Thursday, October 30, 2008

MCR wrote:

U.S. families brace for holidays without a home--

Take a second and read this. Sit with these families. Let's just stop a minute and walk a couple of steps with these people; the ones we all tried so hard to warn.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE49T01O20081030?sp=true
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30 comments:

sunrnr said...

Ouch! Maybe, just maybe this can be looked upon as a time to relearn the values and what's really important that our parents and their parents tried to impart to us.

We have several generations that nave not faced hardship of any kind. Maybe the upcoming experience will help them understand and to teach their children so that future generations will be better prepared to survive the new world order.

But then again, maybe they'll just join the growd of people and corporations saying "Uncle Sam, we're entitled. Please save us from ourselves ...." so they can continue on in their self destructive ways.

Personally, I'm counting on the former ....

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family in the article and to many more in the same or worse situations. One way or the other we're all in this together.

namaste

8:18 AM
Robert said...

Sad & tragic. It could be me. It might yet be me. As I read, the radio in the background is saying that the misappropriation and abuse of the "bailout" billions is already underway. Rage boils inside.....OK calm down. Remember, we are all in this together. We live or die by ability to stick together.

9:43 AM
Grimus said...

About the time I read Long Emergency, a bit before Rubicon, I stopped for a week in Quartzite, AZ where every year thousands of 'snow birds' flock to squat on BLM land and hunker down through the winter.

The town itself was depressed already and aside from a few Keno bars, pretty near devoid of income. People basically wandered and did nothing for months on end, living off saved cash or disability checks.

Just to see the collection of what amounts to part-time refugees offered an inkling towards what, at least at that time felt like, could happen. Now it is clear that tent cities will be, indeed are already, something ubiquitous to the fade out of the American dream.

Keep in mind this was almost four years ago and I'm sure, given ramped up demand destruction and these foreclosure waves, that these improvised villages are expanding in many areas of the US.

Similar to the unemployment numbers, I am positive that data on these outlanders is totally skewed by one loop hole in census collection or another.

Strikes me sometimes that the sheer numbers and desperation involved in these mass camps will either serve an honest, Constitutional revolution or the emergent local, feudal lords. Perhaps, 'political strategies' such as these will emerge under doctrines similar to the Insurgency Plans posted yesterday by JO.

There is dirty work to be done, just a matter of who's gonna do it I suppose.

12:56 PM
Victoria Hokulani said...

This story made me sick. I cannot feel sorry for folks who live beyond their means and when the bottom falls out we're supposed to let them cry about how their Christmas is going to bleak.
Get a grip.
Even this family in their rented apartment are so much better off than about 5 billion others on this planet. They are not going to freeze to death, they are not going to starve to death and they have an adequate roof over their heads. Maybe there won't be a Disney Birthday party or as many Chinese made toys under the tree, but I think this family is still living in the lap of luxury compared to billions of others that share this third rock from the sun.
I live on the Big Island of Hawaii and can tell you plenty folks here live in shacks that can be described as less than 3rd world conditions. Right here in the good ole USA! I have seen living conditions right here that would make this family seem very prosperous indeed. However, these sub third world folks still have food stamps, gov. checks, healthcare and more. We all need to keep things in perspective here and not get too caught up in these sob stories.
An economic depression will teach folks about the follies of debt and overconsumption and it will be a very good thing.
This is a stupendous opportunity for a great economic, spiritual and mental transformation of society. We have gotten way too spoiled with all of the good life that credit cards could buy. Now its time for the great deleveraging Clean up.

5:12 PM
Rice Farmer said...

Warren Buffett Buys A Few More Burlington Northern Shares

http://www.cnbc.com/id/27461827

Recall that when Buffett enjoined us to buy US stocks because he is, too, he was buying with his personal account, whereas it is Berkshire Hathaway that's buying railroads.

5:33 PM
Chris XVX said...

The Blade is a product which attaches easily to your tailpipe and decreases emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases and significantly increases fuel economy. Sounds promising. Just might have to try one out...

http://www.bladeyourride.com

6:05 PM
NB Patton said...

If the disenfranchised where shown the map, I'm thinking TPTB would have a big problem on their hands.

MCR,
I would be very grateful if you would answer a burning question I have had for you for a while. How do you feel about Ron Paul and his views?

Thank you for being our champion of truth!

6:29 PM
Jenna Orkin said...

nbpatton:

mike's 'truth and lies' tape includes interviews with ron paul. that should be a clue as to his opinion.

6:58 PM
Rice Farmer said...

Victoria has made an interesting point, but there's one more thing to add here to complete the story and give the whole perspective: We have been led into this lifestyle. We have been encouraged to live beyond our means, to be extravagant, to consume with abandon, to buy season tickets to Disneland, and to bury ourselves in dept up to our lower lips. We are told from birth that it's the American way. Keep those cash registers ringing! In that light, the Little People are victimized twice: First they are encouraged to dig themselves into a hole, and then to use it as a grave. It's like giving someone a gorgeous Persian rug and then pulling it out from under them (while laughing). So of course we can argue that they got themselves into this mess, but it's also true that they were pushed into it.

It's the same with the subprime mortgages. One can argue that those people should have not been so careless as to bite off more than they could chew, but clearly they were led into this in the same way. People were deceived into believing that everyone can own luxurious homes and have two or three cars in a big garage, and 10 chickens in the pot.

8:21 PM
Tyler Havlin said...

World will struggle to meet oil demand

Output from the world’s oilfields is declining faster than previously thought, the first authoritative public study of the biggest fields shows.

Without extra investment to raise production, the natural annual rate of output decline is 9.1 per cent, the International Energy Agency says in its annual report, the World Energy Outlook, a draft of which has been obtained by the Financial Times.

The agency says even with investment, the annual rate of output decline is 6.4 per cent.

The decline will not necessarily be felt in the next few years because demand is slowing down, but with the expected slowdown in investment the eventual effect will be magnified, oil executives say.

“The future rate of decline in output from producing oilfields as they mature is the single most important determinant of the amount of new capacity that will need to be built globally to meet demand,” the IEA says.

10:06 PM
businessman said...

Former Internet talk show host shows what he says is the new "Amero" coin...the currency for the coming North American Union. He says that 800 Billion in Ameros have already been shipped to the China Development Bank in anticipation of the coming collapse of the U.S. dollar:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1954933468700958565&hl=es

11:21 PM
Victoria Hokulani said...

Ricefarmer, your point is valid too, but is there not a critical lack of personal responsibility here? Should we not be listening to our inner sense instead of falling for these "You can have it all with Visa tales"? Why must we blame others (Madison Ave, Wall Street, Fed Reserve) for our predicaments? If there is someone to blame maybe it should be parents, teachers and clergy for not teaching us about the perils and rewards of compounding interest and other basic concepts such as living within the means. This is time tested Old Testament type wisdom. Where in God's name have the churches been on this overconsumption feast issue? Is this not gluttony and coveting-thy- neighbours-ass gone apeshit? How many broken commandments and seven deadly sins have been committed here? Why did so many think that this idiocy of debt would lead us to the fabled American Dream, anyway? What has happened to common sense? Has it been completely PROZACKED over?
This should be a National outrage and THE most important thing on everyone's mind. Enough of the pity parties, time to cowboy up, bite the bullet, and start praising folks who never fell for the big fat debt binge. The meek may just inherit everything and one more thing...Always question authority.

11:29 PM
Rice Farmer said...

Here is a great article that uses a specific example to show the daunting challenge of keeping the oil flowing.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=68580

12:32 AM
martae said...

These folks family income was $140000 a year and they didn't own their own home (I mean the bank still owned it)? Guess now they wish they had paid off the mortgage rather than replace their SUV every two years. One of the high points of my life was closing out my home loan. It took me three years of every spare penny going to my creditor, but it sure felt good.

8:11 AM
kiki said...

Jenna if you feel it better to leave this unposted, i understand - i just had to speak on these two points !

wow ! i am disappointed to see some of the anger here toward the less fortunate - as things continue to get worse we will see worse things and all those things we see, no matter how well we are each prepared could have just as easily been us but for the good fortune of finding MCR and his team - i don't believe anyone gets up in the morining with the express purpose of making bad decisions - certainly we can spare some empathy if not reaching out to some along the way, no? well, i'll probably be one that gets killed for protesting something i believe in or by someone who wants to take what i have but i have to follow my conscience on this one.........

also, businessman, are you aware the link you sent is by a man who espouses hatred for his fellow man? i can't help it, when i see what his beliefs are it puts into question whatever he has to say, for me..............

8:57 AM
juanito68 said...

Regarding Businessman video link:
I don't give much credibility to this video. First: if it such an issu, why not make sure that you do the focus well on the Amero?? Also, for having been traveling in many country around the one, no banks take coins for another country, so if they did send Amero to China, it will definitely not be in coins! I do believe that PPP between Canada, USA and Mexico ahve some bad surprise for us in store but this video looks like 80% truth and 20% false leading info.

9:26 AM
businessman said...

kiki...I'm aware of him and I don't agree with his political positioning. But since he was showing what he says is an actual Amero coin, I hadn't seen anyone doing that and wanted to pass along the information.

9:28 AM
kiki said...

thank you for the clarification businessman - that part i did find interesting and would have liked to seen/touched it myself !

i did find this snippet of a 2006 news report from cnn that lends credence to some of what he says:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hiPrsc9g98

and this from global research Jan 2008 (with reference links):

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7854

10:22 AM
guitarbuddy said...

I agree with Victoria. These "low points" sounds like my best case scenarios growing up, and I saw plenty of people who were much worse off than I was. For one year my bedroom window overlooked Mexico across from El Paso, TX. Those people lived in tin and cardboard shacks with no paved roads, running water, or heat. Every year people died from cold or - more common - asphyxiation from burning tires trying to stay warm. Not going to Disneyland doesn't sound like privation to me.

10:41 AM
redrosebeader said...

Victoria, I agree about the article making us sick. I skimmed it as I realized it's another "poor little rich" family becoming middle class.

We may be taught views, but I still believe we make choices, little and big every day. We ARE constantly teaching lies. When I learned that Santa was a lie at 8, I cried. But I also immediately stopped believing in the easter bunny, tooth fairy, etc. Took me another 32 years to stop believing in the myth of a Pauline-Christian God. Thank god I didn't have kids and have to feel guilty later teaching them the same crap.

To me, owning a car is still a luxury (that I presently have). Being born in 1951, I wasn't totally raised expecting the good life, and I have been aware that my adulthood was lived in the richest mass society the world will ever have. Maybe younger folks were raised that way, but don't people read older books, or even watch older movies? Maybe because I have never been much of a tv watcher, and haven't owned one since 1976, I haven't been sitting in a pot of slowly warming water. I'm not saying I'm better than those who have bought into the lie, just that I keep my life in perspective. Life isn't easy being a truth-sayer and rebellious, but I still prefer it and think I'll have a better chance of getting through the coming hard times at least psychologically if I survive physically.

I do feel sorry for all the small farmers who lost their way of life by being led into more debt. So, I guess I should be more sympathetic....

1:45 PM
Unknown said...

Sorry, but my heart doesn't bleed for folks who were making a combined income of $140K per year and didn't have the common sense to sock away a bunch of that for a rainy day.

Disagree with ricefarmer's comment, "We have been led into this lifestyle". Absurd!

We all have brains and can think for ourselves. It's a choice...and that's really what all of this is about. Time to stop blaming everyone/everything else and take responsibility for our collective and individual choices.

6:30 PM
Rice Farmer said...

Canuck -- I agree that people should think for themselves. But in case you haven't noticed, most people unfortunately lack that capacity, and the elites who run the show take advantage of that. There's plenty of blame to go around, and the victims shouldn't get it all.

6:52 PM
kiki said...

my chiropractor asks me to rate my pain on a scale of 1 - 10 which he admits is an impossible thing to quantify so how can any of us 'judge' what is painful to another? esp adding into the mix emotional and intellectual pain

i think what i am seeing is an attitude of anger based in frustration that all of us will suffer because of the irresponsibility of unidentifiable 'others' and when we see an example of someone who has lost so much, they provide a target for that frustration - if we choose to feed this anger/frustration then what we effectively do is contribute to a divisiveness when we need each other the most - so who does the anger and frustration serve? what's done is done; now it's time to figure out the rest - i think a lot of the PTB would delight in seeing us 'eat each other' while leaving them alone

12:36 AM
NB Patton said...

kiki,
I think you could be missing the point of what people are talking about here. I can't speak for everyone but I think you are mislabeling these comments as being "anger" driven.
I think what is being said here is that many people around the world have no idea what suffering means to the majority. And that this approaching era could usher in a reality check and a level of humility that might actually be a good thing here in the land of entitlement and the home of the quasi free.

Also, I think the 1 - 10 pain scale is a good example of what we are referring to. Three people could be screaming 10! 10! 10! But if you took the time to check them all out you would find one has a stubbed toe, one has a broken finger and one has half his leg missing. If the other two saw the leg missing guy, they just might reach a new understanding of how much pain they are REALLY in, and might even suggest that their treatment be deferred until he was stabilized.

10:20 PM
kiki said...

npatton, I guess I’m looking a bit further down the line…………i agree that suffering here in america, measured against suffering elsewhere can be seen as an entirely different thing - and, it isn't that i don't see it and agree with comments i've seen related to same (however, I did grow up being taught my own backyard was just as important as lending a helping hand to neighbors/community)........my point is directed towards the adaptation we all need to embrace here, each in our own small community within the ‘national backyard’ ….i just don’t think it’s helpful, nor quantifiable, to attempt to measure one's pain to anothers …. it's all relative - in some ways, i see it as a matter of respecting anothers declaration of pain, even if i can't see/understand why they would feel the way they do (your point re: toe to lost leg - understood) – I do know I understand pain from my own experiences with it so I can interpolate from there, whether physical/emotional or intellectual pain ……I don’t want to see our present circumstances, as a nation, deteriorate into: ‘my suffering is worse than your suffering’ – ‘I’ve lost more than you have’ – ‘you did it to yourself’ – what are ‘you’ complaining about? you don’t know what suffering is etc - those attitudes, I don’t see as helpful in building community and helping each other through very nasty circumstances, as they develop – we have the time now (in my opinion not a lot longer) to wrap our minds around how we will adapt to the coming circumstances relative to our fellow man – there will be plenty walking around in a haze wondering what’s happened to the world they ‘knew’……….i also understand there will be tough choices to make ie. No ‘one’ can do it all but I would hope I can continue to be a person I can respect, regardless of what sickening choices I find I must make – there is a perception some seeing the coming disaster unfolding are feeling ‘frenzy’ (for lack of a better word) instead of taking time to quiet the inner self and adapt the mind and emotions – at least, initially, we’ll be the leaders of the lost because MCR woke us up – ricefarmer made an excellent point re: the elite vs the ‘masses’ – my point is: wouldn’t it be more helpful to think about: ‘what do we do, now; what role are we willing to play and what difference does it make at this point who takes what share of the responsibility?’ divide me from a corrupt government? absolutely ! divide me from my fellow man? unaccaptable - divide and conquer? we must not allow this to happen ........

I should have included in my initial post I perceive seeing anger and or frustration on other boards, as well, toward those on the front lines of loss

Thank you for your post npatton; you helped me clarify my thoughts………if I unintentionally offended anyone, I apologize – it is not my intent to offend; just to share what I ‘see’

12:02 PM
NB Patton said...

Kiki,
I always enjoy reading what you have to say Kiki, you messages are always very eloquent and well thought out, Thank you!

Please don't take my previous posting as me being completely unsympathetic to the people that are awaking from their MTV and McDonald's induced comas. I do feel bad for them and I would even offer to help them in the form of showing them "the map". Beyond that, the fact of the matter is most of these people are still better off than me, so its hard for me to help them in any other way just because I am not in a position to.

I agree with you in regards to the goal of not being divided as a people. There are many obstacles to this though, possibly chief among them is that as long as these sheeple continue to slumber away, we WILL be divided. Until they wake up and realize (at the very least) that while a debt based money system provides them their (artificial) wealth, it also provides the suffering they may or may not be realizing and the indentured servitude they are ignorant to.

I think pretending that we aren't already divided is foolish. The division has been a complete success. The ONLY hope we have lies in the people that wake up. So while we should be empathetic to those sheeple that are suffering, we should help them by waking them up! Not by enabling them to continue on their ignorant, teetering on arrogant, way of life.

With that said, I agree that anger and negative emotional venting should be channeled towards the evil that has us in this horrible predicament. And not at the souls who are trapped in its sinister web.
And I still believe the best use of anti-badguy time and energy is in educating each other. It is NOT easy but I have directly woken up about 20 or so people so far, and who knows how many indirectly from that.

Fight the good fight!

9:29 AM
Unknown said...

npatton, I agree we are divided already, ‘to an extent’; I’m hoping if we (all the awakened) can achieve a different perspective, we can influence the full manifestation from becoming reality – the worst case scenario is if this division is full blown when ‘main street’ becomes fully engaged in the fire of crisis and few reach out to anyone for/with anything, even life saving information; thus leaving a huge door open for theft, killing and general mass hysteria with roving gangs, etc (of course, there will be some of this anyway since there are always some who don’t believe in working for what they can take – however there are more people who aren’t predisposed that way and will only take that avenue if they feel they have no other option)

my vision is we begin to shift our focus now from a 100% education map mode to include at least a small percentage of time to developing our inner bearings, in order to be as effective as possible to the most …………….as much as I would love to find the valley of John Galt, where all the awakened live (and move there), I don’t think it exists……I also think we all agree, there will be dangers from ‘others’ that are unprepared physically/intellectually/emotionally -------- there will be many with no clue how to survive when they have no heat for example, or how to grow their own food or a host of other survival skills – we may not have access to computers for research and libraries may not be open so access to the information will be left to those of us who may have pieces of information others need …….ergo, it seems important we think about what we have to offer, our demeanor in offering it and how to keep the ‘judgements’ against these ‘masses’, falling into poverty, from growing exponentially, now and later ……..in doing so, perhaps shifting ‘some’ focus away from hurting others and becoming busy with the business of survival – unless we all decide to live in our own foxholes with only the folks we’ve decided to include…………..perhaps that’s best? Regardless of how many supplies we have stocked, it isn’t the only preparation we would find helpful, in my way of thinking – I think we already have the advantage of a long period of time to wrap our minds around this coming full blown crisis that hasn’t been fully appreciated nor have we thought much about how it might be utilized to help the unprepared as things unfold in all it’s ugliness

and last but not least, are we prepared to defend ourselves, if necessary? To what extent? Can we live with the outcome? How will we process the details of such action?

Just last week I caught myself nearly shouting (mentally), attempting to achieve hearing in others and feeling a sense of urgency about the non hearing – even in those beginning to awaken I find a desire in them to ‘nod off’ again, rather than looking at what they face in coming times – if I was feeling that way, I suspect others are too – it occurred to me it’s time to shift some of my energy to what I’ll do ‘after’ everyone is awakened (some forcibly through circumstances) and wanted to share my thoughts – thank you for engaging this conversation npatton 

and congratulations on awakening 20 and those they’ve shared with ! – my stats are not that good  (I have steered many to from the wilderness – I think that counts for maybe a fifth of one point for each one that read something MCR and team ferreted out for us? Lolol - sense of humor still intact ! ) *no offense to you MCR and team – I only minimize because I don’t possess any stats on the outcome of the ‘referrals’

12:21 PM
NB Patton said...

KP,
I think we are on the same page! Good thoughts my friend!,...

About those 20 or so, I have a huge family extended family. The overwhelming majority of those 20 are family members. So I may be cheating a bit? :)

7:44 PM
Jenna Orkin said...

you're not cheating. family members can be the hardest to convince and they are arguably the most important (to you.)

7:51 PM
NB Patton said...

Jenna,
Very very true... They are my "life boat". Thanks for the perspective.

9:51 AM

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