01 May 2013

What if???

Update 2 May 2013: (gasping) Well, so not so nuts after all... The Great Gold Redemption
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This is from an IM conversation I had with a friend some time back... relevant today, perhaps alarming, and perhaps should be...

Obviously, this belongs in the "out there" category of just brainstorming for the heck of it, playing with the puzzle pieces to see how they might go together. The friend thought I should post it, so here goes! I hope you find it at least entertaining... not sure how ... errr... useful it might be!

Calling the post... WHAT IF:

Was I channeling this guy?

http://www.thedailybell.com/28945/Anthony-Wile-From-Grammar-School-to-Battlefield-with-Richard-Maybury
Richard Maybury: ... The federal government has gone renegade, and if it is not returned to the Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights, the country will be destroyed.
Daily Bell: We seem to remember you writing elsewhere that the federal government's foreign policy boils down to poking sharp sticks at rattlesnakes. 
Richard Maybury: I've been saying that for years, and I see no reason to change it. It's part of a strategy that power junkies have been using with great success since the days of the Roman Emperors. These people shout, "Rattlesnakes from everywhere are trying to bite us! We can't be safe unless we conquer the world!" 
Daily Bell: Are you saying these rattlesnakes would behave if Washington would stop poking them?
Richard Maybury: No, no, no. There are lots of bad people. You can see bullies in any schoolyard. But don't provoke them. Leave them alone and arm yourself to the teeth. Be like a porcupine, gentle, quiet, calm, but always ready to put a big hurt on anyone who tries to get rough with you. 
Daily Bell: You've said, instead of an imperial military − meaning a giant expeditionary force − have a whole nation of minutemen who can protect themselves, their families or their country if there is trouble.
Richard Maybury: Very good. Like the National Guard once was, or the Swiss still are to a large extent. A defensive military instead of an offensive military. What's wrong with America's foreign policy is not that we have a military, it's that we have...
Daily Bell: ... the wrong type!
Richard Maybury: Again, I see you've caught on to this way of thinking about the government's behavior. Yes, the US Empire, which grew to maturity in World War II, is a giant machine that makes enemies for America — for you and me. And the economy, the financial markets, the whole country will continue lurching from one disaster to the next because of this. For one thing, it's monstrously expensive. Unless I'm missing something, and I don't think I am, the only people who will prosper consistently in this political climate are those whose investments are set up to do well during wartime and currency debasement. 
Welp, not really a lot to add to that, but this is the kind of thing I've been on about here and everywhere for a long time.