Good morning Maritimus,
Indeed. Today we see how the MSM has been corrupted by these same staist, progressives and keep most of us in the dark. The lack of coverage so far by most, of Professor Gruber's comments regarding the stupidity and ignorance of the electorate and its advantage for passing O'care is a timely example. Another is the intimidation and conviction of Dinesh D'Souza. It is clear that others on the "right" side of this administration would not have been treated so.
Regards,
O.A.

Hello O.A.,
Another injustice, in my view, is the deliberate keeping in ignorance the majority of the voters. Why do you think all tyrannies ban many books? Why did the founders place the freedom of speech and the freedom of press so high? Few things infuriate me as much as seeing all this "political correctness" imposed at universities. Adults who cannot stand being told in the face that they are wrong. How I despise them!
Equally respectfully,
Maritimus

Yes, and make it as difficult to hire them as it is now to fire them.

Without a doubt it's protectionary, with intent. As to the higher prices, the question is relative or actual prices, if we're back on a gold standard and manufacturing our own.

Can you imagine any other way as long as we remain on fiat money and try to stay tied to everybody else's money systems?

I figure that about 80% of the feds are non-beneficial,
and that it would be fun trying to figure out which
were worth keeping. . reminds me of the old business
recovery model -- fire 'em all and hire back only
those actually needed! -- j

Hello Maritimus,
There are many of us that did not vote those statist progressives in. The biggest tragedy is that we cannot extricate ourselves from the conditions they forced upon us. The greatest injustice will be when we are forced to suffer the consequences that may end as you have suggested.
Respectfully,
O.A.

Well, it is a plan. That is more than can be said for our Dear leader. Of course it is protectionist and would result in higher prices for domestic products. The upside is there would be jobs to pay for those products. It would likely result in a short term hardship, but may restore long term stability and prosperity...

No, I would disagree on that. Root cause analysis is actually one thing I do pretty routinely. Witholding the motor would not be considered a root cause, but actively recruiting strikers in key areas would have to be considered a root cause. Many would consider it sabotage. Certainly what Ragnar was doing would have to be considered a root cause as well. Granted, their efforts in ushering the collapse may not be the primary root causes, but without them, the eventual collapse would not have happened in their lifetimes.

And will happen again. History can and will repeat as it has done throughout all known history.

As I understand it, our Nation's debt is secured by our word alone as is most of the world's nations' debts. We have the largest military with the most advanced technology and the greatest battle experience of any nation in the world. We have sufficient oil and gas reserves to be energy independent at the drop of a hat. We buy most of the consumer goods and commodities of the world with around with some 5% of the world's population.

Put ourselves back on gold, repute all outside debt, kick the UN and all foreign operations except embassies of our soil, and tell the rest of them to go pound sand. We could break China in less than 5 years if we barred manufacturing of our products in their country.

Next step, restore this country's individual liberty and rights and look forward.

Just watch what they'll try to do to his son Rand over the next two years.

Where's the NSA, HHS, NHTSA, BLM, SEC, ... ah hell, the rest of them in your thinking?

I wish that we could eliminate the departments of
education and energy, the IRS, the EPA, etc. -- by
a vote of "no confidence." -- j

Hi, OA,
I am deeply sorry to say it, but the nation ruined itself. They elected the early progressives ... and FDR ... and LBJ ... and OB. (Please note that OB is diametrically opposite of OA.) I see no law in natural reality which says that Americans cannot be forced to live at the living standard of, say, Bangladeshis. Perhaps after a reign of terror that converts to ash and fumes all families with net worth of $20K and up (in today currency values). Similar things have happened before in this world.

Hi, j,
Would you agree that Galt did not "instigate" the collapse? The government did that. Galt and others just refused to put any effort in slowing down the fall. In "failure analysis terminology": root causes were the policies and the prevailing ideology. Would you agree?

There are plenty enough misguided tyrants. Chavez and Maduro in Venezuela, for instance. A country that was semi-respectable 25 years ago is now in complete ruin - so sad.

Never mind all the pundits. If anyone doesn't think that the election was a repudiation of Obama and all his supporters, is blindfolded and wearing cotton in the ears. Hopefully, rather than the GOP acting like they want everyone to love them, they stick to their guns and use the repudiation without fear they'll win in '16 as well. If not, they'll get what cowards deserve.

Awesome response!

True enough. The waiting was afterwards... for the masses to come to their senses so the rebuilding could commence. I don't believe there will be a Galt. The collapse will occur without any key individual, unless it is a misguided tyrant.

Galt didn't wait for the collapse. He actively participated in the collapse as an instigator, something I give him credit for. I am not sure that I could have done that. I am unfortunately too much like Dagny.

Naturally. We would need to move quickly or make sure our assets are tangible so they might retain value. I do not desire or wish to advocate bankruptcy. I see it as an unfortunate inevitability. The only other alternative is to somehow carry this charade beyond our lifetimes and leave it for posterity to clean up. This has been our predecessors solution, but we never know when the piper will demand payment. Another option is world wide debt forgiveness...unlikely and probably unworkable. China isn't likely to cooperate. If we were a creditor nation instead of a debtor nation would we? Inflating our way out seems unbearable considering the magnitude. If there are other options I sure would like to see them come to pass. We need to discover unobtainium and sell it to the world at exorbitant prices to buy enough time to get out of this.

I sure want to hear of another option, but the politicos never really cut anything. So will the world wait centuries while we pile up more red ink? Will somebody in Washington actually make cuts sufficient to hold the wolves off our backs?

The fiction of Galt waiting for the collapse and a chance to rebuild seems all to real. :(

The problem with such a bankruptcy is that all the hard work we have done goes right down with it. I know I am sounding more like Dagny Taggart than John Galt here, but if I'm completely shrugging, I want to convert my investments into something worthwhile in Atlantis first.

Makes your head hurt, doesn't it? I give up... we need a tax revolt. I hate to see the nation go bankrupt, but the numbers do not lie. We will never be able to pay this and it isn't the taxpayers fault. Detroit has received the go for their bankruptcy... the largest in history. I fear the Nation will be forced down the same path. What other alternative is there? I know most of the other nations are in the same boat.. what a can of worms... A world wide do-over...

I had not heard anyone else say it. My rough estimate is that my lifetime share is about 2 million based on what I am earning right now, an interest rate closer to historical norms, the number of people in my family who are dependents, and the number of years until I reach what I expect will be the retirement age when I am expected to retire.

Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die ...
I want to be optimistic. Really I do, but I will not hold my breath waiting. And, in the mean, I intend to do all I can to live without their shackles. They ruined this nation's liberty and ran up the debt. Let them restore it and pay for it.