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Author Topic: Money  (Read 29780 times)

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AGelbert

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Money
« on: October 15, 2013, 06:34:56 pm »
Speaking of the inability of our lawmakers to negotiate, and keep our country from becoming the largest default in history, taking that title from Nazi controlled Germany (another thing we resemble Nazi Germany in  :P) . Well, the Chinese are not sitting quietly by, watching all of this unfold.

The official state-run Chinese news agency, Xinhua, ran an editorial on Sunday titled: "A de-Americanized world". Here's a snippet, and the link to the whole story (in English). "As U.S. politicians of both political parties are still shuffling back and forth between the White House and Capitol Hill without striking a viable deal to bring normality to the body politic they brag about, it is perhaps a good time for the befuddled world to start considering building a de-Americanized world."  ;D

U.S. fiscal failure warrants a de-Americanized world

Xinhua writer Liu Chang

BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- As U.S. politicians of both political parties are still shuffling back and forth between the White House and the Capitol Hill without striking a viable deal to bring normality to the body politic they brag about, it is perhaps a good time for the befuddled world to start considering building a de-Americanized world.

Emerging from the bloodshed of the Second World War as the world's most powerful nation, the United States has since then been trying to build a global empire by imposing a postwar world order, fueling recovery in Europe, and encouraging regime-change in nations that it deems hardly Washington-friendly.

With its seemingly unrivaled economic and military might, the United States has declared that it has vital national interests to protect in nearly every corner of the globe, and been habituated to meddling in the business of other countries and regions far away from its shores.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government has gone to all lengths to appear before the world as the one that claims the moral high ground, yet covertly doing things that are as audacious as torturing prisoners of war, slaying civilians in drone attacks, and spying on world leaders.


Under what is known as the Pax-Americana, we fail to see a world where the United States is helping to defuse violence and conflicts, reduce poor and displaced population, and bring about real, lasting peace.

Moreover, instead of honoring its duties as a responsible leading power, a self-serving Washington has abused its superpower status and introduced even more chaos into the world by shifting financial risks overseas, instigating regional tensions amid territorial disputes, and fighting unwarranted wars under the cover of outright lies.

As a result, the world is still crawling its way out of an economic disaster thanks to the voracious Wall Street elites, while bombings and killings have become virtually daily routines in Iraq years after Washington claimed it has liberated its people from tyrannical rule.


Most recently, the cyclical stagnation in Washington for a viable bipartisan solution over a federal budget and an approval for raising debt ceiling has again left many nations' tremendous dollar assets in jeopardy and the international community highly agonized.

Such alarming days when the destinies of others are in the hands of a hypocritical nation have to be terminated, and a new world order should be put in place, according to which all nations, big or small, poor or rich, can have their key interests respected and protected on an equal footing.

To that end, several corner stones should be laid to underpin a de-Americanized world.

For starters, all nations need to hew to the basic principles of the international law, including respect for sovereignty, and keeping hands off domestic affairs of others.

Furthermore, the authority of the United Nations in handling global hotspot issues has to be recognized. That means no one has the right to wage any form of military action against others without a UN mandate.

Apart from that, the world's financial system also has to embrace some substantial reforms.

The developing and emerging market economies need to have more say in major international financial institutions including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, so that they could better reflect the transformations of the global economic and political landscape.

What may also be included as a key part of an effective reform is the introduction of a new international reserve currency that is to be created to replace the dominant U.S. dollar, :o  so that the international community could permanently stay away from the spillover of the intensifying domestic political turmoil in the United States.

Of course, the purpose of promoting these changes is not to completely toss the United States aside,  ;D which is also impossible. ;D  Rather, it is to encourage Washington to play a much more constructive role in addressing global affairs.

And among all options, it is suggested that the beltway politicians first begin with ending the pernicious impasse.  ;)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2013-10/13/c_132794246.htm

Oh, those oh so subtle Chinese.  ;D
« Last Edit: October 15, 2013, 08:22:12 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Money
« Reply #2 on: November 27, 2013, 02:58:08 pm »
Last Edit: May 04, 2017, 05:24:36 pm


Quote
Wampum, ke`kwuk, squau-tho-won; all are Algonquian words for shell beads or string of shell beads. Wampumpeage is a Narragansett word for "white beads strung". Throughout northeastern America, wampum was used for jewelry, gifts, communication, historical record of important events, religious ceremonies, and trade. It was the earliest form of currency known in North America. Its value was derived from the difficulty involved in producing the cylindrical bead from both Quahog and Whelk, and the scarcity of suitable shells. White beads were made from Whelk, purple-blackish from Quahog.

The beads were produced from the inner spiral of the shells. The spiral or column must be thick enough to withstand grinding, shaping and drilling. The shells were collected along the coastal shores during the summer, and worked in the winter months. The inner spirals were cut into cylinders measuring 1/4 inch long by 1/8 inch diameter. Each bead was then smoothed through grinding, polished, drilled, and finally strung on hemp fibers or sinew. It was difficult, tedious, and time consuming work. The proportionate scarcity of the Quahog dark beads doubled their value to that of white wampum.

http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo08017.html

She sells seashells by the seashore. If she sells seashells by the seashore, how many seashore shells does she sell? This old tongue twisting pronunciation trainer underscores step one in the manufacture of Wampum. You needed a supply of a certain, special and very attractive type of Calcium Carbonate, which was limited in quantities, to begin to do WORK=ENERGY INPUT plus some ARTISTIC CREATIVITY on the seashells in order to produce a CURRENCY that was BOTH a medium of exchange AND a store of value.   

Wampum

In a barter economy, the transfer of goods and services from one party to another is hindered by the lack of liquidity of say, an animal, a bear skin or whatever. The lack of a medium of exchange that can be subdivided into small enough units for both parties to make up perceived different values in a barter transaction is the need that fosters the creation of "money" in the first place.

Wampum was initially a form of artistic expression as well as a form of communication (it was a store of value as jewelry and venerable truth through news and agreements).

However, as the quantity gradually increased and most natives agreed more or less on its value, wampum began providing the liquidity that a barter economy could not.

Consequently the Native Americans along the eastern area of North Amerca gradually adopted wampum as a currency in addition to valuing its beauty (jewelry = bling). The Natives that lived along the beach had an edge on those inland because of easy access to the raw materials.

Wampum beads  Photo: Stephen Lang (Source: AINS/NMAI)

Quote
With the influx of more Europeans in the 17th century, notably the Dutch and English, metal tools became widely available to Indians in the east.

Among these tools were slender metal drills which greatly facilitated the production of wampum. These new tools enabled the Indians to produce uniform beads more quickly and with greater ease.

Applying basic economic principles to wampum as a commodity/currency in the 17th century, it might be assumed that wampum decreased in value as its production was sped up.

On the contrary, its value remained stable.

Again applying the basic economic rule of supply and demand, though the Europeans brought tools that helped to increase wampum production, they also balanced their contribution with an increased demand for the shell beads.

http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo08017.html

Wampum is pretty and, until the Europeans showed up with metal hand tools, a good store of wealth because the amount of energy=work it took to make it as well as the amount of shells available  limited the amount of wampum in circulation.

But those metal thingamajigs the white devils brought made it EASY (LESS TIME & ENERGY=WORK) to make lots of pretty wampum (metal hand drills). This new wampum looked just as good or better than the older stuff made with less sophisticated (non-metal) tools.

At first everybody prospered. There was more wampum, and contrary to standard economic theory that when you increase the currency in circulation, you get inflation, this did not happen right away. Everybody, including the white devils  , were happy with the wampum economy.

But time passed and things changed.

Quote
As the New England colonists adopted wampum as their standard currency, incidents of fraud (wampum counterfeit) increased.

Both Indian and Englishman were known to pass off inferior or fraudulent wampum to unsuspecting colonials.


In time, regulation and a standardized measure of wampum strands was implemented. A fathom (6 feet) was the most usual measurement and instantly denoted a specific monetary value measured against English shillings, pence, pounds, and so forth.

The fact that legislation was introduced, regulations regarding wampum manufacture were set down, penalties for counterfeit or inferior quality wampum trading were harsh, and in some colonies the rejection of dark wampum for only white (though its value was greater, it was easier to counterfeit by way of dye), all illustrate how dependent the colonists and Indians were on these shell beads.

There was some fluctuation in wampum's value, as is always the case with currency, but by and large, it remained uniformly acceptable and desirable to nearly the end of the 17th century in the colonies and into the 18th century along the frontiers.

Its worth, however, was tenable. Wampum was only good as long as the Indians prized it. If or when that was no longer the case, an economic crash could occur throughout the English colonies that would have had serious consequences in New England, and subsequently, in the mother country as well.

It was this realization, along with the declining demand for fur, that moved the New Englanders to gradually phase out wampum as a currency standard. With silver from the West Indies beginning to circulate in North America, wampum was slowly being replaced by that universally valued commodity, metal coinage.

http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo08017.html

Two things happened:

1)
The colonists, who had hitherto absorbed the wampum glut by their demand for the beads, lost interest in wampum partly because they didn't require as many furs (wampum was the currency the colonists used to buy pelts). Wampum lost value as a medium of exchange as the increase in available currency took its toll.

Counterfeiting exacerbated the problem of undermining the medium of exchange value of the currency. A given piece of wampum lost purchasing power because of wampum glut AND a competing currency of coinage.

2)
The artistic value part of wampum as a store of wealth suffered as well. Any philatelist can tell you that old stamps get their "value", not from a pretty painting on the stamp, but MAINLY from their scarcity.

This was depressing. Imagine all those hours spent painstakingly making wampum and that neighboring squaw that is all thumbs can suddenly make several times as much as you can just because she has a white devil metal thingamajig to goose production! And now the white devils don't want them as much as they used to either.  :P  :(

But as you can see below, despite its disappearance as a currency, wampum survives to this day as a product of patient craftsmanship, artistry and historical communication.

Quote
It is interesting, if not ironic, to note that wampum remains valuable even today. A single wampum bead made from Quahog or Whelk, manufactured in New England coastal areas can cost up to $10! Overseas wampum is less expensive, but still demands a good price. Wampum, the first currency of the new world, has survived as a desired item long enough to be considered a classic.

But it would never regain its position as a medium of exchange/currency.

Two Row Wampum Treaty from Elder, Yvonne Thomas.pic.twitter.com/EtjkqHsG9o The patient artistry and symbolism crafted in this wampum is an example of how wampum is a store of value. 

Quote
Celebrating 400 Years of the Two Row Wampum

Vanessa Parker

May 25, 2013

In an effort to maintain a separate and peaceful coexistence, an agreement was made 400 years ago between a group of Haudenosaunee nations and the incoming European settlers who were rapidly arriving. That agreement remains valid today.

The Two Row Wampum was made with strings of wampum, or crushed shells, which were made into purple and white beads threaded onto strings, forming a belt.

]The white beads, located outside of two large purple rows of beads, represent the truth.

The purple beads are separated into two rows, one representing the canoe of the Haudenosaunee, the other representing the sailboat of the incoming Europeans.

Each row represents the separate cultures, traditions, governments and religions.

In between the purple rows run three rows of white beads. These represent peace, friendship and maintaining a sense of equality forever.
full article here:

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/05/25/celebrating-400-years-two-row-wampum-149469

What lessons can we take from the above Native American experience?

1) Money is created in order to ease the transfer of goods and services. This medium of exchange normally has the following qualities:

A. Liquidity

B. Durability

C. Portability

D. Agreed upon value per unit


2) The ENERGY it takes to create said money is directly proportional to a unit of said money as a store of value.



The extreme situation, never reached by wampum because it always took SOME skill and energy to make, is FIAT currency where it has ZERO value as a store of wealth.

The case of the US dollar is BELOW ZERO as a store of wealth because, in addition to it being fiat, the supply is growing absent any energy input whatsoever. So the dollar loses value as it sits from Fed  inflation (counterfeiting). Legal Tender Laws force the citizenry to run around trying to preserve some value in a currency that shrinks in value year after year. Many of these value chasers go for PMs, paintings, land, antique cars, Early American antique furniture, etc. They are all looking for something that meets the criteria of liquidity, durability, portability and agreed upon value per unit to a greater or lesser degree.

3) Beyond the basic biochemical needs of proper nutrition, shelter and health, human culture places a great deal of value on tangibles and intangibles outside the default requirements of human life.



Humans will always value creativity and imaginative and useful innovations that bring beauty, comfort and utility to our lives as STORES OF VALUE.

What price can you place on a song? What value does a set of verses have that took a song writer 5 minutes to write after he had dreamed them versus a painstakingly written flute sonata?

Hard to say, right? One took a lot less ENERGY than the other, both in KWhs and artistic creativity, but may have sold for a lot more money.


What about greed and other economy influencing factors? ???

The issue of greed, hoarding, the amount of currency in circulation as a trigger for consumerism or the reverse are all PRODUCTS of distortions in an economy.

Most economists espouse the view  that currency does not simply encourage certain types of behavior deleterious to an economy, but DICTATES IT.

I don't feel that way because I view money as an EFFECT, not a CAUSE. I do agree that the money supply certainly must remain in a fairly constant proportion per capita to avoid distortions.

Food will never be currency simply because, even if you could freeze dry it with solar energy and store it also with solar energy for a hundred years or so to use it as you needed it, there is only so much food you or anybody else can eat.

People want furniture, tools, culture, beauty, some entertainment, etc. A prisoner in solitary confinement goes bonkers even though he has sufficient food, shelter and health care.

Life is MUCH more than food, shelter and health.

Those who disdain precious metals as a store of wealth feel that, since gold hoarders can't eat their gold, it therefore has no intrinsic value. However, as all gold bugs have noticed, gold has the following "money-like" attributes:

A. Liquidity
B. Durability
C. Portability
D. Agreed upon value per unit

Gold bugs observe, rightfully, that the US dollar retains the above attributes by the big gun the government has called Legal Tender Laws, not by reality. This amounts to a government distortion of the value of the currency to for the benefit of the owners of the Federal Reserve Banking Cartel and the detriment (i.e. impoverishment) of the average American citizen.  Consequently they take any excess dollars in their possession and quickly convert them something besides dollars because the value of said dollars, like wampum (eventually,) after the metal hand drills were introduced by the white devils, is going down.

Gold bugs watch the Fed money supply going exponential in direct proportion to the galloping inflation the government refuses to own up to. 

This is far worse than wampum inflation because this is raw counterfeiting of fiat! People aware of this start to buy this, that and the other with those magically shrinking dollars from collector's items like stamps to maybe antique furniture to paintings to rare coins to, you guessed it, gold!

Gold is hard to counterfeit. There is a way to use nuclear physics (this is not a joke, it's the real deal!) to transmute some cheap element to gold but the energy expenditure is greater than the energy needed to mine and produced finished gold from ore. However, when fusion becomes a reality, the equation for gold may change and, it too, will go the way of wampum. Don't worry gold bugs, it may be a while yet.*

The Federal Reserve Banking Cartel realizes there are a lot people out there on to their game so they start manipulating  the precious metals paper prices (tanking them) to drive the gold bugs back to the Fed fiat fantasy of a strong dollar. 

I observed this blatant and economically disastrous distotion of currency value and, after thinking about it a while, came to the conclusion that we need something like wampum but without those hand drills or the counterfeiting dye! My wonderful and innovative Kilowatt Hour Monetary Standard is, horror of horrors,  greeted with hardy harrs and guffaws from the gnomes of the Federal Reserve. 🎩🍌 Harrumph! 


ANY currency that is not BOTH a medium of exchange and a store of value will be corrupted, distorted, counterfeited and generally devalued, PERIOD.


The "tokens" or other symbols used for such currency obviously introduces DEBT because there might be a whole lot more symbols, tokens or pieces of paper with funny squiggles on them than the ACTUAL store of value represented. THAT'S JUST A DETAIL. If you can avoid corruption and insure transparency, that can be minimized.

The "fear" that hoarders are going to trash the economy by taking money out of circulation is unfounded. That's merely an EFFECT of capitalism. It has nothing to do with the concept of money per se.

This EFFECT is really quite easy to prevent. All you have to do is progressively tax wealth (NOT INCOME!) above X net worth to keep a lid on excess capital accumulation. Thomas Jefferson was in favor of that, as a matter of fact (google it!).

Once everyone is on board with a stable currency like Kilowatt Hour Equivalents, I would also eliminate the difference between earned and unearned income (capital gains) and progressively tax that too. That appropriate and fair tax structure would serve as an additional DETERRENT hoard and a guarantee that the velocity of money will remain fairly constant. 

Have a nice day.

*
Quote
Nuclear experiments have successfully transmuted lead into gold, but the expense far exceeds any gain.[7] It would be easier to convert gold into lead via neutron capture and beta decay by leaving gold in a nuclear reactor for a long period of time.   :P


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_transmutation
« Last Edit: April 05, 2022, 05:03:24 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Money
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2014, 07:10:03 pm »
Quote
That the Fed is a key player in Iran sanctions implementation is certainly no secret. 


The Fed has been an equal partner in levying hundreds of millions in fines against foreign banks such as R.B.S, Barclays, Standard and Chartered and H.S.B.C. which were charged with violating the Iran sanctions regime. 

Although AIPAC never mentions it, American exporters have been seriously hurt by sanctions on Iran and the punitive secondary boycott.  A coalition representing the US Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, Coalition for American Trade, the National Foreign Trade Council and others urged Congress not to enact sanctions provisions they estimated would cost  $25 billion and 210,000 American jobs.  (PDF) 

Keeping such a costly regime in place despite thawing relations and any hard evidence of an Iranian nuclear weaponization program has therefore required immense ongoing efforts by Israel lobbying groups.   



Quote
Fischer may also want to launch "exercises" to prepare the U.S. financial system for the fallout of Israeli military attacks on Iran.  :P  :o

New bills in Congress drafted by AIPAC call not only for additional sanctions aimed at thwarting a fledgling deal on Iran's nuclear program (favored 2-to-1 by Americans). AIPAC's bill forces the U.S. to "have Israel's back" in the event of a unilateral Israeli strike. 

If Israel has already decided to attack Iran, it would benefit immensely from having Fischer inside the Fed, protecting the financial flows Israel now regards as all but a birthright from its primary global underwriter.


Less well-known is the Fed's authority to authorize foreign bank acquisitions. 

Any future Israeli campaign to further entwine its banks into the U.S. financial system through acquisitions would likely find a much more welcoming regulator in Fischer.
http://www.irmep.org/fischer_aipac.htm


« Last Edit: April 05, 2022, 05:05:55 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Money
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2014, 03:44:28 pm »
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K-8FJ114kU&feature=player_embedded

The iron curtain of the Supreme Court was breached on Wednesday. Activists from the group 99Rise entered the Supreme Court chamber. After videoing the session where the justice can be clearly seen, one of the activists stood up. He said the following before he was accosted by the Supreme Court security detail.

“I rise on behalf of the vast majority of the American people who believe that money is not speech, corporations are not people, and our democracy should not be for sale to the highest bidder. Overturn Citizens United. Keep the cap on McCutcheon. The people demand democracy.” According to 99Rise9



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 26, 2014

 Washington, DC - Activists from the grassroots group 99Rise, entered the Supreme Court of the United States chambers today, disrupted the proceedings, and demanded the restoration of democracy in America.
"Generations of Americans have shed blood, sweat, and tears to win the right to vote and extend the promise of democracy in America,” said Kai Newkirk, co-founder of 99 Rise and a participant in today's action, “It's time for our generation to step up and do whatever it takes to defend that right and end the corruption of big money in politics. If that means risking arrest in order to speak truth to power, so be it."

The participants were inspired to act in response to the recent decisions of the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. FEC, which demolished the wall of separation between wealth and state, and the threat that the Supreme Court would make it even worse in McCutcheon v. FEC, which would remove the cap on aggregate candidate contributions.

"The Supreme Court's Citizens United decision was a betrayal of the American people and of our democracy. It took the systemic corruption of our government by big money interests to an obscene new level. If the Court eliminates the cap on aggregate donations by an individual in an election cycle - the question at hand in the McCutcheon case - it would put another round of shots into the dying body of our democracy."
>:(


The group is calling for a restoration of free and fair elections in America, an end to the corruption in our politics, and the restoration of representative democracy in America.
Using nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience, such as was used in the Civil Rights Movement, they have been drawing attention to this issue with actions from coast to coast.

At today's action, Newkirk made this speech during the proceedings: “I rise on behalf of the vast majority of the American people who believe money is not speech, corporations are not people, and government should not be for sale to the highest bidder. We demand that you overturn Citizens United, keep the cap inMcCutcheon, and an end to corruption. We demand free and fair elections and a real democracy now.”


99Rise.org is a grassroots organization fighting to end corruption and win real democracy through nonviolent resistance. For more information, including pictures of previous actions, please visit 99Rise.org.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/27/1281027/-Watch-heckler-inside-Supreme-Court-shout-money-is-not-speech

Agelbert NOTE: I will be checking out 99Rise.org. It sounds like a GREAT ORGANIZATION!  ;D
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Money
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2014, 04:25:05 pm »
How Much US Debt Does China Own?


The US national debt is more than $17 trillion US Dollars (USD), or roughly equal to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), and China owns about 7.6% of it, or more than $1.2 trillion USD. China is the largest overseas creditor of the US. Japan is the next-largest overseas creditor, and it owns about $1.1 trillion USD of the US national debt. More than one-fourth of the US debt is actually owed to its own federal government, such as the Social Security trust funds and the Federal Reserve.

More about the US national debt:


•The US was created with a national debt; a 1790 analysis estimated that the new country had a debt of $75 million USD, or about 30% of its GDP.

•As of 2014, Andrew Jackson is the only US president to get the US national debt completely paid off during his presidency — the country was debt-free from 1835 to 1836.

•The US national debt has not been below $1 billion USD since 1866.

http://www.wisegeek.com/how-much-us-debt-does-china-own.htm


Agelbert NOTE: There you have it - PROOF that what WE saved in Social Security has been pilfered away by the lying, thieving crooks in our government for corporate war and fossil fuel profiteering. Big Oil OWES US that money!
 


He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Money
« Reply #6 on: June 14, 2014, 07:38:10 pm »
Daily Kos member

Thu Jun 12, 2014 at 07:33 PM PDT.

Study: 10,000 Great Recession Suicides Due To Austerity



by
Reinvented Daddy


Like we didn't already know this:
  >:(


(Al Jeezera)Researchers at the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine have suggested that more than 10,000 suicides in Europe and North America can be linked to the severe economic downturn brought on by the 2008 financial crisis.
The study, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests that economic downturns have serious but somewhat predictable mental health consequences, and that with the right kind of intervention, the mental impact of recession can be reduced.
This is about as prestigious a study panel as you could put together and their findings are borne out with five years of hindsight.  This economic collapse was brought on by a combination of financial deregulation and unnecessary deficit spending brought on by tax cuts for the rich and the Iraq War.  Millions of victims have seen their jobs lost, wages shrunk and homes lost but the greatest price was paid by those who couldn't take any more pain from this class war and chose to give up the ghost.   
I emphasis that last line: "... with the right kind of intervention, the mental impact of recession can be reduced"   That is a direct indictment of the Austerians on both continents who have, and continue to, chosen to fight this depression with spending cuts that are paid by the poor, down and out, unemployed and underemployed who saw their savings crushed and their lives ruined.   Every time long term unemployment insurance is blocked by the
 Right, each time food stamp recipients are demonized, lives are lost.


In the U.S., the suicide rate increased by 4.8 percent between 2007 and 2010. Canada saw a similar increase. In the EU, where the suicide rate had been steadily decreasing until the recession, it jumped from the pre-recession rate of about 10 suicides per 10,000 people by about 6.5 percent at the start of the downturn and remained at the higher rate through 2011.
...

In Sweden, Finland and Austria for example — where government assistance for the unemployed and clinically depressed is more readily available than elsewhere — the suicide rate remained consistent or saw small reductions despite the economic downturn.
It is not a moral paradox.


 Conservatives are killing people without conscience.  The "Pro-Life" Party has blood on it's hands it can never wash off.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/12/1306476/-Study-10-000-Great-Recession-Suicides-Due-To-Austerity
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Money
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2014, 10:04:01 pm »
Watch this one minute clip to learn how Capitalism has FAILED to accumulate and protect the most important Capital, thereby making so called modern "Capitalism" a monstrous system that actually SHRINKS,  DEGRADES and DESTROYS  Capital!  

http://viewrz.com/video/real-money
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Money
« Reply #9 on: October 24, 2014, 03:47:10 pm »
Dollar Rally Into October Upends Earnings From 3M to IBM

By Matt Townsend and Andrea Wong  Oct 24, 2014

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-23/dollar-rally-into-october-upends-earnings-from-3m-to-ibm.html


Agelbert NOTE: More proof that Homo SAPdom is dumber than a wedge.

OR just INSANE.
« Last Edit: April 05, 2022, 05:08:21 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Money
« Reply #10 on: November 05, 2014, 11:23:33 pm »

Government Control of Money = a SCHEME (i.e. a scam  ;D) to make SOMETHING for NOTHING. 
« Last Edit: April 05, 2022, 05:20:16 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Money
« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2015, 08:26:12 pm »
For those who think Banks creating money out of nothing is a New trick

Quote
"The bank hath benefit of interest on all moneys which it creates out of nothing." -- William Paterson, founder of the Bank of England in 1694

After the revolution, the new United States adopted a radically different economic system in which the government issued its own value-based money, so that private banks like the Bank of England were not siphoning off the wealth of the people through interest-bearing bank notes.

"The refusal of King George 3rd to allow the colonies to operate an honest money system, which freed the ordinary man from the clutches of the money manipulators, was probably the prime cause of the revolution." -- Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father

Following the revolution, the US Government actually took steps to keep the bankers out of the new government!


"Any person holding any office or any stock in any institution in the nature of a bank for issuing or discounting bills or notes payable to bearer or order, cannot be a member of the House whilst he holds such office or stock." -- Third Congress of the United States Senate, 23rd of December, 1793, signed by the President, George Washington

 
But bankers are nothing if not dedicated to their schemes to acquire your wealth, and know full well how easy it is to corrupt a nation's leaders.   

Just one year after Mayer Amschel Rothschild had uttered his infamous "Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who makes the laws", the bankers succeeded in setting up a new Private Central Bank called the First Bank of the United States, largely through the efforts of the Rothschild's chief US supporter, Alexander Hamilton.
 



Founded in 1791, by the end of its twenty year charter the First Bank of the United States had almost ruined the nation's economy, while enriching the bankers. Congress refused to renew the charter and signaled their intention to go back to a state issued value based currency on which the people paid no interest at all to any banker. This resulted in a threat from Nathan Mayer Rothschild against the US Government, "Either the application for renewal of the charter is granted, or the United States will find itself involved in a most disastrous war." Congress still refused to renew the charter for the First Bank of the United States, whereupon Nathan Mayer Rothschild railed, "Teach those impudent Americans a lesson! Bring them back to colonial status!" The British Prime Minister at the time, Spencer Perceval was adamantly opposed to war with the United States, primarily because the majority of England's military might was occupied with the ongoing Napoleonic wars. Spencer Perceval was concerned that Britain might not prevail in a new American war, a concern shared by many in the British government. Then, Spencer Perceval was assassinated (the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated in office) and replaced by Robert Banks Jenkinson, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool, who was fully supportive of a war to recapture the colonies.

Read more: ALL WARS ARE BANKERS' WARS! | WHAT REALLY HAPPENED http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/allwarsarebankerwars.php#ixzz3QAW6dmuw
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Money
« Reply #12 on: February 09, 2015, 03:56:49 pm »

Greek good guy tells it like it is.   

IF the predatory capitalists recover their sanity (and deep six ex nihilo money creating)  with Greek help, this is the way it SHOULD work out:   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o_jHagKjZ4&feature=player_embedded
Otherwise, it's CURTAINS for the Eurozone! 
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Money
« Reply #13 on: March 22, 2015, 06:41:36 pm »
GDP Does Not Measure Progress
 

 Did you know that if we all paid off our debts, the money system would collapse? The entire money supply is on loan to us from the banking system.

 "We need an economic system that allows for stability without relentless growth and consumption." says Tim Jackson, author of "Prosperity Without Growth" in this short film that offers plenty of reasonable and inspiring suggestions for change.

"Enough is Enough"
is about understanding the limits we face and offering a better economic solution that works for both people and the planet.  

Although income has tripled in the US and UK since the 1950's, people have not become any happier. Income is no longer improving people's lives in the wealthy nations, and we need a different measuring stick than GDP.

 Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party in the UK and Wales explains that the people who developed the measure of GDP explicitly said: "Do not use this to measure national progress. This is a gross inaccurate figure."

 Here is a well presented synopsis of What Isn't Working, and how we can change course.

 It starts with our own small choices about work, money, what we consume, what we prioritize. That is what will lead to the sea change we need.

 -- Bibi Farber

 This video was produced by Rob Dietz and Dan O'Neill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ-LYElvtEU&feature=player_embedded

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Money
« Reply #14 on: March 22, 2015, 07:18:21 pm »
Does Being Rich Make You a Self-Centered Lawbreaker?

Posted on Mar 18, 2015

Work by social psychologist Paul Piff suggests that the more money people have, the more likely they are to cheat or put their needs before those of others.  :(
Quote

BBC News:

In the past, public perception has tended towards the notion that the very poor are more likely to break the rules because they are under financial pressure and face more difficult circumstances.

But Piff’s work suggests the opposite - that having more money makes you care about others less and feel entitled to put your own interests first…After nearly a decade researching this field, Piff has come to the controversial conclusion that being wealthy, rather than transforming you into a benevolent benefactor, can actually be rather bad for your moral fibre…“It isolates you in certain ways from other people psychologically and materially. You prioritise your own needs and your own goals and become less attuned to those around you.

When we feel wealthy, Piff concludes, we need other people less. In the real world, when people have less money, they rely more heavily on their social relationships to get by. Therefore interpersonal relations are prioritized. The rich, by contrast, can buy themselves peace, quiet and space - plus a solution to most problems. There’s nothing like a fat wallet to cheer you up in a crisis. But that tends to isolate them from others’ experiences.

Follow the link, if you dare  ;), for evidence proving that greed IS BAD for YOU, as well as everyone else in society:

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/heres_how_we_know_being_rich_pretty_much_makes_law-breaking_jerk_20150318
« Last Edit: April 05, 2022, 05:49:39 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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