10 Signs We Live in a False Economy

"We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools." - Martin Luther King Jr.

  "I love you, my brother, whoever you are - whether you worship in a church, kneel in your temple, or pray in your mosque. " -  Kahlil Gibran

"Equality lies only in human moral dignity. ... Let there be brothers first, then there will be brotherhood, and only then will there be a fair sharing of goods among brothers."  -  Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

"None of you believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." -  Anonymous, The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih Al-Bukhari - Arabic-English

None Of Us Are Free - If One Of Us Is Chained

And there are people still in darkness,
And they just can't see the light.
If you don't say it's wrong then that says it right.
We got try to feel for each other, let our brother's know that we care.
Got to get the message, send it out loud and clear.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8199.htm

10 Signs We Live in a False Economy

image source

Activist Post

It's time to admit that we live in a false economy. Smoke and mirrors are used to make us believe the economy is real, but it's all an elaborate illusion.

Out of one side of the establishment's mouth we hear excitement about "green shoots", and out of the other side comes breathless warnings of fiscal cliffs and the urgent need for unlimited bailouts by the Fed.

We hear the people begging for jobs and the politicians promising them, but politicians can't create jobs. We see people camped out to buy stuff on Black Friday indicating the consumer economy is seemingly thriving, only to find out everything was bought on credit.

The corporate media does their best to distract us from seeing anything real. We see the media glorify Kim Kardashian who got rich by being famous, and became famous merely by being rich. She got front page coverage on Huffington Post this week because her cat died.  Enough said.

Meanwhile the financial media makes the economy seem complicated and they ban anyone who speaks truthfully about the economy from their airwaves.

Is it any wonder why people are angry and confused about the economy?

Well, hopefully these signs that we live in a false economy will help clear up some of that confusion.

1. Fake Jobs: It's not just that the "official" unemployment numbers are a fraud, the actual jobs are fake as well. Ask yourself how many professions actually produce something of value? 80% of jobs could disappear tomorrow and it wouldn't affect basic human survival or happiness in the least. Yes, in our society we need money to survive - and jobs equal money - but that doesn't mean a "job" has any actual benefit to society.  More on this in the next point...


2. Problems Create Jobs, Not Solutions: We can't fix real problems, because it would destroy more fake jobs. We can't end the wars and bring all of the personnel home when the jobless rate is already suffering. We can't end the War on Drugs because where would the DEA agents, prison guards, the court system, parole officers, and the rest of their support staff work. We can't simplify the tax code because the bookkeepers, CPAs, accounting professors, and tax attorneys would be unemployed. We cannot reduce the bureaucracy of government or streamline healthcare because paper pushers have few other notable skills. We can't stop spying on Americans because it now employs millions of people. We can't restrict the Wall Street casino, or hardly anyone will be left with a job. Finally, what will happen to university jobs when people either realize their product is not worth the cost or they discover they can get the same education online for nearly free? In other words, we need these manufactured problems to create phony employment.

3. Money Has No Value:  Money is the biggest illusion of all. Our money is loaned into existence with arbitrary interest rates by a private monopoly. It is an IOU. It only has value because a law says it has value, and that value fluctuates based on how much supply is in the economy which, again, is controlled by a for-profit monopoly. It's actual value is zero since it is just a piece of paper with fancy ink on it. The only things with real value to humans are skills (labor), tools and materials, food and water, and energy.

4. The Fed Now Buys 90% of the Nation's Debt: Speaking of money, the Federal Reserve loans money to the US government who issues bonds to cover their spending. Those bonds are sold on the open market through auctions to investors who believe in the ability of the United States to make good on those bonds. Apparently, the US has no more investors because the Fed is now buying 90% of new Treasury bonds. This is called monetizing debt, or, essentially, monetizing money. That's what a Ponzi scheme does. This acts to keep interest rates artificially low because they'd have to raise them to attract outside "investors".  In layman terms, our whole monetary system is a paper tiger, a house of cards, or whatever metaphor you want to use for fake.

5. What is the Value of Anything?  The price discovery mechanism, or the process to determine the value of an asset in the marketplace, has become so convoluted that determining the genuine value of anything has become nearly impossible. Between government subsidizes for things like food, fuel, education, housing, insurance and even cars; taxes, regulations and laws; the manipulation of the value of money and interest rates; Wall Street gambling on commodities; what is the real value of something? For example, why does an ounce of marijuana (a weed that can grow anywhere) cost up to $500?  Is that the real value based on labor and materials, and supply and demand? Of course not. Its value is inflated mainly due to laws and regulations.

6. Failure is Rewarded:  You know we live in a false economy when failure is rewarded and success is penalized. Citizens everywhere are being told they need to tighten their belts, work harder so we can bailout the failed government, banks, insurance companies and even car companies. And when we work harder and achieve some success, they tax it heavily to indefinitely pay for these fraudulent institutions. Yet this infinite money creation and taxation is light years from solving the root cause of the problem. The reality is that the banks' solutions are the problem, enriching the investor class at the expense of the middle class. Global bankers are playing with taxpayer money - and the money of many future generations - in a global casino royale that is destined to fail so they can take the people's assets. They are all-in; but their money is fake, and our assets put at risk are real.

7. Corporate entities have the same rights as humans, but not the same punishments:  When the Supreme Court ruled that corporations have free-speech rights of people, it was one of the final nails in the coffin of the republic. Monied interests can now openly finance elections and buy the legislation they need to operate with impunity. Corporations may be comprised of humans, but they are not subjected to the same standard of humanity. It was profoundly argued in the article What if BP Were a Human Being? that judged by common standards of morality, decency, and previously agreed-upon definitions of criminality, BP would be judged a psychopathic killer ... and immortal. Ditto for the rest leading the predatory corporate pack; the most obvious being defense contractors.  And since these corporations are now joined at the hip with government itself, what does that make government? By changing definitions, they are attempting to change reality. But that still doesn't make it the truth.

8. People buy things they don't need with money they don't have: In a type of trickle-down debt whirlpool, the government's rampant spending without sufficient assets to back it up is mirrored in the behavior of the American consumer. Despite inflation, rising unemployment, and a continued collapse in real estate, it hasn't stopped credit spending. The Associated Press just reported that for the month of October:

Americans swiped their credit cards more often in October and borrowed more to attend school and buy cars. The increases drove U.S. consumer debt to an all-time high. 

The Federal Reserve said Friday that consumers increased their borrowing by $14.2 billion in October from September. Total borrowing rose to a record $2.75 trillion.

Borrowing in the category that covers autos and student loans increased by $10.8 billion. Borrowing on credit cards rose by $3.4 billion, only the second monthly increase in the past five months. (Source)

Most troubling is the type of borrowing highlighted. The worst possible borrowing would be these negative-return investments such as student loans, credit cards, and cars. It is magical thinking taken to the highest degree.

9. Entrepreneurs are punished: It has become nearly impossible to make a simple living on your own. America has become a land filled with bureaucratic red tape that actively thwarts small business creation and criminalizes independence. There is perhaps no better example of this than the attacks waged against the ultimate entrepreneurial endeavor of self-reliance: the family farm. Through collectivist models such as Agenda 21, long-running family farms are being shut down and supplanted with "protected zones." In the most recent case, a family oyster farm was shut down based on provably false scientific data that aimed to demonstrate negative environmental and economic impacts. It was completely fake, ending an 80-year local business that generated 50,000 tourists per year and employed 30 full-time local residents. In many of these cases the federally stolen property winds up in the hands of developers who have no interest in a true local economy. It is an inherent part of any false economy to create dependence where none should exist at all. A five-minute video that can be seen here sums up the American economy of illusions and the death of the American Dream.


10. Engineered Slavery: Do you think slavery died in the 1800s?  Think again. Economic hitmen (lenders) have successfully enslaved-by-debt everything from nations, entire industries, state and local governments and nearly every person on the planet. And they bought your servitude with money they never had, they simply created it out of thin air. Even if an individual doesn't have any bank financing or credit cards, they still pay the private Federal Reserve through inflation and income taxes. As author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins, would say: the time has come for the banks to collect their “pound of flesh” from average citizens by way of higher taxes, less social services, and taking your pensions -- "austerity." For an enlightening explanation of how economic hitmen work their dark magic please watch this video.  If you're still confused, see these 10 signs you might be a slave.  Another, more obvious, form of engineered slavery is prison labor. Laws and regulations are specifically created to add to the prison population which enriches the corporations that own them, while local communities actually become poorer and more dangerous (source).

As George Carlin said, "It's called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it." It would be bad enough if it were contained to only one country, but we are now experiencing a global collective dreaming that fantasizes about a government figuring things out just in the nick of time. However, in the real world, the collapse has begun in earnest. Until we are committed to counter the 10 points above, we will remain in the grip of an hallucination. However, there are encouraging signs through protests worldwide, alternative currency movements, and myriad creative solutions in the most affected countries like Iceland, Greece, and Spain that people are beginning to shake off their sleep, look in the mirror and realize that the dream economy they have been sold was designed to make them seek solutions in entirely the wrong direction.

Road Map Drawn Up by Syrian Traitors to Serve Imperialists, Gulf Monarchies

By Noureddine Merdaci

In reality, the "revolt" in Syria, totally managed by foreign countries and their intelligence services, was a proxy war against the Syrian national state, a war which needed "Syrians at their service" only to serve as "local color."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33286.htm

How the IDF Targeted Civilians
Shattered Lives in Gaza

By Eva Lewis and James Marc Leas

Massive public pressure is needed to end the system of immunity and impunity enjoyed by Israeli political and military leaders and by their US government sponsors.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33283.htm

Hamas Probes Killing of 'Collaborators'

Video

Palestinian fighters in Gaza killed seven men accused of collaborating with Israel. - Warning - Viewers may find the pictures in this report disturbing.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33285.htm

Climate Change, Economic Crisis and the Violence of War

By William Blum

"Nuclear, ecological, chemical, economic - our arsenal of Death by Stupidity is impressive for a species as smart as Homo sapiens"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33290.htm

I Am A Soldier. I Am Dirt. I Kill
Dulce et Decorum - And May You Get the Chance

By Fred Reed

I say I do it for democracy, about which I don't give a damn, or to end evil, though our allies are the worst tyrants we can find.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33287.htm

The Revealingly Substance-free Fight over Susan Rice

By Glenn Greenwald

Her record of war advocacy and close ties to tyrants is notably missing from the debate over whether she should be Secretary of State.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33288.htm

Mother of American Torture Victim José Padilla Brings Case Before International Human Rights Tribunal

By ACLU

"The U.S. justice system denied a day in court to a U.S. citizen who was arrested and then tortured on U.S. soil by his own government,"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33289.htm

None Of Us Are Free - If One Of Us Is Chained

Video - Solomon Burke

And there are people still in darkness,
And they just can't see the light.
If you don't say it's wrong then that says it right.
We got try to feel for each other, let our brother's know that we care.
Got to get the message, send it out loud and clear.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8199.htm

Bank Pays Bribe To Avoid Prosecution
HSBC Fined Record $1.9 Billion In Money Laundering Case

By Nils Pratley

The money-laundering fine represents four weeks' earnings - and the idea of a bank being 'too big to prosecute' is alarming.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33282.htm

Paul Krugman Discovers Marx (and Misses the Point)

By Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer

Marx argued that eventually workers would see the futility of this repeating cycle, reject capitalism altogether, and begin to construct a socialist society built on entirely humanistic and democratic principles.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33291.htm

From The Archives
The Century of the Self

Must Watch Video

How politicians and business learned to create and manipulate mass-consumer society.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12642.htm

Report: Atheists Face Worldwide Persecution and Harassment

By RT

From the Christian West to the Islamic Middle East, atheists face execution, life in prison, the revocation of citizenship and the denial of education and medical services.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33284.htm

Hard News  

   

27 killed in fresh bout of violence in Afghanistan: Twenty-seven people were killed and five others wounded in a new wave of violence in different parts of Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, officials said on Tuesday.
http://is.gd/ljBLZt

NATO Occupation Force Solider Killed In The South of Afghanistan: A NATO occupation force soldier killed in the country yesterday. This solider was targeted by armed Taliban while patrolling with his colleagues in the south of the country
http://is.gd/7ErPEf

Taliban 'could govern parts of Afghanistan' under new peace deal: The Taliban could take over government of parts of Afghanistan's south and east, with insurgents being drafted into the cabinet, according to a new peace plan that emerged on the eve of talks in Turkey.
http://is.gd/elRjmn

Spoils of war and occupation:
Vast sums of aid continue to be stolen in Afghanistan: Despite years of supposed effort to stop money laundering out of Kabul airport, billions continue to flow from the country unchecked.
http://is.gd/fyrkcn

US finds self innocent, Pakistan guilty:
US report faults Pakistan over Afghan occupation: US: Despite an easing of tensions with the United States, Pakistan is persistently undermining security in Afghanistan by permitting safe havens for insurgents, a Pentagon report said Monday.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2012/12/12/wld04.asp

Intelligence official killed in southern Yemen: A senior intelligence official was killed by unidentified gunmen in southeastern Yemen on Tuesday, the Defence Ministry said, dpa reported.
http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/2097661.html

Scores of civillians killed in Syria Alawite village bombings: Scores of civilians from President Bashar al-Assad's minority sect were reported killed Tuesday
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/world/15609673/

Syria rebels take over Assad military base, killing 35: Al-Qaeda-like rebel group takes part in 2-day assault, worrying U.S.
http://is.gd/qviPXx

Proopaganda breakdown
US Admits no signs Syria has moved on chemical weapons: Panetta says US intelligence has detected no new moves on chemical weapons; US blacklists Islamist Syrian rebel group.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=295491

Exclusive: UK military in talks to help Syria rebels: International coalition could offer air and sea support as well as military training
http://is.gd/V4TvGJ

Propaganda alert:
Sources: U.S. helping underwrite Syrian rebel training on securing chemical weapons: The United States and some European allies are using defense contractors to train Syrian rebels on how to secure chemical weapons stockpiles in Syria, a senior U.S. official and several senior diplomats told CNN Sunday.
http://is.gd/ufwjo2

Syrian Kurds form their own army: This year Kurdish residents, backed by PYD militiamen, took control of towns near the border with Turkey as pro-government forces withdrew to fight elsewhere, sparking tensions with rebel forces. Having established their own government, an independent army is reportedly being formed.
http://www.albawaba.com/news/syria-kurds-army-455918

'Obama planning talks with Iran, excluding Israel': US official says Obama to give 4-5 months for talks to succeed, if they don't may resort to military option, Channel 10 reports
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=295560

Israel suspected over Iran nuclear programme inquiry leaks: Western officials believe Israel may have leaked information from IAEA investigation in bid to raise global pressure on Tehran
http://is.gd/4bb9G1

Engineering Consent For An Attack On Iran: :
Iranian nuclear "challenge" must be tackled in 2013: Netanyahu: Iran is getting ever closer to being able to build a nuclear bomb and the problem will have to be confronted in 2013, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.
http://is.gd/lgs8GJ

U.S. Warns Russia on Iranian Bank: Washington warned Moscow that the activities of a sanctioned Iranian bank in Russia could affect Russian banks that do business with the U.S., a Treasury official said.
http://is.gd/UkLDbZ

Israel 'Should Have Killed Hamas Leader Meshaal' in Gaza Visit: Israeli MP and Kadima party leader Shaul Mofaz said, "We should have taken advantage of the occasion to slice the head off the serpent. Meshaal deserves to die," Mofaz, also a former defence minister, said in a statement yesterday.
http://is.gd/apfdB5

Lieberman invokes the Holocaust to slam Europe's Israel policy: After the EU condemned Israel for advancing construction near Jerusalem, the foreign minister says that 'once again' Europe ignores calls to destroy Israel.
http://is.gd/smnpJs

Anti Semitic its a Holocaust trick we always use it : Video -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeWAoCkWeV8

Egypt rally: Live Video From Cairo: Pro- and anti-Morsi protesters are rallying in Cairo, as the country's political crisis deepens.
http://rt.com/on-air/egypt-tahrir-square-protests/

IMF $4.8 billion loan to Egypt postponed, PM calls for 'social dialogue':
Egypt's political turmoil has prompted the delay of a $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan to the country's Islamist-led government, further complicating the country's economic prospects.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/12/11/254530.html

Army forces Mali PM to quit: Mali's prime minister was forced to resign on Tuesday by the soldiers who staged a coup in March, complicating international efforts to help push Islamists from the north of the country.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/army-forces-mali-pm-to-quit-1.1439263

France says Mali mission more urgent after PM resignation: Former colonial power France was the first in Europe to react to the overnight arrest of Mali's prime minister by the military. The foreign ministry said it showed the need for "rapid deployment" of African Union troops.
http://is.gd/qaosdg

No shots fired from U.S. security during Benghazi attack: State Department personnel under attack on Sept. 11 at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, didn't fire a single shot in their defense, according to testimony given behind closed doors to the Senate Intelligence Committee last week.
http://is.gd/Eqe01M

Myanmar : The Hidden Genocide : Video - Bloodshed pitted Buddhists against minority Rohingya Muslims. Many Rohingya fled their homes, which were burned down in what they said was a deliberate attempt by the predominantly Buddhist government to drive them out of the country.
http://is.gd/L6lM75

Hugo Chavez undergoes cancer surgery in Cuba: "My dear friend and colleague, Comandante Hugo Chavez, is going through the toughest times of his life," said Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, a fellow leftist. "He is being operated on right now. It's a very delicate operation."
http://is.gd/MkzAAy

Calderon's Exit Opens Way for Mexico to Cut Deal with Cartels, Academic Says: - Mexico could enter a new phase of "understandings" between officials and criminal organizations in the wake of former President Felipe Calderon's failed "war" on the country's drug cartels, National Autonomous University of Mexico professor Alan Arias Marin told Efe.
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=655457&CategoryId=14091

Bradley Manning's Article 13 motion hearing: Live from Ft. Meade: courtroom updates
http://is.gd/OckCyy

EU Eyes Massive Collection of Air Passenger Data: A proposal to require European Union members to store huge amounts of data on flight passengers entering or leaving the EU will soon be up for debate, and the discussion is likely be fierce. Critics say the measure violates travelers' right to privacy.
http://is.gd/QvMj1w

US buses fitted with eavesdropping equipment:
Cities across America are equipping their public transport systems with audio recording devices, potentially storing every word spoken by passengers onboard. Rights activists say the surveillance plan by far exceeds what is necessary for security.
http://rt.com/usa/news/us-public-transport-security-817/

Boehner: 'Let's Be Honest ... We're Broke': House Speaker John Boehner accused President Barack Obama on Tuesday of slow-walking negotiations to avoid the "fiscal cliff," and urged him to name specific cuts in government spending he would support as part of any compromise.
http://is.gd/bKtMHl

Michigan House passes right-to-work (for nothing) legislation: Michigan will become the nation's 24th right-to-work state after Republicans in the state legislature approved historic changes to the state's labor laws over the strenuous objections of Democrats and union members.
http://is.gd/c7wEg3

Michigan: Anger grows among protesters; pepper spray (chemical weapon) used outside Capitol: As the first right-to-work bill was being passed inside the Capitol by the state House, protesters outside jeered at the news.
http://is.gd/7LuLQf

US trade deficit grows to $42.2 billion in October: Exports dropped 3.6 percent to $180.5 billion. Sales of commercial aircraft, autos and farm products all declined.
http://is.gd/bbLqhF

Soledad grills Jeff Sessions: 'You hurt people who need food' with food stamp cuts: Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) on Tuesday faced tough questions from CNN host Soledad O'Brien for his plan to cut the food stamp program and "hurt people who need food," including 20 percent of his own constituents in Alabama.
http://is.gd/rEYRK6