Monday, March 22, 2010

Bye Bye American Pie


America doesn’t manufacture anything anymore. Once upon a time not too long ago, that was not the case. America out produced the world.

When the good ol’ US of A joined the war effort in 1941 its productivity dwarfed other nations. In fact America’s industrial might produced more Airplanes, Warships, Merchant Ships, Tanks, Landing Craft, Trucks, Small Arms and Ammunition than all the other allies put together.

By the ’70 the United States was so powerful it ignored its own Constitution and changed the fate of the world with a stroke of a pen. They took THE de facto currency off the Gold Standard…and the looting began.

America is now a consumer economy, which is to say other Nations manufacture goods so Americans can consume.

If an American, Canadian, Asian and a Latin American were stranded on an island and tasked with preparing meals for survival: The Asian would construct the dinner table. The Latin American would harvest the fresh fruit and vegetables before preparing the feast. The Canadian would supply fresh water. The American would eat…and give us worthless pieces of paper for our contributions.

Now some economists will try and tell you our island economy is dependent on the American appetite. I disagree. I only see production being wasted on useless paper.

The reason the paper is useless is America is bankrupt even though no one wants to admit it.

We are told the value of the American economy (GDP) is $14 Trillion. The problem is…it isn’t. That number is fudged, cooked, padded. The US Government is making it up. Fully a third of that number is fabricated out of thin air.

The numbers on American inflation are also fictitious. When properly reported they indicate the stability and health of an Economy. Unfortunately the Government has quietly added words like Substitution and Hedonics so instead of a gauge for stability it’s a tool for deceit. They have been vigorously and systematically hiding the disease.

America is hard at work trying to tell the world that they will make a comeback and their credit is good.

It is not.

You may be wondering how this happened to the wealthiest nation in the world.

Corporate America took over the Government. And when it did it became about the pillaging of wealth and not the creation of it. Short term gain trumped long term planning.

It’s like that scene in “Goodfellas” when Pauly and the boys go from customers of the restaurant to part owners. Once on the other side of the till they rob the place blind and torch it for the insurance money. They had no interest in customer service. Money is money and easy money is the best kind.

The Government “for the people and by the people” is a mirage. Comparing Obama and McCain is as silly as arguing over puppets on the hands of the same person.

The fix is in. The deck is stacked. An elite "club" runs America...an we are not in the club.

America is no longer a functional Democracy, it’s a Plutocracy. It’s a place where the wealthiest 1% has the same buying power as the bottom 95%. The wolf is running the hen house. Feel free to feel nauseous.

Government debt is soaring in American. From $4 Trillion to $12 Trillion in a decade and you can forget rosier forecasts because the paper they are written on is as useless as its currency.

Add in entitlements programs like Medicare and Social Security (which only has a laughable I.O.U in its bank account because the Government uses this “pension money” as general revenue) and their debt is an astronomic $50 Trillion+.

In fact if you add up all the debts of America, personal and private, it equates to over $700,000US per household.

Now that is staggering.

By the way if you are in the stock market…my advice is to clear out of America at the very least.

The band is warming up and the fat lady is one hell of a singer. You can only sweep so much dirt under the carpet before the lumps eventually get noticed.

America is going to implode.

It may not be this year or the next. But it will happen.

There are ominous signs for Canadians as well. I see too many politicians more concerned with their careers than public service. Those people are the danger…they hide the cancer.

The impending fall of America saddens me. For the most part Americans are good honest people who got duped. It didn’t have to be this way.

I leave you with the words of John F Kennedy in his inspiring “City on a Hill” Address. He proved quite prophetic.

“From those to whom much is given, much is required…. Our success or failure, in whatever office we may hold, will be measured by the answer to four questions.”

First, were we truly men of courage—with the courage to stand up to one’s enemies—and the courage to stand up, when necessary, to one’s associates—the courage to resist public pressure, as well as private greed.

Secondly, were we truly men of judgment—with perceptive judgment of the future as well as the past—of our own mistakes as well as the mistakes of others—with enough wisdom to know that we did not know and enough candor to admit it?

Third, were we truly men of integrity—men who never ran out on either the principles in which they believed or the people who believed in them—men who believed in us—men whom neither financial gain nor political ambition could ever divert from the fulfillment of our sacred trust?

Finally, were we truly men of dedication—with an honor mortgaged to no single individual or group, and compromised by no private obligation or aim, but devoted solely to serving the public good and the national interest.”

-January 9th, 1961

I wish these ideals did not become anachronistic. I really do. Alas, they are…and the lumbering husk of America is ever weakened and hollowed out.

What happens from here, I do not know. What will be the final solution of a deluded and proud Nation when the inevitable occurs? I can only guess.

I do have two simple wishes though.

That America keeps their grotesquely large arsenal on the sidelines. And that Canadians wake up and learn from America’s mistakes.

If a politician smacks of self preservation…do us all a favor and don’t vote for them.



Footnote*

Out of the 181 Countries in the world, the USA has the worst trade deficit ($731B in '08) by a mile. Most aren't shocked by that. The next closest are Spain ($145B), UK ($105B), AUS ($56B), Italy ($52B) and Greece ($44B). Still not shocked? It would take the total deficits of the 63 worst offending Countries in the world to equal the amount the USA went in the ditch last year alone.