The United Kingdom used to be a place filled with reasonably intelligent people, but these days it seems like the international home of the brain dead. The thought that in this era of economic meltdown anyone could want to be governed by a minority coalition of Labourites and Liberal-Democrats (whatever that strange construction means) is beyond comprehension.
Have the British people had a collective lobotomy? (Well, certainly their elites have.) Their country has a deficit worse than Greece. And yet, as of 6:47PM Pacific Time, May 10, this coalition of Labour and Lib Dems seems about to inherit the British Isles; that’s the same people that brought about the deficit in the first place – and they’re doing it at the expense of the only people who might (faintly, weakly, timidly) have the courage to stop it.
I’m beginning to have nostalgia for Bernie Madoff. At least he knew he was operating a Ponzi scheme. The clowns in charge of the UK have been running one for years and seem to be totally clueless about it. Or, perhaps more likely, they’re even more corrupt than Madoff. They know the welfare state is a Ponzi scheme, but they need it to stay in power. And they will stay in power at everyone’s expense, especially the working stiffs of the United Kingdom, the very people they pretend to help.
So dump your pounds and drop your euros. And I am sorry to tell you the dollar is not far behind. And if you think you can hold onto those renminnbi, you should forget about that too. We’re all headed down the kitchen sink behind dear old Blighty.
And it’s all the fault of my generation – the Boomers. And who could be more of a Boomer than the desperate Gordon Brown – “august” history Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh who spent his early career working as a television journalist? What could be more perfect? Well, one thing: the global economy being taken down by Keith Olbermann.
UPDATE: Apparently the Lib-Dem/Labour talks have failed. At last that’s something.
At least the new (socialist-communmist) coalition in your nation will be seen as so innept that at least you they may fall in the next year and (if you replace “conservative”-lite-lite Cameron: and include some UKIP ideas, like out of (or reduced UK-EU, anti unlimited immigration and Free Market Reforms) then MAYBE you’ll end up with a real governing majorty (and a true conservative path) toward solvent government (and finances/economics).
-Just my 2c, J. S. in the USA. Cheers!~
The Banking system does not operate based on Profit, it operates based on Debt. If there is no debt, the banking system collapses.
Add that the same People deciding the levels of debt, have assigned the right to value, coin and regulate currency to the same people that issue Debt ( Federal Reserve banking system, whose main shareholders are European Banking Families)
Add to this that the public at large have no idea how their own Banking system operates and accepts that Debt Backed credit, that is currency backed by deficits, have an intrinsic value and continue accepting currency that is worthless
The Banking system in operation today requires ever expanding deficits to continue issuing worthless currency so taxpayers can continue funding their right to issue credit backed only by the taxpayers ability to fund the banking system that enslaves the modern world.
We are paying for the right to be in Debt.
Its about time someone on this site has the tentacles to brush upon the nonsense in the world.
The only disagreement is with the RMB, it is backed by hard assets. Currency in China comprise less than 10% of the backing of RMB; China is the worlds largest gold producer, produces over 90% of the worlds rare earth metals, has mining agreements that locks up a large percentage of the worlds resources for the next generation, and is arranging the same with petroleum production.
It will get hit, but China will emerge from the coming world banking crisis in the best shape…Europe and USA will be the worst.
Do you have any idea how utterly ignorant you are?
“The Banking system does not operate based on Profit, it operates based on Debt.”
The ridicule you deserve for your first sentence made it an easy decision to skip reading anything further…………
I’m not such a devotee of the new Chinese world order either. China has quite a few problems that need to be addressed before it can ever replace America as the world’s economic engine.
1. China’s banks are a mess, and people have no idea exactly how bad they are. Most banks are state operated and sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars in dud loans. One reason why China didn’t experience much of a liquidity problem during the past few years is that the government forced them to keep lending. Of course, this means that much of the lending is not based on risk analysis but instead on personal contacts and politics. This of course feeds into the coming bubble caused by government mandated lending regardless of the risk involved.
2. China does not really have a legal system in place that can allow it to maximize its growth. The Chinese system produces a very high conviction rate; the accuracy and recourse to an efficient defense, however, leave a lot to be desired.
3. China’s easy money is creating a massive stock market bubble. You want to find out how safe your money is? Just ask the government. I’m sure they’ll be as forthcoming as they were about any Avian flue outbreaks they may or may not have had.
4. Large portions of Chinese citizens still effectively live in a pre-industrial society, much the same as in Russia. There are some well developed cities and industrial locations, but this does not represent the country or its citizens as a whole.
5. Demographics: Reports are already coming in of mass kidnappings in some rural locations to help alleviate the gender imbalance. As the 1 baby family generation comes of age, many Chinese men will have to leave in order to find a partner. Some will not, and this will inevitably lead to violence.
6. The Chinese can copy designs and manufacture effectively, but the state of Chinese research is appalling. Innovation is far different than mass producing sweatshirts or airplanes even.
Electing Mr. Obama and an overwhelmingly democrat congress at this point in history was the final nail.We may have already crossed the threshold where paying down our debt is impossible. Thanks fellow boomers.
We turned out to be the candy ass generation.
You are exactly right!! You should run for office!
“Vote for Pedro”
Roger,
Just a small point: look to the financial markets and you will see that the dollar has been strengthening as as the European economies crumble. Try as they might, the Obama Administration has not yet succeeded in destroying the globe’s flagship currency. Very much to the contrary, in fact, which is good news to those among us who stand to benefit from a strong dollar.
Our decade-long experience with the weak dollar has been an incredible hardship for those of us who enjoy high tea at Fortnum and Mason and a good Sauterne with our foie gras (aren’t you one of us?). As I see it, with the European economy headed for the tank, happy days are here again.
That Porsche Panamera is looking pretty good to me. I think I’ll go pick one up in Leipzig next fall.
Yours truly,
Neobuzz
The dollar is enjoying a temporary bounce from the collapse of the Euro. However, the faults that destroyed the Euro exist in this country as well. Unless we fix them, and soon, in a few years, we will be talking about which currencies benefited the most from the collapse of the dollar.
The big issue is, if the Euro and the pound are collapsing and the dollar shaky, where does the money go? The renminnbi? That is tied to the dollar. India, Russia, Brazil? The Swiss Franc looks nice excpet that it is a small country and the wealth of Switzerland is dependent on the ability to invest in other countries.
How about this investment program — gold bars, canned food and ammunition.
Works for me.
I see little evidence that the dollar is actually strengthening on real terms but only on relative terms. The dollar appears to be getting stronger only because the Euro is getting weaker, not because of anything fundamentally right about the dollar. The collapse of the welfare state currently beginning in Europe is going to happen here as well. The current situation is unsustainable. It seems a question of “when”, not “if”. The situation in Greece is likely a preview of coming attractions.
On Sunday May 9th the Federal Reserve in the USA opened a credit line and began to ship USD to European central banks to alleviate pressure on the Euro.
The Federal Reserve has placed the US taxpayer as collateral for European Loans, when the SHTF in Europe, the US Federal Reserve will place the US taxpayer on the hook. The USD will follow the Euro into the sinkhole, Roger Simon has the correct result of what is occurring in Europe, we will all sink together.
Although we expect more from the British since they were one of the few countries that didn’t fall to fascism or communism like large swathes of the continent, the truth is that they drank deep from the nanny state kool aid. The entire country seemed to decry the endless stream of arbitrary regulation making its way across the channel from Brussels, yet they have been so drilled to think of themselves as too kind and gentle to ever embrace America’s kill or be killed Darwinian capitalism. However, I don’t think that all is lost in Blighty; David Cameron polled his best when he was doing his weak Thatcher imitation and fell dramatically when he dropped that harsh language and replaced it with talk of his “Big Society”, whatever that is supposed to mean.
If Adam Smith’s invisible hand could be seen, it would be giving the EU the finger.
“America’s kill or be killed Darwinian capitalism”?
Capitalism is not a system of “Darwinian kill or be killed”. Under capitalism no one has the legal power to kill anyone else.
It is true that under capitalism a competitor might be able to put another firm out of business if he can provide such a superior product at a superior price that everyone chooses to trade with him and not the other guy — but this is hardly analogous to killing him.
Capitalism has produced a continuously-rising standard of living and a continuously-increasing lifespan for millions — it has showered the masses with life-enhancing products and benefits undreamed of even a hundred years ago. It does not deserve to be described as “kill or be killed”.
Neither did I. You maybe missed the beginning and ending of the post where I put down nanny-statism, and especially the part at the end where I said Adam Smith’s invisible hand would be giving them the finger. You must have latched onto this line and misread the rest; Maybe I should have put it in quotes to drive home the point that this is a common British point of view, but not one that I agree with. Perhaps the best examples of this view of capitalism come from the continent; Gerhard Schröder was constantly hammering home the evils of what he called “Raubtier” capitalism, or “predatory capitalism.” On the continent, a further expression of anti-American anti-capitalistic thought is brought about through the use of the expression “American conditions” ™. When anything takes a turn for the worse, it is called American conditions regardless of the correlation to America. In my opinion, this is just an excuse to regulate markets and control who can benefit from Europe’s “social market economy.”
A great book recommendation is “Cowboy Capitalism” by Olaf Gersemann, a German writer for a weekly economic magazine. It’s highly recommended and covers some of the left-field idiocy that passes for economic discussion in Europe.
If you want to know what I think of nanny-statism, feel free to click my link.
Michael Smith missed nothing. Don’t get huffy because he read what you wrote instead of your mind, Mr. “We Are Government.” If you didn’t mean what you wrote, simply apologize for having expressed yourself clumsily and move on.
You are the only one who sounds huffy here. I did not express myself clumsily, but as I said, it would have been clearer with quotation marks. However, from the context, it is pretty clear that this was not my opinion. Too many people hit respond before they read.
What’s the problem? We’ll just print more money & everything will be fine. LOL
Try looking on the bright side! We need change, and being English, are unlikely to go for revolution. We have just managed to screw up the current system by splitting the vote 3 ways. Now we’ll have a coalition of left wing losers and things will really go tango uniform. Who knows what will rise from the wreckage? Perhaps something good. For the moment, the sun is out down here and I am off up the garden to look at the weeds……. With a coffee and cigar.
I have visited your lovely country many times. In 1985, I had the pleasure of watching in person as the great Margaret Thatcher utterly demolished her opposition in the House of Commons on Q&A day.
It was an amazing performance. After she dissected and humiliated the first few questioners, all the back benchers sat down and shut up. No one wanted to go toe to toe with her — her intellect and command of the facts were simply unchallengeable.
I thought: Here is the lady who will save England!
But alas, what one leader can accomplish others can demolish.
I’ve also concluded that the best reason for optimism is what might emerge from the wreckage, because wreckage it will be. We aren’t very far behind you, thanks to our blinkered politicians. Anyway, enjoy your coffee and cigar. Let’s hope a better future is around the corner for both our countries.
Let’s hope we do better with our elections — and that we follow up (read keep our boots on the necks of) our politicians to make sure they actually do cut back this unsustainable govt and spending.
Is it the suicide of the West? PC is an excuse and cover for many deliberate evils.
The Brits have been on self-destruct mode in various ways:
“… politically motivated attempt by ministers to transform the fundamental make-up and identity of this country. It was done to destroy the right of the British people to live in a society defined by a common history, religion, law, language and traditions.
It was done to destroy for ever what it means to be culturally British and to put another ‘multicultural’ identity in its place. And it was done without telling or asking the British people whether they wanted their country and their culture to be transformed in this way.
Spitefully, one motivation by Labour ministers was ‘to rub the Right’s nose in diversity and render their arguments out of date’.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1222977/MELANIE-PHILLIPS-The-outrageous-truth-slips-Labour-cynically-plotted-transform-entire-make-Britain-telling-us.html
Melanie Phillips follow up article to the above (submitted, I thought, but didn’t print the first time):
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/5475511/trying-to-stuff-the-cat-back-into-the-bag.thtml
And despite this utterly damning episode, Labour and the Liberal Dems (who are even more post-nationalist than Labour) still garnered over 50% of the vote.
An election here…an election there…none of that makes any difference. Politics flows from culture, and Britains culture has been thorougly gutted by Leftist rot. In the end, there are only two eventualities possible for Britain…and neither is pretty.
The first eventuality is that the native, white British people, pushed to the breaking point, turn to the only parties who will forcefully and unapologetically advocate for historical “Britishness”. The Tories are useless…they’ll make small moves for fiscal conservativism, but they’re absolutely terrified of advocating for culturally conservative values. So white Britains will first turn to parties like the UKIP, which will hopefully be enough. If not, they will turn to parties like the BNP. If the Brits become this desperate, violence will follow.
The other eventuality is that they quietly acquiesce, in which case their country’s weak cultural identity will be replaced by those within their borders who have a strong cultural identity…the Muslims.
A thing cannot be two things at once: it must necessarily become all one thing or be destroyed.
Liberal inclinations to see equal outcomes among humans is like scratching an itch until blood is pouring out of the offending spot and then wondering what happened. Britain will die of the infection it caused itself.
Well it will make a vacation in the UK a lot less expensive, although I’m not so sure I want to spend a week touring great mosques of the midlands.
The Lib/Lab coalition isn’t going to happen, Simon. It’s unravelling as I type.
I am an American living in the UK. The good news is that part of my salary is in dollars. The bad news is that most of the rest is in pounds. We have a surplus of pounds right now, so we have started buying artwork — we need to buy something.
As for the Lib-Pab coalition, I doubt it, though Brown’s resignation as Labour Party leader (which would not be effective until September) makes it a bit more likely.
May I suggest that if you have to buy something, you consider tins of biscuits?
At least you will have food if the worst happens.
“And it’s all the fault of my generation – the Boomers.”
Didn’t you people promise to die before you got old?
>:|
Good point. Just consider that the first of many broken promises.
In a recent visit to London I found Speaker’s Corner open only on Sundays.
They told me that happened a long time ago.
Samething happened here — a long time ago: the 1960s.
You can’t recover a country that no longer exists.
If you don’t understand this, Thank a Boomer Teacher.
“…and so this is how a great nation falls. Not to weeping, but to thunderous applause…”
Assuming this nation even survives the next decade, it’ll be interesting what future historians will think of this era: the rise to political power of the Boomers, and just how much it did us all in.
To your average politician, reality is an annoyance at best.
The birth dearth of Europe makes the European welfare state unsustainable and the financial markets are now starting to reveal this, but most people are still in denial. To paraphrase a paraphrase of Margaret Thatcher, the problem with a Ponzi scheme is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.
When everything does hit the crapper I wonder which country will take the politicians who fiddled during this slow-motion implosion. You have to figure that a lot of people are gonna demand their heads for their ineptness and corruption.
And it’s all the fault of my generation – the Boomers.
What do you mean “we”, Kimo Sabe?
I’m a boomer (’57) and didn’t do any of the crap that gets blamed on my generation. I didn’t protest, I joined the military. I’ve been married to the same wife (only wife) for 27 years. Zero debt and don’t ask me to pay for yours.
Yeah, a lot of Boomers are assholes but not all of us.
I’m sure you are right, as are millions of other boomers who work hard, pay their bills, and look after their families. But viewed with a broad, historical eye the Boomers will definitely go down as the most narcissistic generation in American history. Some even blame their parents, the so-called Greatest Generation, who were so traumatized by the Depression and their heroic actions in World War II that, in an effort to shield their children from the horror, they started the entitlement programs and coddling that has brought us to where we are.
It happens all the time in families. Man builds a fortune through his wits and hard work, gives it to his coddled kids who blow through it, leaving nothing for the next generation but laziness, drug problems, and a sense of entitlement.
The Tories’ failure to capture a majority should be a lesson to Republicans in the U.S. Given the state of the country, the Tories should have won in a landslide. It is their own mealy-mouthed ineptitude that is to blame. If you want to defeat Labour, you don’t campaign as Labour-lite. You campaign as Thatcher.
Similarly, if Republicans want to win in November and beyond, they need to challenge the whole moral basis of the welfare state and Obamacare, not simply slow them down. That Mitt “Father of Obamacare” Romney is even considered a contender for the Republican nomination in 2012 speaks volumes about the current hopelessness of the party.
Dana H. nails it! I claim no real insight into the mind of British voters, but I definitely felt they, like American voters, don’t know who to trust. There was no clear winner, because no candidate had the courage to tell the ugly, unadulterated truth.
The results in the 2010 elections might mirror those in Britain. Republicans are reluctant to really stand for anything and it’s hard to support candidates who stand for nothing. Sooner or later the whole Ponzi scheme of entitlement economics will collapse. That much I’m sure of. What will happen next is the really big unknown.
Yeah those evil baby boomers who gave us revolutions in civil rights, computers and medicine. Wouldn’t we all be better off with blacks still second class citizens, access to information the privilege of the few and dying at 50.
I know let us balance our budget by getting rid of medicare and social security except most of the TEA Party folks are on those government teats. Oh well.
Roger, David Cameron is the new PM so I guess to quote Gilda Radner, “Never mind.”
Too many baby boomers believe they invented sex too, Eden. There’s just something about certain boomers that gives them a narcissism that compels them to steal credit for what they didn’t accomplish.
The civil rights revolution in America began in the 1950s, notable events were the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 and President Eisenhower’s dispatching of federal troops to prevent a Democrat governor of Arkansas and his party’s militant wing, the KKK, from blocking the schoolhouse door to the Little Rock Nine.
Neither Eckert and Mauchly, nor Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove, nor many others who created the computer industry and the semiconductor businesses that made possible the advances in computers that we enjoy today were boomers.
Boomers can’t take credit for today’s medical revolution, either. The first successful heart transplant was performed by a surgeon born in 1922 – after average life expectancy in the U.S. (even for men) had passes 50 years. Boomers didn’t discover DNA, either.
You’re right it wasn’t boomers who put their bodies and lives at risk on those freedom rides in the South. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs didn’t revolutionize how most of us use computers now and the human gnome wasn’t mapped by boomers. In fact no decent science or art has been produced by anyone born between 1945 and 1965. So yeah they didn’t invent everything but neither were they without any socially redeeming attributes. No generation is the greatest and none are the worst. We all stand on the accomplishments of our ancestors and should honor those and not nitpick their failures to aggrandize ourselves. It is this all or nothing bullshit that I despise.
The extreme left wing Lib Dem HARLOTS after peddling their wares to BOTH sides for FIVE days have finally settled with the Tories or “Nu Liebour lite” as they are known in UK. The LEAST WORST option I will admit because if they had climbed in to bed with LIEBOUR the UK would have been at the mercy of the NATIONALIST parties from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who would have been necessary to prop up the MINORITY Lib/Lab coalition. Which would have infuriated the ENGLISH voters even more as Devolution has given Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland their OWN Governments over which ENGLISH MP’s have no say at all while at the SAME time Scots/Welsh and Irish Westminster MP’s can vote on PURELY ENGLISH matters.
They will now also try and FORCE Proportional Representation on the Country after just showing us EXACTLY what SECRET WHORING BACKDOOR DEAL INSANITY that would make for EVERY election should the British people be stupid enough to accept it.
Jacob (We Are Government) gets it just about right.
The Peking-based pack of psychopathological predators that so grandiosely calls itself “China” is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on massive doses of steroids (presumably surplus to the needs of “China’s” international swim and other “sporting” teams) and is many Trillions of Dollars in the hole.
And when its house of cards comes crashing down? So does the Euro-peon Neo-Soviet and every one of its squalidly-fascissocialist sovereignty-surrendering Socialist International-supporting satellite states — and that gang’s every subscriber and/or supporter. Likely led off the cliff by Australia’s KRudd’s feral gummint