Shovel Ready Socialism and Going Galt
Updated with Part II
Much time has been spent recently reflecting on the first 100 days of our new President and his administration. I was reluctant to join in this political commentary earlier for a variety of reasons. The first reason had to do with "The Smackdown" and the great success that it has enjoyed. I was having trouble relating my political observations to the general task at hand of defeating the cyber-jihadist. But why do we fight them? Really it is to support those who have volunteered to protect us by engaging them in a real fight in their own back yard. It all came together for me when I heard a man on the radio ask "When our troops come home, will they be returning to the same country that they left?" I realized then that we are indeed engaged in a wider conflict than just "The Smackdown". While the troops are winning their war abroad, we seem to be losing our war on the home front. Let us then join in the great contest of ideas and join the fight to preserve our freedoms at home for ourselves, our brothers in arms and our posterity.
The Nature of the Beast.
Maggie Thatcher once said that the problem with socialism is that it eventually runs out of other peoples money to spend. Therein lies the key to our strategy to defeat the Statist. Their plans and programs always assume that the sheep don't mind being sheared. They see our countries economic output and assume that it is like a river that flows endlessly of it's own volition and will never stop running no matter how much water that they siphon off. That is the great flaw in their reasoning. The great wealth of our country is produced mostly by the hard work of individuals. It is not a natural resource that can simply be collected and distributed freely to one and all. We have the power to dry up that river and deprive the Statist of the funds that they use to maintain their power over us. This is the idea that you may have heard of as "Going John Galt". It does not mean moving to another country or living in a compound off grid. It is the notion that we the people can go on strike. We can reduce the money river to a trickle or shut it off completely. This is the Statists secret fear. This is the nightmare that haunts their dreams. We can make this nightmare come true for them. Nobody knows better than the Smackdown crew the power that one simple idea can accrue. Ask any ex-YouTube user who has had his account yanked. Some people have called for a tax revolt to stop the looters. Some have begun the Tea Party movement. Some are stocking up on ammunition. What can the average American do? It is so simple that most will not believe it could work. It is a simple 2 step plan that most anyone can follow. Are you Ready?
Sounds pretty simple doesn't it? Still, allow me to explain. The intent here is to "starve the beast". It is a concept that some in government have used to support the idea of tax cuts. They contend that if the government doesn't have the money in the first place they can not spend it. Nice try, but the Feds still control the printing presses. To fund their grandiose delusion, the current administration has corrupted and is attempting to control most of the major financial sectors of the American economy. This is how they intend to guarantee their access to the money river. Since they now control most of the access points to the river, our only recourse is to dry it up at the source. This may involve some serious belt tightening for at least two years and possibly four, but it is better than a descent into serfdom for the rest of your life. those are really your only 2 choices. Either we starve the beast or it consumes us. Notice that in step 1. I did not say to quit your job or stop paying your taxes. The key to economic survival for the next two years may very well be a large cash reserve. With unpredictable job losses and an uncertain economic climate ahead, cash may be your best investment right now. I do not predict any sustained gains in the stock market in the near to mid term future. Investment relies on confidence and confidence demands not change, but its very opposite. Long term investments cannot be properly planned out in an era of unpredictable economic changes. If you are still putting money into a 401k you might want to think again. Remember when I said that we will have to have a new way of looking at things. A 401k is an OK investment vehicle when you can be confident of the long term stability of the investment institution, the companies that it invests in and the long term security of the currency that you are investing. Nationalized banks, government controlled companies and extremely inflationary monetary policies are not a good environment for long term investments. If we can starve the beast in just a few years and restore sanity to the market system, 401k may again be an investment option instead of a bad joke. In the same vein let us look at additional changes that may be necessary in the short term.
Shovel Ready Socialism And Going Galt Part II
"Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the high road to pride, self-esteem and personal satisfaction."
Margaret Thatcher
My Father was born in 1931 and my Mother in 1933. Their young lives were spent entirely in the throes of the Great Depression. The poverty of that era was only relieved by the onslaught of World War in 1939. The United States entered the war two years later on December 8th 1941. They have described to me firsthand the sacrifices necessary to defeat the rise of Fascism in the first half of the last century. The last automobiles for the civilian market were produced in 1942. No new cars would be available again until after the war ended in 1945. If you owned a car and had a job you could apply for a gas ration stamp. This would allow you to buy a few gallons of gas every week to help you get to work. Replacement tires for any car were hard to find as all rubber production was consumed by the needs of the armed forces. Vegetable gardens were in every yard to augment the meager supplies available from the grocery. Meatless meal days were instituted to deal with the meat shortage. The people seemed to know instinctively that freedom was at stake. They purchased war bonds with the little money that they could spare. They held collection drives for scrap metal, scrap rubber, and any other item that could be collected for the war effort. Few complained. Their husbands and sons and brothers were in a real shooting and dying war in Europe and in the Pacific. It was a war to defeat Fascism and Imperialism. It was a costly but necessary conflict. Fascism was defeated-for a time.
Now, more than fifty years later, freedom is again under siege. It is not from Europe that the threat comes this time, but from elements right here in the Land of the Free. Once again, like our parents and grand parents, we will need to sacrifice to stop the threat. Today, capitalists, CEOs, investment bankers and corporations are all being vilified by the current administration. It is a heinous type of class warfare that inevitably leads to a "Kristallnacht" or "Cultural Revolution".
A simple definition of Fascism is just state control of industry. Chavez has instituted it in Venezuela and others closer to home are well on the way to making it a reality here. I refuse to co-operate with such a regime and so should you. The great wealth of this country is still controlled by those who work for it. Our goal must be to see that our national treasure does not fall into the hands of those who would usurp our liberty. In short~we must go on strike. We must deny our hard earned wealth to those who would destroy the means to produce it.
60 million Americans voted against President Obama in the last election! I call upon every one of them who still feels the same way now to boycott the economic plans of those who would destroy capitalism in this country.
I am not asking anyone to do anything illegal or criminal. I am just asking them to participate as little as possible with the current regime. One party rule is not good for this country. There is an election in two years. If we do not prevail in restoring balance to our political house in this upcoming election it may be too late to ever do so. Here is another inconvenient truth. Socialism appears to work at first, but can only appear to do so for a limited time. Let me tell you the truth about Hitler's "Great Economic Miracle". He put people to work building roads, resorts, monuments, cars, armaments and all manner of things. People got jobs and people got paychecks. Food started to appear in once empty stores. The new currency stabilized. The nation had pulled itself out of depression through hard work and discipline. Or so it seemed. In reality. Hitler had achieved these goals by bankrupting Germany. The gold reserves were all spent. All that was left was a pauper nation with a shiny new army. Without more gold the system would come crashing down upon itself. There was no longer any money left to pay the factory workers, the road workers or the army. Other nations, however, had not spent so profligately. They still had gold and cash reserves. These nations were called Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and France. One by one they were invaded or absorbed into the greater Reich. Their looted wealth kept Germany going for another year, but that was all. Only the vast resources of the Soviet Union remained to be conquered and used to shore up the Fascist system. In the beginning of the Barbarossa campaign(The 1941 invasion of Russia by Germany), German troops were sending home care packages of food wine and cheese to their families back home because these things were no longer available to the general population. The soldiers had better rations than the their families at home. That is what socialism does. It loots when it can and then turns violent as it starts to collapse upon itself. We are on the road to something very like this, very soon.
Start your "Victory Bank" now!
You can help put the brakes on the slide to socialism and invest in your political future ( i.e. freedom) at the same time. We support our nation the most, economically speaking, when we continue the cycle of wealth creation and the free flow of goods regulated by a free market. When our government no longer upholds the free market, it no longer deserves our support. For the next two years I intend to participate as little as possible in the socialists economic experiments. I will not buy a car produced by the United Auto Workers. I will not give money or invest with banks that have succumbed to government control through TARP money or by outright seizure. I will put all such monies into my "Victory Bank". I will no longer contribute to my 401k for reasons outlined earlier. I will put that money into my "Victory Bank". I will be frugal and save as my Mom and Dad did when they had to sacrifice in the fight against Fascism. I will put that money in my Victory Bank. By starving the system we can expose the underlying bankruptcy of the socialist system sooner rather than later. Then, in two years, when the next election comes around, I will use my victory bank to support the forces of freedom. Be it at the ballot box or elsewhere. I would ask everyone that feels like I do to do the same. What a tremendous force we could be if we work together. Please help spread the word. You all did a tremendous job with the Smackdown. Help to spread the word on this as well. Let us all do our best at "Going Galt".
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
God save the Republic
Svin
