Will and Ariel Durant wrote this about 70 years ago. It is the story of the fall of Rome, and also appears to be Obama’s plan for the US.
Disrupting the Borg is expensive and time consuming!
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A major one has ben left off: “her unfunded pensions”.
http://armstrongeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/armstrongeconomics-rome-unfunded-pensions-051811.pdf
was just going to post this , thanks Ivan.
Overripe and weakened for the barbarians to walk in … http://www.crisismagazine.com/2014/looks-like-duck-islamist-nazi-connection
Oddly enough, by the end, Roman citizenship was such a liability that some of the citizens ran off to join the Gauls and Vandals. They were escaping Rome’s massive inflation and punitive taxes. Others sold themselves into servitude to escape the taxes citizens were required to pay.
US citizens are screwed. Inflation reduces the value of your savings, and taxes multiply.
We live in such interesting times.
The Saddest part is the destruction of the USA was planned and executed by those we elected to office who then betrayed us for Thirty Pieces of Silver.
Durbin, along with the rest of the leeches, is responsible for leaving the power of the Fed intact…
Federal politicians have had 100 years to de-fang the FED yet only Congressmen Louis McFadden, Wright Patmam, Henry Reuss, Ron Paul, and Henry B. Gonzalez have made any attempt. Instead the power of the FED has only increased.
From: A PRIMER ON MONEY
COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND CURRENCY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WRIGHT PATMAN (D) Chairman 1964
If you have not read this primer, I strongly suggest you do.
Since there is no way that the Federal Politicians are going to bite the hand that financies their campaigns and makes them rich (Have you ever heard of a poor senator or Congressman once in office?) Michael Boldin suggests a method to End the Fed! Whether Congress Wants us to or Not!
I would certainly like to see this happen but I think it is too much of a political hot potato. So here is an alternate suggestion that might work within the Federal Reserve System.
Given that the BRICS countries (Russia, China, India, Brazil and South Africa ) are amassing Gold by mining/buying gold as fast as they can and the BRICS countries set-up a bank to go head to head against the World Bank/IMF AND China is offloading US $$$ and buying hard assets like land, ALL with the intentions of ousting the World Bank, IMF and the US dollar reserve currency monopoly, I would certainly suggest states go for the first option – A Return to Sound Money
You can add in Russia’s grab for the bread basket of Europe and China’s grab for control of the China Sea, both challenges to the USA. I really do not want the Chinese to start refusing the dollar as a trade currency and come knocking on the door demanding goods and land instead to repay our trade deficit instead of Federal Reserve Funny Money.
I am sure the Fabian Banksters are gnashing teeth behind closed doors as their carefully orchestrated Convergence and Interdependence, ===> a World government goes down the toilet with the moves made by Russia and China.
As a side note, an interesting article: Gadhafi’s Gold-money Plan Would Have Devastated Dollar
Many (some say all) of the major wars during the last century or so have been fought to prevent nations from bypassing the bankers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfEBupAeo4
What you’re describing sounds like the plot of the novel, The Rule of Equity. http://www.theruleofequity.com/
Federal politicians created the Fed to nationalize the banks. That some leftist bankers went along with it shouldn’t be surprising.
Patman’s opinion seems to be that a central bank is just fine. provided it is frankly and absolutely an arm of the government. Is that your opinion?
You may be interested in what they say here about some revalations –
http://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/shock-u-s-senate-report-subversion-of-democracy-by-green-billionaires/
What your really talking about are so called “watermelons,” Environmentalist who are green on the outside but who are flaming red on the inside. That covers about 99% of self identified Environmentalist. Sorry if I stepped on any toes but it is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
That is why I use the word Conservationist instead.
Correct: History shows that by 1972, after the german reds lost political influence, they met with other foreign losing reds in a brainstorming meeting. Finally they selected 2 new “devils” to fight, in order for these agitators to survive: Commercial Airlines or Nuclear. They selected the latter. These people infect population as AIDS infects a human body, by destroying its natural defences.
“…green on the outside but who are flaming red on the inside..” and self-righteously destroying human life and the planet.
Some more betryers are seen here in this enlightened piece –
http://naturalgasnow.org/americas-plutocrats/
Probably a more relevant example of what not to do is Venezuela, where a toxic mix of socialism and popularism has essentially destroyed their economy.
Argentina preceded Venezuela as a much starker example.
It was, if I remember right, the 10th wealthiest nation in the 1910s. The decline started in the 1930s.
Probably higher – this article says 8th.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/what-happened-to-argentina/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
Go here to read the whole story, for free. This is volume one of I think 6 volumes that rival the encyclopedia in length. If my memory serves me right the abridged version of volume one is only 2,000 pages. Regardless of what some think I doubt many will find that Edward Gibbon’s “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” will reinforce their preconceived notions of why the Roman Empire collapsed. If the truth was known the Roman Empire didn’t collapse until 1453.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/890
“If the truth was known the Roman Empire didn’t collapse until 1453.”
Good point and one which not many people think about.
One implication is that perhaps the collapse of the US does not mirror the fall of Rome, but rather it mirrors the fall of Constantinople. (The political/economic collapse of Great Britain during WWI -WWII mirrors Rome.)
True, but the western part was dismembered a millennium earlier. If the United States follows suit then the original 13 states and other traditional parts will be long gone while its government survives in later acquired territories, maybe in Alaska and Guam (if the island doesn’t tip over under the weight of D.C. bureaucracy).
And the eastern empire maintained a strict gold standard currency for 800 years.
Considering that, the relocated U.S. government may not even be in this hemisphere …
Putin and the BRICS countries are taking that lesson to heart.
BRICS Announce $100 Billion Reserve To Bypass Fed, Developed World Central Banks In the comments:
If you checkout “gold” and China, Russia, South Africa, Brazil and India you will find plenty on those countries mining or buying gold.
For example: It’s Official: China Consumed, Mined & Imported The Most Gold Ever In 2013
2012 Top Gold-producing Countries
The historiography of the Fall of the Roman Empire is a good study in and of itself.
For example, Enlightenment writers blamed the Church for the Decline and Fall.
Every generation a new group of historians come up with their own take.
Just look at the way that many current scholars now blame climate change for the collapse of various cultures around the world.
Here’s the story: “From Dawn to Decadence” by Jacques Barzun.
This exactly describes the UK too.
If you are interested in this topic, I much prefer “The Path to Tyranny: A History of Free Society’s Descent into Tyranny” by Michael E. Newton. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0982604017 Admittedly, I am a little biased.
SIGHHhhhhh Another good book to buy and read…
Hey Michael! I have not read your book, but as I often do, I went to Amazon and read some of the reviews — especially the negative reviews. Based on my reading of the negative reviews, you must really have a great book! The nay-sayers sounded very much like reading comments by CAGW folk bad mouthing the sceptics who use actual data and real science. One of them actually wrote, “Government in the United States has been growing SMALLER in the last 30 years.” Whoa! Guess he must not have been paying attention…
As I say, I have not read your book, but if we are judged by the enemies we gather, then you are probably on the right track. 🙂
+1
From another spelunker, but I hate water and do not dive esp. after Sheck Exley died. (And yes I knew him many many moons ago.)
You knew Sheck Exley? Amazing guy, and what a loss that he is gone. I never did any cave diving. The sad joke among cavers is “What is the difference between dry caving and cave diving?” The answer? “There are no cave diving rescue teams.” Still, there caves in the Ocala area that have plenty of swimming, but no diving (although I did do a hold-your-breath-and-dive-through-a-sump once). Swimming through passages with boots, gear, pack and helmet? That’s fun! But actual cave diving? Brrrr! That scares me!
Thank you. Yes, I’ve taken a lot of flack from the left.
1. Taking flak from the left is a distinction, Sir.
2. Taking a lot of flak means you are over the target.
Decline of Rome, yes but … The Eastern Roman Empire survived for a 1000 years after the collapse of the Western Empire. What vices of the West were missing in the East?
Wars are fought to keep nations from bypassing the banks.
Let us then bypass the banks, not as nations but as fellow humans. Make them (whoever you conceive “them” to be) irrelevant. Barter; build each others’ houses (think “barn raising”); lend each other interest-free money or use crowdfunding. I get my zucchini from the break room at work where co-workers bring in stuff that will otherwise morph and take over their homes in the middle of the night, kind of thing. Feed each other. Make art for each other. And (!!) defend each other. I have already passed the point where, if someone breaks into my home, I will first determine that he is NOT “police” — and then I will make him a sandwich and help him carry stuff out just because I am that glad he isn’t “police”.
One other point: get mobile. Do whatever it takes such that, if push comes to shove, you can simply relocate in a different jurisdiction.
Seriously, as long as your government knows, or believes, you’re stuck with it, it can and will do what it pleases — but if intelligent, competent, skill-wielding (wealth-building) citizens are able to relocate on a moment’s notice, governments will then have to COMPETE for citizens. Just as a business competes by offering more attractive deals than other, similar businesses, so will governments.
It is the responsible 21st-century citizen’s civic DUTY to be mobile — to force governments to compete for quality citizenry, and thereby raise the quality of governance for everyone.
That, or face facts: that government works even as well as it does, is THE best argument FOR anarchy. Think about it: governments are formed to protect us from each other. “Government” means to take (some) power from the masses and give it, this “extra” power, to certain individuals (who are just as human as the rest of us, with ALL that that means), lest we of the masses use our (ordinary) power against each other. Yes, there are corrupt politicians, judges, lawyers and police — but consider that most police (for example) really are decent guys trying to do right by their community; consider how many people, given EXTRA power (compared to the rest of us) are NOT abusing it.
If we humans don’t instantly and completely abuse extra power even when it’s straight-up handed to us, why would we abuse power that was equal to what everybody else has?
Feed yourselves and your neighbors. Lend a hand. Make “Them” irrelevant. Above all, defend each other. If we give a sh*t about each other, who needs Them?
That is perhaps the best and most thought provoking comment I have read in a while. Thanks!
It is said that “nature abhors a vacuum.” Maybe true, maybe not — and even if true, nature sure made a LOT of it! But we do know that “Power abhors a vacuum”. Any time we, as individuals, give up power, that power will flow to some other person or group. If the power of the individual flows too much outward, we have tyranny. Conversely, when we individuals retain and express our power, we have freedom.
As you say, “Feed yourselves and your neighbors. Lend a hand. Make “Them” irrelevant. Above all, defend each other. If we give a sh*t about each other, who needs Them?”
Brilliant! And ethical.
This, my friends, is what liberty and a free market mean.
Money is determined by the actors, not the government. Governments may make ‘legal tender currency’ but when WE the PEOPLE refuse to hold it or use it, then the ‘currency’ is not money any more.
The Feds make us buy their bonds, directly or indirectly. That’s why they nationalized the banks 97 years ago. They did it to control us. They made ‘drugs’ illegal to control us. They made monopoly government schools to control us. Americans don’t cotton to being controlled, but we do hold the Rule of Law as something akin to the 10 commandments. They use THAT against us. Americans love to make their own communities from the ground up, not from the top down and especially when ‘social engineers’ employ ‘community organizers’ to incite ri—, er, trouble.
America, Wake UP! Your destiny is calling.
I read that somewhere before … might be from my copy of Gibbon; The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire …
It occurs to me that inflation (in the form of debasement of the coinage) was a major factor in the collapse of Rome.
Yes, exactly! It may even be the main reason (though any complex event always has multiple causes). I have a good friend who is something of an expert on ancient coinage of the Roman and Eastern Roman Empires. One day when he mentioned that the Eastern Roman Empire lasted almost a thousand years, my response was “How did they keep the politicians from debasing the money?” Well, it turns out that they did, in fact, keep the economy stable by refraining from the usual debasement. They had a series of severe laws against any degradation of their coins, and even their highest rulers were liable to execution for doing so. Having seen what happened in old Rome, the people of Constantinople understood just how much was at stake in keeping honest money.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidus_%28coin%29
One more quick comment on inflation and monetary debasement. Today, of course, we see a similar inflation of the monetary supply, but it is done with paper and binary numbers.
In Roman times the only two practical ways to squeeze money from the citizens was to either tax them directly or to recall, melt down, alloy, recast and reissue the coinage. Both ways are messy. Direct taxes mean tax collectors and soldiers coming to you for the money. Debasement means money recalled and coming back lighter or otherwise different. Today, the taxes are collected as painlessly as possible, taken from your from e employers before you even see it — but the debasement is more wonderfully, even magically, unnoticed! A few computer entries or perhaps some printing, the monetary supply increases, and the Powers That Be have invisibly reached into the pockets of everyone with dollar denominated assets and siphoned off a small fraction of their value. The process is so slow and relentless that not one person in a thousand notices when it is done. We have even been brainwashed to approve of the process, and have professional economists telling us “Our economy needs a little inflation! A few percent a year is good for everyone!”
Whenever I think that the CAGW crowd are the greatest liars, I just remember the economists. What a scam!
One other little thing, the PTB want you to never know about the Austrian School of Economics. The one that gave us Karl Menger (Capital and Interest), Ludwig von Mises (Theory of Money and Credit and Socialism) and Frederick von Hayek (The Road to Serfdom).
I should also mention Eugene von Baum Bawerk. Argh I mentioned his Capital and Interest and messed up Mr. Menger’s mention.
Read Carl Menger (Principles of Economics) and Eugen von Baum-Bawerk (Capital and Interest). See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugen_von_B%C3%B6hm-Bawerk.
I once had all of these books in my personal library. Unfortunately I lost them in a move.
One other mention for Ludwig von Mises. That one is Human Action. It is a thick book, but if you want the gist of the classical Austrian School, this book covers it in one volume.
I sure hope the guys who stole those books sat down and later read them. {:>D
For those who do not want to read several hundred pages or want some place to send a casual reader try:
Mises on Money: http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north83.html
Biggest scam ever and it has been running for hundreds of years, thousands if you include Rome.
A scant 70 years later they got the Fed entrenched and have been siphoning off America’s wealth ever since.
Notice how most school kids have never even heard of Webster.
Nice. I wonder how many people know that the Bank of the US caused a depression, the greatest one in our history at that point. This depression was never exceeded until the Fed’s Great Depression of the 30s and that one will be exceeded by the Fed’s current Great Depression v2.0.
You can only get a national great depression where your government 1. has nationalized the banks and 2. allows or mandates a fractional reserve system, so that the banks must, one way or another, monetize government bonds.
Another book with new insights from recent archaeology and literature research you may find interesting is:
Title: Mohammed & Charlemagne Revisited: The History of a Controversy
Authors: Scott, Emmet
Formats: EPUB
Ids: 9780985439439
Path: Click to open
Publisher: New English Review Press