Author: s4k

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I read my share of worthless articles per day. Here is an example of one. The title is:
“Got $1 million to retire? Here’s how long it will last, by U.S. state”
Now consider how many Americans actually have a million plus.

Debt is very easy to understand. As a individual, if you spend more money than you have in a given month you must borrow if you have no saving. Everyone understands it is never a good idea to go into to much debt. At some point no one will lend you money. You must than default. This line of reasoning does not escape governments. Everyone understands this. Unless of course you are an economist. Than you do not understand this.
Takes this poll from a few years back.
You can find more up to date polls that show approximately the same numbers. The article above has other important information I could not find in one concise article.
Whats the point?
Majority are very concerned about the national debt. However less than 5% of those surveyed want to cut entitlements. This is despite the fact that entitlements are going to sink the US government. No one wants to increase taxes (4%). This is very good. We can now draw a conclusion from the data.
Everyone loves their handouts. No one wants to pay for it.
There is a lie going around. “This country is very divided”.
On issues such as gay marriage. Yes. I can divided this country right down the middle. However, if any politician mentions reduction of entitlements, he/she will become unemployed. Perhaps even tarred and feathered.
The public demands their entitlements. How to pay for it? Not their problem. Just keep the money flowing. This is why both political parties perform lip service on reducing the debt but it never happens. The public is not serious about it. The government is nothing but a reflection of the masses.

The great bond bull market that started in 1981 will come to an end. The US government will default. They will not meet their obligations. This is obvious to any one with a calculator. The public will be confused. Than the greatest opportunity will be available. Explaining to the masses what happened:
You thought you could vote yourself prosperity? At the expense of who?

From The Gulag Archipelago

At the conclusion of the conference, a tribute to Comrade Stalin was called for. Of course, everyone stood up (just as everyone had leaped to his feet during the conference at every mention of his name). … For three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, the stormy applause, rising to an ovation, continued. But palms were getting sore and raised arms were already aching. And the older people were panting from exhaustion. It was becoming insufferably silly even to those who really adored Stalin. However, who would dare to be the first to stop? … After all, NKVD men were standing in the hall applauding and watching to see who would quit first! And in the obscure, small hall, unknown to the leader, the applause went on – six, seven, eight minutes! They were done for! Their goose was cooked! They couldn’t stop now till they collapsed with heart attacks! At the rear of the hall, which was crowded, they could of course cheat a bit, clap less frequently, less vigorously, not so eagerly – but up there with the presidium where everyone could see them? The director of the local paper factory, an independent and strong-minded man, stood with the presidium. Aware of all the falsity and all the impossibility of the situation, he still kept on applauding! Nine minutes! Ten! In anguish he watched the secretary of the District Party Committee, but the latter dared not stop. Insanity! To the last man! With make-believe enthusiasm on their faces, looking at each other with faint hope, the district leaders were just going to go on and on applauding till they fell where they stood, till they were carried out of the hall on stretchers! And even then those who were left would not falter…Then, after eleven minutes, the director of the paper factory assumed a businesslike expression and sat down in his seat. And, oh, a miracle took place! Where had the universal, uninhibited, indescribable enthusiasm gone? To a man, everyone else stopped dead and sat down. They had been saved! The squirrel had been smart enough to jump off his revolving wheel. That, however, was how they discovered who the independent people were. And that was how they went about eliminating them. That same night the factory director was arrested. They easily pasted ten years on him on the pretext of something quite different. But after he had signed Form 206, the final document of the interrogation, his interrogator reminded him: “Don’t ever be the first to stop applauding.”

Tax reform has always been a scam. Little has changed since November 1985.
Tax reform is about moving pieces around on the chess board. All in all it will probably be neutral. Tax increases for some and tax decreases for others. This is why they don’t call it a “Tax Cut”. A true tax cut bill would be one sentence:
“All taxes shall be decreased by X%.”
Pick a number.
A bill like this would be bad for business. No special privileges hidden in a 1000 page document. No lobbyist fighting their hardest to sneak lawyer language to benefit their cronies. Everyone would understand it.
Interestingly, all sides go into a frenzy over the passage of this bill. I have lost no sleep over it.
The stakes are very low. The rhetoric is very high. The entertainment level is mediocre.

“It is money”.
No it is not. No one thinks of prices in terms of bitcoin. When people think of prices they think in dollars. Bitcoin has 30 to 40% price swings in a week. I assure you if the dollar ever had these price swings, over time, dollars would no longer be considered money.

“It is a way to escape the government monopoly of fiat currencies”
It is not. If you think this is true please consult with Ross Ulbricht. We know nothing about the origin of bitcoin. It is entirely possible elements within a government have created bitcoin. There was always talk about eliminating cash and having it all digital completely ending privacy over all transitions. Bitcoin plays right into Ken Rogoff “Lets eliminate cash” crowd.

“It is limited in supply and not centrally managed”
True but irrelevant. While Bitcoin is limited in supply there are hundreds of other cryptocurrencies popping up. Cryptocurrencies can be generated endlessly.

This will not end well for those involved.