Chris Hedges: The American Empire Is Bankrupt

[marmar]

from Truthdig:




The American Empire Is Bankrupt
Posted on Jun 14, 2009

By Chris Hedges


This week marks the end of the dollar’s reign as the world’s reserve currency. It marks the start of a terrible period of economic and political decline in the United States. And it signals the last gasp of the American imperium. That’s over. It is not coming back. And what is to come will be very, very painful.

Barack Obama, and the criminal class on Wall Street, aided by a corporate media that continues to peddle fatuous gossip and trash talk as news while we endure the greatest economic crisis in our history, may have fooled us, but the rest of the world knows we are bankrupt. And these nations are damned if they are going to continue to prop up an inflated dollar and sustain the massive federal budget deficits, swollen to over $2 trillion, which fund America’s imperial expansion in Eurasia and our system of casino capitalism. They have us by the throat. They are about to squeeze.

There are meetings being held Monday and Tuesday in Yekaterinburg, Russia, (formerly Sverdlovsk) among Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and other top officials of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The United States, which asked to attend, was denied admittance. Watch what happens there carefully. The gathering is, in the words of economist Michael Hudson, “the most important meeting of the 21st century so far.”

It is the first formal step by our major trading partners to replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. If they succeed, the dollar will dramatically plummet in value, the cost of imports, including oil, will skyrocket, interest rates will climb and jobs will hemorrhage at a rate that will make the last few months look like boom times. State and federal services will be reduced or shut down for lack of funds. The United States will begin to resemble the Weimar Republic or Zimbabwe. Obama, endowed by many with the qualities of a savior, will suddenly look pitiful, inept and weak. And the rage that has kindled a handful of shootings and hate crimes in the past few weeks will engulf vast segments of a disenfranchised and bewildered working and middle class. The people of this class will demand vengeance, radical change, order and moral renewal, which an array of proto-fascists, from the Christian right to the goons who disseminate hate talk on Fox News, will assure the country they will impose. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090614_the_american_empire_is_bankrupt/

[SpiralHawk]

1. Republicon Homelander Voodoo Economics have brought this to pass

Thanks a pantload so-called 'conservative' Republicon Homelanders

[Auggie]

4. It was planned, IMO

Bankrupt the country to allow for the privatization of local and federal services -- disaster capitalism.

[JDPriestly]

5. You are so right. And Obama is either an accomplice in this

fraud, is blind to it or fooled by his "aides" like Hilllary and Geithner or is not as smart as a lot of people claimed he was. Frankly, I am beginning to think he is in on the scam. He makes a beautiful speech about how he believes in some ideal and then claims that he can't deliver as he would like to.

He did that on the torture. He did that on the Wall Street salaries and bonuses. He is doing that on health care and on the War in Iraq. You name it. Obama doesn't deliver. I am disgusted.

I know John Edwards had an affair, and Kucinich doesn't have a lot of presence, but Edwards and Kucinich were the only candidates who saw this fraud for what it is. I've never considered myself to be a leftist. I certainly am not a socialist. But disaster capitalism is just that -- a disaster that will lead to feudalism.

Already, Germany and the Scandinavian countries are way ahead of us in many areas including alternative energy, universal healthcare, better education plans, protection of at least some industrial jobs. We are rapidly becoming a third-world country. It's disgusting. And Obama is doing nothing to effect change. I am so disppointed. I worked hard to get him elected. I and my children made sacrifices to work for his election. What a betrayal.

[Auggie]

7. President Obama has to deal with 525 other politicians,

many of whom have sold out to corporate interests. Consider what he has to deal with. If he aims as high as we want he will lose support of the corporate-controlled Congress and Obama will be deemed a failure -- and become a one term president.

Congress is the problem. So are voters for re-electing the same old crooks.

[defendandprotect]

61. Give us a break . . . Obama picked corporate accomplices. . .....

How can you get change from the lineup he grabbed at from the very first?

Obama is going to be a one-term president .... and the next president should be Kucinich!

[rucognizant]

77. But.................

Might very well be palin!

[defendandprotect]

100. Only if you vote for her --

[earth mom]

79. NO-Bill Maher said it perfectly. Obama needs to get aggressive if he even wants to keep his promises

But it's becoming more and more obvious with each passing day that Obama doesn't want to or intend to keep his promises. He knows how to play the game of politics well indeed.

Voters are electing candidates that LIE about who they are in the first place and make promises they will never ever keep. It's all a giant Bait & Switch.


Must see Bill Maher video:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x324457

[cali]

9. Edwards? Mr. Hedgefund who made bucks off the backs of Katrina victims?

please. Obama pushed through a stimulus with no repuke votes. He's pushing a public healthcare option in the face of big oppo from Congress. He's surely not perfect, but he's a fuck of a lot better than that hypocritical capitalist piggy JE.

[robdogbucky]

16. Sheesh

<“Edwards? Mr. Hedgefund who made bucks off the backs of Katrina victims?”[br />“Obama…fuck of a lot better than that hypocritical capitalist piggy JE”]

You do realize how much you have in common with the Chamber of Commerce’s Tom Donohue?

Donohue on the last election cycle of 2008:

WASHINGTON -- Alarmed at the increasingly populist tone of the 2008 political campaign, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is set to issue a fiery promise to spend millions of dollars to defeat candidates deemed to be anti-business "I'm concerned about anti-corporate and populist rhetoric from candidates for the presidency, members of Congress and the media," he said. "It suggests to us that we have to demonstrate who it is in this society that creates jobs, wealth and benefits -- and who it is that eats them."

…This year that kind of ground tactic is going to be more prevalent, Donohue said, noting that the chamber plans to make use of its ability to communicate freely with its 3 million member companies located in every congressional district. In the interview Monday, Donohue said he was unhappy with anti-corporate rhetoric coming from candidates in both parties and he wanted candidates to know about the chamber's ambitious plans

Even more than Republicans, Democratic candidates have boosted the volume of populist messages as the economy softens. Edwards, whose trial lawyer past has been openly criticized by Donohue for years, launched new advertisements that warn against the danger of replacing "corporate Republicans with corporate Democrats." The middle class, Edwards says in the new ad, is "losing ground while CEOs pocket million-dollar bonuses and corporate lobbyists get their way in Washington."

Donohue, in effect the nation's leading business advocate, kicked back hard at some of the leading Democratic proposals on taxes, labor law and the courts. If that agenda succeeds, he said, Democrats "will be gone from power for at least 40 years," though he acknowledged that the political rhetoric might moderate after the primary season..”.

[email protected]

With what I am seeing with the new admin, I wish we could have sacked up and elected a stronger progressive. Someone to stand up to the Pentagon and Big Business, and the homophobes still having their way with America's present and future. This shit is too orchestrated by the big money forces and too obvious to be ignored.

Just my dos centavos

robdogbucky

[SammyWinstonJack]

38. THANK YOU for posting this!

:yourock:

[earth mom]

81. Yep, there are some who love to spout rethuglican talking points around here.

Thanks for pointing it out. :thumbsup:

[mistertrickster]

32. Thank you! And just today, the Big O announced new regulations to cover hedge funds etc. nt.

[indepat]

12. We are betrayed by every junior folly, disaster, illegality, politicization not overturned

imo with all possible rapidity. :D

[closeupready]

17. Completely agree.

n/t

[dionysus]

22. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha... Smoove Hedge Fund Johnny... the biggest fake ever,,,,

[JDPriestly]

30. No, Big Bank Obama is a bigger fraud, and the worst of it is that Obama

pulled his fraud off. Look at all the DUers who haven't yet seen the light.

Check out what Cenk and Matt Taibi had to say about Obama's economic team. It is in a Cenk video that was posted recently. I watched it on the front page of DU today.

[dionysus]

37. hmm, from todays news;

Obama plans sweeping financial regulations
Overhaul of Wall Street, bank rules could be biggest changes since 1930s

sorry about smoove johnny, though. sometimes it's hard to accept someone you supported was a phoney.

[DireStrike]

42. Obama "plans", "says", "forcefully promises"...

Let me know when the newspapers say obama "did" something.

[JDPriestly]

53. I will be delighted to apologize if the reform actually gets enacted

and enforced and is strong enough to bring investors back to Wall Street.

[rucognizant]

78. You know.........

WHile you guys are whacking at those threatening big branches in FRONT OF YOU..THAT HUGE TREE OVER THERE IS ABOUT TO FALL ON YOU!
the damage has been done! FOR AT LEAST 30 YEARS OR LONGER! nixon, ford, reaghan, bush, clinton. bush DID IT! Obama's choices are pretty much the devil & the deep blue sea! It is the Russians, THe Chinese, & all those little "stans" Remember w went to Mongolia.......... FOR WHAT?
The bush family has been palling around with Rev sun moon, ( N Korean BTW,) for ages, who shuttles back & forth between his Washington Times, His biggest sea food distributership in the USA ( choke on your fish much?) and N Korea, & China, Paraguay with property next door to the bush spread.......... god knows where else. Keeps poppy b going with astronomical speaking fees............
ANd those other countries haver cut us out ( we were disinvited to theat meetings in Russia for the past 2 days; I'madinnerjacket was INVITED!

[earth mom]

82. Word. There is WAY too much denial here on DU. nt

[Grinchie]

83. A lot of us have analysed and seen the fraud for what it is.

But choose to remain quiet and work toward strengthening our own positions prior to when the shit hits the fan.

Once the momentum gets rolling, there is going to be some crazy shit going down when the people wake up to the fraud.

The Government is playing the suckers for time while it prepares for the fight for it's own Survival, and that means the Corporate government that has corrupted the basic ideals of the Constitution, Law and Order.

All it takes is a substantial number of people to "Withdraw" from the fraud by refusing to supply a constant vig to the Government in the form of Taxes imposed on their labor, which is ultimately used to support Corporate structures that depend on the inability of the citizen to do anything about it.

There is a reason that big Agribusiness thrives that the government doesn't want us to know. The reason is because our modern system of Agricultural production has utterly depleted the soils in America, and with every crop taken from the land, the less fertility remains. It does not take long to strip soils of all their plant nutrients when everything is shipped off to market. We only have illusions of fertility by providing synthetic nutrients to the soil at great cost, and we casually discard the nutrient left over from us into the environment without recycling it.

The Government worked hard to lose the trust of some of it's most ardent supporters, but the Fraud has become too obvious, too blatant, and too ambitious.

Enough.

[earth mom]

88. I'm watching it right now. Here is the video you're talking about:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x324849

[defendandprotect]

60. Wow . . . an Obama-basher, eh? . . . . .

People for decades have tried to straighten out our political scene ... not one cycle.
You've been told for decades that the Democratic Party is compromised/co-opted.
What about that didn't you believe?

I'm not watching any "real" TV . . . but I know people think that prices are rising --
Prices aren't rising - basically whatever you had before Bush is worth about 1/2, for the moment!

The suicidally insane among us have long gotten their way -- we have Global Warming --
and Global Warming is the bottom line.

Wake up, America!!!

[truedelphi]

76. I hope everyone reads your comments as posted here.

I can no longer spend time trying to psycho analyze Obama and his failure to deliver.

He had a one in a million shot at scrapping the deceitful Federal Reserve, and ignoring the deceitful Captains of Wall Street, and moving our nation into a new era of banking.

Issa, a Republican, and Kucinich, a Democrat, would have both been more than happy to show him the way. Issa knows that the laws put into effect in the 1980's could simply be dusted off, read and then adhered to, and the banking situation would turn itself around.

These laws came about back when the S & L debacle had threatened our economy. So Congress put together instructions on how to select an already operational bank in each region of the country, charter that bank, and then flood that banks coffers with money that then had to be loaned out to the inhabitants ofthat region.

Easy-peasey. Instead, Obama bails out the same swindlers that brought the economy to its knees but he expects a different set of results. Or does he?

Most Du'ers ignore the fact that the Federal Reserve puts up over one trillion dollars about every sixty days, in order to purchase the bonds that other nations now sniff around and leave alone. So our total amount of BailOuts monies stands at around Eleven trillion bucks.

And everyone is becoming aware of the fact that the banks are not lending this money out to very many, although that was supposed to be the deal.

To put this in perspective, California's budget mishap represents less that one fifth of one percent of this amount of money!

[JohnyCanuck]

6. Exactly

The fascist coup against FDR failed thanks to Marine Corps Gen. Smedley "War is a Racket" Butler, and they have just been biding their time ever since.

[glitch]

15. Not biding time, their treason never stopped. They just got more stealthy,

And used more trusty moles.

edit: not to imply Butler was a mole, far from it.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Broke (in more ways than one) and getting broker.

Also watch the BRIC conference on Tuesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090614/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_russia_bric

[Hannah Bell]

3. perfect storm. on the "extremist violence," though, leave us not forget

the history, e.g.:


1. Civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo was murdered by Ku Klux Klansmen who gave chase and fired shots into her car after noticing that her passenger was a young black man; one of the Klansmen was acknowledged FBI informant Gary Thomas Rowe.<22><23> Afterward COINTELPRO spread false rumors that Liuzzo was a member of the Communist Party and abandoned her children to have sexual relationships with African Americans involved in the civil rights movement.<24><25><26> <27> FBI informant Rowe has also been implicated in some of the most violent crimes of the 1960s civil rights era, including attacks on the Freedom Riders and the 1963 Birmingham, Alabama 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.<22> In another instance in San Diego the FBI financed, armed, and controlled an extreme right-wing group of former Minutemen, transforming it into a group called the Secret Army Organization which targeted groups, activists, and leaders involved in the Anti-War Movement for both intimidation and violent acts.<28><29><30><31>


2. As Chomsky explains in his essay “Domestic Terrorism: Notes on the State System of Oppression”, the 60’s and 70’s were replete with violent provocateur actions masterminded by the FBI.

“During these years, FBI provocateurs repeatedly urged and initiated violent acts, including forceful disruption of meetings and demonstrations on and off university campuses, attacks on police, bombings, and so on. Meanwhile, government agencies financed, helped organize, and supplied arms to right-wing terrorist groups that carried out fire-bombings, burglaries, and shootings, all with the knowledge of the government agencies responsible 12 — in most cases the FBI, although one right-wing terrorist in Chicago claims that his group was financed and directed in part by the CIA.

One FBI provocateur resigned when he was asked to arrange the bombing of a bridge in such a way that the person who placed the booby-trapped bomb would be killed. This was in Seattle, where it was revealed that FBI infiltrators had been engaged in a campaign of arson, terrorism, and bombings of university and civic buildings, and where the FBI arranged a robbery, entrapping a young black man who was paid $75 for the job and killed in a police ambush. 14 In another case, an undercover operative who had formed and headed a pro-Communist Chinese organization “at the direction of the bureau” reports that at the Miami Republican convention he incited “people to turn over one of the buses and then told them that if they really wanted to blow the bus up, to stick a rag in the gas tank and light it” (they were unable to overturn the vehicle).


3. According to a classified document prepared for Rumsfeld by his Defense Science Board, the new organization—the “Proactive, Preemptive Operations Group (P2OG)”—will carry out secret missions designed to “stimulate reactions” among terrorist groups, provoking them into committing violent acts which would then expose them to “counterattack” by U.S. forces.

“Rumsfeld’s plan to create “a super-Intelligence Support Activity” that will “bring together CIA and military covert action, information warfare, intelligence, and cover and deception.”



It's easy to get people to kill each other. Just kill some of them & lie about who did it.

Then you can come in to "restore order".

[NNN0LHI]

8. Isn't Chris Hedges a Ron Paul supporter?

[marmar]

10. I doubt that.....Chris Hedges is a Socialist.

n/t

[KoKo]

21. His article linked to Kucinich's financial advisor..

so it seemed he might be more a Kucinich supporter. :shrug:

[tan guera]

58. chris hedges from wiki

Christopher Lynn Hedges (born September 18, 1956 in St. Johnsbury, Vermont) is an American journalist and author, specializing in American and Middle Eastern politics and societies.

Hedges is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute in New York City. He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than fifty countries, and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News, and The New York Times, where he was a reporter for fifteen years.

****************
I dont' care what *ist* he is; he's an excellent writer and thinker.

[indepat]

11. Off you go to the greatest page where more will see what just might be "the writing on the

wall." :D

[Blue_Tires]

13. ttt

[Orsino]

14. And yet we still pretend to have the resources...

...for enormous and indefinite overseas occupations.

[closeupready]

18. And we could keep pretending if the world would simply let us, But

for better or worse, the world will not continue letting us.

You know, there's that saying about "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." And it strikes me that we are just coming off of, historically (meaning, the post-WWII period), a time of American omnipotence, and that supreme power has corrupted the entire political establishment to the detriment of not only the American people but of our allies and those referred to by TPTB as 'collateral damage', i.e., innocent civilians in sovereign countries who get in the way of our convenient designs.

[Grinchie]

84. The World getting tired of the Fraud is our only Salvation really

I don't think anybody discounts the fallout that the Bernie Maddoff scheme produced, especially since it was condoned and fostered by the Government via lax regulation and a distinct intent to ignore a money making operation.

The Maddoff schemes touched people around the world, and it is only the tip of the iceburg when it comes to the games that the Moneychangers have been playing since the 70's.

[defendandprotect]

62. We probably can't afford to bring them home! Actually, we're building a new embassy in Pakistan-!!!

[Orsino]

68. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Free Iraqi citizenship for all our troops! Suddenly they're no longer stuck in a war overseas! Then they'll really be invested in their success!

And it'll open up a lot of jobs back here! Green jobs, just like the president promised!

[defendandprotect]

99. Actually, I think in much more boring terms . . . but thanks for the lift--!!!

Great idea!

Any more problems we can apply that thinking to?



:evilgrin:

[The Wizard]

70. Like the now defunct Soviet Union and Roman Empire

The U.S. is crumbling because sustaining an empire leads to the fall. Military spending has to be cut in half at the minimum.
We have trillions to fund the invasion and occupation of a country that neither harmed nor threatened to harm us.
Yet when it comes to health care for our citizens our political leaders have short arms and low pockets.
We can thank the Bush cartel, some Democratic ass wipes and the enablers in the corporate media for the current state of affairs.
The road to empire is paved with failed republics.

[dysfunctional press]

19. welll...once we reach rock-bottom, there'll be nowhere to go but up!

every dark cloud has a silver-lining.

get out your bootstraps, and be ready to start pulling. :woohoo:

[raccoon]

29. I doubt most people have a clue just how bad rock bottom could get. nt

[dysfunctional press]

41. they will.

:scared:

[defendandprotect]

63. And make sure you're moving to the left --

[earcandle]

94. Maybe it will bring the American spirit back. Can we do everything here?

Grow food, make clothes, build homes, make babies, swim in the
rivers, make love?  

[Delphinus]

20. So,

(kind of serious question here) should I go out and spend what I have right now, to get the dollar's most earning power?

[BLS]

23. You should've been buying gold and silver 12 months ago.

I'm cashing out my 401k today if that's any indication.

This isn't a Bush thing, it isn't an Obama thing, or a Reagan or Clinton thing.

This is all very real, and it's going to happen.

[mistertrickster]

33. I think cashing out one's 401k is very unwise. For one thing, you'll have to pay

back taxes.

You could roll over your 401k's into some other investment like gold.

But don't kid yourself, gold is one of the most speculative (i.e., risky) investments you can make. If you bought gold "12 months ago" as you recommend, for instance, you would have made just about zero for the year.

http://goldprice.org/gold-price-history.html#2_year_gold_price

On edit: the price of gold now is about what it was in March of '08.

Also, if the world plunges into a major recession, what do you think happens to the value of gold?

It goes down too, along with everything else . . .

[Old Time Pagan]

72. Tough to eat gold

You might be better served find some good quality hand tools, put in a good garden and put up some food.

If this article is predictive, and I feel there are too many unknowns to assure that it is, then food may well become the new gold.

Just something to consider.

[Grinchie]

86. I'm in your school of thought Old Time Pagan

Nothing is more enlightening that trying to relearn the skills and tools that were the mainstay of life less than 40 years ago. They don't even make many tools that enable one to create extraordinary things anymore, and have relegated the majority of Americans to buying a roll of masking tape made in China.

To drill a hole, one needs a Makita, since they don't sell hand powered drills anymore. Bit Braces? They are made in China, and have chucks that don't even work!

The best example are Ace hardware "Carbon Hack Saw Blades" They aren't kidding, since the metal is about as soft as charcoal, while a Henry Disston Hacksaw I bought for $1.00 included an ancient blade that still cuts through metal like butter.

Many of the tools sold today are nothing more than movie props, and people are tricked into buying them because they know nothing about design, functionality, quality or the basic use of such tools. It is only after they get it home that they find the defects through actually using the substandard item.

Food and Water IS the new Gold.

[Old Time Pagan]

97. Good tools still exist but you've got to look for them

other places than the chain and big box stores.

I have inherited a number of "antique" tools from my father and grandfather. Wonderfully well designed, efficient and strong, I can't even imagine working without them.

One source of quality digging tools for the garden and yard work is at www.easydigging.com Greg looks around the world for tools from countries that still use hand tools to provide their livelihood and he imports them from places like Brazil, Italy and England. Very informative site with lots of information on usage, care and techniques.

We use a combination of hand tools and a wonderful 2 wheeled tractor made by BCS for our market gardens. Joel at www.earthtoolsbcs.com is who I deal with for implements. He has his finger on the tools the European growers have developed. He provides great service, advise and a fair price.

None of these tools are cheap but then quality never is in the short term but it always pays off over the long haul.

[NickB79]

98. If things are going to get that bad, lead might be a better investment

Pre-packaged atop a load of gunpowder and a brass case :evilgrin:

[Romulox]

24. So many people waggling their fingers at GM argue we can just continue borrowing from our grandkids

to support our lifestyles.

[closeupready]

25. But you know something, we aren't borrowing from our grandkids, we are borrowing from China

and giving the bill to our grandkids. It is a subtle, but real difference in what our Congress is doing to us.

[Romulox]

27. Fair enough. The point remains: USA = GM. nt

[defendandprotect]

64. But China saw the developing scam -- borrow a dollar, repay a half buck!

[Octafish]

26. Don't worry. The good guys will be saved.

Know your BFEE: It wasn’t Obama who Looted the Treasury and Banks. It was Bush and his Cronies.

Know your BFEE: Goldmine Sacked or The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One

Know your BFEE: Phil Gramm, the Meyer Lansky of the War Party, Set-Up the Biggest Bank Heist Ever.

We the People, OTOH, are in deep doo-doo.

[mullard12ax7]

28. Except for soup kitchens, all the things he says "will happen" have happened already

He wrote: "The cost of daily living, from buying food to getting medical care, will become difficult for all but a few as the dollar plunges. States and cities will see their pension funds drained and finally shut down. The government will be forced to sell off infrastructure, including roads and transport, to private corporations. We will be increasingly charged by privatized utilities—think Enron—for what was once regulated and subsidized. Commercial and private real estate will be worth less than half its current value. The negative equity that already plagues 25 percent of American homes will expand to include nearly all property owners. It will be difficult to borrow and impossible to sell real estate unless we accept massive losses. There will be block after block of empty stores and boarded-up houses. Foreclosures will be epidemic. There will be long lines at soup kitchens and many, many homeless. Our corporate-controlled media, already banal and trivial, will work overtime to anesthetize us with useless gossip, spectacles, sex, gratuitous violence, fear and tawdry junk politics. America will be composed of a large dispossessed underclass and a tiny empowered oligarchy that will run a ruthless and brutal system of neo-feudalism from secure compounds. Those who resist will be silenced, many by force. We will pay a terrible price, and we will pay this price soon, for the gross malfeasance of our power elite."

[defendandprotect]

65. Obama could immediately reapply taxes on wealthy . . .

Every resource is a natural resource --
Rther than closing roads, taxing trucks and corporations for use of them would be
more likely.
And, rather than having taxpayers fleeced by corporations, government can encourage
individual, small investments in alternative energy.
And -- we haven't even discussed PEAK OIL yet!!

Free TV on every corner -- all tuned to Fox?

And, don't worry . . . Newt Gingrich will be there to save us!!!

[mistertrickster]

31. WAIT A SECOND . . . TIME OUT! The United States is the biggest economy in the world.

Any foreign power who destroys our economy destroys their own.

China for years has REFUSED to let its currency float against the dollar. If it had, the dollar would plunge against the yuan and Chinese imports would triple in cost.

This is exactly what SHOULD happen, IMHO, to stanch the loss of manufacturing jobs to China.

So . . . what Chris Hedges so direly warns of cannot happen unless the whole world wants to join us in a major depression.

[Kaleko]

34. That's right. America is too big to fail.

Check out what actually happened today:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/31358871

Dollar Climbs on Russian Backing, Gains vs Euro

The dollar gained broadly Monday as Russia expressed confidence in the greenback as the world's reserve currency, while concerns about the euro zone economy undermined the euro.

--snip--

"We saw a lot of dollar-supportive comments from the G8 finance ministers' meeting, starting with Kudrin," said Sebastien Galy, currency strategist at BNP Paribas in New York.

Speaking on the sidelines of a Group of Eight finance ministers in Italy, Russia's Alexei Kudrin said the dollar's role as the world's main reserve currency is unlikely to change in the near future.

More at link

[mistertrickster]

35. Right. What you're saying is that the EXACT OPPOSITE of what Chris Hedges fumed about happened. nt.

[DireStrike]

43. Hope you are right.

If you are, what IS happening at these meetings is a discussion of how to grow their own markets and decouple themselves from our destructive and capricious influence.

[Kaleko]

47. There's no decoupling.

Global economic interdependence is a fact.

Anyone worth their salt as a forecaster knows this. The only way out of the hellhole is going through it together, working hand in hand in a concerted effort. That's why cool-headed systems thinkers like Obama will rule the world in the aftermath of the fall of the American Empire.

[DireStrike]

49. And if you are right about that, global government is inevitable.

You are not far off when you say people like that will rule the world.

[girl gone mad]

54. A cool-headed thinker..

wouldn't have rushed to spend hundreds of billions of dollars propping up zombie banks in the middle of a staged panic.

[Kaleko]

55. Yeah, everyone knows about Obama being a hothead in need of impulse control.

LOL.

I'm assuming you're talking about the panic caused by that Money Market Fund (forgot the name) breaking the buck back in September. The straw that broke the camel's back, which, in turn, caused a clearly panicked Hank Paulson to blackmail Congress into propping up the entire US financial system.

That panic was very real, I assure you, as millions of investors were ready that day! to withdraw their money from otherwise still viable banks and mutual fund companies all over the globe. I remember, because I was one of them.

At the time, Obama was just a Senator and not in charge, but he did vote for the bailout, which was arguably the only thing that could be done to prevent the infamous "collapsing dominos" effect that would have bankrupted everyone in short order.

[Grinchie]

87. What you are seeing is Opinion Shaping from the Fed

All it takes is one Schill to instill the idea that the Dollar is immune from the smackdown that's coming.

Believe that at your own risk.

[Kaleko]

92. I don't believe the dollar is immune -

not by a long shot.

In fact, I suspend belief in any economic forecasts with the diligence of an atheist. Of course, that includes your prophecy about a "smackdown of the Dollar that's coming."

I try to read the experts with the most impressive track records, from Roubini, Stiglitz et al to the Mogambo Guru and Mish. Sometimes I speak out against the false certainty of cocky opinion-makers such as Chris Hedges who seem to be unaware of the complexities involved in predicting definitive moves in the global economy where new constellations are constantly emerging.

Here's another sampling of expert opinions for everyone's consideration:

Three Not-So-Optimistic Economists

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/15/three-not-so-optimistic-e_n_215759.html

[dionysus]

36. you almost get the sense these domm and gloomers WANT the whole system to collapse!

crushing poverty for the whole world!!! wooohooooo

[Kaleko]

44. Fear-mongering is one way to get an adrenaline rush.

Feeling helpless and powerless? Just scare the hell out of some people on the web by posting half-baked economic forecasts that might come true - eventually, and voilà, you can be sure to have some impact.

[Romulox]

46. Is it really surprising that people aren't enthusiastic about keeping an unfair, oppressive

"free market" system alive on life support? If the system actually worked and was unfair, that'd be one thing. :hi:

[dionysus]

50. yeah but if the whole system collapses the world is in for a nice big pile of shit...

can you imagine the chaos and death that would cause?:hi:

[Romulox]

52. So the status quo must be defended at all costs, because the alternative MAY be worse?

That's a tough ideology to swallow, and diametrically opposed to the one our President ran on. :hi:

[tomp]

69. that's what the polyannas always say. nt

[Grinchie]

89. Perhaps you condone Fraudulent Freedom instead?

Crushing poverty is not caused by lack of money. It's caused by lack of education.

People forget that they share the Earth with the rest of the Animals. Why is is that Animals seem to do just fine without the concept of Money, Religion and Civilization? What makes them able to cope with nothing more than their own membrane, utilising the natural environment to live a meaningful life, ie, surviving as a unit?

Are Primitive peoples with excellent health living in "Crushing Poverty" or are they living a natural life, based upon natural laws?

It is odd that as soon as Primitive diets are replaced with modern diets, entire races become disease ridden, malformed and degenerated.

The people that have lost the connection to the earth have lost their souls, and will forever be trapped in an unfulfilled life pattern.

[wolfgangmo]

74. Yes and no

Yes the American economy is the largest in the world by a long shot.

But no, there are countries and places where they would consider it a recession a small price to pay if they could bring the US down to size. Last year 3 members of OPEC voted to have the Euro replace the dollar as the currency of all oil transactions in the world. 2 years ago this was not even discussed. If that happens then our currency won't be worth the paper it's printed on.

And this wouldn't be the first time in Chinese history where they have voluntarily experienced short term pain for long term gain. It is called "eating bitter" in chinese. If they thought they would gain long range by our collapse they would do it tomorrow. ... and so would we if our history is any indication.

[bertman]

39. Chris Hedges. Mr. Pollyanna

[Wednesdays]

40. K&R

:kick:

[dysfunctional press]

45. greed...is good.

isn't it?

[City Lights]

48. K&R nt

[ProgressIn2008]

51. K&R - much respect for Hedges. nt

[AntiFascist]

56. Maybe people will stop buying gas guzzlers....

just as Europe has done for the past several decades.

[Michigander4Dean]

57. And of course Democrats act like chickens.

[defendandprotect]

59. We're bankrupt OK, but Obama will still play the war games . . .

and, of course, someone knows where the money is --

recall the bailouts -- let corrupt and evil capitalism go down --

it's destroyed about everything else, including the planet!

Intelligence money hidden in Education budgets -- millions/billions frittered

away in wars -- in cash!

Still $3.4 trillion that Pentagon can't account for . . . !!

$15 million to Israel every day --

Patriarchy/Organized patriarchal religions and its system of capitalism --

"Really smart about really stupid things."

Suicidally stupid -- !!!

[OmahaBlueDog]

66. It's an interesting article. That said, I think it misses several marks

What a difference 10 years makes from the so-called "New American Century".

I agree that we are approaching a "day of reckoning" with respect to debt. I'll also agree that getting out of South Asia and getting out of the world police business is inevitable -- when Obama said he'd cut the deficit in half, that's what he was really saying.

However, China can't have the cake and eat it too. Let's say they stop buying debt tomorrow. OK, we counter by printing money. The Yuan, which they refuse to float, will drop against the dollar -- it is inevitable. The prices of all imports rise -- including all of those Chinese imports we've come to love. Where will those goods come from? We'll produce them here. It will finally become viable again -- that's how the cycle works.

Don't misunderstand -- the days of a huge US middle class working in factories is gone forever. Automation has seen to that. But we can, and will produce goods if economics force our hand.

We can also substitute for a lot of imported oil. First, we have coal and natural gas in relative abundance. Second, we could simply dismantle about a third of our nuclear weapons, still have enough left over to bomb the crap out of everyone, and build nuclear power plants to replace oil burners. It's viable, produces no greenhouse gasses, and (in economic crunch time) we'll become far less picky about where we dump/bury the waste.

However, that won't come to pass. Not much of what you mention will come to pass. That, in fact, is what should worry you.

China will, of necessity, float the Yuan. They will do this as their part in assuming the role as the world's pre-eminent economic power. What then? They go shopping, of course. First, and foremost, they will buy all the high tech manufacturing their money will buy. Then, as a nation with our size, but 4 times as many people, they will start looking at our timber, our feedlots, our farms, and our food processing facilities. We are hellishly good at efficient food production, and they have a lot of people to feed. How we eat is, of course, our problem. I suspect they'll also look at buying into our financial sector; banks, insurance companies, real estate -- you name it. And they'll buy influence...they'll buy politicians, they'll buy media, and they'll buy a big, bad military to rival (if not surpass) ours.

Their goal will not be global domination, but the Taiwan issue will be settled in their favor in due course. There is not much we can, or will do about that issue. South and North Korea will unify along terms that China, not us, will dictate.

[voc]

67. OBD I think you are correct

And that will change the game players on the surface but not the game.

[jonestonesusa]

75. Good points. Omaha produces smart people!

Like me and you and Warren Buffet!

More seriously - I think that the key to resolving the debt crisis is for the Obama administration to maintain a crisis mentality so that they can take the political heat while taking strong action to reduce long-term debt. Those strong actions sure should include a reduction in forces abroad, quitting the unsustainable practice of supply-side tax cuts as in the ones that were 40% of the stimulus package, and sticking with the planned increase on tax rates of the top few % of the population. We also need entitlement reform. For Social Security it's just arithmetic - look at the number of retirees and the number of workers, and set the tax rates where workers provide enough funding. With Medicare it's tougher because there's no real cost containment in health care and the demand is growing, notwithstanding what health care reform will cost in the short run, financially and politically.

I agree with you on the energy and foreign policy options. I think the stimulus took the right direction in some of its energy and infrastructure spending, but compared to tax cuts and bailouts, the infrastructure spending wasn't enough, and neither was the aid to states that are feeling the full impact of the recession. Now it's going to get harder to pass any further aid to states after some of the initial post-election capital was squandered, in my opinion, on tax cuts for the luckily still-employed.

I don't know if you believe it, but Pres. Obama has been claiming that the government is starting to show a profit on the bank bailout funds from the Paulson plan. If this turns out to be true, it's good news, even if the fraud and rot on the bottom of the bad securities hasn't been rooted out yet.

Nobody likes a tight government budget in bad economic times, but we might be facing that. As opposed to some of the posters on the thread, I feel like one of the best things Obama offers is a calm demeanor so that we can ride out socially the unrest that may occur. But we really have to get back to direct development of the domestic and regional economy as a way towards future growth. The rest of this world is figuring this out - we're still overly attached to the finance sector as the salve for all problems. It isn't.

[DemReadingDU]

71. morning kick

[Echo In Light]

73. Thanks for posting

[earth mom]

80. How many of us were warning months & months ago that this was the end game plan?!

The powers that be want to obliterate the middle class so that we will have no choice but to be slave labor for them.

All so the can own EVERY FUCKING THING in this country.

FUCK THEM!!! :grr:

[dysfunctional press]

85. if dollars are going to be worthless- isn't it pointless to be saving money?

wouldn't it be preferrable to spend it stocking up on necessary items as well as things that can be bartered with others?

[Grinchie]

90. Yes, but don't get carried away.

While I continue to stock up on necessities and strategic tools and such, one has to realize that we are in new territory. Everything you aquire and or hoard or store away incures a cost of Ownership, so one has to be careful on what you invest in.

One of the firsts things I learned about Real Property was "Carrying Cost", which I now apply to everything as the "Cost of Ownership". In it's simplest form, an example would be a new car. Other than it's purchase price, the Cost of Ownership is esternal. It's Insurance, Fuel, the Garage, Washing it, Driving it, Guarding it, Registering it, etc.. When one approaches liabilities such as a car with this in mind, you can save a lot of trouble by just simplifying the equation. Used car, No Grage, No washing, little maintenance, no need to worry about theft, etc..

It's the same thing with tools and supplies. You still need to keep them dry, safe and secure.

If we are forced to be mobile, gathering large amounts of material things will be of no benefit if you have to abandon them in a hurry. Looks at the people in California wildfires.. They usually get out with important papers and some whotos.. All the rest is lost, and despite the marketing hype from Insurance companies, all your knicknacks are truly lost.

The best investment is education on how to produce things of necessity from scratch. So many simple bits of knowledge have been lost that many people wouldn't have a clue what to do if say the Water supply were cut off for more than 24 hours.

As an example of this, a recent review of emergency preparedness supplies does not include a knife, shovel or an axe. Nor does it include candles. I guess they assume that everyone has a knife already? Regardless of that possibility, it should be a requirement of any emergency cache, along with candles, water, soap, a few tarps, twine or rope, salt, alcohol.

Just enough to last a week or so until one can assess the situation.

[dysfunctional press]

91. i don't plan on being mobile- i'm more in the 'hunker down' mindset...

trying to do what we can to be as self-sufficient as possible.
we have a little over an acre ourselves, a large garden, well-water, LOTS of tools, and combined with like-minded neighbors, we could build a very strong communal group.

[nikto]

93. EAT THE RICH

Inside every rich person are many lbs of
nutritious meat to sustain your family through
the hard times to come.

Just use the same recipes you use for beef or pork,
and your dishes will turn out fine!





Just a modest proposal...

[earcandle]

95. Yuk!

[earcandle]

96. go veggie. plant minors lettuce, tomatoes, corn, whatever... but don't resort to cannibalism... yuk