re-read the article about Congress scooping money out of personal pensions.  Then take stock of everything you ‘own’ for which you gave a Social Security number to get (house, car, etc.).  That’s what you stand to lose.

The root of all evil today is the “Strawman.”  It is the reason why the Constitution means nothing and warrantless searches are approved by the courts, and so on ad infinitem.  One of the truest things in the Bible is the line, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.”

Thus, the secret to life is knowledge, and using it effectively is wisdom.  Time to get a little of both.