Credit-to-Cash-to-Credit Cycle

Monetary systems have been based on debt (credit) since long before coins came into existence.

I will give you 4 chickens when they hatch for a bag of feed today.

Things generally work ok so long as lenders properly vet borrowers and make only sound investments, and so long as borrowers possess self-discipline and do not borrow more than is reasonable.

The real problems began when slick money-players started selling debt as an asset. Once that began, the debt sellers began packaging debt that was of less and less value - like the debt on a McMansion lent to a 5-figure-income family. The seller of the debt knew it was a time-bomb, but it would not explode until it was on someone elses books.

When common sense is abandoned by lenders and borrowers and the buyers of debt packages, the fractional reserve system must fail, as we are watching now.

On the ground in Greece right now we can see the future. A great many companies survive on short-term debt. For instance, the company does a job and must wait 90 days for payment. But to get the job the contractor must front the cost of material and salaries, and other overhead. So the contractor gets a short-term loan from his bank to cover things for that 90 days until they get paid.

When everyone pays on time, no worries.

But what happens when the bank decides not to lend the contractor the money he needs to cover the 90 days? The contractor must weigh factors and decide if he should cover the 90 days with his own money. What if the 90 day mark arrives and the payment never arrives? This is where businesses fail.

I run all of my businesses on a cash basis. You have direct experience with this process with the 527. I pay for sweatshirts when we have sufficient orders to cover the cost. I do not go to the bank and ask for a loan for a quantity of sweatshirts that may not sell, nor will I go into my own pocket on spec. If the sweats don't sell, the bank doesn't want to hear it - they want their money.

In my contracting business I demand far more deposit from customers before I will accept the job than do my competitors. I collect enough deposit to cover all of my expenses for the job, so the customer only owes me the profit margin. This way I do not need credit accounts with my suppliers and I can't get into a credit/cash crunch. Yes, I lose a few jobs over this policy. But I do not lose money. And believe it or not, the State has a problem with my business model - they mandate that contractors may not collect more than 1/3 of a job's total price. The State claims that is a device to prevent consumers from being ripped-off. I'd bet my butt if we dig deep we'll find a banker pushed for that regulation/law, so he would not be cut out of the process.

We are going to encounter a rough economic adjustment as the bad debt must be worked out of the system. It is happening in Greece right now: No cash, no product.

For a while their economy will have to work on a cash & barter basis, which will be the only way to purge the debt. Debt holders will have to take their medicine at some point. If you make bad loans, eventually, you run into loans that will not be paid. Even Governments can't fill the gap long enough to avoid the adjustment.

There will not be a Mad Max adjustment, at least not in America. There will be considerable discomfort for most people as we fall back to a prudent cash-only economy for a while, until people begin lending again. And people will begin lending again, as they always have, but they will go back to the proven method of lending only to folks who will pay the loan back. (Lending for interest is an essential function of development. If rich guys do not risk their money on start-ups, very few start-ups can ever get over the hump of start-up cash requirements.)

How long will that adjustment take? A year? 3? 5?

In America we will have a simultaneous adjustment in our politics.

We will fall into the arms of Tyranny, or we will re-assert common sense once again and dismiss those who would be Masters.

How do you play your position? Horde as much cash as you are able, in as many forms as you are able. FRN's. Gold. Silver. Seed. Canned goods. Food. Water. Liquor. Cigarettes. Items of vice always trade well.

Have the means and the will to defend what you have. This is more important than any of the above items.

We are going to shift from a credit economy to a cash economy, then back to credit.

That chaos will be a window of opportunity for both Enemies of Liberty and Patriots to make political gains.

Prepare accordingly.

Here's the piece on Greece.

Kerodin
III

Buy a Gun Day: XTAC Review

Mozart is putting together a great site leading toward November 6th, Buy a Gun Day.

Have you mentioned the site to your local gun shop?

Here is a link to a review of the Wilson XTAC.

God's Pistol comes in all shapes and sizes, and price points.

Here's the link.

Kerodin
III

Between here & Liberty: How many Felonies?

I was a passenger in a car the other day, and the driver needed to make a right turn ahead. The shoulder gave way to a turning lane, but we were in a line of traffic that put us about 6 feet away from where the shoulder gave way, meaning our tires were still against the solid white line of the shoulder. Six feet ahead, we could "legally" scoot right into the turning lane.

The turning lane was empty. Traffic was stopped because of the light ahead.

My driver sat in traffic and waited for the traffic signal before moving ahead the 6 feet, then scooting right. My driver allowed a painted white line on the pavement to delay us by 2 light cycles because the driver refused to cross the solid line.

Mental conditioning was the reason. We're "not allowed" to cross a solid white line. We "can't" cross a solid white line.

Would the car have exploded if we crossed the white line?

Would the Earth have tilted upon Her axis?

Here is the point, folks: Do you know how many painted white lines exist between where we are now and Liberty? There are even painted red lines. There are misdemeanors. There are countless Felonies between where we now stand and where we wish to be, and there is not one single Enemy of Liberty who will vote those lines and barriers out of your way.

How many things in life do you avoid because "...it isn't allowed..."?

And do not hide behind the excuse that "I'll break them when I must..."

You see, you don't need to answer to me. I'm not the one who will be grading your test.

When you look into your own heart, what do you see?

In a world where your enemies will kill you and enslave you and take your children from you, I should hope you've got what it takes. Here is a story about D's paying people to heckle Romney. It's not nice. It isn't ethical. It breaks the rules, and perhaps even a law. It isn't fair. We wouldn't do that.

If you think this is the worst they will do, if you are not willing to go where your enemy is willing to go, secure your Soul soon, because you are not going to last long on this plane of existence.

Kerodin
III

Campaign 2012: D Perspective

Obama, on the other hand, is trying to make it [the election] about a bunch of issues, often ones near and dear to specific states, or even demographic groups. Obama strategists see this election as a block-by-block knife fight, to be fought in fewer than a dozen states and likely decided by very slim margins. They think it’s a fool’s errand to worry about press panting over Bill Clinton or bad national polls. Instead, they obsess about Hispanics in Colorado, young voters in Ohio and swing voters in the Virginia suburbs (socially liberal or libertarian, fiscally moderate).

President Obama's team is not wrong.

If this election remains in the realm of voters and the Electoral College, it will be decided by a very small number of people in a small number of states. In those states, indeed in those counties in some places, voter turnout will be the deciding factor. The candidate who is able to get more people to the polls will win. The candidate who is unable to motivate people off the couch will lose.

Which states matter: Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico and New Hampshire. Make no mistake, in several of those key states the turnout in a single county may be enough to turn the state Blue or Red in a winner-takes-all contest.

If you are in one of those states and you choose to be involved, dig deep before you plunge in and decide where the real block-by-block knife-fight will take place. You may choose to wade in and ignore the top of the ticket, and focus instead on down-ticket races, either for Congress or your state/county/local level politicians.

Remember, every one of the bastards elected and every bastard who votes for them, means to take a portion of what you own and what you earn to line the pockets of other people. They mean to do the same with your children and grandchildren.

If you have not yet raised the black flag and begun slitting throats, at the very least consider paying attention to the active battlefield so you will be able to make a proper list for your AO when it is time to raise the flag...

Here's the entire Politico article.

Kerodin
III

III Gear: Branded KA-BAR

Here's a pic from our engraver of a KA-BAR Model 1265 he's done for us.

Click the pic for a close-up.

I think it looks great. He's finishing the batch and will ship them to me, then I'll get them out to you folks ASAP.

I'll also be plugging his shop properly in the near future. They do some fantastic work on AR's that you've got to see.

Kerodin
III

AAC 700 Rifle

Oleg has a few images of the AAC Remington built for close work that needs the punch of a rifle.

Here's the link to Oleg.

Here's the link to The Farm.

Kerodin
III

Update: Everyone should vote - and we should help them...

UPDATE: 6/19 - OK folks, not enough interest for me to keep this one on my plate. If anyone wants to take this project you are welcome to it. I'll even help you set up the proper 527 structure. Just remember, you can't keep ANY of the money donated by Dems and you may not SPEND any of the donated money on ANYTHING except GOTV efforts. It is an excellent way to diffuse a bit of their revenue stream, and if focused in an AO with a tight down-ticket race could sway the outcome, but it'll take hard work and you'll need people who are willing to get into crowds of D's and hand out donor requests.

~~

Most of you will grasp the concept being presented here, especially given my post early in the weekend. If you read this and think I have lost my mind, noodle it through a bit longer and consider a wink & nudge. If you still can't connect the dots, write me privately: Kerodin@Kerodin.com. The one thing I do not want is a blueprint/roadmap on a post or in comments for Google to archive.

So, here we go...

Voting is an essential Right and Responsibility of Citizenship and Liberty.

Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaigns are expensive. Very expensive. Every dollar spent on GOTV efforts is a dollar not being spent by special interest groups (such as NRA, Brady Campaign, et cetera).

Because of my respect for Liberty and the peaceful means of governance, if there is sufficient support for this effort, I will file the paperwork to properly form a 527 for the task.

What we need from supporters: To succeed, it will be important for fellow Patriots to help get the message out to motivated Blue voters. Patriots will need to hit SEIU rallies, Occupy camps and every other Left-aligned political gathering in their AO for the entire summer and hand out stacks & stacks of promotional cards encouraging those in the crowd to support our GOTV efforts by donating to our GOTV group...

I'll link to the website below. If you understand the concept and will invest your time and energy into the effort, let me know. Once I see sufficient support, I'll pull the trigger, file the proper paperwork and buy a batch of promotional cards we can distribute at important venues, such as the Democrat National Convention, local Planned Parenthood offices, local unions, et cetera.

If you think it is a stupid idea or you won't have time to invest the energy, I'll scrap the concept. Obviously, this is best for Patriots who live in Blue states or in areas with heavy Blue concentrations...so we can do the most good.

Here's the link.

Kerodin
III

CDP's Daughter: Perspective of a 26 year-old woman

Liberty, freedom and money are all the same - someone is always trying to take all you have.

You must defend all three constantly.

Read TPA's post, here.

Kerodin
III

"Real" Americans with "real" American values

Deacon Matson points out that "real" Americans, those who believe in our Founding Values, are a very small minority.

He is not wrong. Indeed, I think if we count all of us who actively believe in our Founding Principles we are at most 3% of the total population, perhaps 10 million.

If we add in those Americans who would passively accept living in an America that once again possessed and operated under our Founding Principles, we'd be very hard pressed to reach 20% of our current population, let's call it 60 million. These are the folks who I think would be able to live in an America that respected the Constitution and the ideals of the DoI and BoR. These are the people who would get up, work, feed and clothe themselves without whining, would respect your equal Rights, and would not expect Government to steal on their behalf.

And remember, I said 20% is a generous number, probably in the category of wishful thinking.

Let's say we actually have 20% who are "Real" Americans. What do we do with the other 270 or so million people who live here now and do not want self sufficiency, do not want Liberty, and do want you to work for them?

This is where I say we need to get the herd moving toward the borders.

Those 270 million people who are not Americans in their hearts must be encouraged to leave. They can get on a plane or ship and go to any spot on the planet that will have them. They can get in their cars and drive over our northern or southern border, whichever weather paradigm they find most appealing. If they won't drive, they can walk. If they won't walk, they should get poked in the butt with a bayonet held by a real American.

And finally, all those who refuse to stand down, who refuse to allow you and me to live at Liberty, those who refuse to leave when offered the opportunity: They stand trial for Treason in their front yard, to be judged by 12 real Americans for waging war to overthrow the Constitution, the Supreme Law of the land. When these people demand that Government steal from you in violation of the Constitution, is that not waging war to overthrow our proper, lawful Government?

Of course it is, so Article III Section III kicks in...judged by we, the III.

Once we pull the weeds and rid ourselves of the genetic waste in our midst, we Real Americans can once again live in peace, because it is we who have virtue and morals, not the Enemies of Liberty amongst us.

Here's the link to Deacon's place. He is correct in his assessment. Now we need to get busy cleaning up the mess left to us by several generations of our Fathers who were lax on Constitutional maintenance.

Kerodin
III

Declaration for American Liberty Congress

UPDATE Sunday 6/17: Do we enhance our statement by adding at the end (after "...happiness...") And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Let's get this wrapped up today, folks. I want to order my supplies and start collecting signatures.

~~

UPDATE Tuesday: A Comment was left asking about an "Or else..." clause/statement. We originally discussed such language, and I think we have all generally evolved to "Less is more" for our language. Trainer offered what I consider to be perfect reasoning as to why we do not need to incorporate an "Or else..." statement, and I offer it here. Trainer, sorry I didn't ask your permission before posting it here, I hope you don't mind.

Trainer: The consequence is inferred by the recipients of the declaration.

The phrase, "Restore the Constitution," itself is an imperative; a command, requiring compliance. In this case, the command comes from the citizenry, the masters of the government, according to all the founding principles, documents, and evidence available.

Logic dictates that a command issued, if disregarded, answered inappropriately, or ignored, brings about the situation of the application of a consequence.

Let them figure out the consequence, which will already be implied by the "This is the last time I come unarmed" shirts....

~

I'll simply add: ...and our empty holsters.

K

UPDATE: Folks, are we leaning toward something like the above: We the People hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Restore the Constitution

With signatures beneath?

~~

OK, folks - it is time to seriously discuss and then pull the trigger on the verbiage of the Declaration we sign and present on November 3 at the American Liberty Congress in DC.

I want this project to be as "Big Tent" as possible. It is not merely a III project, though I will certainly count it as a feather in the III cap once it is done. I want to find and involve "real" Tea Party folks. I want NRA folks aboard. I even want to infiltrate the message (Restore the Constitution) into the collective consciousness of those folks who intend to vote for Mittens. Those of us who make it to the steps of the Capitol will be the steel in the spine for the rest of them.

We will be John Parker.

Here is my plan: I will travel this summer and early fall collecting signatures on our Declaration. The Declaration will be in a scroll format to allow as many signatures as possible on a single format. (For folks who want to sign, but are unable to get to the scroll or be in DC in November, we will be using snail mail to circulate paper petitions/Declarations to be added to the package we hand over to our Congressional rep.)

The question: What is the wording for the Declaration?

I have a few points on which I am not willing to yield: First, I will not call for a "new" government, government disbandment, or anything such. The demand will be that elected officials and bureaucrats once again respect their oaths and the parameters of the Constitution, including the BoR and that they respect the intent of the DoI.

We can add "...as ratified..." or "...as amended..." if you wish, or we can leave it open ended so folks don't get bogged down in parsing and counting angels on the head of a pin. I have no problem inserting language that calls current Political Class members as Traitors and/or Enemies of Liberty.

Personally, I think if we get anywhere back to "Respect for the Constitution" we will recapture so much personal Liberty that 99% of the folks in "The Liberty Community" will be happy, even if they hate the Constitution. We can worry about the next step once we have accomplished this step.

I am 99% convinced that the simple phrase "Restore the Constitution" should be the call. It is simple. It is a reference point with which most Americans are familiar (even if they have no clue what it says or means) and it is the source of legitimacy for the Enemies of Liberty - When they claim the Right/Power/Authority to do a bad thing, they refer to the Constitution as their legitimate source - we need to wrestle that back.

I think a simple, bold script of something like: We the People, witnessed by our signatures below and written in our own hand, do demand that every elected official, appointed official and bureaucrat at every level of Government in America, immediately respect the original intent of our Founders and Framers, the spirit of the Declaration of Independence, and the clear parameters of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Now, I whipped that preceeding verbiage out in about 60 seconds. It can be wordsmithed down to a smaller statement. It can be trash-canned.

Or, do you you prefer we take a different direction? Should I see if we can actually have the DoI, Constitution & BoR written as the lede, accented with "Restore the Constitution", then followed by signatures?

Or, would you prefer we use the DoI as a template and replace mentions of the King and the King's violations with our own long train of abuses, followed by signatures?

Or, back to my "simple is better" permise: As a War Cry it is damned hard to beat a very simple title: "Restore the Constitution". We can go simple, or we can go detailed. Just remember our audience - the vast majority of those we will be asking to sign are sound-bite Americans, unsophisticated as to the actual words and extent of the Founding Documents and the intent of the Founders & Framers.

Leaders lead from the front. Leaders do. Walk with me and we will all be Leaders who guide our Countrymen back to Liberty.

Weigh-in folks, please.

Kerodin
III

Rand Paul on TSA

From Politico: The second bill would permit travelers to opt out of pat-downs and be rescreened, allow them to call a lawyer when detained, increase the role of dogs in explosive detection, let passengers “appropriately object to mistreatment,” allow children 12 years old and younger to avoid “unnecessary pat-downs” and require the distribution of the new rights at airports.

Again I ask, why not simply take a stand on this little bit of language from the Supreme Law of the Land: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The answer: Because even guys like Rand Paul want the power to pick & choose who, what, where, when and how on every topic.

The good Senator from Kentucky and the loins of the Congressman from Texas is no friend of Liberty.

Here's the entire piece.

Kerodin
III

NC Renegade: As we sit & watch

Here's the link.

Kerodin
III

Book from one of our Bloggers

Here's the link.

Kerodin
III

Leaderless Resistance: I must clarify

In my post immediately below this one I made a case for Liberty being the common goal for which we all strive, knowing that if Patriots in Cape Cod, Washington State, McAllen, et cetera all move toward the goal of Liberty at the same time, we will be an irresistable force. I made the statement ":That's the only Leader we need".

I need to clarify that statement.

In every single AO there will be a need for a Patriot who takes point and leads others to take and hold objectives, to close with, engage and take Enemies of Liberty out of the fight.

You will need local level combat leaders. And as I have said for more than 2 years now, if you are reading this blog, you'll probably be that local Leader by default. You are ahead of the curve when compared to others in your AO. Someone in your AO will need to be the first one into Harm's Way, and because you are who you are, you'll probably be "The One".

You may not need to stay in that position. There are probably combat vets in your AO who are behind the curve right now who will square their sh*t away and get up to speed quickly, and may be better tactical Leaders. If you trust them let them take point. If you are an Awakened lawyer with no small unit skills or experience, be smart enough to yield tasks to the right people as circumstances evolve.

So, for clarification: If we are all headed toward the North Star of Liberty, there is no need for a national top-down C&C. But when things get sporty, someone in your AO will have to take point. You should count on that person being you, at least in the beginning. Someone needs to be the first one to take what the enemy most wants. Someone will have to be the first to defend what the enemy most wants to take and hold. Someone will have to stand tall and throw the monkey wrench into OpFor's protocol.

Congratulations. You're it.

Kerodin
III

Leaderless Resistance: A Refresher

A typical covert cell operates as anything from a lone individual to a small group. The basic characteristic of the structure is that there is no explicit communication between cells which are otherwise acting toward the same goals. Members of one cell usually have little or no specific information on who else is agitating on behalf of their cause.

Leaderless movements may have symbolic figureheads. It can be a public figure or an inspirational author, who picks generic targets and objectives, but does not actually manage or execute plans. Media, in this case, often create a positive feedback loop: the publishing of declarations of a movement’s role model instills motivation, ideas and assumed sympathy in the minds of potential agitators who lend further authority to the figurehead.[citation needed] While this may be loosely viewed as a vertical command structure, it is notably unidirectional: a titular leader makes pronouncements, and activists may respond, but there is no established contact between the two levels of organization.

Read the wiki for a refresher.

All of us, moving in the same general direction. With Liberty as our common goal, we do not need "Leaders". Yes, we do need people who stir the pot in a public way. Look to our bloggers, they are filling that roll.

And do not dismiss the "...positive feedback loop..." aspect of generating press.

Hence: American Liberty Congress, III stickers on inappropriate surfaces, BofA boycotts, et cetera. Let's get our enemies talking about us, to motivate our allies.

When I mentioned the other day that every Patriot in every AO should clear his home, then his block, then street by street of Enemies of Liberty and get the herd moving, if we all do that when the time is right we will begin a mass emigration without any coordination by a central Command.

Liberty is the goal. That is the only Leader needed.

Here's the link.

Kerodin
III

**Must Read** Unconventional Warfare

The Enemies of Liberty want a Blue America.

I am sure most of you are well-versed in the concept of sapping the resources of the Enemy as a Strategy and Tactic.

I have devised what I consider to be an excellent means of draining cash (which is lifeblood in Politics) from our Enemies, and not only of denying to them the value of the dollars, but perhaps even using those dollars ourselves. We'll see where the lawyers draw the lines.

It will require that you look the Enemies of Liberty in the eye and do not divulge that you want to choke them to death.

Are you up for a bit of subterfuge and sabotage, folks? I am certain you already understand the value of sometimes getting into their camp and their heads...

Let me know. This can remain public for now. Let's see how much interest there is before I pull the trigger.

Kerodin
III

Williams: Social Security 101

Walter Williams provides the entire Social Security argument for Constitutionalists in a single column.

I commend it to you, here.

Kerodin
III

Powder dry?

“When we win, we will use whatever tools out there, including a constitutional amendment, to turn this back,” Axlerod said on Wednesday. “I understand the free speech argument, but when the Koch brothers can spend $400 million, more than the McCain campaign and the Republican Party spent last time, that’s very concerning.”

Kerosin
III

III Gear: Cold Steel Folders

The first batch of branded Cold Steel folders just came into the shop.

If you ordered a Medium or Large Voyager it will be in the mail tomorrow. If you ordered the Extra Large, they'll be into my shop next week and ship right out.

Kerodin
III

Update: Rand ain't Ron

Bumped: Folks considering the Liberty Congress should read and weigh Robert's concerns in Comments.

K

~~

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday introduced the Preserving Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act, which would require the government to get a warrant before using aerial drones to surveil U.S. citizens.

My question: Why doesn't Senator Paul simply stand up and say "This is already illegal, it violates 4A, we do not need a new law"?

Because the current Political Class is not in the business of respecting the Constitution, they are in the business of making every act under the sun either legal or illegal by law, regulation or rule rather than Right.

Here's the story.

Kerodin
III