http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Estim ... y_year.gif

It's the Feds aka the elite they created debt and now own us with it.
Love
Bette

_________________
All That Is
what is?
Consciousness.

Op-Ed Columnist
The White Underclass
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: February 8, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/opini ... ml?_r=1&hp

......Historically, “underclass” has often been considered to be a euphemism for race, but increasingly it includes elements of the white working class as well.

That’s the backdrop for the uproar over Charles Murray’s latest book, “Coming Apart.” Murray critically examines family breakdown among working-class whites and the decline in what he sees as traditional values of diligence. ......

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(this seems pertinent to the discussion above)

That seems to me to be a good article with good points and balance. Between our educational systems (deliberate) malfunction, the prevalence of sex, drugs and rock'n roll as the dominant ethic and social paradigm and the sending of production jobs overseas, we seem like we are heading for most of the 99% becoming a permanent underclass.

Ted

I think it is important to remember that many of our production jobs were replaced by robotics and automated, too.
Love
Bette

_________________
All That Is
what is?
Consciousness.

+1 Bette, because productivity is the key, not jobs necessarily.

_________________
I eat ego's for breakfast!
Sincerely, Ego.

Greg Hunter blogs on the economy and some social issues. His writing is accessible (easy to unpack) and to the point.
Veterans of this thread should like what he has to offer. This post (from yesterday or so) is particularly packed with lots of links.

Dollar and America on the Road to Ruin
http://usawatchdog.com/dollar-and-ameri ... d-to-ruin/

In the last week or so, I’ve noticed an unusual amount of really well written and researched articles warning of impending doom and financial horror. These articles are not written by a bunch of angry uneducated bloggers but by money managers, investors and financial writers. All are people who got it right leading up to the meltdown of 2008, and my bet is they are right again. The mainstream media (MSM) told you after the 2008 crash, “Nobody saw that coming,” which is a bold faced lie that will not work again.

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NOT productivity, but PROFIT, short term profit (as opposed to LONG TERM profit) is the key, according to the old paradigm. That is why it is now time for a new paradigm.

_________________
LOVE is the answer

peace
patrick

Well productivity leads to profit in some form(If successful of course). We can't start our thinking at the goal without then going further back in the chain to the cause of the goal. Kind of like with consciousness the goal is lowering entropy, but the way to do that is looking at our intents(Cause of lowering our entropy).

_________________
I eat ego's for breakfast!
Sincerely, Ego.

The pursuit of short term PROFIT at the expense of PEOPLE is one of the symptoms of High entropy (FEAR). Hoarding money and possessions at the expense of others, and manipulating others through fear in order to control your personal environment are the main tactics used, throughout history, by high entropy individuals (and groups) towards self seeking, short term profit, at the expense of long term progress, and sustainability. At the expense of other individuals free will. At the expense of the well being of large groups of people. At the expense of the natural resources of other nations. And at the expense of progress for the whole.

The people who seek short term (high entropy) profit at all costs usually believe that the "ends justify the means", while people that pursue LONG TERM (low entropy) profit will understand that the "means justify the ends". On the "spiritual level" we know that its not so much what you do, but why you do it. We are not "judged" so much by our actions but by our INTENTIONS.

I suppose you could define Productivity in similar terms (although I have never heard it used that way), where short term productivity can be profitable over the short term, but sacrifice long term productivity.
But as I see it, the bottom line is always profit. It always comes down to either short term or long term profitability. (selfishness vs selflessness) LOVE vs FEAR

_________________
LOVE is the answer

peace
patrick

I think you thought I was implying that there can not be more than one type of productivity, or that different individuals cannot have different value judgements depending on what entropy level they are? If you did that is not the case at all. It comes down to arguing about aspects of the system in which society operates. There will always be higher entropy players in every system. Depending on the rules of the system they are participating in, by choice or by force, they will employ different tactics to get what they seek. When talking about the pro's and con's of a system society operates in, has, or could operate in, you have to look at more than just the numbers, because the fuel of the system is individuals and every person has a unique level of entropy; We do not all think alike. We are victims of a subjective world in an objective system.

_________________
I eat ego's for breakfast!
Sincerely, Ego.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... in-america

From my experiences not too long ago going through public schools, they are pretty bad now and rapidly getting worse, almost counter productive. I know when/if I have kids I am going to think long and hard about putting my children through the system we have now.

_________________
I eat ego's for breakfast!
Sincerely, Ego.

Forbes: The Federal Reserve's Explicit Goal: Devalue The Dollar 33%
http://www.forbes.com/sites/charleskadl ... dollar-33/

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) has made it official: After its latest two day meeting, it announced its goal to devalue the dollar by 33% over the next 20 years. The debauch of the dollar will be even greater if the Fed exceeds its goal of a 2 percent per year increase in the price level.

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Hooray, more inflation! Everyone wants higher prices and a less valuable currency, right? :)

_________________
I eat ego's for breakfast!
Sincerely, Ego.

this is why the American debt crisis is not as bad as the various EU debt crises

The US debt is denominated in US dollars, and the US controls how US dollars are valued relative to the currencies of foreigners that hold the debt - not a good position for holders of US debt

As Germany did with their WWI debt (hyperinflated), which was valued in German currency, the easy button for the US is to simply devalue through inflation and screw the Chinese, and other foreign debt holders.

A surge of inflation will help with house prices as well and mitigate mortgage debt stress. To the extent that inflation outpaces interest rates, there will be a transfer from wealth holders to borrowers.

Most of the Public debt is actually held by American Citizens, likely most of them 1%rs clipping coupons in Palm Beach and Naples. If you raise taxes by targeting passive no-risk interest income, and tax it as straight income rather than a capital gain (bond appreciation)....I have no problem with that...it does not directly relate to wealth or job creation.

the key is to go after the non-productive rich who hide their money in no-risk government instruments, and rather.... avoid discouraging the productive rich who store their wealth in factories, apartment buildings, malls...and so on, and especially encourage the small business owners who create most of the new jobs.

knock yourself out with luxury taxes

you want to position your energetic business owners and productive rich like mice on a treadmill, chasing a bit of cheese (profit retention) and trying to outrun an electric shock coming up the rear (taxes on unproductive wealth hoarding or luxury spending).

that hive can only be squeezed for so much honey, and the incentive infrastructure has to be tuned so that the potentially productive working population is incented to "occupy" a desk, a truck drivers seat or a factory floor position.

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Does this PMR make my butt look big?

Many Of You Will Not Believe Some Of The Things Americans Are Doing Just To Survive
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/arch ... to-survive

You might not want to read this article if you have a weak stomach. Most Americans have absolutely no idea what is going on in the dark corners of America, and when people find out the truth it can come as quite a shock.

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Comes with a link to a half hour BBC produced video