The vampire bat is a horrifying pig-nosed wart of a creature which feasts in a manner that, believe it or not, is a rather familiar scene to those of us who closely study alternative economics. After erratically flittering about in the sinking evening sky, it targets the warmth of a sleeping farm animal and latches onto it with its claws. Carefully, it inserts a fang into a vein dense region of the creature’s body, and laps away at the blood. Normally, the oblivious livestock are completely unaware and helpless to the attack. The tiny parasite does not inflict an immediately mortal blow to its host, but over time, disease and physical debilitation result. The vampire has destroyed the animal, and, pathetically, the animal has no idea.
Just as in nature, the economic world has its own bloodsucking vermin in the form of banking elites which are a wretched drain on the whole of the human race. Without their vicious and predatory presence, I envision a world so rapturously above and beyond what we wallow in today that it is impossible to describe. The disgust many feel when considering the virulent feeding habits of the common mosquito or the slithering leech does nothing to compare to the utter gut churning revulsion I feel when studying the financial habits of banks like the Federal Reserve and the “too big to fails”. They are without a doubt the most malignant form of social cancer imaginable.
And yet, after nearly four years of ongoing fiscal exsanguination, a sizable portion of the American populace is still looking to these pests for economic comfort and reassurance, just like farm animals consistently grazing near the entrance of a vampire bat cave, as if it is a shelter from harm. Worst of all is the willingness by which investors still, to this day, commit their savings and their livelihoods to the stock market meat grinder. Let’s be honest; the typical American daytrading investor is a complete moron. They have absolutely no sense of the fundamentals of our financial structure nor the eccentric rules by which it operates. They only have the faintest inkling of the functions of the highly manipulated stock market. They foolishly believe that what little money they make today riding the wave of an illegitimate liquidity driven rally they will actually get to keep. For them, stock investment is no different from buying a scratch-off lotto ticket at a hillbilly gas station; it is a cheap and tawdry game rife with failure but exciting to play, if only for a fleeting guilt addled thrill.
To be fair, they play because the game is indeed “rewarding”, at least, initially. The first taste is so sweet that it soils the plasma; the very skin of the cellular membrane of the financial mind becomes saturated. It swells within the weakening heart of a culture, and overrides its sense of logic. It makes us do terrible and stupid things, and we clasp our hands together and pray that it will never end. But, of course, an ending is painfully inevitable. The more we indulge, the more it takes down the road to satisfy us. We become an addict nation, riding the chemical wave of a pharmaceutical roller coaster fed by the opiates of fiat and fantasy.
The bottom line; we are being drained of our lifeblood as a country. However, the mainstream media is rife with talk of “recovery”, and one might ask how this could be possible. An overwhelming spectrum of solutions has been presented over the past 3-4 years, and each one has given the stock market a little push towards the green, so what’s the problem?
The problem is, the actions taken by our government and banking elites have built the connecting strands of a spider’s web, instead of a safety net.
Let’s examine some the most common solutions presented to the increasingly desperate American public and why these delusions have lulled us into the role of victim in the most elaborate monster movie of all time…
Centralization As a Solution To…Centralization…?
Europe’s current disintegration is a perfect example of this strange and ultimately destructive policy. The EU as an experiment is an utter disaster. Once the jewel of the open border dynamic and a bastion of the “merits” of globalization, the economic union has been exposed as a kind of waxwork museum; a tourist trap curiosity filled with illusions of life, but rather hollow upon closer inspection.
Half of the countries committed to the EU are burdened with liabilities well beyond the 60% debt to GDP ratio outlined in the ‘Growth and Stability Pact’. Some countries, including Greece, met few if any of the presented criteria for membership and were allowed to join anyway. The only reason the system was able to function at all was due to the imaginary wealth of the toxic derivative framework which now no longer exists.
The problem with globalization is that it requires assimilation; it demands that sovereign nations adopt the fiscal character of their neighbors in order to present the face of a single entity. Of course, when these countries are unable to do this because of their cultural differences, or their incongruent economies, something has to be slapped together instead. Artificially tying together societies by forcing them to financially harmonize is, in my view, a criminal act of collectivism. Now that this crime is being unveiled for all the world to see, though, the corrupt governments and banking puppeteers of Europe have suggested even MORE of the same! That’s right…their solution to the collapse of the EU is a harmonization not just of finance, but of politics and law. A single governing body which would dictate every nuance of the union.
The claim that Europe was not centralized enough, and that this is what caused the breakdown, is absolutely preposterous. Globalization makes a system inflexible and weak. If any portion of that system fails, it sends shockwaves through the rest. This is because centralization removes the protections of independently insulated structures and allows corrupt policy to spread like a plague. As the economic situation grows more dire, the end result will always be a reduction in the common citizen’s standard of living. In harmonization, It is far easier to make everyone equally poor than it is to make them equally rich. With a single, narrow minded leadership, especially one that is completely unaccountable to the people, the EU will become the most fragile makeshift empire in history, and a model for a global government that hopefully will never exist.
Print To Avoid The Pain…
I can’t tell you how truly exhausted I am with the constant rehashing of bailout bills and cheap lending windows as if they have ever or will ever change anything. Let’s make this clear; Keynesian stimulus measures are useless. They will always be useless. Governments do NOT create jobs, they destroy them. Central banks do NOT create wealth, they dilute it. Quantitative easing and zero interest lending does NOT diminish debt, it displaces it; removing it from the shoulders of private corporate banking institutions where it belongs and dumping it in the laps of taxpayers. I’ll say it again; the debts created by major banks have not been paid. They have been handed to you, and your children. Forget the December Santa Rally and the temporary holiday job boost. Nothing has changed since 2008.
The process of transferring private debt into public obligation is a tool of economic vampires. The utility in this is obvious. A program of wealth transference has the ability to prolong full collapse while at the same time giving the impression of stability. The dollar itself characterizes this conflict. The currency has been overprinted since the credit crisis began by some estimates in the ten’s of trillions. Not only has it been devalued to temporarily stave off a purging in the U.S., but now also in Europe. And yet, the dollar index, which supposedly measures the Greenback’s global value, has spiked. We are lulled into a sense of safety by such arbitrary measurements, but our buying power is being subversively annihilated. In less than a year’s time, those who dove into the dollar as a safe haven will discover their bones picked clean by predatory banks and hidden flesh eating inflation. Count on it…
Create A New Currency…
Globalists love currencies, as long as they aren’t tied down by a commodity. For central bankers, each fiat currency is a stepping stone to something more sinister. They are disposable. They are expendable. Like toothbrushes. Yes…even the dollar. And in this rests the key to economic control. A currency is a symbol of trade and labor; if you can create and destroy that symbol at will, then you can dominate trade and labor. Through a mere piece of paper, you manipulate the very breath of social life. No one should be given that kind of power without uncompromising transparency and constant public governance, but the Federal Reserve is free from both.
The suggestion that we can solve our current financial despair with the formation of a whole new currency, or a global currency, is like suggesting to a slave that he would be much more free with a shinier set of chains. Any solution that purports to undo the crisis by doing more of the same was probably devised by an economic vampire.
This includes digital currencies like the failed “Bitcoin”, which swagger about in the classy looking threads of technology and diversity while flashing us impromptu peace signs. Digital currencies are a Star Trek theme park distraction, and just like any paper fiat currency, they make promises they cannot keep. Any trade system that depends upon good faith in ones and zeros traveling across a network of machines that can be hacked or rendered useless by collapse is doomed. We have already tasted the danger of digital through the debauchery of credit cards. Why tempt fate even further?
More Regulation And Control…
Regulation is not the problem in America’s economy; the REGULATORS are the problem with America’s economy. The SEC is given thousands of potential investigations a year to pursue, but rarely do they ever follow through, and when they do, it’s to throw the angry masses a Bernie Madoff or two; an act of insincere appeasement in light of much greater fraud.
Being that true free markets have not existed for at least a century, the insinuation that free markets are the root of the collapse is a bit absurd. The guidelines for government oversight of business in the U.S. already exist; government has just refused to implement them. Adding new restrictions to an already restricted market will change nothing. Therefore, the only solution that makes any sense whatsoever as far as regulation is to wipe the slate clean entirely. Remove the Federal Reserve, replace the SEC, and replace the current establishment leadership.
I have heard it said that the philosophy of our economic system is the problem. This is an ignorant cop-out. The principals of free markets are not the issue; the men who abuse them and diminish them, on the other hand, are. Anyone who suggests that we as a country should focus our anger on the idea of the system rather than the men behind the misuse of that system is, without a doubt, an economic vampire.
Lurking in the Shadows...
The question of solutions is difficult, not because there aren’t any, but because those that will actually succeed require pain, sacrifice, and incredible hard work. Most people don’t like to think about that sort of thing. This is why global banks and their proponents have been able to maintain the recovery magic act for the past few years (just barely), and it is why the useless concepts they put forward are still given public consideration. We WANT to be sold on the proposal of an easy way out.
One rule to never forget when considering any solution is to take into account who benefits most from its implementation, and who has to labor for its success. If average people are forced to exert all the effort, and an elite few reap all the substantial benefits, this contradiction outweighs any assertion of practicality. It is not worth our time, nor our energy, to shadowbox reality. Unfortunately, this is all we have been doing as a nation since 2008.
The creeping terror that lay ahead is not the economic collapse, but the men who would use it to their favor. The stakes are high. With the NDAA and similar bills in place, fiscal distress is no longer just a matter of economics, but a matter of personal liberty. Without a doubt, a collapse will be used as a rationalization for totalitarianism. If we do not make the hard decisions now, and take it upon ourselves to construct our own localized economies separate and insulated from the mainstream, we will, indeed, find ourselves one day cowering in the dark of a long drawn night infested with fiends, and desperate enough to actually ask them for help. They will be happy to give it, at a very bloody price…
You can contact Brandon Smith at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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written by Peter1 , December 23, 2011
Brandon, I can appreciate your viewpoint put into wonderful prose. It paints a picture of the reality we all need to awaken to. The seed has been planted.
written by Oathkeeper_Scott , December 23, 2011
Great article. Love your phrasing and images:
"...like suggesting to a slave that he would be much more free with a shinier set of chains."
"...our buying power is being subversively annihilated."
"...find ourselves one day cowering in the dark of a long drawn night infested with fiends, and desperate enough to actually ask them for help."
Powerful.
written by MKM_Bronco , December 23, 2011
Brandon, the only Achilles Heel in your thesis is that the Bankster Elite's days are numbered. This particular breed of vermin has been manipulating the world to their own ends, in the process enriching themselves beyond all ken, for at least a milennia. In truth, the GFC was an outcome of their plans, inching them ever closer to regulation and world government. They are too entrenched to remove. Anyone trying should take heed from the assassination of president Kennedy. Kennedy signed an executive order weeks before his untimely end, and this order meant the Treasury and not the privately run Federal Reserve, would issue currency. Other factors such as sharing intelligence with the USSR were probably involved in the Faceless Manipulators' swift execution of a sitting President, but, the lesson learned must be that the Bankster's and their buddies must be accounted for before any real change can occur. Once accounted for irresponsible use and abuse of currency may still continue. There is an important role to play for experts in the knowledge of building and repairing a functioning economy, and effective control of the money supply is essential. The US government has been beholden to corporate influence and the reckless reduction in taxes on business and corporations in the USA, in the middle of an economic boom mind you, is a fundamental reason why it has been unable to deal with the economic mailaise. Government should have received its fair share of the boom times, running a sizeable surplus so Keynsian, counter-cyclical fiscal policy could have met and exceeded the economic down-turn. Instead, they have had one hand tied behind their back because Bush II cut taxes and Treasury had no depth to its resources enough to effectively stimulate the economy. Worse than that, there are no funds available to invest in the health and welfare, as well as the education of the next generation. This is foolish as this generation (which will be smaller than the Boomers) will have to pay exceptionally high income taxes to pay for elderly boomers and the mess they have left behind. You can only pay high taxes if you have a high income, and you can't justify high incomes without high levels of education and a fit and well populations. It is sad to see such a great nation brought to its knees by a few reckless, stupid and powerful few.
written by Brandon Smith , December 23, 2011
@MKM
There is no such thing as an invincible opponent. Besides, what the hell else are we going to do? We can sit around and do nothing, or, we can fight back. Those are our only two options. It is up to each individual to decide. How other people react is not my concern. My only concern is what I DO about the problem, and I plan to prevail...
written by The Past Participle , December 24, 2011
The NDAA is the most frightening piece of legislation that one could possibly imagine. Moreover, Canada has just signed a security deal with the US that will allow US law enforcement officials to enter and operate in Canada. As a Canadian, I find this very deeply disturbing. The MF Global debacle has demonstrated that there is no rule of law, and that the banking cartel can steal with impunity. Ten years ago, I could never have imagined that over 1 billion dollars could simply disappear from people's accounts, with little media coverage, and a fraudulent investigation. We are moving ever faster toward Banker Dictatorship. All the evidence one needs is before us, and the public is somnolent and clueless. Expect a false flag "incident" as a prelude to a massive revoke of our rights, and the activation of the NDAA. Expect this to be cheered by the manipulated (if not entirely complicit) media, and swallowed whole by a pathetic public. We are at the dawn of fascism, these are the most frightening of times, and virtually nobody understands it. To be very honest, I feel quite helpless, and I don't know what to do. My question: How do we fight back?
written by egarners , December 24, 2011
Tired of the oligarchy of banksters and big coporate monopolies ruling your representatives thru special interests. Right now you are dedpendent on them.
Best recourse is become independent of them and thrive.
http://www.thrivemovement.com
The technology is there..... it's up to you to use it. As long as you play their game, it's over.
http://www.constitutionattacked.com
written by Orwells Pigs , December 24, 2011
Remember the line from Animal Farm? When things were getting tough the pigs gave the farm animals the slogan became "Work More Eat Less".
written by Morpheous , December 24, 2011
http://www.usavsus.info/ Take the blue pill and delete this and everything in your life will stay the same, take the RED PILL and open this, and the truth will be revealed to you and there will be no going back, it is your choice, your free will.
written by Astraea Shaw , December 25, 2011
You ARE a really great writer. Thank you for his article which is so exactly true, and just the way I feel too.
written by Jack Carter, Chev Olds. , December 25, 2011
It's called corruption, or thievery. Men taking what is not theirs for their own purposes rather than using "it" for the correct purposes. Simple. : /
written by Art Thompson , December 25, 2011
This is a liberal problem from the top down. You are a cutisey wirter with no solutions. I think most know by now there is a problem so quite with the whining and come up with some better ideas.
written by lifeonmars , December 25, 2011
Oligarchy is he inevitable result of 'free market' deregulation - we are heading into Ayn Rand's libertarian dystopia.
Without regulation those with economic power will always ride rough-shod over the rest. Hence the rise of the robber barons under the last period of laissez-faire.
written by Brandon Smith , December 25, 2011
@Art
You see, Art, the unfortunate stupidity in your response shows that you are PART of the problem, and that's what articles like this are meant to fix.
If you and people like you would actually look for more than five seconds beyond this page at the rest of the website, you would find that this entire project is built around multiple solutions, from barter networking to safe haven relocation. Sadly, you have been too lazy to do so, and instead have decided to jump to ignorant conclusions rooted in a lack of understanding. If people like you didn't exist, the elites would be a memory and the "problem" would be mute.
What I would suggest to you is that you explore this website. If you don't like what you find, then you could stop being such a useless human being, and construct YOUR OWN solutions as well. Instead of lounging about on your pathetic ass trolling the internet, make something happen if you are so concerned.
I am not here to save you. Honestly, I think you should endeavor more to be worth saving....
written by Brandon Smith , December 25, 2011
@lifeonmars
At no point did I mention "deregulation". What I DID say, was that the regulations that are already in place are more than sufficient, they simply haven't been enforced. Therefore, in this kind of corrupt political environment, enacting even MORE regulation is absolutely useless. Its a distraction to temporarily appease the masses and give even more power over the economy to elitists.
What you need to understand, most of all, is that regulation works in favor of the robber barons when the robber barons ARE the regulators.
written by isyourname? , December 25, 2011
when it is still going strong.. stronger than ever
written by Brandon Smith , December 26, 2011
@isyourname
Really? Do you own any bitcoin currency? Because I've spoken with many people who lost out big time on bitcoin. Also, the founder seems to have disappeared off the face of the map. I would say that constitutes total failure...
written by Claudia Marus , December 30, 2011
"The problem with globalization is that it requires assimilation; it demands that sovereign nations adopt the fiscal character of their neighbors in order to present the face of a single entity. Of course, when these countries are unable to do this because of their cultural differences, or their incongruent economies, something has to be slapped together instead. Artificially tying together societies by forcing them to financially harmonize is, in my view, a criminal act of collectivism. Now that this crime is being unveiled for all the world to see, though, the corrupt governments and banking puppeteers of Europe have suggested even MORE of the same! That’s right…their solution to the collapse of the EU is a harmonization not just of finance, but of politics and law. A single governing body which would dictate every nuance of the union".
Beeing an European, half Italian and half German, I can only approve this perfect analysis in a context of a great article. You yourself Mr. Brandon Smith, fear that
all the general mess we have been driven in, worldwide,
is part of a criminal design wich should leed to a World
Governement. After all this devilish project started long time ago and the roots are to find in 1717 and later in the french revolution.
It is incredible how many people do ignore the hidden history, but not unobtainable unless an effort to know
the truth, so ignorance is the ideal ground to sow
all kind of poisoned seeds with the general complaisance
of the ignorants on one hand and the willingness of the corrupts of all kind of the other.
Vulgus vult decipi, ergo decipiantur, so far.
written by Dean Steeves , January 04, 2012
When one has an enemy it is of little value to attempt to overcome him by addressing and focusing on the results and/or the consequences of his actions that his power has enabled him to manifest.
Reality says that the only way any enemy can be overcome is to overcome the SOURCE from which his power derives.
In the case of today's powers that be (by any name you wish) it is blatantly obvious that the source of their power is THE POWER OF FEAR.
Ergo, I would suggest that everyone start re-focusing their valuable time towards overcoming their own fear that resides within us all.
I truly believe that if everyone did just that that our enemies' power of fear would have nothing to attach itself to and overtime be rendered powerless.
