An Economic Doomsday IS Coming ... J. D. Longstreet

An Economic Doomsday IS Coming
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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Deep within the temporal lobe of the brain is this tiny little limbic system structure in roughly the shape of an almond.  This little mass of nuclei has its tiny little hands in most of our emotions and survival motivations.  It is from this teensie little clump of "stuff" that the signal is sent to either fight, or -- "get the heck out of Dodge." 

The amygdala does a lot more, but as I am most certainly NOT a brain surgeon, or a shrink, I'll stick to what I can look up on Wikipedia or Google, or some other search engine.

For the purposes of this tome, the above information will do just fine, thank you.

Here's the thing, as they say.  If there IS such a thing as a gestalt, and that gestalt has an amygdala, then it is most certainly working overtime.   

There seems to be a growing feeling, all over the world, that humanity is starring down the barrel of a cosmic gun.  We are waiting for something to happen, something rather unpleasant.  What it is exactly, we don't know.  But our collective amygdala is screaming at us to "beware."

There is much speculation (most subdued, it seems to me) about the form in which the coming disaster will arrive: famine, pestilence, war, economic, or something else.  Frankly, I suspect it will entail all of the above and then some. I don't see how a world-wide cataclysm could not.

Those whose expertise is in economics tell us that, without a doubt, the world is heading for economic doom.  The welfare states (nations),  and that includes the US, are going to collapse -- and soon.  When it begins it will resemble dominoes tumbling over, one right behind the other, until we have a total collapse of the world's economic system.

No one, repeat -- NO ONE -- has any idea how to stop this collapse.

In an article at Monty Pelerin's World the writer says the following:  " The US and other modern industrialized nations are headed for economic collapse. Political excesses created unwieldly and insolvent social welfare states in every modern democracy. The notion of providing for those who cannot or do not provide for themselves has limits. As Lady Margaret Thatcher expressed the problem:

    The trouble with Socialism is, sooner or later, you run out of other people’s money.

The writer goes on to explain:  "Those dependent on the welfare state are unaware that their benefits are not sustainable. Most believe tomorrow will be like today and the checks will keep coming from Mother Government. Political power was gained based on promising these benefits. No politician will risk his position by trying to reduce them. No democratic society has ever rolled them back via peaceful political means."

And the the writer says THIS:  "The financial hole dug by most social welfare states is too deep to get out of. The finest turnaround manager in the world, unconstrained by politics, would be unable to remedy the problems. The mathematics of the problem are just too far gone. Radical cost-cutting and proper economic policies can no longer work. Hope and change may work in a political campaign, but slogans carry no weight against the iron laws of arithmetic.

The world is on the verge of massive sovereign defaults."

So much for the US avoiding the so-called "fiscal cliff," huh?   We may have avoided the cliff only to plunge head long off the lip of the economic Grand Canyon!

The writer at Monty Pelerin goes on to say:  "Welfare states have become zombie economies. These “walking dead” are shells of what they once were. A failure in one probably produces a domino effect that dooms all."

He/she offers the following as solutions: 

"The Economic Solution

This solution requires that government spending be brought into line with revenues and held there (or below) for a lengthy period of time. That requires reneging on many social promises and possible sovereign debt defaults. A depression would occur. Homes would be foreclosed and businesses closed.

Wealth, defined in terms of physical assets, would be re-allocated. New owners and uses of assets would result. So, too, would a complete cleansing of the cancer that prevents economic growth. The economy would be traumatized, but recover rather quickly so long as government refrained from intervening. Pain and suffering are inevitable. Civil unrest is probable and so is the risk that government(s) could be overthrown.

This solution is horrible in every sense but one — it is the better of two alternatives."

So, what then is the worst solution?  The political solution.  But according to the writer there is NO political solution.  Here's what he/she says:  "There is no political solution, although that will not stop politicians from pretending there is. “Pretend and extend” is all they can do. Intervening with additional stimulus and more printed money buys some time, but worsens the economic problems. Problems and distortions are made bigger, requiring even more adjustment when they inevitably occur. Pursuing this strategy flirts with currency destruction which would destroy the savings and fixed incomes of the middle class.

The end result is the same as the economic solution — a complete and total collapse of the economy. The difference is that the collapse is more severe and that many may be destroyed in a hyperinflationary blow-off."

WOW!

I found this article to be awesome and I recommend you go over to the site and read it in its entirety.  You will find it here:

http://www.economicnoise.com/2013/01/03/economic-armageddon-is-coming/ 

(By the way -- "Monty Pelerin" is a pseudonym derived from The Mont Pelerin Society.  Just thought you'd want to know).

Smart people make me feel so, well, inadequate, you know?  But then, I think about what the writer has said and, slowly, I realize he/she is just expressing what so many of us feel but have been unable to articulate.  This writer just did it -- and did it extremely well.

It would appear the people of earth (with apologies to science fiction writers everywhere) have just passed the "point of no return."  We haven't enough fuel to return to our point of origin, and we have just discovered that we haven't enough fuel to reach our planned destination.  In plain English:  "We're screwed!"

Could THIS be what our collective amygdala has been trying to warn us about.  It explains the global feeling of "unease" felt by so many across the globe.

It is information presented in such a way as this that compels one to look upon the "preppers" with a new sense of respect.  Could it be they have been right all along?  It is certainly beginning to look that way.

Now,  if you think I am taking this a bit too lightly, I assure you,  I AM whistling past the graveyard!  For,  you see, I share that feeling of tip-toeing along the precipice of something unknown. And I have suspected for rather a long time now that many more of my species feel the same nagging worry of impending doom. The recent end of the world non-event was evidence of a sense of something ending permeating our human society.

What do you do when there is nothing you can do?  What do I do when it is the worst of bad nightmares for a control freak like "yours truly."  May we be so bold as to suggest the following:  "1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber . 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep . 5 The LORD is thy keeper : the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night."   ...   Psalm 121:1-6 

There comes a time in the lives of all of us when we have zero control over events affecting us.  The unavoidable is, well, unavoidable.

A remnant will survive to carry on and embrace whatever the future may hold.  So, do humanity a favor, and take notes!  To avoid the unavoidable in the uncertain future depends totally -- upon not repeating our history of mistakes.

See you on the other side?

J. D. Longstreet © 2013