The Causes of the French Revolution - (condensed)

Your data appears to be correct and logically leads to the most unfortunate conclusions for the average American citizen and creditor.

I would however suggest a parallel explication (with the same outcomes), namely nations, like people, political parties, and corporations have finite life spans. What appears to be unusual is the speed with which the end-of-life developments, equivalent to senescence, obsessions, paranoia, and Alzheimer's in an elderly individual, have occurred.

Very much what I thought as well. Although you made a better analogy of it. :)

In the good news category, my VA pension just showed up in my checking account today. Well, it's good news for me anyway.

Gibbons wrote, in part:

But the decline of XXXXX was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest; and as soon as time or accident had removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded to the pressure of its own weight. The story of its ruin is simple and obvious; and instead of inquiring why the XXXXX was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long.

Substitute as you wish for "XXXXX".

Cheers,

John B.

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Thanks for the positive feedback.

I don't know if this is a cause or effect (or neither), but the current US congress is one of the oldest since records have been kept. This would seem to be an argument for both term limits and mandatory annual physical/mental examinations of members over the age of 65.

I'd like to see the psych report BEFORE the election. But like so many other good ideas, I doubt that congress will ever vote for it...

Is there really no mechanism for a national referendum?

================ Indeed! Perhaps we could weed out the Wus and Wieners before they get [re]elected, but in any event we don't need senile Congressmen, or those that must vote from stretchers. Before the flames start, both parties have excessive numbers of moon bats, dirty old men, and dotards in leadership positions and political office to be ever again be entrusted to do the "right thing" and lead the country. But then again Congress is supposed to be [and is] a representative body...

When are you numbskulls going to get it thru your heads that US federal debt is not the problem It is not even A problem much less THE problem.

The massive private sector debt is and always has been the problem. The private sector is what brought the economy to its knees the government and government debt had absolutely nothing to do with it

Now we had people in government like Russ Feingold that wanted to regulate the banks and lending and wanted to stop the runaway train before it went over the cliff, but the public canned him. The public doesn't want the government to regulate the banks and so the government doesn't regulate the banks You can't blame that on the gov. The public gets rid of anybody who tries.

Right now the banks are claiming huge amount of profits when in fact they have no income at all What they have is enormous liquidity due to households and small businesses paying back debt and saving and they have trillions in phony assets on the books those assets are still being valued at 2007 values (or higher) even though there is no realistic hope of selling at book values And the interest due on these trillions in assets is still being counted as income based only on the prayer that someday they will be able to sell and collect that income from the sale proceeds

meanwhile the banks are spending lavishly they are paying Executives like never before and to do this they use money that they really don't own. The banks (and other financial institutions) are enormously in debt and even though today they are reporting profits in reality they are just digging the hole they are in even deeper

And when the Shit Hits The Fan its the tax payers that will bail the banks out again and the guys who made billions will laugh and walk away unscathed

And this isn't the governments fault. Anybody in government who tries or has tried to do something about this gets canned by the public. Anybody who says the government should seize the banks books and put an end to the fraud therein gets labeled a socialist and is tossed out the door.

the private debt and its consequence caused the recession And private debt is what is driving the slow recovery This is a classic market failure of unprecedented proportions and the voting public is telling the government to stand aside and let the market perform its magic.

If the government checks stop coming its all going south very fast.

The house of cards that fell apart 3 summers ago has been hastily rebuilt. It is now even higher and more flimsy than it was then. and the only thing keeping it all from collapsing is what the gov spends in excess of what it takes in.

Three years ago it all collapsed because of attempt to reign in government spending that left the private debt hanging way too far over the ledge and it fell off. The market response to cutting back gov spending was swift then, but it will be even swifter this time around.

Washington is not going to cause another collapse now. Every single Congressman knows that They know it will all collapse if they don't continue funding the deficit and so they will continue the deficit.

There is not even a ghost of a chance the government will try to run with a balanced budget anytime in the foreseeable future

-jim

Wait a minute, jim.

I paid off all my debts YEARS before the banks poked a hole in their bubble.

I use my credit cards regularly, but I pay them off every month and carry NO balance. Even though a disabled VA pension WITH SSDI is still well-below-poverty-level income. I use a credit Union, not a bank. I don't own stocks or play the market (what a ludicrous thought!)

It's called "living within your means".

If the government money quit coming in I'd move aboard the boat and STILL live within my means.

So who are you calling numskull?

As for government debt, please take note that this is NOT the same situation we have ever been in before.

You said that the people didn't want banks regulated? Balderdash! It's the BANKS who don't want banks regulated. Sure, stupid people do stupid things when they get the chance. But it wasn't "the people" who bribed congress to change those laws. It's the banks who are worming out from under the new regulations too.

But all that (banking and politics) is handled WAY above my pay grade. I have one vote to cast, and no psych reports to base my decision on.

Richard

So what is your point. Are you saying that by doing that somehow incapacitated your brain and that justifies superfluous whining about non-existent problems?

What connection are you trying to make between your personal debt (or lack thereof) and anything that I said.

I never said there is something evil or wrong about debt Debt is a necessary component for a thriving economy The problem is the private sector have developed an enormous adverse reaction to debt. This sudden and deep aversion to borrowing is the cause of the economic collapse

This is what caused a recession and that is why the nation cannot recover from that economic downturn

The problem is There are just way too many people and small businesses who refuse to borrow. And since they are also paying back loans and trying to save whatever they can that is a huge drain on the economy. here is a brief explanation of this phenomenon

But its really worse than that this current push in the private sector to save is putting a lot of liquidity in the hands of bankers who are simply stealing it.

the bankers do this because they know its all going to fall apart again and this time they are not going to be caught with their pants down around their ankles like in 2008 This time they are going to have their shit together and have cashed in their chips before it all crashes down

So everything is hunky-donky and your French revolution diatribe was just some silly blather?

You. but It is not the skull - its what's inside that's numb

Bull shit. The US Government had twice as much debt compared to national income just 60 years ago and when debt reached that level there was zero negative impact.

There is a long long way to go before it is the same situation that we have been in before. We can run a deficit at the current level for another 20 years before we reach the same level of debt to national income we were at the end of WW2

You are looking at a non-existent problem and ignoring the real problems

There are pretty much no new bank regulations. And it never was even a matter of lack of regulations anyway the regulations against fraud exist but the government is constrained from interfering in the private markets

And that is policy promoted and approved by voters.

How is that a valid excuse for pointing at a nonexistent problem (like an acorn hitting your head) and jumping up and down shouting "The sky is falling. The sky is falling"

-jim

There is an old, old story of the guy interviewing for the job of switchman. And he gets asked about how he would handle various situations, and finally is asked about what he would do if he had two trains coming from opposite directions at great speed. He says "I'd call my brother Wilbur" Why would you do that? "Cause he's never seen a train wreck."

Gunner sees a "train wreck" or rather a situation which sure nuff looks like it will lead to a train wreck. Not his job to start it, nor is it his job to prevent it (save in the sense of being a citizen in a representational republic.)

Gunner's warning of the "great cull" is no more causative than my warning my brother that if he got married without me being there, all his kids would be born naked. He did, and they were.

toodles pyotr

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That was in a time long, long ago in a country that was far, far away. Rather than simply adopting obsolete foreign practices, it would appear better to put a distinctive American stamp on new and updated procedures.

For example, rather than hauling the prisoners to the site of executions in a tumbrel*, a clapped out rusty/crusty pick-up with a stock rack or cage in the bed would seem suitable. A few left over cow patties in the bed from the last trip to the sales barn or slaughterhouse would seem appropriate.

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Hanging or lynching is much more in keeping with American traditions than beheading, and firing squads, although very popular in Latin America, have largely been limited to military executions in this country. One possible update is the substitution of polypropylene rope for hemp rope, both because of the cost savings, and the wider availability of polypropylene. The traditional 13 turn noose knot can also be eliminated, as most any slip knot should work, saving yet more rope.