Our Allies Suspect Us

A local daily paper, the Daily Banning Record tells us about the Paris Summit:

The United States' North American Allies are in suspicious and resentful mood toward the United States

...

Britain will call for closer cooperation in the development of production of weapons

...

France wants a say in the launching of tactical nuclear weapons. 

...

Italy still plagued by economic depression and unemployment, her chief concern is development of NATO in the political and economic fields. ... she will plug hard for closer political and economic integration with her wealthier neighbors. 

... Germany wants troops to remain in Germany as long as the cold war continues.

The paper continues:

A top nuclear scientist said this week that he believes that British scientists may have developed  a process to tap unlimited power from the seas. 

Doc Peterson Realty has this gem:

2 bd 1 3/4 baths plus family room with barbeque; HW floors, attached garage, choice location lovely trees; yours to enjoy $12,500, terms. 

On the sports page we learn that Ted Williams is batting .388 and won his fifth American league batting crown. The paper also answers that age old question, "What should a girl do if the boss makes a pass?" The answer is simple: Miss Rogers says, "She can run or stand still depending on what she wants." Good advice for the ages. 

Penney's has men's sport shirts for $2.98 & $3.98. Bruce Gilchrist has a new Chevy pick-up for $1823, and the Harris Food Mart has grapefruit 5 for 25 cents.  

You may have guessed by now that the paper I am quoting is an old paper. It is the December 17, 1957 edition. Reading through this paper leads me to a thought. All the troubles of the world are going to continue, the problems will be solved, or they won't. How is reading about it going to help? 

I come from a religious tradition that encourages the "little people" to watch world events in order to “be ready.” But we no longer remember what we are to get ready for. How can knowing about the crisis in Farawaystan really help me in my day to day life? It cannot, in fact it hinders it. 

Politics will remain a part of what I do here, but I think that while politics is an interesting hobby, stamp collecting might be more fun and more productive. And my children could sell the collection when I am gone. It is with great reluctance that I throw away the old paper, but it leaves me with an idea. Should I throw away today's paper too?

The Game

I remember a game we played in High School history class. Colored chips were distributed randomly through the class. After the distribution the value of the chips was announced. We were then divided into three groups based on the value of the chips we held. I was one of the wealthy ones. 

We were allowed to tax ourselves and do whatever we wanted with the proceeds. We gave the chips to the most popular boy in class. This allowed him to go to our higher group. (He ended up in Hollywood I think) Alas, this meant one poor girl was demoted to the middle group. I was sorry for her, but not sorry enough to do anything about it. We had our charismatic leader now, we would rock that class. 

The rules allowed so to do whatever we wanted so we redefined what each chip was worth, but did not tell anyone outside our group. We then tried to trade chips. The rest of the class did not know what we had done, but it was obvious we had done something and no trades took place. I tried to con my friend Mario, but he was not fooled. Our lying caused the marketplace to crash. 

The analogy was that this was how society worked. I was not convinced at the time that this was how society works, and am still not convinced. However, looking at the world of today I am not so sure. The elites run the country and if they win in their speculations they keep the money, if they lose they are bailed out by us. Heads they win; tails they do not lose. 

Is our whole society structured like the game I played in High School? If so the only way to win is not to play. In one school that is exactly what they did. They divided all the chips equally and ended the game. 

The game is rigged to make you distrust the elites. But the main flaw is that the distribution of "chips" in society is not random. It is to a large degree based on talent. Still, there are those who game the system like our fearless leader in our group. The more rigged the system, the less each of us will play. 

Sometimes you just got to leave the system, and leave Babylon behind. 

Will the Markets Collapse?

We are headed for a crisis. Readers of this blog know I am optimistic. We can trust our leaders to do the right thing and tell us the truth: 

On March 29, when speculation swirled that Portugal needed a bailout, Prime Minister Jose Socrates denied — again — that that would happen despite clearly unsustainable market pressures.

“I’m sick of saying we won’t” be requesting help, he told journalists.

Just eight days later, in a chastened appearance on national television, Socrates did just that.

For Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg, the threat of immediate market turbulence means the usual norms of transparency don’t apply.

“When it becomes serious, you have to lie,” Juncker, who as the chairman of the regular meetings of eurozone finance ministers is one of the currency union’s key spokesmen, said in recent remarks.

There is an old cliché from the era were currencies had a fixed value. It is called lying like a finance minister before a devaluation. Can we trust anything that any politician says?-maybe a few here and there. Juncker told the truth in this quote when he admitted he would lie. I suppose he could be lying when he tells us he lies, like that old Star trek episode with the androids.

If you want to know why no one is hiring, consider the risks associated with investing right now. You cannot trust anything that anyone says. I began the crisis with 16 employees. Now I have 8. I have zero plans to hire anyone. Far more likely is that I will let more go, maybe doing their jobs myself. 

Like the Androids in the Star Trek episode, the logic of lying leads to shutdown. There is a lot of trust inherent in the market place. If we enter an era without trust the markets will stop. 

This is the risk in our current situation, if no one can trust the markets, no one will trade. And if no one will trade then the whole edifice collapses. This is not what I expect to happen but it could. 

The 5 Stooges of Truth

A frequent commentator here at Prophecy Podcast, Eddie H. Nessul, commenting on the blog post Three Stages of Truth on Friday said this:

I remember the THREE STAGES vividly from my youth. They were a big influence on my thinking and development. 

Watched them every day. Yep,... Larry, Moe and Curly were hilarious! Hats off to the THREE STAGES!

Eddie's analogy fails at several levels, the most important being that there were 5 stages err, Stooges. (Yes I know there were 7 all together.)

First there is Moe—the typical leader. He thinks he knows the truth and has convinced everyone else in his group that he does. 

Larry is typical of many followers, especially in political parties and churches. Larry knows he does not know, but thinks Moe does. 

Curly has no concern himself with truth…soitenly! He just wants to have fun. 

Shemp is another kind of leader. He knows he does not know the truth, but pretends he does to keep his hierarchical place in the group.

Finally we have Curly Joe. He knows the truth, but does not say anything because the truth is not palatable. But when the crisis comes he says what he must to keep Moe from leading the Stooges to an even worse disaster than normal. 

My goal here at Prophecy Podcast is to be Curley Joe. I will try to quietly point out the evils of Babylon and how to avoid them. I will point out that Moe and Shemp are leading you down the wrong path. 

In the words of Jesus:

Matthew 15:13-14

The Message (MSG)

 ^13-14Jesus shrugged it off. "Every tree that wasn't planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch."

Stay out of the ditches, do not follow Moe. 

3 Stages of Truth

There are three stages to new truth. 

First, it is ridiculed. 

Second it is violently opposed.

Third, it is accepted as being self-evidently true. 

You may have seen this formulation before. But let me add one very important point. False ideas pass through these same three stages. 

We need to be humble about our belief system. We may be wrong. The template we are using might be faulty. 

This is Jack Elam

The character actor Jack Elam had a funny version of this saying. He said his career had gone through stages: 

Stage 1: "Who is Jack Elam?"

Stage 2: "Get me Jack Elam."

Stage 3: "I want a Jack Elam type."

Stage 4: "I want a younger Jack Elam."

Stage 5: "Who is Jack Elam?"

Who is Jack Elam? 

What idea do I have in mind for us to consider? The idea that America cannot continue down the path it has been on is the new idea for us to consider. Personally I have been in the third stage for decades when I realized that I might not get Social Security. As much as possible, I reduced my payments to the system because I understood that it was not sustainable. It is self-evidently true that things can not continue as they are.

Will our great-great grandchildren ask our grandchildren, "Grandpa, what was America?" All empires fall.