Peter Schiff

[sushiman]

That's really the truth, there is no solving it other than just letting it blow up. And no, the vast majority do not have a clue where things sit.

I've worked with derivatives for a good part of my career and I can say nobody knows what they are doing. CFOs generally have no idea what the derivatives they are holding actually *are*...the structure of these instruments is just too convoluted for any normal person to understand. It's basically just gambling and you can combine it with massive leverage and bankrupt an entire country. Even when derivatives are used for hedging nobody really understands what the f**k they are doing, I worked at a major bank that put the hedge on f***ing backwards.

The point being; I agree with Peter that too many jobs exist in pointless areas. I should probably be working to grow corn or something useful, instead I get paid way too much to play around in Excel.

[sushiman]

Facebook IPO Makes Zuckerberg Richer Than Google Founders
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-1 ... nders.html

There is so much money floating around on this one, unbelievable.

But you start thinking, all that money sure, but really what does the company actually do? You have all the smartest kids going to work for Facebook and Google, not sure if that is such a great thing.

[Jester]

He has a talent for explaining complex finance topics in a simple and humorous way. His name came up in another thread, here is one of his classic moments...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkEtArDF ... ata_player[/youtube]

Good one!

[djfourmoney]

The sole possibility is actually for everyone to realize this might be how you (humans) tend to be and that choosing more state administration control of our very own lives is not the solution when all these predictable and inevitable crises result every single human lifespan.

Like I said the discussion usually runs around in circles with one side embracing Darwinism and the other wanting to give everybody a trophy.

Neither way is going to work that's why a BALANCE needs to be struck. In America that's f***ing hopeless at this point. The entire thing needs to come down in order for people to come to their senses. I don't think that's going to happen frankly, I think it will be propped up as long as possible and then when you least expect it almost be a total collapse.

Maybe not as bad as Russia post-Communism (circa early 90's). But because of high gun ownership (that embrace of Darwinism...) it is bound to get quite ugly. What I believe will happen is a fracturing of America. This is based on sound social, economic and scientific data all gathered up in the documentary Earth 2100, I suggest you watch it. Its available on many public torrent trackers.

Some may denounce Progressive/Liberalism but that's why the country will fracture because of the opposite reason exactly. Just look at what most Bible Belt states are doing. Instead of addressing unemployment, infrastructure and social issues, they demonize what the Right typically does; Minorities and Gays. Banning Sharia Law in Oklahoma, really? But this is what they are doing it and they'll keep doing it as long as their largely rural populations allow it. But by then it will be too late. Natural disasters will destroy much of the Bible Belt and Deep South. Yes the "Big One" could hit Los Angeles or San Fransisco but frankly lots of people would look at that as a opportunity to make these large cities less car dependent... We have dropped from the 5th largest economy to 8th, now 10th. That's economy in the world by the way, even with the debt woes...

Its that economic power that will allow the West Coast to do what it needs to do with infrastructure. We already have plans to desalinate ocean water, expand light rail in our largest cities and connect those cities with high speed rail. With growing fuel cost, its only a matter of time before carriers like Southwest will find it too expensive to fly from LA to SFO for example. People will be glad a decade before voted for high speed rail...

Taking responsibility IS important. Voting is a personal responsibility in a democracy that never gets mentioned really. Why you interested in self-governance with this countries racist history and gun ownership? No thank you, I call that shit unsafe. Let me put it another way, I'm more concerned about some of these armed Militias that dot the country and are tracked by the FBI, NSA and ATF, along with the Southern Poverty Law Center since most of these Militias have White Supremacist leanings...

But you should demand you know the farmer that grows your food so we can crush factory farming. Want more self-reliance? Build a Aquaponics garden. Nobody has a problem with such things. Getting off the grid in terms of power by making your own power (Solar) or collecting rain water before some cities/states/etc find a way to ban that. So you can water plants that don't need much water or run throw a 5 stage filter and wash your car or windows with it. Either way you're saving the fresh water supply from abuse.

Think about starting a Co-Op. I believe this is the only way out of our consumerist climate in this country.