The follow article has been generously contributed by long-time SHTFplan contributor Patriot One.
by Patriot One
12M5D7H
According to the main stream media and the Obama Administration the summer of 2010 was the summer of recovery. A funny thing happened to the recovery on its way to your town. It never happened and it never will until the excessive debt is flushed out of the system and America actually starts to produce and make things again.
I want to warn you, though, that I’m not a writer, reporter, economist or politician. I’m just a small business man. I think I’m smart and intelligent, but by the elite standard, I’m uneducated. So if you are going to judge this article by my spelling, grammar and sentence structure you might as well hit the delete key now.
What I want to do is open your eyes to the cold hard facts of life in America today. Our Federal and State Governments have kicked the entitlement can down the road for so long that we now have about 133 trillion dollars in debt and unfunded liabilities. Simply put we will never be able to fund the liabilities or repay the debt. It’s just mathematically impossible given the current status quo.
By now your asking; What is hidden in plain sight? Well it’s the soup lines and the wondering masses of people looking for work. You see the soup lines are now mixed right in with you at the grocery store with government debit cards, food stamps and other programs like WIC. We are approaching 42 million people just on food stamps – all hidden among us. That’s a whooping 14% of the US population just on food stamps.
US labor migration is also hidden in plain sight at your local unemployment office. No wandering masses of men looking for work. In fact now they don’t even want to see you at the unemployment office and have you file online. Again hiding the long lines and further isolating the unemployed person.
According to a report by the AP, US Census data for 2009 shows approximately 45 million Americans were living below the poverty line. We also saw the largest single year increase in the poverty rate since 1959 and are now the third worst among developed nations. The US Department of Agriculture reports, on a year-over-year basis, household participation in food stamps has increased 20.28%. The food stamp program has set new all time highs for 19 consecutive months.
As of June one out of every six Americans is now being served by at least one government anti-poverty program and Medicaid now serves more then 50 million Americans.
On the financial side of the house, one out of every seven mortgages in the US was either delinquent or in foreclosure during the first quarter 2010. Nationwide, bankruptcy filings rose 20% in the 12 month period ending June 30 th 2010 and 25% of all Americans now have a credit score below 599. Meanwhile America now has fewer manufacturing jobs than we had in 1950 and customer service call centers are being sent overseas at an alarming rate.
Simply put, the cost of every government anti-poverty is absolutely soaring. Meanwhile the US government is already running a budget deficit that is approaching 1.5 trillion every year. The US economy is dying and without a major change in course we will be ship wreaked on the iceberg called collapse.
Much like Rome our elected officials have spent us into oblivion and are now wholesale printing money. The Roman Empire, in my opinion, collapsed due to large government, debt, over taxation and inflation due to the stamping of coins. Do you see any similarities?
Because I don’t want to be just a doom and gloomer, I will off some common sense ways to repair our country.
Repeal NAFTA. If 60% of your company manufacturing and or service is not done in America, you’re not an American Company. Currently under NAFTA 90% can be overseas and you are still an American company.
While these 25 items may seem very basic, it will bring us back to a foundation, upon which we can rebuild. The size and scope of government will be dramatically reduced in both cost and number of employees. And finally the power will be put back into the hands of the Citizens, where it belongs.
As Ronald W. Reagan stated: Government is not the answer to our problems, Government is the problem.
This article has been generously contributed by long-time SHTFplan contributor Patriot One.
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 the elimination of social security, medicaid and medicare is asinine. i don’t want to see older folks dying in the gutters in my city.
lotta crackpot ideas here like glorifying the military, no accountability for gangster bankers, no mention of banking reform,  tort reform so doctors can buthcher patients without accountability, securing our borders which is impossible ( jail employers who hire illegals), confusion about entitlements- social security is a paid for insurance program -an entitlement is banker bonusus, and last , but not least, no mention of alternative energy.Â
@mushroom…been popping a few too many of those, eh? The older folks are already dying in the gutters in YOUR city. Many of the recipients of these programs are at or below poverty level already, many barely affording cat food to eat. Do you really think one can live on $1200 a month? It is the entitlement mentality that has significantly contributed to the blight we find the country in today. These programs have been nothing more than a ponzi scheme from the beginning, and have simply given the politicians an additional trough to feed at, compliments of your kids and grandkids. Time to come down from that mushroom high and understand the only way out of this is far less government occupied by far fewer politicians, lobbyists, lawyers and other assorted thieves.
Comments…..”upgrade all millitary major weapons systems, aircraft and ships”. This guy has no clue what got this country into the present mess. 85% of America’s GDP is millitary, more than half the debt piled upon the people of this country is millitary, the elite moved all manufacturing overseas so the average man has zero value, so the millitary looks like the only thing he can join to make a living. America has become a war economy, and it’s all the wars that are destroying this country, maybe if we hold back a couple of those high end F-35’s that Isreal is getting for free as part of it’s 3 billion a year assitance program we can feed the 44 million living in poverty.
You are so correct in things being hidden in plain sight. I never thought about it like that. If all those people that were on assistance were actually having to stand in soup lines, like people had to in the 30’s, then people would understand the dire situation we are in now but because they are all blended within the masses, I do not think that a lot of people realize how bad it really is.Â
@Sam…yep, he has a couple of items on his list of 24 (he can’t count either), like the bloated military and the associated military/industrial complex that are pretty bazaar, but I’d have to say that the other 22 items have seriously contributed to the demise of Amerika, i.e. Fraudulent Reserve Bank, IRS, bailouts, Fannie and Freddie, foreign aid and illegal immigration/employment etc., etc.. Even cutting the defense budget in half, though, wouldn’t begin to put the country back on track (although it would be a nice gesture). But eliminating 70% of the gubermint bureaucracy, slashing salaries and benefits of politicians, government workers, and forcing corporations to produce products here instead of China and Taiwan could go a long way towards relieving some of the pain the country is going through. Don’t get me wrong though, none of this will happen in my lifetime or yours. What may happen soon that will solve all of these problems is the complete and total collapse of the country. Your guesstimate of 85% of GDP is military though is a bit exaggerated. Based on recent data (check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States) if one actually believes the data produced by the bureauRATs, The U.S. Department of Defense budget accounted in fiscal year 2010 for about 19% of the United States federal budgeted expenditures and 28% of estimated tax revenues. Including non-DOD expenditures, defense spending was approximately 25–29% of budgeted expenditures and 38–44% of estimated tax revenues. According to the Congressional Budget Office, defense spending grew 9% annually on average from fiscal year 2000–2009. About 39% of revenues are supposedly spent on Social Security and Medicare, though Social Security has been insolvent for the last 30 years.
Don’t be caught being raised in the dark and fed shit…data is pretty easy to come by and exaggerated responses are simply a means to providing more bovine scatology to the mix…something both the DemonCRATS and RepubliCONS in the district of criminals are already quite adept at doing.
Beans, bullets and band aids are the wave of the future…it’s all over but the crying now.
The majority of this is asinine, but to just hit the biggest ones:
“If a company is too big to fail, the company is too big…No company should be larger then 4 or 5% of a given market and or GDP.”
Yeah, the government breaking up companies like this will go over reeeeeal well. Lots of support out there or the right for this.
“Start all out production of domestic Oil, Gas and Minerals.”
…and manage to meet, what, maybe 15% of our total fossil fuels needs? 20%?
“Upgrade all Military major weapons systems, Aircraft and Ships.”
We already spend way too much on the military, now we need to massively increase the defense budget to make the weapons we need to re-fight World War II? Genius.
“Outlaw student loans.”
Really? Really? Not just defund the Direct Loans program – just outlaw student loans altogether? No loans from private institutions for college? And I’m to understand that this is constitutional, and won’t make it completely impossible for anyone except the very rich to get a degree? Anyone who would write this needs to think harder.
“Outlaw Unions.”
So I guess Freedom of Assembly isn’t guaranteed by the First Amendment anymore? Whether or not you like how unions operate, or their influence, outlawing them is absolutely unconstitutional. And some of us still love and support that document.
“Outlaw the NEA.”
Stupid. Screw the NEA, but anyone one who thinks that this is an Important Step Toward Fixing Our Coutry isn’t thinking hard enough.
“Institute a healthcare policy national standard.”
Again, lots of support from the right for more government involvement, regulation, and enforcement in this area. Good thinking.
“Get back to the Constitutional basics.”
…unless unions want to assemble. Or unless people want to loan money to kids to go to college.
Really almost every item is either impractical, unconstitutional, so vague as to be meaningless, or just plain silly. Why would anyone look at this list and say: YES. This is what we need.?
Ugh. We’re facing some nearly insurmountable problems, and some people still think that getting rid of the NEA will help fix it. Grow up.
DigiCom: “social security is a paid for insurance program”
talk about a crackpot idea…
Thinking that the points recommended by the writer could actually be achieved to correct our issues is tantamount to believing in fairy tales.
They simply will not take place, the only way that this will happen is by a complete collapse which renders the dollar worthless, which makes any parasitic flows of money from one group to another worthless.
Don’t expect that to happen without blood in the streets.
All I ask is that the Gubmint send me a check, with interest, for all of the money they took out of my paycheck for the last 40 years to pay for ‘my’ social security retirement.Â
I won’t ask for anything else, I promise. No welfare, section 8 housing, food stamps, ‘handicapped’ privileges, disability benefits, Blah, Blah, YOU, blah, ARE, blah, GETTING, blah, blah, SLEEPY, blah, …….
Comments….. before you kill social security, and I don’t have a problem with that, just give me back the money that I have put in there. All $70,000 of it. It’s easy to say let’s kill some programs, but in reality, very few programs will be stopped by the controllers. What will stop the programs, is the economy collapsing on itself. many will die a natural death. If we have and entire economic system collapse, is there really a need for a FED. What will they control?? Will there be a need for the IRS, no one will have any income?? Many government offices will simply cease to function, as the natural market forces clean house. This last bit of control is what the government is fightning to hold on to now. You can bet your ass they see it slipping out of their fingers daily. Why do you think they enact more ridiculous laws each week?? It is all designed to control an ever growing uncontrollable public. The natives are getting restless, and have an “off with their heads” mentality. Soon enough, a large enough mass of people are going to realize that the emperor has no clothes on. We’re very close to that time now.
    When the collapse comes, and people realize that the paper dollar is truly worthless, all these entitlements that are paid out in worthless dollars will probably be drastically reduced or stopped, as there will simply be no more money to pay them. American’s faith in the US Dollar is the only thing keeping the ball rolling now. We all know there is nothing backing it, and the hordes of citizens don’t care as long as that EBT card works.
    So just give things a little more time. The shock of a collapse is coming to a theater near you soon. One day soon, millions will wake up and find the banks closed, and the local food stamp office closed untill further notice. They’ll also see some military vehicles running around town, and wonder what’s going on. They’lll figure it out soon enough.
Funny read, this whole thread and the story inciting it.
Solutions? There are no solutions, no fixes, no escapes. It’s like a rusty old 18 wheeler careening down a mountain after a brake failure. Bits flying off as it bashes around corners. And up ahead, a huge cliff which it is doomed to fly off the edge of. Doomed, that is what the US is, doomed beyond redemption.
In another era, with a stronger friendly empire coming to its aid it might have survived and rebuilt, like the UK did. But the US is the last christian empire and when it falls there will be none to save it.
Others will fall with it, but the debts it has incurred and its lack of natural resources will push it far deeper than any, except perhaps the collapse of the British Isles. You used up your oil, and oil is all that matters in our industrial age. Without it the lights go out. Permanently!
Alternatives won’t save your cities. They will never be built enmass, their net energy returns are too low and your infrastructure is collapsing even now, even using relatively cheap fossil fuels to maintain it. Your food production will decline, your roads will become graded gravel, then rutted dirt, and finally trails once again. No one will care, they will be too busy trying to grow food, or make something to trade for food.
Of course this is 100 odd years in the future! So relax, go buy some beer and watch a DVD on the plasma. Tomorrow go out and get a new credit card and buy a jet ski or a holiday. It’s still party time hey.
this artical has so much common sense that the corprate media will never print or advertise such worthwhille content. the sheeple will not do anything untill the gov check stops comming. when the cks stop comming it will be too late./ madmax time, the survival of the fittests…martial law will not work.  . they will have to starv people to controll them and reduce their numberss..the motto of the day will be ‘ life sux then you die’…………
Comments….. @wooba. You’re right
   Things have progressed so far, we are just a dead man walking. Sounds like a bunch of doom and gloom, and that’s exactly what it is. All the “hope” in the world isn’t going to fix this puppy. There is a bottom that must be reached before natural selection will take over, and get rid of the young and old, weak, and sickly, and millions of sheeple , who will beg to get in a government camp and be fed. I guess we all need to watch “Mad Max” again. Too far fetched—?? maybe, but maybe not.Â
    I’m one of those who thinks there are no real good solutions to our problems. We must run a course of events, that are soon to unfold, and get to the point where, either the elites have total control, or , they have had their heads removed, and we start all over again.
   After all, if we default on our national debt, what real difference would it make to the most Americans. We’re already saddled with a debt we can never repay. Millions have lost everything, and have nothing else to lose. The only ones left holding the bag, are the ones who caused the problem in the first place. We are already screwed.
     As I said, we are now in the process of waiting for a reset. it’s coming in one form or another, and it won’t be pretty.
I’d be happy if we’d just impeach that talking pile of shit in the Oval Office.
Comments…..GiveMeAForkingBreak , You make some great points, but GDP can be looked at in many ways, example let’s take out non-durable goods and services from the bottom line and only calculate actual production of sold goods, what number do you really get. We have become a consumer society while losing the productive edge, when people stop accepting paper dollars for what we consume then what.
Wooba,Please tell me what is so Christian about the US. have you read the Bible lately and compared what Christ says to what the US. does.
Scary is as scary does.
If the government is the problem, then anyone who works for the government–hired, appointed, or elected–becomes the problem.
No one but a fucking fool would expect polictian to be less of a problem just because you kill their asses.
@Sam…you asked “when people stop accepting paper dollars for what we consume then what?“…thankfully, then it will be all over. It really already is over, as the value of the multicolored dollar is essentially 2.5 cents in purchasing power (thanks the Fraudulent Reserve Bank). When the rest of the world powers (China, Japan, Russia, et al) finish what they have begun as a currency war, the precious pieces of paper the politicians, bankers and corporate Wall Street blood suckers will be recognized as what some of us already realize — it’s toilet paper. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show. By the end of spring 2011, you won’t recognize Amerika. Then you are going to witness change you just won’t believe!
Beans, bullets and band aids are going to be worth their weight in gold, buy now while the prices are still reasonable. When hyperinflation hits, all that you don’t need (think LCD tv’s and iPads) will be cheap while what you will really need will become precious (think food and fuel).Â
Comments…..GIveMeAForkingBreak, You’re correct in your assessment of what the end result will be, but your timing is premature, we have 5 -6 years left of this slow painful economic death. Then when SHTF, never mind just hyperinflation, Mad Max will look like a walk in the park movie.
@sam your right of course, but I was referring to the basic structure, the court systems, political freedoms (that still exist) In a muslim empire you get your hand chopped off for stealing. In the chinese buddist\communist type empire you are under their code of conduct. for 400 odd years christian empires ruled and the new supported the old because they had a common aim.
The turkish empire was not so lucky as it was the last islamic one. But all this is just academics and wont help you when a 500 strong street gang starts kicking in your doors because they smell food cooking.
@greaseman
Yes the elites are in control, just like they controlled england. But they don’t keep all their wealth there, nor in the US. They know no borders, perhaps their home is switzerland? Perhaps it’s an island off Australia’s southern coast, far away from fallout in a nuclear war.
I agree with most of this stuff, but I dont ever see some of it happening. I wish it would. I think fat head career politicians leeching off of the people that actually WORK for their money need to be tossed off capital hill, and get a real job. Those people dont know shit about being “middle” class, and therefore will pass bulls*** laws, and tax the people who need to spend money on food, and other necessities. I think lobbyists shouldnt even exist, or should be very limited. Obama passed a law not allowing lobbyists to give gifts (BRIBERY) to politicians. Try to give a ticket to a cop when you get pulled over. Funny how that works, isnt it?
@ Max Hardwood & greaseman –
I am in much the same frame of mind as you two. If they want to “kill” Social Security and Medicare ….. that works for me. Just make sure that you return, with prevailing interest compounded annualy, the 7.5% that you took (stole) from each and every paycheck that I earned since age thirteen, the same 7.5% of my wages that my employeer was forced to contribute on my behalf and every deduction that I was ever ‘forced’ to make for Medicare Health Insurance. They can’t do that, now can they? The government is so f—ing broke that it simply staggers belief!!! And yet the a–holes are still running around pontificating as if they actually had a plan to fix the economy.
Can anyone reading this post actually wrap their mind around the amount of our stated National Debt, 14.5 trillion dollars and adding every day? I can’t! Added to the unfunded mandates that the a–holes hide ‘off-the-books’, we really owe somewhere in the neighborhood of 140 trillion $. There is absolutely no way in hell that the US Federal F—ed Up Government is ever going to pay off this massive amount of debt.
The prevailing mood in this country isn’t at all what you would call “friendly or fun”. Perhaps the politicians and the elites haven’t come upon hard times yet ……. but they soon will. This will be an affirmative action, equal opportunity financial disaster with the pain shared by all.
God Bless & good luck to all.
Great comments from all, I guess some didn’t read paragraph 2. As I’ve said and many of you can tell, I’ll never be an author. I want people to think for themselves.  My thought for the day is on social security and here is a question for you to ponder.
How much retirement money would you have today, if you had been able to keep your 15.3% of your pay invested in a fixed account at 4% for the same period of time as you paid into social security?
If we look at a 17 year old making just $10/ hour for 48 years and average annual social security deposit of $3182/yr. In your own account you would have $443,135 by age 65. Without touching you principal, just taking interest payments, your monthly payment would be $1477.12.
Social secutity is a scam. Yes we owe a debt to those that were scamed by the government, but it has to stop.
So, whats your number?
Comments…..Ooooooppps @ Sam…I suppose anyone can spout the end is near (that wud be me), and their projected date of when it will occur. I would love to believe we have 5-6 years left, I could get a whole lot more done for my family. I’ve been watching this situation for a long, long time and I would have to say that if anything it has accelerated at a geometric pace in the last two years. I would rather be early to anything than late. I prefer to be early…I always am, thanks.Â
A couple of years ago, I wrote the Soc Sec Admin and told them if they’d just cease taking any more money from my check they could keep every penny I’ve paid in, and at that time it was at that time well beyond 6 figures. I did this because I knew what they would say. They sent a polite response simply saying they couldn’t do that, and I would have to continue to pay into their ponzi scheme. I stopped paying by no longer working in the thieves world they have built. Even though I am an engineer by trade, there are lots of ways to earn a living outside the scams of the crooks inside the beltway.
I would venture a guess that as the winter approaches (after the next bogus election) you will see an even greater acceleration in the death of Amerika. When the end is closer you will see the PTB beating the war drums ever louder…that is what they do when they want to divert the sheeple’s attention from the pressing issues of life. They start a war. War is the most profitable solution to any of their problems. (Read War Is A Racket at http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html) It has happened this way since Lincoln, and they aren’t going to stop now.
There have been a number of responses to this post indicating the problems outlined by the author and his solutions are bunk…I say don’t wait for ever growing signs of failure…prepare now before you’re caught with your pants down. If I had the money I had put into Social Security over my life time I’d have a shit more than I have now, I’ve been buying silver since 1980…it’s been the best investment I’ve made outside of lead!
Git yer beans bullets and band aids ready, cuz it’s gonna git a whole lot worse before it even begins to get worse!
Thanks for your intellectual stimulation, and gud luck to you and yers Sam, I wish you the best!
Patriot One, you have a point with your social security example, but it is merely a technical one. Pragmatically speaking, should the people have been able to keep the money that was taken from them over the years, the majority would have just gone out and spent it on more useless crap. Let’s be real. But your point is still valid – it’s money that’s been stolen from us.
If we’re going to pick on social security, let’s talk about the fact that when you die the government gets to keep all this “money” that you paid into. You forfeit the principal. In this sense the social security was nothing but a loan, not insurance, not entitlement. But it gets worse than that. Since you’ve paid into it your whole life, and since the government collects all principal in your account when you die, you’ve in a sense prepaid the interest. So they walk away with the entire amount of the loan, plus your hard earned interest. The only thing that screws them over is if you live for an incredibly long time. Further extrapolating on this idea one can draw the conclusion that the government has an interest in your demise, specifically in your late fifties/early sixties, as you will have paid the maximum amount into the “system” before withdrawing from it.
Going back to some of the other points, I agree with the military spending only if it is directly tied to protecting/guarding our shores. We have no better business running an empire in 165 countries than Sarah Palin does of becoming a world-renowned economist (or literary expert for that matter).
As for your #8, repealing of Social Security, Medicaid, etc. – surely you know that if these came to pass then we would have blood on the streets the very next day. Instant anarchy and instant revolution. Perhaps this is what you want. Such is the position that government and the powers that be have put us in – doomed to instant crash if we pull the rug out from under those programs or a slow bleed and even greater eventual collapse further down the road if we continue to try and fund them.
I like the limiting of terms of all elected officials. I think this will be key, but only if accompanied by some pledge to get monied interests out of politics. That to me is the holy grail.
As for the fair tax, I’ve lived long enough to know that there can never be anything that’s fair for everyone. They will be debating “fair” taxes for hundreds of years as I don’t see a one-size-fits-all approach.
And as much as I like gold, I can’t say we will ever return to a gold standard, as there simply isn’t enough of it to form the basis of a monetary system. If you include silver, I still think there isn’t enough. Maybe some kind of tangible good/commodity based backing which includes gold/silver would be applicable.
Many more points that could be discussed, but then isn’t that always the case. Overall a good list and I agree with many of the provisions in there.
Comments…..@ givemeaforkingbreak
 very nicely put. You took the words right out of my mouth. Every point you made was spot on. I also don’t think we have bery long before things get real hairy. I have noticed as the ranks of forclosed, newly poor, newly homeless, newly on food stamps, newly ran out of time on unemployment insurance, that things are beginning to take on a sense of urgency for the mass of sheeple in this condition.
     I can’t figure out if the government exactly knows what a monster they’ve created, but they will find out. I can see the humongous long lines now, as people stand in line waiting for a few handouts of whatever the government can scrape up that week. The lines will get bigger, as the ammount of supplies gets smaller. I think everyone can do the math here.
       There is a feeling in the air, and it’s not a summer breeze. I recently talked to a man in the coin store where I buy my PM’s. He also could see something going on that gave him an extra sense of urgency. Call it a gut feeling or whatever, but I feel like whatever I’m going to do, I don’t have a lot of time left. By the way, the coin store I frequent is doing a booming business selling gold and silver coins and buillon. They can hardly keep up with the online orders, and store traffic.
    The US is like a terminal patient being kept alive with a feeding tube of quantitative easing. It’s only a matter of time before everyone knows that’s it’s all over. Some will never “get it”, but many will. Watch the demand for PM’s increase as the price increases. I think there are many on the sidelines who can’t make up their mind. If they wait much longer, they will miss the boat all together.
    Keep your eyes open for signs of death of our ecomony. They are happening more frequently now. The government has run out of things to keep the terminal patient alive. As mentioned previously, get your beans and bullets ready, you don’t have much time left.
Comments….. What absolutely continues to astound me, is that the government keeps plugging along like they have a balanced budget, and all is well. They totally ignore the fact that they (WE) are way past broke. It is impossible for us to pay back our debt. You notice congress didn’t do a budget this year.What a joke that would be.
     I think the charade will continue till foreign nations say we don’t want anything to do with the dollar. We aren’t there yet, because dissing the dollar for them, would hurt them just as much as it would us.
    So, for now, the charade continues.
Comments…..thx @greaseman, you flatter me and I’m unworthy. I’m sure there are those in the gubermint that know exactly what they’ve done and are doing (at least those actually pulling the lower strings), otherwise 99.999999999% of the sheeple have absolutely no clue what is going on. They’re actually waiting to vote in November thinking they are going to make another difference just like when they voted for Obummer in the last election (if voting mattered would they really let them do it?). We won’t have to worry about those folks because they’ll be dead in a week or so when the defecation impacts the rotating oscillator and the grocery stores die from the just-in-time inventory system fails, the power is down and there is no more water. The gubermint won’t balance anything except maybe Nazi Pelosi’s drink tab on her air farce jet, let alone a budget. The only way this will end is not well, but that will be the only way it can end — the beast must die (the book I read says so). Just don’t let yourself die along with it! Be strong and be prepared – damn the boy scouts were much better when I was a kid, no pedophiles as scout masters then, eh?
Beans, bullets and band aids — if you don’t have’m by now it may be toooooooo late!
Thanks Chris C. Yes we both have valid points. If I was to design a product to replace Social Security it would look like an Annuity, IRA, Disability Insurance, Health Insurance, Life Insurance all rolled into one. It would be a private account, but locked down. And yes it would be funded thru payroll deduction like SS.
Like SS it would require every working person would to contribute to their own personal account and no one could attach that account. Not the government, not a law suit, not a divorce or anything else.
So wether you live, become disabled or die your future would be secure and or passed on to your hier. I would also make sure to allow a nonworking spouses to contribute to their own account with no limits.
The only things that would be defined is the minimum contribution required, there would be no max. on your contributions or additional contribution by your employer. All employer contributions would be 100% vested, no vesting schedule.Â
The best part is, its yours, where ever you go it goes. No more worries about your benefits because they are all individual accounts.  When everything is covered who needs a safety net.Â
Of course this is simplified and there would be more details, but I believe in keeping it simple. Just think about the concept.
As for the end of SS and medicare, I agree it would be a clusterF#*k
and maybe some bloodshed. But what if we kept it going long enough to transition say everyone under 45. At the very least we would have an end in site.
Nothing will be easy, but if we keep doing nothing the end result is collapse. I still believe we are Americans and we still have the ability to build and create what ever we want to do if the government would just get out of our way.
Comments….. In some of the opinions, the timing of the problems facing us was discussed. I believe we are going to see our problems progress at a steadilly faster rate. I don’t think the US will make it five or six years before we have major chaos. I think it will be much sooner. I’m amazed we’ve made it this far without chaos. I think the quantative easing used by the government has only postponed the inevitable. Things surely can’t go on much longer the way they are now. How many more sheeple have to lose their unemployment benefits before something explodes?? That’s a lot of people living on just food stamps. How many pissed off people who have been looking hard for any kind of job, does it take to start a revolution. Many revolutions have beeen started on much less. I think the natives are getting restless. They don’t have anything to lose, and that’s a powder keg.
  Have a great day, and thank you for shopping at your neighborhood Wal- Mart.
Comments…..Greaseman, There is no doubt you and Gmafb are in tune with what’s going on around us, but I am not a speculator but would rather call my self a mathematician, the time line I gave was based on all the different kinds of science that I won’t go into detail about, but you will see things unfold accordingly. Â There’s no doubt things will continue to decline but as long as the printing machine keeps going and a portion of that is given to the poor and unemployed to keep them fed the charade will continue as someone else already posted. In my world the future already happened and it’s just a matter of watching the movie that’s already made, from now till 2016 you will see the same kind of slow death continue, that’s when people will finally break, but there won’t be a united revolt against the ruling order but rather a all out civil war that will last for a 19 year span, at the end of that if you’re among the 3-5% still standing consider yourself lucky. Time is the best teller of truth, so let’s wait and see.
Great Post Grease, I’m off to Wal-Mart since the recession ended a year and three months ago according to the MSM. Is America really that stupid??
I just can’t believe that information slipped by me, my friends, family, clients and business associates. I guess the next 40 something days will be all about the recovery bliss.
Comments…..@sam
 I can certainly see the end game stretching out for a longer period than I first expected, as anything is possible. And I do think that the changing situation is just that, a changing situation, very fluid. The elites do have a game plan, and they will enact all their plans when they see fit. Many times, I still have to “de-program” myself, and remind myself that we don’t really live in a freee society at all, and that our lives in mass, have been manipulated to the max.  We also don’t really own any property, as we are allowed to possess it , as long as we pay taxes on it. So many other concepts to wrap our heads around.
    But as to the speed of change, I think it can only be manipulated so much. The sheeple are being fed their daily rations, but so many are falling off the edges of government support, that I think the natives are getting restless. perhaps the second quantitative easing will shut them up a while longer, but everyone knows that the first one didn’t work, so what’s the chance of the second one doing anything??
   Sad thing though, the government doesn’t have anything else they can do. They are out of bullets, so throwing money at a problem is the only thing they can come up with, except what would actually begin to really fix the problem. But I have to pinch myself, and remember, they never wanted to fix the problem in the first place. that’s part of the plan.
    In the end analysis, we’re screwed sooner or later, so enjoy whatever peace you have now, cause it won’t be around much longer.
Comments…..Grease, I admire the fact that you,re conscious of your environment and the state of things around you , most are oblivious to what you’re sensing, but the reality is the elite are not God, they might think they are and they might be so to the sheeple. But in my view they are only doing what they’re suppose to do, commit evil and try to enslave the masses, it’s part of the  trials of life that we are suppose to endure and be tested by, ” Slavery takes no one people give themselves up to it” Plato. But at the end of the day “Evil complete is self destructive”Aristotle. The elite will only destroy themselves at the end of it all and all the weakling with them who submit to their will.
Stay strong have faith , truth and goodness will always prevail,God  almighty always leads his servants to the road of peace.
All the best and good luck.
Sam
Comments….. I feel like I know what the elites are trying to do, but figuring out the time frame is a little tricky. The whole game plan is control, and the various forms that it takes on. Yes, the elites are truly evil, and many people are already slaves, and don’t know it.
   I have started making conscious decisions to seperate myself from their “system” , but it is truly difficult. But the easiest thing to figure, is the never ending effort of our government to take your money, and re-distribute to their control. They have had years of practice, and are good at it. many times, they even make you think good of yourself for doing your civic duty by paying everything they ask. Now that’s brainwashing taken to an art form.
  My last question concerns how many people they drag to their death, as they seek to gain total control. Sooner or later, they will get tired of feeding millions of bottom feeders–(I mean that in the nicest way of course). There is an end to entitlements, but when is the big mystery.
    I also believe truth and justice will prevail, but only after some odd millions are gone in a struggle to get there. Yes, the struggle will come. Get ready for it. Good luck to all, and in the words of the saintly Rodney King, –“can’t we all just get along”?