Am I Paranoid?

Let's see now, the Japanese are buying gold like it is going out of style, carrying bags of yen to gold shops, and asking, "How much gold will this buy?" Dubya is spending, like there is no tomorrow. $356 million to get the Peace Corps going again, $48 billion for more guns, planes, and uniforms, $20 million to New York, $100 billion here, and $50 billion there, and as Will Rogers once said, "Pretty soon you're talking about real money!" (Actually, it isn't real money at all, but mere bookkeeping entries, and pieces of paper with ink on them.)

We'll give the IMF $50 bil, and the World bank a couple dozen bil, and of course there's foreign aid, bailouts, welfare, and various and sundry expenses that must be paid. A million a day for Israel, and now we must protect the unborn with Medicare, and buy prescriptions for the codgers...naturally! As a matter of fact, there is twice as many dollars in circulation now, as there were in 1990!

As if that weren't bad enough, last Thursday, the New York Post came out with a piece that has not been denied, reporting that J.P.Morgan/Chase has a $29 TRILLION dollar overhang in derivatives. A derivative, basically, is a bet on a bet. Talk about leverage, or the reverse, if it all goes south! $29 trillion, is more than the entire GNP of America, and it could all crumble, with no notice of any kind. If it does, it will take the American economy with it, and no one can disagree with that statement.

Things happen with utmost rapidity, and usually with minimal expectation. Gold Eagle writers predicted the demise of the NASDAQ endlessly, and no one believed us. Happened quickly, didn't it? Argentina, a seeming well managed, well run nation, went the way of the Dodo bird, rapidly, didn't it? And then there is Enron, Global Crossing, and soon Tyco, maybe. The Demycrats have hushed up the Global Crossing thing, even though it is the 4th largest bankruptcy in history, because the head honcho made millions off of it, before it crashed. The media are 99% Demycrats, so they don't broadcast that stuff. CNBC is always positive, because they will lose sponsors if they aren't, and this morning on NPR it was reported that 95% of economists think the worst is over, and we'll all be on Happy Trails again, almost as quickly as you can wink an eye. I can still hear Roy Rogers singing "Happy Trails," which should be the theme song of CNBC, because they're about as honest as O.J., and just love everything that is a stock or bond.

The stock market lost its shirt last week, but Friday was up a hair, so that was what was reported, along with other pie in the sky comments by broadcasters who have nothing bad to say about any stock. Abby Cohen, come blow your horn! Gold is up, as is silver, even though the stock market is down, which is almost a reversion to times of yore.

I really do believe that things happen suddenly, and without warning. Especially in the field of economics. The insiders of these corporations know what's coming down, and that's why they sell their stocks before they crash, and then take the 5th, when queried about their activities and knowledge. Can anyone predict the fall of the US economy? It is absolutely unthinkable, I admit. Did the Japanese know when the Nikkei was at 40,000 that it would go to 9500? Did the Germans, in 1948, know their "money" would be replaced virtually the next day? During the patriotism of WWII, did Americans realize their money was being devalued by 50% in 4 years, all the while they were receiving 3% interest on war bonds? The Japanese supposedly have $11 trillion of savings in banks that have no liquidity, are deeply in debt, and actually bankrupt.

The Japanese, and millions of Americans, Germans, Brits, French, Swiss, and every other nation have octillions of "money" in savings, and none of these various "monies" are with a hoot in hell, when an economy collapses, because they are backed by the "full faith and credit of the ...government," which is like saying there really is a Santa Clause or Easter Bunny. The difference between the Easter Bunny and the dollar, is that the givernment says we have to believe in the buck, use it, and worship it, even though it's value as fictitious as the Cheshire Cat in Alice's Wonderland.

How long, people...how long can this persiflage last? How long can 99% of the citizenry of the world be conned by their rulers, who print this stuff, and call it "money?" Money should have value. Belief in the various "monies" of the world is a false belief, but one ingrained in us from childbirth, just as is an accent or religious belief. Few change their religions, and few lose their accents. Few lose faith and hope of those bills with the fancy printing on them. Few realize that the buck has already crashed by 98%, and going down like the Hinesburg, only a bit slower. They save in those false hopes, and place their futures in them. The best thing to do with printing press money, is long term borrowing, because you can pay off on the cheap, but do not save in them! The Japanese are lining up at the gold shops, and all of them wish they had done so a year ago, when paranoids like me were shouting.

Can the US go down, thanks to the J.P. Morgan/Chase 's $29 trillion bursting? That is more "money" than every single purchase in America, for an entire year! Citibank has several trillion in derivatives also, as do other banks. These wise guys are the ones who loaned big amounts to Enron. et al. These big banks loaned billions to Argentina, and have made huge mistakes with their depositor's money. Every time the FDIC prints, to bail out a bank, it adds to the money supply. They printed tens of billions to bail out PennCentral, 1st Pennsylvania Bank, Continental Illinois Bank and New York City a couple of times, with more to come.

Close to $500 billion in capital leaves our shores each year for China, Japan, and other Oriental lands, who have the cheap labor and no high taxes or unions. We owe more than any nation on earth. Our domestic credit debt is in the hundreds of millions, and government debt for social security, loans, bonds, and notes is well nigh $20 trillion. We owe, we owe, we owe. Do you believe givernment statistics on things? Do you believe we have 2% inflation, 4% unemployment, and that flights 587 and 800 were caused by a tail falling off, or a fuel tank short circuit? If so, I have a CD to sell you at 1 3/4% interest, a certain way to secure your future! If you believe the crap dished out by the fed in the form of various statistics, then you believe that Enron's big wheels had no idea of what was happening. If big corporations can cook the books, is it far out to think the givernment cooks the statistics? Of course the givernment has "economists" that graduated from Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. They should know, shouldn't they? When they say all is well, we should believe them, and buy more stock or put our dollars in the bank, right? We should banish the thought of a tangible such as gold or silver, because those are archaic items that belong to the stone age, correct?

We should have gold, silver, guns, ammo, food, water, and a home. We should protect ourselves with tangibles, not worthless pieces of paper, dutifully inscribed with wonderful pictures and fancy lettering. Dishonest Abe's birthday is upon us. I trust you won't celebrate or hang a flag. His starting a war that cost 620,000 lives, is not a worthwhile celebration. Protect yourself!