Those of us who have been hanging around the Bonner Bar and Grill a long time know my "law" that all government eventually goes bad, and the reason for it: weaknesses in human nature. One of the worse flaws in us humans is the "something for nothing" urge. It's in all of us. Some learn to control it better than others. Back in the 50s, a kid could do a lot with a nickel; he could buy gum, or a candy bar, or a bottled soft drink, or an ice cream cone, or a doughnut. It was a big deal when Granddad slipped you a nickel or two; suddenly, you could take a friend on spree, or save the money, looking to accumulate to reach the magical next level: 25 cents! At some point, I came by a little coin purse made of rubber/plastic; when squeezed, the little purse would flex and open up, and when released, it would magically "close" itself. I loved keeping my coins in there, but it began to dawn on me how wonderful it could be if every time I took a coin for expenditure, another would magically take its place. Wow! Wouldn't that be grand? At age 5, I had discovered the built-in weakness in me: the "something for nothing" urge. For some, even many, that (seemingly) harmless little fantasy, became a lifetime pursuit. Government panders to that fantasy and capitalizes on it. We now have 31.4 TRILLION claim tickets in the till where the "something for nothing" giveaway scam was used. I call it "death by government." We're on a collision course with catastrophe. Best always. PM
Absolutely wonderful expose Paul, yes except I'd add them delicious Tootsie Rolls and a bottle of RC Cola! Thought those days would always be but sadly the people of the world grew lazy and accustomed to their full bellies of whatever they could buy and travel was so cheap that we could move about and find work where ever it started 'boom' so off we went to the land of milk and honey and Southern California became the capital of the post WW2 world ! it was fantastic place for a migrant or any kid to grow up in but sadly the 50'ties and 'I love Ike' warnings were ignored by a wiser elder statesman who knew human weaknesses and so off we went in glorious ignorance and disregard for Ike's warnings and jumped into the rollicking 60'ties like pigs in stye thinking that the good life would never end until the 70'ties hit us flat in the kisser but by then the greed and corruption had made an even strong foothold in local state federal govt and in many businesses as well. So yes could not agree more with your vision and analysis of our collective 'Rear View Mirrors' ...
Hey Paul. We used to walk along the railroad tracks picking up soda bottles for two cents. If we did not find any, we had to cross the Trussell and continue on our search. Can you imagine today a five or six year old walking down the tracks, crossing the Trussell with a good 80 feet drop. My mom just said be home by dark. It was truly a better world. Trestle.
Ideally, what we need today is a grassroots movement with the mission statement. "Vote For the Other Guy". The goal would be to target every current elected official from at least state level up to federal level for the next 12 years. Get rid of every incumbent and demand that their replacements spend only the money they can raise with fees and taxes. Another demand would be public financing of all elections with candidates/current office holders prohibited from taking any campaign donations at all. Finally, retired Congressmen, Senators, military officers, etc. prohibited from lobbyist jobs that then deal with businesses seeking contracts from their former government related employment positions. Why at least 12 years? Senators' terms of office are six years. Some of those scoundrels may slip by and get re-elected and then not honor our mission goals. Unfortunately, for all the money we spend on public education, the masses of Americans would rather watch reality TV rather than subscribe to Bonner Private Research. While I hope for a miracle, realistically I'm following the advice I read each day here.
I agree 100% with your comments, however I'm not holding my breath on any of these ideal changes to our government politicians. I'm starting to look into moving to another country, part time at first and then possibly full time if they'll have me and my money, leaving ya'll to figure this out..
Thanks so much for the insights Bill, always appreciated and looking forward to getting my hands on an update on the Empire of Debt. It was among the first things I read from you, an embarrassingly long time ago.
But did you consider that monetary inflation is the way the empire collects its tribute? After all, the world takes all the freshly "printed" dollars and sends back cars, oil, electronics and all the other stuff America needs. Much smarter than the historic ways of collecting tribute, as it causes less resistance. And perhaps not less profitable.
After all is said and done, everything boils down to the leadership. Here in America the leadership is elected by the citizens. Should one draw the analogy that if the strength of a country depends on the middle class, does the quality of leadership depends on the voters?
There should be no doubt that there is a problem with our leadership. It starts out with candidates that have nothing to do with the voters. Assuming that the voters are super intelligent and super concerned with the outcome for the sake of the country, they are faced with candidates they will vote on using the principle of the lesser of the evil.
That would be the outcome if they were super intelligent and super concerned.
What would it take to change that scenario in America? We already have a democracy where you can do and say whatever you wish as long as you do it the government way. Can one improve on that?
Can we cause changes in the way our system works where anyone can be a candidate but only the designated by their wealth and contacts can win? Can we eliminate wealth and connections from the elections all together and provide opportunities to those that have the proven abilities to lead and truly represent the wishes of the nation.?
If possible this would be the first in the entire history of the entire world. Is America capable of changing a rotten system perpetuated from one election to next?
My concern is that our country protected by most sophisticated technology and equipment may one day run out of the Human Resources to operate that sophisticated machinery. In a corrupted environment a soldier is no longer a soldier. He/she enlisted to derive personal benefits and a drafted soldier looking to escape to safety. There is not enough money to bribe a soldier to risk his life even when he is only a teenager. That could be the modern end of the Empire.
You say "Empire is supposed to be at least, self-financing" - and I would tend to agree that the goal of it starts with such expectations. However, Thomas Sowell said of empire, paraphrased here by the FEE: "Colonies were not generally profitable, absorbing much more wealth than they produced and requiring large subsidies from the controlling nation’s taxpayers. In other words, colonies were typical government boondoggles."
Bill and Joel, a wonderfully laid out picture in words that anyone in the English language should be able to understand so my investment prediction of the year will be that 'Empire of Debt II' will be twice or even thrice as Big a best seller as the first volume .. am looking forward to it as a gift that my grandkids or even great grandkids can dust off and discover how we managed to destroy the world's economic and thus social systems once again .. and just maybe to help them not make the same mistakes in the next cycle of our cosmic orbit. Thanks gents such a great read every morning !!
Never fear Bill and Joel! Biden and his banking lords have come up with an even faster approach to destroy our middle class, and the joke again is on good loyal American's.
"Americans who have worked hard to build up their credit scores might not be too pleased with this week’s news that a new federal rule could reward those with lower credit at the expense of those with higher credit. Under the rule, homebuyers with a credit score of 680 or higher will reportedly have to pay about $40 per month more than people with worse credit when taking out a home loan of $400,000, according to NewsNation, which cited a report from The Washington Times."
Just like Obama Care socialism, taking from those who produce to give to those who don't, the insanity continues to place an immense strain on our good producers, and guarantee massive future losses for the banking cartel, which once again will be bailed out by us, due to being impossibly too massive to fail...
The forty dollars is only a fake number for the thousands it will actually cost, and those who receive it will, as historically, default on their loans, as the destructive circus continues...
Yes, we have been here before, punishing the good and rewarding the bad. Equity? Who knows? It used to be called thievery, but as we watch all history in America being torn down, and replaced with new communist mottos and heroes, thievery seems to be a positive attribute, compared to those negative folk who work for a living, as all of those who are stuck in our democratic(communist) cities could attest...
Let’s go back to 1969 when Ted Kennedy was involved in an accident in Chappaquiddick where a person drowned because of his negligence. A two month jail sentence suspended was the final sentence and Ted Kennedy continued his career as senator.
Would any ordinary American citizen receive that kind of sentence after negligence caused death of a person?
Think of what the democrats are orchestrating for Trump. Their pathological hate for him knows of no boundaries. Do you think they remember Chappaquiddick?
That’s America and our elected government. How does this look in relation to the American understanding of being number one and the policeman of the world? How does that look in view of all the unjustified wars America fought and and the loss of many life’s not to mention the money. How does that look when you think of the funds in supporting regimes we have no interest in and providing funds America could use fighting poverty and many, many other issues at home.
Does our government deserve the positions they hold. The constitution provides for the people’s right to possess arms in the event they need to use it against an oppressive government. Is our government oppressive or just stupid? Does our constitution provide for ways in dealing with a stupid government? Our founding fathers missed that point or else there would have been provisions for it. They did not envision people voting idiots into positions of presidents and congressional representatives. They must have believed that such outcome of elections are impossible.
We are indeed a desperate empire at this point. The powers that be can't find a big enough war to distract us from our decline. The inflation policies we suffer from are spreading to other countries as well. I can't help but wonder when enough civil unrest will grab the headlines again and force some structural change - the next manufactured pandemic? displacement of the dollar and concurrent CBDC with social credit scoring? Trump wins/loses? Where is that bolthole report?
It is possible I am missing something but I would offer one small point. In Bill's section, the 1970 to 2021 change to the middle class percentage was 62-42%. In Joel's section, I seem to remember it was 61-50% or thereabouts.
Remember reading Empire of Debt years ago, and thought then that you guys nailed it. Seems to me that there's a lot less hope in your message these days though Bill, or is it just me? We are so royally screwed.
Those of us who have been hanging around the Bonner Bar and Grill a long time know my "law" that all government eventually goes bad, and the reason for it: weaknesses in human nature. One of the worse flaws in us humans is the "something for nothing" urge. It's in all of us. Some learn to control it better than others. Back in the 50s, a kid could do a lot with a nickel; he could buy gum, or a candy bar, or a bottled soft drink, or an ice cream cone, or a doughnut. It was a big deal when Granddad slipped you a nickel or two; suddenly, you could take a friend on spree, or save the money, looking to accumulate to reach the magical next level: 25 cents! At some point, I came by a little coin purse made of rubber/plastic; when squeezed, the little purse would flex and open up, and when released, it would magically "close" itself. I loved keeping my coins in there, but it began to dawn on me how wonderful it could be if every time I took a coin for expenditure, another would magically take its place. Wow! Wouldn't that be grand? At age 5, I had discovered the built-in weakness in me: the "something for nothing" urge. For some, even many, that (seemingly) harmless little fantasy, became a lifetime pursuit. Government panders to that fantasy and capitalizes on it. We now have 31.4 TRILLION claim tickets in the till where the "something for nothing" giveaway scam was used. I call it "death by government." We're on a collision course with catastrophe. Best always. PM
Absolutely wonderful expose Paul, yes except I'd add them delicious Tootsie Rolls and a bottle of RC Cola! Thought those days would always be but sadly the people of the world grew lazy and accustomed to their full bellies of whatever they could buy and travel was so cheap that we could move about and find work where ever it started 'boom' so off we went to the land of milk and honey and Southern California became the capital of the post WW2 world ! it was fantastic place for a migrant or any kid to grow up in but sadly the 50'ties and 'I love Ike' warnings were ignored by a wiser elder statesman who knew human weaknesses and so off we went in glorious ignorance and disregard for Ike's warnings and jumped into the rollicking 60'ties like pigs in stye thinking that the good life would never end until the 70'ties hit us flat in the kisser but by then the greed and corruption had made an even strong foothold in local state federal govt and in many businesses as well. So yes could not agree more with your vision and analysis of our collective 'Rear View Mirrors' ...
Hey Paul. We used to walk along the railroad tracks picking up soda bottles for two cents. If we did not find any, we had to cross the Trussell and continue on our search. Can you imagine today a five or six year old walking down the tracks, crossing the Trussell with a good 80 feet drop. My mom just said be home by dark. It was truly a better world. Trestle.
Ideally, what we need today is a grassroots movement with the mission statement. "Vote For the Other Guy". The goal would be to target every current elected official from at least state level up to federal level for the next 12 years. Get rid of every incumbent and demand that their replacements spend only the money they can raise with fees and taxes. Another demand would be public financing of all elections with candidates/current office holders prohibited from taking any campaign donations at all. Finally, retired Congressmen, Senators, military officers, etc. prohibited from lobbyist jobs that then deal with businesses seeking contracts from their former government related employment positions. Why at least 12 years? Senators' terms of office are six years. Some of those scoundrels may slip by and get re-elected and then not honor our mission goals. Unfortunately, for all the money we spend on public education, the masses of Americans would rather watch reality TV rather than subscribe to Bonner Private Research. While I hope for a miracle, realistically I'm following the advice I read each day here.
I agree 100% with your comments, however I'm not holding my breath on any of these ideal changes to our government politicians. I'm starting to look into moving to another country, part time at first and then possibly full time if they'll have me and my money, leaving ya'll to figure this out..
This has been my simple slogan for the past 30 years: VOTE OUT THE INCUMBENT.
It's catchy, and simple, but it does not work. The incumbent brags about the booty s/he brought home from the other demos (neighborhoods).
It's exactly what Aristotle and Paul Murray below saw and warned us of.
Thanks so much for the insights Bill, always appreciated and looking forward to getting my hands on an update on the Empire of Debt. It was among the first things I read from you, an embarrassingly long time ago.
But did you consider that monetary inflation is the way the empire collects its tribute? After all, the world takes all the freshly "printed" dollars and sends back cars, oil, electronics and all the other stuff America needs. Much smarter than the historic ways of collecting tribute, as it causes less resistance. And perhaps not less profitable.
Sorry, What?
After all is said and done, everything boils down to the leadership. Here in America the leadership is elected by the citizens. Should one draw the analogy that if the strength of a country depends on the middle class, does the quality of leadership depends on the voters?
There should be no doubt that there is a problem with our leadership. It starts out with candidates that have nothing to do with the voters. Assuming that the voters are super intelligent and super concerned with the outcome for the sake of the country, they are faced with candidates they will vote on using the principle of the lesser of the evil.
That would be the outcome if they were super intelligent and super concerned.
What would it take to change that scenario in America? We already have a democracy where you can do and say whatever you wish as long as you do it the government way. Can one improve on that?
Can we cause changes in the way our system works where anyone can be a candidate but only the designated by their wealth and contacts can win? Can we eliminate wealth and connections from the elections all together and provide opportunities to those that have the proven abilities to lead and truly represent the wishes of the nation.?
If possible this would be the first in the entire history of the entire world. Is America capable of changing a rotten system perpetuated from one election to next?
My concern is that our country protected by most sophisticated technology and equipment may one day run out of the Human Resources to operate that sophisticated machinery. In a corrupted environment a soldier is no longer a soldier. He/she enlisted to derive personal benefits and a drafted soldier looking to escape to safety. There is not enough money to bribe a soldier to risk his life even when he is only a teenager. That could be the modern end of the Empire.
You say "Empire is supposed to be at least, self-financing" - and I would tend to agree that the goal of it starts with such expectations. However, Thomas Sowell said of empire, paraphrased here by the FEE: "Colonies were not generally profitable, absorbing much more wealth than they produced and requiring large subsidies from the controlling nation’s taxpayers. In other words, colonies were typical government boondoggles."
(from https://fee.org/articles/conquests-and-cultures/ )
So, it seems that this unprofitability has perhaps always been the case.
Bill and Joel, a wonderfully laid out picture in words that anyone in the English language should be able to understand so my investment prediction of the year will be that 'Empire of Debt II' will be twice or even thrice as Big a best seller as the first volume .. am looking forward to it as a gift that my grandkids or even great grandkids can dust off and discover how we managed to destroy the world's economic and thus social systems once again .. and just maybe to help them not make the same mistakes in the next cycle of our cosmic orbit. Thanks gents such a great read every morning !!
Yes thank you Bill , it s reminder ...same opinion it will end in tears , we will loose more than our savings ...our freedom... sad , very sad
Never fear Bill and Joel! Biden and his banking lords have come up with an even faster approach to destroy our middle class, and the joke again is on good loyal American's.
"Americans who have worked hard to build up their credit scores might not be too pleased with this week’s news that a new federal rule could reward those with lower credit at the expense of those with higher credit. Under the rule, homebuyers with a credit score of 680 or higher will reportedly have to pay about $40 per month more than people with worse credit when taking out a home loan of $400,000, according to NewsNation, which cited a report from The Washington Times."
Just like Obama Care socialism, taking from those who produce to give to those who don't, the insanity continues to place an immense strain on our good producers, and guarantee massive future losses for the banking cartel, which once again will be bailed out by us, due to being impossibly too massive to fail...
The forty dollars is only a fake number for the thousands it will actually cost, and those who receive it will, as historically, default on their loans, as the destructive circus continues...
Yes, we have been here before, punishing the good and rewarding the bad. Equity? Who knows? It used to be called thievery, but as we watch all history in America being torn down, and replaced with new communist mottos and heroes, thievery seems to be a positive attribute, compared to those negative folk who work for a living, as all of those who are stuck in our democratic(communist) cities could attest...
Let’s go back to 1969 when Ted Kennedy was involved in an accident in Chappaquiddick where a person drowned because of his negligence. A two month jail sentence suspended was the final sentence and Ted Kennedy continued his career as senator.
Would any ordinary American citizen receive that kind of sentence after negligence caused death of a person?
Think of what the democrats are orchestrating for Trump. Their pathological hate for him knows of no boundaries. Do you think they remember Chappaquiddick?
That’s America and our elected government. How does this look in relation to the American understanding of being number one and the policeman of the world? How does that look in view of all the unjustified wars America fought and and the loss of many life’s not to mention the money. How does that look when you think of the funds in supporting regimes we have no interest in and providing funds America could use fighting poverty and many, many other issues at home.
Does our government deserve the positions they hold. The constitution provides for the people’s right to possess arms in the event they need to use it against an oppressive government. Is our government oppressive or just stupid? Does our constitution provide for ways in dealing with a stupid government? Our founding fathers missed that point or else there would have been provisions for it. They did not envision people voting idiots into positions of presidents and congressional representatives. They must have believed that such outcome of elections are impossible.
We are indeed a desperate empire at this point. The powers that be can't find a big enough war to distract us from our decline. The inflation policies we suffer from are spreading to other countries as well. I can't help but wonder when enough civil unrest will grab the headlines again and force some structural change - the next manufactured pandemic? displacement of the dollar and concurrent CBDC with social credit scoring? Trump wins/loses? Where is that bolthole report?
Who will replace us as the world’s policeman? Globalism will fail! The rest of the world is in no better shape than we are.
A spell and grammar check program is suggested.
KR: For whom?
It is possible I am missing something but I would offer one small point. In Bill's section, the 1970 to 2021 change to the middle class percentage was 62-42%. In Joel's section, I seem to remember it was 61-50% or thereabouts.
Remember reading Empire of Debt years ago, and thought then that you guys nailed it. Seems to me that there's a lot less hope in your message these days though Bill, or is it just me? We are so royally screwed.
Checked out the names selected for portfolio. Current performances appear weak across the board. Must have entered too late.