| The Sky is Falling |
[Dec. 4th, 2008|04:53 pm] |
I spend way too much time stressing myself out. I focus on all of the potential negatives in life, and god knows I go to some extremes, and few of the positives. So much so that it is debilitating. I don't like feeling this way, but I feel this way a lot. My mom calls it "Future Focused Catastrophic" which is therapist lingo for everything I have written here over the past few years.
The truth of the matter is that I don't know what is going on, but I see a lot which gives me cause to worry. Maybe it is unneeded. Maybe I'm on the money. I don't know. But I do know that I'm the only person that I know of that is as stressed about things as I am. So what I'm doing is A: Not normal, and B: Leaving me powerless. And powerless is not the person I want to be. So something's gotta give.
Personal Affirmation:
Joe, you are a bright, talented, and gifted individual. You are capable of anything you set your mind to.
I just said that out loud and am ready to cry, I have not been giving myself enough of this.
What I have acquired over the past several years is a mental disease based on a reality which may never come to pass.
I have to leave this land I inherited, it is keeping me stuck, like it kept my father stuck, and if I don't I will probably suffer a fate not too dissimilar from his. Hell, I'm already well on my way down that road.
I guess what I'm saying is that I do see a lot of forces in the world, spinning around out of my control, and I fear them. And as a result I've taken to sequestering myself away in a house which has already served as a tomb for one member of my family. I am not living here because of opportunity, I am here out of fear. Living in fear is not the life I want to lead. Nothing to fear, but fear itself. This too shall pass.
I'm done with doom and gloom. Sorry if I scared anyone. |
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| Get your money out of paper |
[Nov. 23rd, 2008|11:22 am] |
Have you ever seen a weather report where they say that a warm front is meeting a cool front? Well that's exactly what we are seeing today in the financial world. Now what is happening is all of these alphabet soup investment vehicles (Collateralized Debt Obligations -CDOs, Mortgage Backed Securicties - MBSs, etc.) are all proving to be worthless pieces of paper with no backing because they were created and given to people as mortgages when the recipient could not afford them. Then the people holding the mortgages started using the equity in their McMansions and took out loans on them. This is what made the housing bubble possible, and now that it has popped, all of that hallucinated wealth has disappeared. That is why we have oil and gas prices are falling, there is literally less money in the system. As a result, one dollar buys more than it did a few years ago. This is a great time to be holding cash and reinvesting it into real durable goods. Things will not stay this way for long. Why do I say this? Because Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has gone on record saying that he would do whatever he had to do to keep the economy afloat, even if it meant dropping dollars from helicopters. See, Helicopter Ben was a student of the Great Depression, and he will do whatever it takes to avoid a deflationary depression (which is where we're headed right now) even if it means printing money ad infinitum. 700 billion dollar bailout, anyone?
So here's how it works itself out:
[Deflation (decrease in money supply) = cool front]
+
[Inflation (increase in money supply) = warm front]
=
Perfect financial storm
In a few short years the economy as we know it today may not exist, and the dollar will ride the wave to hyperinflationary hell. Leaving it the same fate as the Deutsche Mark after WW1 and the Antonianus of the Declining Roman Empire. In the Weimar Republic the Mark became so worthless that it would take a wheel barrow full of the stuff to buy a loaf of bread, and when opportunity arose, people would steal the wheel barrow and leave the Marks! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Inflation-1923.jpg
So now you've been warned. Get your money into real things such as good quality seeds, livestock, gold and silver, matches, firewood, solar panels, warm clothes, toilet paper, things that are real and have trade value, because we are going to be experiencing a revival in the barter system. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 22nd, 2008|07:20 pm] |
Every day the news seemed to be getting worse. The economy in free fall and no jobs to be had anywhere. What choice did he have? "Tough times call for drastic measures." he said to himself as he pulled back the action on his stolen Colt 45. Tucking the firearm into his concealed holster, he hit the streets.
That's as far as I got with this story.
The more I think about it, the more I want to be a writer. Someone like Derrick Jensen or James Howard Kunstler, but I don't know what to say. I could continue on with my life's theme of the last few years, that industrial civilization is fucked, and that we need to start making radical changes in how we live our lives or live with the consequences. So far it hasn't made me a very popular person.
So what?
The fact is that industrial civilization is fucked. It's fucked! Fuck fuckitty fuckeredly fucked. A lot of us could die over the next several decades, be it from war, famine, disease, pestilence, and I doubt if Jesus can save us. So fucking prepare! Buy seeds, buy guns, buy silver, get out of debt, don't get into debt, buy a good bicycle, get in shape, eat right, and fucking be happy! Because that may be all you have someday.
Here's a graph of human population levels since the stone age: http://wilderdom.com/images/WorldPopulationGraph.jpg Notice how the sharp rise in population corresponds with the industrial revolution? That was made possible by coal and later by oil. What have we done with these abundant resources? Why we've used them to make life easier for a short period of time for a few people, in the process destroying the very soil that we rely on for life. Look at the Midwest. It is the bread basket of the United States, but it will not survive as farmland without fossil fuels. The fact is that the natural fertility has been mined from it, and now it is merely a sponge for ammonium nitrate and Roundup., and this same thing is happening the world over.
Did you know that for every calorie of food you eat (from a grocery store or restaurant) that it took ten calories of fossil fuel energy to grow it and get it to you? Read this: http://www.harpers.org/archive/2004/02/0079915. It's only a matter of time before this equation catches up with us.
Need a model for the future? Look at Cuba after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When the SU collapsed, it left Cuba without a trading partner for oil. Their agriculture collapsed as a result. What happened? First people went hungry. Second, they utilized every single inch of space they had to grow food. I heard somewhere that the people of Havana managed to grow 40% of all the food the people needed in their own city, utilizing abandoned lots, roof tops, and balconies.
Need another example? Look at the Incas. Here's a good photo of Machu Picchu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Peru_Machu_Picchu_Sunrise_2.jpg. Notice all of those terraces covered in grass around the edges of the city? They used those to grow potatoes and other yummy things, right there in the city.
How bad will things really get? I don't know for sure. I'm anticipating a global war for oil. Oil is the life blood of modern living. Without it nothing works. And if there is not enough of it to go around, people will not be happy. But we don't have to fight a war! Tighten your belt, and get used to living in more crowded conditions, and definitely grow your food. We can make do without cars and electricity if we have to. They are not necessary for life.
Love yourself, cause most people don't give a fuck. |
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| A poem I wrote before quittting my job |
[Sep. 19th, 2008|07:08 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Enumclaw | ] |
| [ | music |
| | I <3 Derrick Jensen | ] |
Went to school,
Four years later,
Losing the rat race,
Found an opportunity in the service industry,
Scrubbing toilets,
Another day another dollar,
Right Frank?
Can't even afford to put money in the bank,
Got dreams,
But can't live them,
I'm a slave to an economic system. |
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| Questions |
[Apr. 19th, 2008|10:37 am] |
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Why does it seem there is someone for everyone? Why does it seem that I'm all alone? I know its not the truth, but in a way it is. I see couples walking down the street. Dressed alike, a perfect match. And I ask myself, "Why not me?" I'm a good person, I'm self-confident, I love myself, I'm a good listener, I'm a good provider. Why not me? Why do I find it so diificult to make friends? Why do I run at the first sign of attraction? Why do I feel so alone when I am surrounded by so many people who love me? I look inside myself for the answer. I'm not having fun. I'm driving myself crazy with unanswerable questions. Its time to stop searching and to start playing. |
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| bad news bears |
[Mar. 28th, 2008|01:42 pm] |
Friends,
A few years ago the Fed stopped publishing the M3, which is the measure of how much money is in circulation. Before that inflation was between 3-5%, but since the Fed stopped reporting the data, private companies who follow this sort of thing have reported that inflation has shot up to around 13% annually. This means that every year your 1 dollar loses 13 cents of its value. Recently the Fed also changed the laws governing banks. It used to be that banks were required to keep a certain amount of cash in reserves in their vaults, but the Fed changed that rule so that banks could keep their reserves in credit on loan from the fed. This means that every bank in the country is technically bankrupt. These indicators, coupled with a dying housing market (which has been America's economic engine of the past few years), and $100/barrel oil in an economy dependent on cheap fossil fuels means that we are in for hard times.
Lately Bush has been talking about giving Americans an economic stimulus check with their tax return. This is nothing more than Disney Fun Bucks or Monopoly money created out of thin air with no backing and no intrinsic value except for the good faith of investors, and I believe it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back. I say this for the reasons stated above, and additionally for knowing Bush to use words like "Freedom" when he means "Fascism," and "Democracy" when he means "Corporate Rule." Why would anyone expect him to use a term like "Economic Stimulus" and have it mean anything other than "Economic Destruction?"
I don't mean to be an alarmist or to scare anyone, but it is for these reasons that I believe that the American economy is six months or less away from crashing. I tell you these things only in hopes that it will help you to help yourself. Personally, I have spoken with both my Accountant and my Financial Adviser, sharing with them my concerns and both of them agreed with me. This morning my Financial Adviser encouraged me to sell all of my stock (which was up in dollar terms, but when I measured it in terms of silver everything was rapidly losing value). Now I am in the process of hastily paying off debt and converting it into cash and other hard assets such as silver bullion (which is set to explode), tools, seeds, tractor implements, books, good quality clothing, and livestock. I strongly encourage all of you to take your money out of the bank, before we see bank runs, and take similar actions as are appropriate for your situation. I hope this helps.
Your Loving and Loyal Friend,
Joe
P.S. Here's a graph of the h3 (the measure of bank reserves), plus a few others to illustrate my point. http://www.greenrushcapital.com/greenrush_dr_strangemath.pdf |
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| New Blog |
[Jul. 30th, 2007|09:37 pm] |
I started a new website/blog for my farm. It's here: http://www.geocities.com/the_opium_cowboy/
It came to be through the book I was writing when I realized that it would be a hell of a lot easier to use as a website. So, voila! |
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