Letter to the Neighborhood By George Washington

[Demeter]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Letter-to-the-Neighborhood-by-George-Washington-090302-362.html


Dear Neighbor,

I imagine that your 401(k), your house value, and your portfolio are all getting hammered. Mine are too. I imagine that you are furious at the government and banks for getting us into this mess. I am also. But the question is: what can we do about it?

To Be Able to Guess at Where We're Going, We Have to Understand Where We Are...what you may or may not know is that we are already in a depression, according to:

* The head of the International Monetary Fund (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a6aaWZ8ab8yU&refer=home)

* Merrill Lynch's chief economist for North America (http://base.googlehosted.com/base_media?q=hand-2050195680450736211&size=8)

* The former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission (http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/01/11/Expert_calling_it_a_US_depression/UPI-11211231704692/)

* Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz (http://www.prisonplanet.com/nobel-prize-winning-economist-crisis-as-bad-as-great-depression-or-worse.html)

* Leading investment advisors Ray Dalio (http://online.barrons.com/article/SB123396545910358867.html?mod=djemWR&page=sp) and Doug Casey (http://seekingalpha.com/article/122573-doug-casey-what-to-do-in-the-greater-depression)

* And many other experts

Moreover (I told you you might need a stiff drink), many top experts, including the following people, predict that this may actually be worse than the Great Depression:

* Former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker (http://www.cnbc.com/id/29304047)

* Former federal reserve governor Frederic Mishkin (http://www.cnbc.com/id/26850473)

* A Nobel economist (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/29104759#29104759)

* One of British prime minister Gordon Brown's most senior ministers and confidants (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/this-is-the-worst-recession-for-over-100-years-1605367.html)

* PhD economist Marc Faber (http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/01/some-cautionary-observations-from-marc.html)

* Billionaire investor George Soros (http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE51K0A920090221?sp=true)

* Former Goldman Sachs Chairman John Whitehead (http://www.reuters.com/article/Finance08/idUSTRE4AB7HT20081112)

* Leading investment advisor and author Nassim Taleb (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aWpKlQSOpvvI&refer=home)

* And many others

By the way, if you think that these folks are being overly pessimistic, and that economists will turn the crisis around, you might want to note that most economists have no idea how we got in this crisis, or how to get out of it (http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2009/03/economics-profession-bears-some.html)

That Sucks . . . But What Does It Mean?

Okay, time for a stronger cup of coffee or a stronger drink . . .

Investor George Soros not only said that the current crisis was worse than the Depression, he also said that this is more like the break up of the Soviet Union (http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE51K0A920090221?sp=true).

What's he talking about?

Well, initially, you've heard that many states are having real financial trouble, and many have huge "budget shortfalls".

The truth is that the United States itself is pretty much insolvent:

* The St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank posted a paper in 2006 entitled "Is The United States Bankrupt?". The paper provides the following answer: "The United States is going broke" (http://www.research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/06/07/Kotlikoff.pdf)

* People seem to think the government has money," said former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker. "The government doesn't have any money" (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/17/MN8Q11OT2M.DTL&tsp=1)

* PhD economist Marc Faber says the U.S. will go bankrupt (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=JyD&q=%22marc+faber%22+bankrupt&btnG=Search)

* Respected economist John Williams says it already is (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=88851)

Moreover, I was born in America, I've lived here my whole life, and I love this country.

However, just as the Soviet Union broke up, there are more and more indications that our nation will break up also.

For example, the U.S. military believes that the chance of a break down in the system is real. Specifically, a new report from the U.S. Army War College discusses the possibility of “a loss of functioning political and legal order” and a possible "rapid dissolution of public order in all or significant parts of the US" (http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=890").

Indeed, many experts have warned of a break down in order in America (http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2009/02/growing-list-of-officials-and-experts.html).

And more and more states are passing "state sovereignty" legislation declaring their independence from the United States government (see http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=88218).

Even the Wall Street Journal recently covered the prediction from a high-level Russian academic that the U.S. would break up (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html)

Indeed, an engineer who lived through the break up of the USSR goes around the country offering for free advice for Americans on how to weather the coming dissolution of the US (http://culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=325&Itemid=66).

Please rest assured that I wish that the economy quickly turns around, and that everything works out. But it sure doesn't look like that is going to happen.

So What Can We Do ... And Where Should We Start?

So what can we do to improve our situation?

Well, the experts who have looked at the best way to weather depressions and the break down in our society's systems recommend that people get together with their neighbors to work on ways to grow most of their own food (see http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/07/eat-cheaper-and-healthier-while-saving.html and http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/07/beating-high-energy-and-food-prices.html), to form local bartering mechanisms (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123482445928394833.html), to provide for neighborhood watch-type security, and to take other steps to increase our safety, security and comfort.

This letter is just a starting point for discussion, and not a definitive analysis or plan. I'm afraid that we're in for a bumpy ride, and so I'm reaching out to you to start talking about these admittedly unpleasant topics....







Author's Bio: George Washington

George Washington is a pen name. I am using the pen name, with the approval of the publisher.