Radical Idealism - All Comments

re: Government fails at the basics, too

Rad Schneider — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:44:55 GMT

I know the President of Blackwater (Erik Prince). His family's home is right down the street from mine. I served him at the Restaurant I worked at. Nice fellow. He loved the service I gave him and his wife. I didn't bother letting him know that I knew who he was. I wanted him to enjoy his meal. He had an older man who is a Marine that was talking to him and buying him drinks.

re: What you need to know about the economic "crisis"

Kristina — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:42:08 GMT

It then boils down to the government who tried pushing to lower interest rates that lead to this housing crisis...

FYI: I found this survey about the current economic downturn and I think it’s helpful to get involved.

spreadsheets.google.com/viewform

Thanks!

re: Government fails at the basics too

Rubén — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 07:55:45 GMT

Perhaps this story is the dawn of a new era of specific military issues that will begin to be solved case by case privately, unless the big world war III screws everything up first

re: No such thing as a free lunch

Phil — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:25:20 GMT

Is anybody seeing and believing this? Is this a joke?

Berlusconi Says Leaders May Close World's Markets (Update1)

By Steve Scherer

Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said political leaders are discussing the idea of closing the world's financial markets while they ``rewrite the rules of international finance.''

``The idea of suspending the markets for the time it takes to rewrite the rules is being discussed,'' Berlusconi said today after a Cabinet meeting in Naples, Italy. A solution to the financial crisis ``can't just be for one country, or even just for Europe, but global.''

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much 8.1 percent in early trading and pared most of those losses after Berlusconi's remarks. The Dow was down 0.5 percent to 8540.52 at 10:10 in New York.

Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers are meeting in Washington today, and will stay in town for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings this weekend. European Union leaders may gather in Paris on Oct. 12, three days before a scheduled summit in Brussels, Berlusconi said today, while Group of Eight leaders may hold a meeting on the crisis ``in coming days,'' he said.

Berlusconi didn't give any details about what kind of rules leaders were looking to change, except to say that leaders are ``talking about a new Bretton Woods.''

The Bretton Woods Agreements were adopted to rebuild the international economic system after World War II in a hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The aim of the agreements was to establish a monetary management system, initially by pegging currencies to gold. The IMF was set up later to help manage the international financial system.

www.bloomberg.com/.../news

re: What you need to know about the economic "crisis"

Randi — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:27:19 GMT

Do our current politicians read what we read?

re: What you need to know about the economic "crisis"

gene pringle — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:36:43 GMT

I saw this summary

Typical Cenral Bank scenario

as first established by Bank of England circa 1600 and used as the model for

most central banks since.

Private bankers and the gov’t form a private corporation (name makes it sound like the government ie Bank of England) with the gov’t receiving 20% of shares and the right to appoint the board (so what, money will influence it), Private bankers receive 80% shares. Central bank given a monopoly on the printing of ALL currency. All done to stabilize banking and credit for the good of the people.

Government provides initial reserve eg. 20 million in gold

Cenral Bank allowed to print 10X reserve in currency (Fractional Reserve Banking)

that they then lend out to the regional and small banks or the gov’t at interest.

ie THEY CAN LEND OUT 200 million and collect the interest on it (all for their own pocket) without having had any money!!

It gets better

Everytime the Gov’t needs money ( say the next years 50 million dollar deficit) they then borrow from the Central Bank using Gov’t Bonds as security which, because it is a Gov’t bond the Central Bank can then can use it as “gold” security and in this case lend out another 500 million at interest ie10X

So at this point the bankers are collecting interest on 700 million that they didn’t even have. Currently the US owes the reserve and others a total of 13 trillion dollars, who had 13 trillion to loan? They didn’t, they just kept printing it and making more and more money. The US owes billions to people who didn’t even actually have it to lend. Estimated profit to the US Federal Reserve shareholders in 2007 was over 200 Billion

It gets better

It is fairly well agreed among senior economists that the Fed reserve caused the great depression when on a preset day in 1929 they called all the brokerage loans, everyone had to cover margins. They had first made money very available in the roaring 20’s, then when everyone was extended totally shrunk the money supply by 2/3 and bought all the bankrupt companies for pennies on the dollar. With the money supply tight, no one could get a loan and had to sell. At the time everyone was amazed that the Rockefellers and JP Morgan, amongst others (fed shareholders) were so smart that they had gotten out right before the crash….the value of knowledge or the worst case of insider trading. At the end of the depression these people owned all the newspapers and all the radio and other media and just about everything else.

And its happened in the same pattern a couple times since ie S&L crisis etc

Sounds like the current housing crisis

News: Fed reserve bails out AIG with 85 Billion dollars for a 79.9% stake of a trillion dollar company. Everyone thinks it’s the government that has bailed them out, meanwhile billions of dollars go from the little investor to the pockets of the people so wealthy they don’t even show up on the list as everything is behind family trusts etc. (estimated the Rothchild family owned over 55% of the worlds wealth in 1860, estimated earnings of one part of the family business was over a trillion dollars in 2007)

At the end of it, the taxpayer will get all the bad paper and the fed reserve shareholders get the assets, which will dramatically increase in value as they pass over to the Gov’t the bad debt.

It gets better

News: UN to form WORLD BANK owned by…….. all the cental banks…all owned by ..

Presidential Quotes:

If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks...will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.... The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.

... The modern theory of the perpetuation of debt has drenched the earth with blood, and crushed its inhabitants under burdens ever accumulating. -Thomas Jefferson

History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and its issuance. -James Madison

If congress has the right under the Constitution to issue paper money, it was given them to use themselves, not to be delegated to individuals or corporations. -Andrew Jackson

The Government should create, issue, and circulate all the currency and credits needed to satisfy the spending power of the Government and the buying power of consumers. By the adoption of these principles, the taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest. Money will cease to be master and become the servant of humanity. -Abraham Lincoln

Issue of currency should be lodged with the government and be protected from domination by Wall Street. We are opposed to...provisions [which] would place our currency and credit system in private hands. - Theodore Roosevelt

Despite these warnings, Woodrow Wilson signed the 1913 Federal Reserve Act. A few years later he wrote: I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men. -Woodrow

re: The government's drug war funds terrorism

MatthewWilliam — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 08:46:51 GMT

The next logical step for the US government to take is to brand all Californian marijuana users 'terrorists'.

Oh yeah, and I just recently saw the most ridiculous report on the BBC. It claimed that the 'silver lining' of the current food crisis is that now Afghan farmers are finding it more profitable to produce wheat, and are thus growing grain - not poppies.

It's as if fighting drugs was a value in itself.

political cults

political cults — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:47:12 GMT

Pingback from political cults

re: The government's drug war funds terrorism

Bruce Williams — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:45:32 GMT

The U.S. Government and Wall Street have been involved in the Drug Trade for decades. Drug money is an important part of our banking system. Drug Laws only protect the market and are a form of price fixing.

re: The government's drug war funds terrorism

TokyoTom — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:37:19 GMT

Excellent point. It is also the "drug war" that directly drives corruption and undermines governance abroad, even as it leads to urban stagnancy, crime, high imprisonment and to the SWAT militarization of our police at home.

http://mises.org/Community/blogs/radicalidealism/archive/2008/02/10/ron-paul-s-campaign-what-a-waste.aspx

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:55:17 GMT

Pingback from mises.com/.../ron-paul-s-campaign-what-a-waste.aspx

re: Ron Paul's campaign: what a waste!

Gulli — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:17:35 GMT

Ron Paul has inspired so many people to learn more about Austrian Economics. Not just in America, but all over the world. This is money well spent.

re: Ron Paul's campaign: what a waste!

Champion — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:41:25 GMT

If one had a truly HeroicLife he/she would be adamantly advocating the message of human liberty and freedom in spite of the disinformation propagated by a corrupt media. If it wasn't for Ron Paul I never even would have found this site let alone be studying Austrian Economics. I consider my donations a down payment to cure myself of continued indifference and apathy. I don't consider any of my personal dollars as a waste. In fact, I am just getting started. What are you doing?

re: Ron Paul's campaign: what a waste!

gonzofunkmusic — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:03:38 GMT

So, to summarize:

1. The analysis of wasted campaign money is bunk.

2. Ron Paul's investors fueld a fire of true patriotism-- a message that freedom cannot grow until people like BrainPolice & HeroicLife shed their pessemistic views of hopelessness & the rigid win-or-lose perspective.

3. Avant Garde politics have proven to be more prominent than ever-- a sign of imminent, necessary change.

4. Ron Paul did what he set out knowing could be accomplished by spreading the message of Wise Revolution & nationalism without arrogance.

re: Ron Paul's campaign: what a waste!

Mark Thornton — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:41:15 GMT

Yes, some of the money and many opportunities were clearly wasted by the campaign staff, but in the main the campaign was a success beyond anyone's imagination (at the beginning). Ron has expanded the number of libertarians, Constitutionalists, and/or classical liberals by a factor of more than 10. Most are young, intelligent, and productive people. I see the Ron Paul Revolution continuing until it is won. Everyone should continue their own personal political and intellectual revolutions.