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America. What Went Wrong (Part 2)

Continuing where I left off from last time...

Rather than huge manufacturing industries reminiscent of America’s “Old Economy,” the “New Economy” is characterized by high-tech firms large and small.
 
Much of America’s formerly world-leading manufacturing industry has either relocated overseas or has been sold to foreigners.
 
 
 
 
While U.S. manufacturing has been in decline for three decades, 40% of its manufacturing base has evaporated since 2006 alone.
 
 
Everything, from pharmaceuticals and electronics, to toys, textiles and food products are now Made in China and being sold to U.S. consumers, swelling the U.S. trade deficit to new highs every year.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Advocates of America's unfair system of trade claim that innovation is now America's strength, and has created more, better jobs. But many of the jobs from the high-tech industry have been outsourced overseas, from Dell Computers and Amazon.com to Microsoft and IBM. And America's innovation edge is fading fast.
 
In America’s “New Economy” it has become exceedingly difficult to point to a single large corporation that has not outsourced jobs.
 
 
 
The young man pictured below has very good reason to smile.
 
Thanks to America's unfair trade policies, he now has a good, stable job in India.
 
 
 
 
He could work for Amazon, Dell, E-Trade, Bank of America, H&R Block, IBM, Microsoft, or hundreds of other U.S. corporations that have sent millions of jobs overseas. This man sees hope for his future. His living standards are much better than before. That's good news for him, but bad news for Americans.
 
But he should not get too happy because as soon as the corporation finds cheaper labor elsewhere, his job will be sent there.
 
Fortunately for him, U.S. corporations have bought off Indian officials ensure employees don't have the chance to organize so as to protect their wages. This increases the chances that his job is secure.
 
Advocates of free trade claim outsourcing has created higher living standards, lower prices for consumers and better jobs for Americans.
 
But as Ross Perot warned two decades ago, there has been nothing but a huge sucking sound of jobs leaving America. Living standards have increased, very rapidly; but only for developing nations and America's elite wealthy.
 
The leaders of the “New Economy” are the overpaid CEOs who extort shareholder equity using stock options;
 
Some commit blatant fraud, costing shareholders their retirement savings.
 
 
 
Do they go to jail?  Of course not.
 
Do they return the money they stole?  Only in your dreams.
 
They are politicians who take high-paying positions in the private sector and use their political muscle to land huge contracts that would otherwise not be awarded;
 
They are corporate executives who land high positions in Washington. Once firmly established in a high-ranking office, they send tax dollars to their former company.
 
 
They are Wall Street criminals – brokerage firms, mutual funds, hedge funds, analysts and bankers.
 
In some ways, the “New Economy” bears striking resemblance to the “Old Economy.” Each was run by elitists serving their cronies.
 
In other ways, these two economies have many differences.
 
The “Old Economy” was characterized more by equity and opportunity, while the “New Economy” is characterized by widespread extortion and desperation.
 
America’s “Old Economy” was a free market system.
 
Today, the “New Economy” represents nothing more than casino capitalism, where high stakes go to those at the top, and their mistakes are paid for by those at the bottom. 
 
The "New Economy" represents bribes and stifles competition so that only monopolies and duopolies are remain. Whether its ATT or Verizon, Microsoft or Google, consumers don't have much of a choice in the "New Economy."
 
The financial leaders of the “New Economy” are scavengers of wealth, shuttling naive investors into overpriced mutual funds, which are actually quite risky during bear markets.
 
Most the financial leaders of the "New Economy" are criminals who have been placed above the laws of the land. They are permitted to exort money from shareholders. And when their investments sour, they receive the benefit of taxpayer bailouts.
 
Smaller thieves are selected as scapegoats in order to distract the largely unintelligent American public, so they will be fooled into thinking that America has justice.
 
But the biggest criminals always escape the law; not the Bernie Madoffs of the U.S., but the banking executives.
 
 
 
Politicians, corporate executives, and bankers; they are all in this special club. They don’t have a drop of honest blood in their bodies. 
 
They have raped America and the people they were sworn to serve, all for the lure of money and power. 
 
They could give a damn about the lives they have destroyed.
 
They are dirty, rotten criminal bastards and even bitches.
 
They must be brought to justice by the people of the nation, or else America is finished forever.
 
They live in luxurious multi-million dollar mansions.
 
 
 
They own vacation homes around the globe.
 
They own a fleet of exotic cars.
 
 
Some have their own private jets.
 
 
Others have their own yachts; some, the size of Carnival Cruise lines.
 
 
 
 
 
 
No matter how you slice it, chances are the people who own these mansions, cars, yachts, jets and everything else they enjoy showing off did not earn an honest living.
 
They stole this money from you.
 
History only repeats because people never learn.
 
You are paying the price for their estates, their Picassos, their Lamborghinis, their Learjets and yachts.
 
This is the reality of America.
 
Today, America’s “New Economy” is a service-based economy - mainly finance and technology services.
 
A good deal of innovation is paid for by tax dollars, but the fruits of labor go almost exclusively all the way to the top 1%.
 
 
The “New Economy” is characterized by attorneys and consultants who service the paper deals, transactions and legal agreements; bankers and traders who extract the wealth of others.
 
They provide very little absolute value.
 
Their intent is to scalp your assets over and over until you have nothing left. 
 
And they’ve done a damn good job of it. 
 
Instead of industries focused on producing goods and services needed by the world, America’s “New Economy” focuses on industries that service the wealthy; they build their mansions, maintain their estates, take care of their children and pets, keep them fit, and keep them safe – the construction crews filled with illegal aliens, the housekeepers, the nannies, the pet care industry, fitness trainers, landscapers, chauffeurs, the security personnel. 
 
But of course, these industries aren’t restricted to the wealthy elite. Many Americans also use these services to help them feel like they have a good life.
 
There are other service industries as well. As the economy transitioned from old to new, millions of manufacturing jobs were sent overseas.
 
Many of these solid blue-collar jobs have been replaced with unstable service jobs, most of which offer no or few benefits, or at best, a dead-end career; valets, nannies, housekeepers, massage therapists, landscapers, fitness trainers and pet groomers. 
 
Today, each represents a large and growing industry in America.
 
Other victims of free trade have enrolled in for-profit colleges hoping to transition into another career. Little do they realize, most of these “new job opportunities end up being dead-end jobs.
 
The growth of for-profit colleges in America has been astounding.
 
Yet, many of these colleges charge higher tuition than the finest private education money can buy.
 
That has not stopped millions from enrolling. They have been made desperate by the effects of unfair trade policies that only benefit corporations and the wealthy. So they will pay whatever it takes for the hope of a better life.
 
 
Sadly, many of them end up with a huge pile of debt they are unable to repay.
 
Others have looked to scratch out a living by any means possible.
 
Today, millions of out of work Americans have become sellers on eBay, Amazon and other sites; bloggers working with Google hoping to pay the bills when people click their ads.
 
Others have become stock traders inspired by the manipulative commercials by discount brokers and the lies and hype pumped out by CNBC. As you can imagine, this new “career” isn’t going to last long.
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
If you watch any of this trash, you will lose money. I'll guarantee it.
 
Even the talk show liars have even gotten in on the scam, pumping gold.
 
Gold dealers know that American's are so fixated by media "celebrity" status that they will take investment advice from Dr. Phil and Oprah.
 
But of course, Goldline doesn't have quite enough money to pay these clowns so they've settled for other bozos as shown below.
 
 
 
And we can't forget about the manipulative commercials from E-Trade and Charles Schwab.
 
You know the E-Trade babies, right? 
 
If babies can trade stocks, sure you can too, right?
 
 
 
 
 
 

Aww, they're SO cute!  I've just been subconciously programmed to start trading stocks!

Moreover, with every trade, market makers are skimming them by illegal means. The extent of fraud in the futures and foreign currency markets is much higher than the stock market.  

Today, it is likely that you know someone who thinks they are going to strike it rich as a forex or futures trader. These naive indiviuals fail to realize that futures and forex trading is considered speculation.
 
And we cannot forget about the multi-level marketing and get-rich-quick infomercial scams that have growth by leaps and bounds.
 
 
People fall for these scams because the desperate will resort to extremes using poor judgment when they have no where else to turn. 
 
 
Of course, Trump isn't the only loser to exploit the desperation of millions. There are thousands of these vultures. 
 
My message to Trump: you know you are a loser when you can't even make money in the casino business.
 
 
 
 
These people cannot be blamed for their desperation, or any of the bad decisions that come with it. They are just trying to survive. They are victims of widespread fraud and economic extortion from America's wealthy elite.
 
Economic and career opportunities are shrinking by the day in America; all due to the system of unfair trade advocated by politicians who have been bought off by industry lobbyist groups. 
 
Which would you rather have; a manufacturing job with a nice stable salary, healthcare, disability, and retirement benefits, or a job parking cars for tips?
 
 
 
If you’re a teenager or college student, you might opt for the later. The work is easy and you get several employee benefits - you get to see “hot” girls and drive “nice” cars. But those of us in the real world would prefer a stable job with a salary and employee benefits. 
 
America's "New Economy" high-tech cities are primary based in California. In contrast, the financial powerhouses reside in New York City, Boston, and Chicago.
 
But as you might already know, New York has been in decay for many years, as has Chicago.
 
And even the high-tech capital of the world, California is facing bankruptcy, as are most states and cities.
 
Most people realize that America's largest cities have been in decay prior to the current economic meltdown.
 
For well over a decade, "white flight" has been responsible for the overdevelopment of suburban America.
 
Many of these regions have sought to isolate themselves from larger nearby cities stricken with the effects of socioeconomic decay.
 
To achieve this economic and societal independence, they built sports stadiums, airports, expensive schools and even museums; everything needed to enable them to remain in their Utopia, so they do not have to endure the societal decay caused by decades of poor leadership by Washington.
 
But these projects were financed largely by city taxes - property taxes, sales taxes and other taxes; taxes that can’t be paid.
 
What I am speaking of is a bubble in many small suburban areas across America that no one mentions. And it's in the process of imploding.  
 
Owners of professional sports teams have made promises they cannot keep in order to extort money from taxpayers for new stadiums.
 
They promised economic growth and more jobs; only if taxpayers agreed to fit half of the bill for their stadiums. And incompetent brainless city council members and mayors across America have agreed to this taxpayer fraud.
 
But the plot thickens. These greedy owners have cut sponsorship deals with America's largest corporations to have these stadiums names after them.
 
Each year, they pay millions of dollars to these sports franchise owners.
 
And that money comes from higher prices charged to consumers for their goods and services.
 
 
 
You might want to pay a visit to your local "suburban Utopia," because things won't be looking so great in a few years. Defaults will soar, as will taxes.
 
But of course, things are much worse elsewhere.
 
President Obama is already discussing what to do with the glut of ghettos and slums that continue to grow by the day. 
 
 
Bulldozing them just might be his best idea yet.
 
Don’t be fooled by Washington’s hacks. America's Second Great Depression is still in its early stages, so hold onto your hats and try to stay afloat, because I don't see anything getting better on a permanent basis until real solutions surface.
 
And real solutions will NEVER materialize as long as lobbyists exist.
 
America’s tightly controlled media industry continues to preach the myths of free markets and democracy as the nation moves closer to a Banana Republic.
 
If Americans allow this charade to continue, they will only have themselves to blame.
 
History repeats only because people don’t learn from the past.
 
And America's media monopoly has turned the majority of Americans into ignorant, brainwashed, compliant zombies.
 
Can you imagine what would going on if these crimes had been committed in France, Spain, Italy, Greece and many other nations?  
 
The streets would be set ablaze.
 
There would be daily riots.
 
The people of these nations still have a chance to escape enslavement and tyranny because they won't stand for that kind of abuse.
 
Americans are much different. 
 
Give them their chips and soda, American Idol and sports, credit cards and prescription drugs, and along with the help of the very dangerous media monopoly, Americans behave like caged monkeys, willing to take any amount of abuse the elite criminals can muster.
 
 
It's truly a disgrace.  I'm ashamed to call myself an American.
 
And I'm more disgusted at the American public at their ignorance and complacency than I am the criminals who have destroyed this nation.
 
 
 
You people deserve to get screwed by these criminals because you let it happen over and over.
 
I no longer have sympathy for victims of this fraud.
 
Whether you have lost your job, home or retirement savings, you are ultimately to blame because you have facilitated your own demise. 
 
Look at you. You say you understand. You say you agree, but you sit on your ass doing nothing. The fact that this article only has a few hundred readers is evidence of your complacency.
 
Can you imagine what would happen to the bank, Wall Street, real estate and mortgage executives if they were in China?
 
They wouldn’t be around by now.
 
But this is America, where CEOs commit accounting, shareholder and taxpayer fraud, destroy companies and leave with dynasties, while taxpayers and investors end up screwed.
 
It’s happened in the past; not just during the dotcom bubble but over and over for decades.
 
And of course it’s happening now.
 
You better believe it’s going to happen again and again unless you call for the heads of these crooks.
 
Let me be clear. America is a mess and Washington is a joke. If there is no real punishment for negligence and fraud, of course they aren’t going to be on the ball. Of course it’s going to happen again. It’s the same rules of conduct for CEOs.
 
I want to post a quote from an article I wrote in 2008.
 
“President Bush has created quite a legacy for himself. One that might only be equaled only by Alan Greenspan. But of course most people have short memories. As a consequence, it is likely that in the future, there will be another Bush in office and another Greenspan as Fed chairman. Now I understand why it’s so important to study history.”
 
 
Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined the future would come so soon.
 
 
Obama has surpassed Bush as the worst president ever, while Bernanke has surpassed Greenspan in setting America up for what will be the worst period of economic devastation in U.S. history. 
 
Finally, I wanted to quote another passage from the same article in 2008.
 
The Next Great Depression
No we won’t see 33% unemployment like in the depression. Why?
 
Well for starters, Washington fudges all of the data. I have discussed this in detail in the past.
 
As well, the bar for what are considered jobs has been lowered since the depression. Today, you can say you’re employed if you’re a part-timer, you work at McDonalds, you’re a valet or massage therapist (no disrespect to any of you who might be employed in these occupations but let’s face it, they don’t give you a pension plan or healthcare benefits).
 
Instead of massive unemployment, we will see significant unemployment combined with massive underemployment. Already, my estimates are that the real unemployment rate is approaching 9% while the underemployment rate is 20 to 25%.
 
Over the next few years, the underemployment rate will continue to increase and could top 50%. As well, we won’t see banks close their doors because we have the FDIC. Sure, it will run out of reserves most likely within the next 2 years, but that doesn’t matter because the Fed will just print more money, causing higher inflation. All of this will put further downward pressure on living standards.
 
The devastation won’t be due to a crisis, it will be only heightened by a crisis. The real devastation will be due to the transfer of wealth and jobs overseas. It will be a silent depression. 
 
In a few years, the real estate and banking crisis will have cooled off and Washington will start reporting much improved numbers; numbers that will continue to be manipulated.
 
In reality, things will only get worse. Real wages won’t budge, inflation for basic necessities will remain high and most likely be higher, and job quality will continue to decline. It will be a silent depression because there will be no crisis.
 
You won’t feel the full effects on any given day. If you’re in the lucky majority, you will go to work and carry out your life as usual. But you just won’t be able to make ends meet like in the past.
 
Each year things will get worse so you’ll spend more on credit.
 
It will be more difficult for your children to raise their income status because higher education is becoming an unaffordable luxury for the wealthy.
 
Millions will be stuck in slave labor, working for low wages and no benefits. And they won’t be working in factories churning out goods for the global economy.
 
They will be working in service jobs, tailoring to the needs of America’s wealthy.
 
And when you retire, only then will you realize that you’ve lived through a depression because you will run out of money. If you are lucky enough to have a home, you might have to end up selling it to pay for your medical bills, even if you have health insurance. The smaller minority will have a much worse fate.
 
What the “experts” don’t get is that this will be a depression that will be much more difficult to reverse because it will be gradual. There will be no urgency.
 
Many will wake up one day in a few years and realize that they just can’t make ends meet; they’ll have very little if any retirement assets. It will be a continuation of declining living standards to a point that could lead to some major societal problems.”
 
As I have stated since 2008, this period of economic devastation is likely to end in a global war; more blood shed for America's self-interests. 
 
 
America: The Solution
 
As detailed in America's Financial Apocalypse, the two most important components of a real solution for the U.S. call for a restructuring of free trade, and a radical overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system. 
 
 
But President Obama has become a puppet, whose strings are being pulled by Larry Summers and Rahm Emanuel.
 
Obama is basically being told what to do and say, with the naïve belief that his advisers are brilliant and honest.
 
 
 
 
 
 
While Larry Summers thwarted any possibility of Obama restructuring free trade as he promised during his campaign, Obama has now positioned healthcare reform on center stage as a way to distract from financial reform. After all, Goldman Sachs was his number one campaign contributor. 
 
 
In advance of his reform, Obama addressed the nation with a healthcare speech, claiming that the healthcare system currently in place is quite good, so his reform would be structured to build upon it rather than radically reform it. This in itself guaranteed that no real reform would materialize.
 
As I have previously discussed, Obama’s healthcare plan is not only inadequate, it will be a huge disaster for consumers. HMOs will rake in huge profits while America’s healthcare system continues account for the nation’s number one cause of personal bankruptcy, one of the lowest life expectancies in the developed world, and the number three cause of death.
 
Of course there are many other changes needed.
 
America's pseudo-free market system must be reassembled with a solid foundation of regulatory authority and accountability, so that the financial, energy and other industries provide as much benefit for consumers as for the wealthy elite. 
 
And all lobbyist activities must also be banned.
 
Finally, the Federal Reserve must be forced to surrender its unneeded, unwanted, and reckless control of monetary authority over to Washington.
 
Rather than diminish the control of the Federal Reserve, Obama’s strings have been pulled by Emanuel, Summers and Geithner to grant the Fed as dictator of the U.S. financial system.
 
This is an extremely dangerous move that will lead to nothing other than disaster.
 
One might imagine that corporations could mount a winning battle against the healthcare industry using their own lobbyists.
 
But when push comes to shove, they don’t need to.
 
While corporations certainly aren’t happy with the current healthcare system, it gives them an excuse to send jobs overseas. 
 
As it stands today, America’s Ponzi scheme economy is in midst of collapse. Instead of providing real solutions, Washington insists on picking up the pieces and putting them back together.
 
President Obama has backed away from his promises to restructure free trade.
 
He also promised to hold all those responsible for the real estate and banking Ponzi scheme accountable, but has done nothing.
 
Furthermore, his healthcare plan will not offer the kind of solution needed to restore America’s previous economic strength.
 
We cannot permit Washington to reassemble this broken Ponzi scheme while placing even more power in the hands of the perpetrators of this collapse because it will only ensure another collapse filled with much more devastation than we see today
 
These issues have not been addressed adequately by Washington because our leaders are under the control of the Federal Reserve and corporate America.
 
These elitists must be stopped in their tracks, or else America is finished forever.
 
This is the reality of America.
 
You need to start asking yourself why you don't ever hear or read anyone else talking about the things I have.  I'll tell you why.  Because those guys who you think are honest are actually your enemies. They play the game of "political correctness" (aka societal conformance to censorship as a way to hide the crimes of the elites) as a way to gain media exposure.  I challenge you to identify a single individual anywhere who is completely being honest and raising these "controversial" issues.  I'm not here to claim to be some "hero" because all I am doing is delivering common sense; nothing special. This is not rocket science.
 
And for those of you who chose to label me as some "eccentric" for these and other views, I am here to tell you that your mind has been seized by the media and all of their hacks, and you aren't even aware of it.  Your problem is that you have been brainwashed by the deceitful tactics plastered all over the media. As a result, you instinctively label anyone who comes at a different angle as eccentric. 
 
For those who fall into this category, I suggest you wake up.
 
I suggest you examine my track record if you doubt ANYTHING I say. 
 
Maybe I am somewhat clever, honest, and without agendas. 
 
Perhaps that makes me eccentric in these times when so many appear to be brainless liars with agendas.
 
Rather than blindly accepting what I say (much like most people do of the media) I urge you to question what I say by doing your own research.  If you do that, you will see I am right.
 
 
 
 
Now, do something for your country and at least send this artcile to everyone you know so they can see what has happened to America.
 
 
Those who read America's Financial Apocalypse (2006) and Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble (2007) were not only alerted to the catastrophe we see today, but were provided with SPECIFIC ways to profit that have yielded over 100% gains since then. See here for some examples.
 
I can guarantee you the chapter on the real estate bubble alone (chapter 10) serves as the most detailed and comprehensive analysis presented from any book solely dedicated to this bubble.
 
If you want access to institutional-level research, analysis and investment guidance, subscribe to the AVA Investment Analytics newsletter today.
 
If you want a chance to make $100,000, check this offer.

This article was originally written in 2008 as a followup to the material I first wrote about pertaining to US trade policy in my banned 2006 book, America's Financial Apocalypse.  This book was not only the ONLY book in the world to have accuractely forecast nearly every major event related to the blow up of the real estate bubble and stock market, but also detailed numerous wide ranging topics that promised to adversely impact the US if not corrected, including the nation's healthcare system, soaring college costs, pension underfundedness, Social Security and of course, US trade policy. 

See Also:

Free Trade And The Suicide Of A Superpower (Part 1)

Free Trade And The Suicide Of A Superpower (Part 2)

Free Trade And The Jewish Mafia

Ford As A Crystal Ball For America

Ford: Playing Its Last Hand?

GM Lines Up for Its Take

Washington's War Against America's Middle Class

Video: Educating A Libertarian Hack From Harvard

7 Myths About US-China Trade and Investment 

The Scam Called Globalization

The Dirty Secret about Hedonics & Globalization

Thailand, Globalization and Real Estate Economics

America. What Went Wrong? (Part 1)

America. What Went Wrong? (Part 2)

America's Second Great Depression

 
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