What happens then? Well, we don't know for sure, but we can make some educated guesses about what COULD happen and how it will impact YOUR life.
1) Your life savings could be reduced to nothing almost overnight. Inflation is a fact of life. As Thomas Sowell has noted, "As of 1998, a $100 bill would not buy as much as a $20 bill would buy in the 1960's." That's under normal circumstances.
However, the thing governments have traditionally done when they simply can't pay their debts is print more money. The problem with this is the further you expand the money supply, the less the money you already have on hand is worth. This can wipe out the savings of a lifetime in a relatively short period. Imagine spending billions of dollars just to buy a loaf of bread. Sound far-fetched? Well, guess what? That has happened in the Weimar Republic, which was crushed under debts from WWI and decided to pay it off by printing more money. It could happen here, too, and all the money you've scrimped and saved could become worthless in a short order.
2) Your taxes will skyrocket. We've been conned into thinking that we can fund a massive government on the backs of the rich. This is simply not so. It's not working today and it's not going to happen in the future. We cannot tax the rich enough to pay off our debt or even enough to keep the government going long-term. Even if we could, the rich have the resources to flee the country for greener pastures if they're being taxed into oblivion. The middle class? Not so much.
More Here..
1) Your life savings could be reduced to nothing almost overnight. Inflation is a fact of life. As Thomas Sowell has noted, "As of 1998, a $100 bill would not buy as much as a $20 bill would buy in the 1960's." That's under normal circumstances.
However, the thing governments have traditionally done when they simply can't pay their debts is print more money. The problem with this is the further you expand the money supply, the less the money you already have on hand is worth. This can wipe out the savings of a lifetime in a relatively short period. Imagine spending billions of dollars just to buy a loaf of bread. Sound far-fetched? Well, guess what? That has happened in the Weimar Republic, which was crushed under debts from WWI and decided to pay it off by printing more money. It could happen here, too, and all the money you've scrimped and saved could become worthless in a short order.
2) Your taxes will skyrocket. We've been conned into thinking that we can fund a massive government on the backs of the rich. This is simply not so. It's not working today and it's not going to happen in the future. We cannot tax the rich enough to pay off our debt or even enough to keep the government going long-term. Even if we could, the rich have the resources to flee the country for greener pastures if they're being taxed into oblivion. The middle class? Not so much.
More Here..
According to the article, taxes will skyrocket, money will be worth nothing, everyone will be poor and yet the government thinks they will be able to take in taxes.
ReplyDeleteWho do they think will work? Don't people just try to survive during a collapse? Even if people do work, why would they work to give the bankrupt government more worthless money?
5:26, there are so many varying degrees of how bad this could get that it's hard to say what will happen with taxes. If it's Mad Max, then you are probably right. However, most likely scenarios are not as bad (Weimar Germany, Argentina) and will still involve taxes.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when they say taxes will skyrocket, the high number they talk about may be just the same or slightly higher tax rate percentage, but it just appears higher because of inflation. If the new minimum wage is $100 an hour because a Big Mac combo meal now costs $90, then the number of dollars you pay in taxes will certainly have to be greater than today, just to keep them at an equivalent value. In other words, it will still be based on a percentage of income, and if income has risen to keep up with inflation (well to *TRY* to keep up with inflation) then of course the number of dollars you send to Uncle Sam will skyrocket. I studied Weimar Germany and that's what happened there.
-Not Sam
Not Sam: Thanks for your answer. I wonder what will really happen given we are not German. It was a different time in history and the German's did not have the entitlement mentality. You're right there are varying degrees of collapse. We shall see!
ReplyDelete1) Your life savings could be reduced to nothing almost overnight.
ReplyDeleteYes it will. When the economy dies, the dollar dies with it. That means taking what money you do have now and converting it into things that will hold value and keep you alive during the healing period after the collapse. Most people can't afford to buy a single ounce of gold. Physical silver is getting very hard to come by, even if it is still somewhat affordable.
The Big Berkey water filters are now in high demand and hard to come by. If you own one after the collapse, means you will have a valuable commodity called drinking water. People will kill for a bottle of water.
I you looked at Google Earth at my house, you would see a solar array on the roof. You will not see a solar array on any other roof in my neighborhood or for a 1/2 square mile. After the collapse if we lose grid power, I will be the only one with electric power. Naturally that will require me to be able to defend my castle...
I picked up my newly purchased shotgun yesterday. I don't care how much of an anti-gun opponent you are, after the collapse, you WILL wish you had a gun. The story suggests that the economy could collapse in 5-15 years. I believe it will happen much sooner and when it does, you will not ever have enough cash to buy a gun after the collapse and you will be at the mercy of the street thugs. They will want your 15 year old daughter so they can gang rape her and you will not be able to stop them. Expect pharmacies to be looted as soon the collapse begins. These drugged up thugs will kill you for your wife or child, can you stop it?
2) Your taxes will skyrocket.
No they wont. Your money will be worthless. There will be no IRS after the collapse. Why would they try to collect worthless pieces of paper? Your digital dollars (your bank accounts) will also be worthless. ATM's won't work, why should they?
You better have plenty of stuff you can use as currency in the post-collapse economy. Barter will be the only market we'll have for many years to come after the collapse.
If your body is a mess, you'll likely die quickly after the collapse. There will be minimal medical care available. Fix your problems now. before it's too late.
3) Your life could be in danger.
Your life WILL be in danger. If you can't protect yourself now, you'll be a helpless victim later.
4) Your payments from the government will dramatically decrease or stop altogether.
Absolutely true.
5) You will have a dramatically reduced standard of living.
Agreed. We will be living in "interesting times", violent, depressing, interesting times. It won't last for ever though, there will be no police or fire protection, schools will be closed, hospitals will be overrun, the grocery stores will have nothing on the shelves. If you don't have a camp stove to cook on now, you won't have it later.
The post-collapse world will be unbearable for a short time, then our Constitutional Republic will be restored, we will again have a gold backed currency and we will have plenty of work to do in the reconstruction process. We will no longer be the world's police force, we will only be able to care for ourselves for years to come. The banksters and corrupt politicians will be dead or dyeing in our new prisons.
Are you ready?
9:29am I half agree with you if this was still pre-1950 but the mentality of the average American has gone downhill.
ReplyDeleteLook to Argentina as our future...Years ago Argentina with all it's resources and education level was a top tier nation almost.
Now it's full of liars, thieves, starving drug addicts...The nation lacks jobs, capital and it's foundation is detriorating...It's become a country of uber rich surrounded by people who feel entitled but there is nothing to be entitled to...Remind you of anyone?
I went through a money collapse and it starts slow but then it's just crazy how bad it gets...Then BAM!...It evens out people look around and hustle to make it...Skills become an asset not something to look down on.
Paperpushers die when the time comes...And sadly this country has too many useless paperpushers.
Otherwise I agree with you and wish I had a lil land with water access...Hey look into fish (talapia) in a barrel...Cheap, easy and no mercury or poisons...You can even add crabs to clean it and Bam! Gumbo night!
wages won't rise with devaluing currency nearly enough to keep pace.
ReplyDeletetry a day's wages buying a loaf of bread.
the numbers don't matter...a billion for 4 oranges equals some 100 million an hr for a 10hr work day, more likely get some $2 dollers an hr and bread around 20bucks and then no food buying without some certain mark. then have to factor in lots of additional things happening namely wide scale natural disasters and those causing man made things to go toxic in addition to it all and along with those add crop blights, droughts and plagues and wars which also cause crop losses and disease and releases of toxins and lack of clean fresh water and toxic algae blooms increasing marking collapses in fisheries. a time such as has never been seen on earth. so bad if those day's weren't cut short not a man would survive. there won't be a coming out on the otherside to rebuild a constitutional republic they'll be an end to man's rule and God's rule will be in place. then one won't need to punch a time clock at midnight on the weekend for $2hr, life won't revolve around gasoline, all the trash tv will end, no crime/drugs/greed even is said a child will play next to a cobra's den and will be safe. sounds nice...don't know why any would hate the idea of those ways
I don't think that we have 5 years - there's simply too much debt, and it is increasing too rapidly, to be sustainable. At some point in the near future, foreigners will simply refuse to accept dollars, or will only accept a very large number more than currently for the same goods. Oil, for example, could jump to $300/bbl. in very short order if the financial markets seize up - and that'll mean a gas price of nearly $10/gallon. That will destroy the economy. OTOH, if we try to cut back on government spending, ANY cuts will reduce GDP and put people out of work. We're very much between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, our options are fast running out. When it happens, it'll be so quick that most people will wonder if their still sleeping.
ReplyDeleteIt WILL be far worse than most could possibly imagine. Why? Because we need oil to plant, fertilize, protect, harvest, process and transport our food. If oil becomes too expensive, the food doesn't get produced and/or distributed - and then we'll enter the jungle. There is no way that any level of government will be able to control mobs of hungry people, not when said people could (and likely will) be armed...and if they aren't armed the first time, they will be every other time. It could end up damned near as bad as Mad Max.
The USA is not Argentina. We have lots of guns. There will be no rich bastards living on a hill top, laughing at the poor people below. The poor people will simply kill them if they are not willing to play in the same sand box and share the toys.
ReplyDeleteThe nation's debt, thanks fully to every congressional session since 1913, is so bad it can't ever be paid back. Never. I have already contacted my Congressional Rep and told her to vote "NO" on raising the debt ceiling. The bitch is a Democrat (I am an American) and she will ignore me and others like me and vote along Party lines, postponing the inevitable collapse.
The Federal Government is acting just like a debtor who is weeks away from bankruptcy, they max out all the credit cards and try to get loans they know they will never pay back and then they party like a Rock Star till the bankruptcy petition is filed. The problem is instead of "sticking to the rat-bastard creditors", We the People will be the ones who get hurt, and we won't like it.
I too, wish I had a quiet little place in the middle of nowhere to build a greenhouse, hen house and rabbit house. Unfortunately I'm in the middle of Southern California, so if you have not see the movie "Black Hawk Down" you better check it out and get a good look at what the cities streets of "Big City, USA" are gonna look like.
And by all means, go buy a shotgun! Even if you say you can't hit the side of a barn, you can with a shotgun. Three days after the earthquake in Haiti, people were already walking the streets with weapons in hand, looking for water and they were willing to kill to get it. Don't let it happen to you!
1:16
ReplyDeleteWe in this country are sitting on top the richest reserves of natural Gas in the WORLD
If these fucktards in washington had even 1/10th of a friggin' brain
Which they do not
They would have mandated a switch over 10 years ago.
End of this story and NOBODY even wants to doscuss it and stupid prick amaerkans line up like pigs at the pump trough to pay 4 bucks a gallon
I have completely given up on this country and the people within'
May 24, 2011 is the day. Get Ready Now
ReplyDelete6:49
ReplyDeleteI thought May 21, was the day that God is gonna start kicking ass and taking names? What happens on the 24th?
1:49, good advice about a shotgun, BUT just know that you still have to aim them. Even at 50 feet the pattern of the pellet holes is just the size of a paper plate. Up close, it's more like a golf ball.
ReplyDeleteThe Weimer inflation was created in particular circumstances ,where the imperialist victors in WW1 had assigned all the guilt for starting the war on imperialist Germany and demanded backed by military threats of dismembering Germany , that Germany pay the entire cost of the war with reparations.
ReplyDeleteA big part of that was the Americans wish to recover war money loaned by the US to its allies.Germany would pay back France and Britain who in turn would use the reparations money to pay back their war debts to America.
The Versailles agreement.
Paying off those huge debts to international capital kept Germany impoverished and deprived them of capital to rebuild their own industry.
The working people objected to that and after the Russian Revolution the internal socialist and communist movement in Germany was strong.
To try and stabilize the economy and head off any potential revolution the Weimar government and its central bank turned to the printing press.
The result was the impoverishment of the middle class too, who had their savings looted by hyper –inflation.
Apart from a lack of an organized , strong , politicized working class , a similar economic debt situation exists in America today .
The dollar hegemony system collapse ,particularly the loss of foreign supply of investment and credit supply, has left America an insolvent mess, its government ,finance sector and people unable to keep up the interest and dividend payments in a Ponzi finance economy.
America was consuming more wealth than it created ,internally high waged America had stopped being an industrial manufacturing power able to exchange real physical commodity wealth with the rest of the world in trade and make a profit.
America was running on credit.
Its treasury and property bond markets values were driven higher by a past willingness of foreigners Japan ,China , the Oil sheiks and the elite of the third world willing to invest in US $ denominated debt.
With this demand for incomes from dollar debt The USA had the ability to finance its trade deficits and government deficit spending for its services and wars .
American assets and debt and the sharemarkets were fictionally valued in the belief that they had the ability to deliver real future incomes to the investors .
But America was Ponzi bubble economy ,fed by a credit supply / debt creation, that financed the American consumer of wealth lifestyles and the American dream. .
There was a perceived inability of the American bankster run finance sector and its Government to keep up its interest and bond dividend payments as well as pay for its military keynessian war system spending , without massive inflationary money printing
This first became obvious with the inability of America to keep up dividends payments on trillions of fraudulent sub prime and other bonds like the huge Fannie and Freddy government backed mortgage bond system .
As a result, with America and Americans inability to pay off its debts in real value the commercial and housing property values ,the exchange value of material asset wealth of America in world value terms ,is being devalued along with the value of the accumulated savings of the middle class , invested in that property ,bonds and the share markets ,that derived their income sources from those assets .
The fictional value of those assets were multiples of expected future incomes P/e earnings ,property valued as multiples of rent and usury incomes etc . is being destroyed as the future reality of these incomes is doubtful
Like the Weimer republic in Germany the US has turned to the printing press ,to inflation, in order to devalue the debts denominated in $ ,
Especially the foreign owned Treasury debts held by other countries ..
An era of crazy counterfeit money exists ,where the demand for government treasury bonds creating money supply, can only be met by the Central bank buying up Treasury bills to finance deficit spending and bankster bailouts.