A Nation Full of Suckers- The Sunday Collage
Somewhere... P.T. Barnum and and the monkey boy are smiling.
Do I want people to believe everything I write? Absolutely not. Perform your own due diligence.
Each week as I surf the internet, I look for stories of interest. For years and most certainly since 2008, fringe bloggers like myself have known that just about every number put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics or B.L.S.- is complete and utter bullshit. The government has rigged the data input to such an extent- that they can put out any number that they want.
Why do they do this?
The beautiful part about blogging about all of these lies and manipulations for years is that eventually and now evidently, all of those lies are beginning to be accepted as truth by more acceptable and credible sources than some old retired guy in Boise, Idaho.
A favorite quote- I know of no greater truth than this because I have experienced it.
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
-Arthur Schopenhauer
You'll like this link. It's a must read in terms of other writers who can no longer tolerate our government's lies. This author knows bullshit when he sees it. http://nypost.com/2015/08/03/the-gdps-hilarious-false-numbers/
Everywhere I travel in Boise- I can find broken down and vacant commercial property. It's everywhere.
Some of it is being transformed into vape shops and tattoo parlors. But mostly, it is all still here- with owners still asking ridiculous prices and paying the taxes on it.
You see the government wants me to ignore my lying eyes and my dwindling bank account that makes zero interest. Some people have moved beyond acceptance of government bullshit and are now finding solutions to the published and corrupt data of the B.L.S.
Now I would like to introduce you to the Chapwood Index. The Chapwood Index is a basket of 500 real world items that include taxes, groceries, fuel, and health care costs in just about all major cities. Instead of the bullshit sub 2% inflation figures produced by the BLS- we have an actual, real world non adjusted inflation source with credible, non manipulated input. This is the link directly into the Chapwood Index and it's explanation about why the government distorts and lies about CPI.
http://www.chapwoodindex.com/problem/
What's my angle? I have no ads, no tip jars, no books to sell. I'm not selling gloom and doom or silver and gold although I do in fact- own some. I am simply raising awareness.
I've always known that good writers, read. We learn to write because we love to read. We perform due diligence and once we are armed with facts- we present them. As long as the majority of this country remains suckers- the longer this charade continues. Apathy has always been the route of cowards.
You know I really wish that P.T. Barnum had never uttered his sarcastic claim that a sucker is born every minute. Guys like Barnum laugh at the stupidity of people while fleecing them at the monkey boy's tent. Your government has learned well. They've crowded Barnum out.
I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.
H. L. Mencken
Do I want people to believe everything I write? Absolutely not. Perform your own due diligence.
Each week as I surf the internet, I look for stories of interest. For years and most certainly since 2008, fringe bloggers like myself have known that just about every number put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics or B.L.S.- is complete and utter bullshit. The government has rigged the data input to such an extent- that they can put out any number that they want.
Why do they do this?
The beautiful part about blogging about all of these lies and manipulations for years is that eventually and now evidently, all of those lies are beginning to be accepted as truth by more acceptable and credible sources than some old retired guy in Boise, Idaho.
A favorite quote- I know of no greater truth than this because I have experienced it.
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
-Arthur Schopenhauer
You'll like this link. It's a must read in terms of other writers who can no longer tolerate our government's lies. This author knows bullshit when he sees it. http://nypost.com/2015/08/03/the-gdps-hilarious-false-numbers/
Everywhere I travel in Boise- I can find broken down and vacant commercial property. It's everywhere.
Some of it is being transformed into vape shops and tattoo parlors. But mostly, it is all still here- with owners still asking ridiculous prices and paying the taxes on it.
You see the government wants me to ignore my lying eyes and my dwindling bank account that makes zero interest. Some people have moved beyond acceptance of government bullshit and are now finding solutions to the published and corrupt data of the B.L.S.
Now I would like to introduce you to the Chapwood Index. The Chapwood Index is a basket of 500 real world items that include taxes, groceries, fuel, and health care costs in just about all major cities. Instead of the bullshit sub 2% inflation figures produced by the BLS- we have an actual, real world non adjusted inflation source with credible, non manipulated input. This is the link directly into the Chapwood Index and it's explanation about why the government distorts and lies about CPI.
http://www.chapwoodindex.com/problem/
What's my angle? I have no ads, no tip jars, no books to sell. I'm not selling gloom and doom or silver and gold although I do in fact- own some. I am simply raising awareness.
I've always known that good writers, read. We learn to write because we love to read. We perform due diligence and once we are armed with facts- we present them. As long as the majority of this country remains suckers- the longer this charade continues. Apathy has always been the route of cowards.
You know I really wish that P.T. Barnum had never uttered his sarcastic claim that a sucker is born every minute. Guys like Barnum laugh at the stupidity of people while fleecing them at the monkey boy's tent. Your government has learned well. They've crowded Barnum out.
I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.
H. L. Mencken
Comments
I've known for years the rate of inflation that the government reported was bullshit. Items like tuna, eggs and flour have in some cases more then doubled in 2 years. My electricity costs in CO doubled in just under 3 years.
And if they're bullshitting about something so basic to our lives, ya really think they're stopping there?
You mentioned commercial property vacancies. Almost every where I go, I see vacant commercial property. From large shopping centers that have lost some of their anchor tenants to small strip malls that have 1 or 2 or 3 out of 5 or 6 shops vacant to empty buildings in half(or more) deserted downtowns in small towns-like the one I live in w Texas.
You know where I see almost feverish commercial activity Brian? In Midland and Odessa Texas-it's why I moved here. My business as a glass artist hasn't been this good in almost 10 years and we're expanding. I'm kinda getting up there but there's more then enough work now, and oil is low, to keep me busy every minute I want-and at an excellent renumeration. When oil goes back up, look out. Something will happen to drive it up-all it would take would be something like one Saudi bombing run into Iran and BOOM.
I've been, you might say, foolish with my money in the past and only because it was always so easy for me to bank. Now we're husbanding our money with an open ended exit strategy.
We shall see what goes down in the next year but if things don't change, if we don't get off the Drive to Nightmare City, having a Plan B is a necessity.
A glass artist? What a great gig. God what I wouldn't give to learn something like that.
Thanks for swinging by, loved your observations.
Brian
I usually pick on Shadowstats, since their methodology goes back 20+ years and it is more obvious, but people should understand that what it really means to say something like "Inflation is really running at 9%, not the 2% the government says". A difference of 7% cannot be sustained over more than a year or two. 7% growth means a doubling every 10 years (or in the context of inflation, a halving of purchasing power every 10 years). This kind of disconnect from reality cannot be hidden - halving most people's true purchasing power would throw them into absolute poverty, and as weak as the economy has been over the last 10 years it hasn't been that bad.
Human beings are by nature more sensitive to losses than gains. This is difference in perception colors people's sense of inflation. You are much more likely to note increases in prices than decreases (and prices do come down). People notice reductions in quality more than improvements. So it is natural to think things are worse than they are. The government has incentives that probably bias the inflation stats low, but this is going to be on the order of 1%/year at most.
The other article linked describes what you should really worry about. No one can sense the difference between 2% and 3% GDP growth in a quarter or a year. If you can avoid drawing any attention to the process, reporting 3% initially and then quietly revising down to 2% a year later can go on for a long time.
Nothing. People have a grand history of doing precisely nothing.
The premise is flawed because even though I am certain real inflation runs 9%- not once in my life have the public (a) demanded the truthful collection and reporting of data (b) have they been able to do anything about it.
The truth then is the public simply doesn't give a shit. They could report 0% inflation for the next five years and nobody would care.
This year v 2011.
Gas tax has gone up 7 cents a gal or about 35 dollars a year.
The assessed value on my house has risen 400 a year.
The cost to register my vehicles has doubled and added 100 bucks a year.
My tax rates both Fed and state have gone up 1500 bucks to include my new Obamacare penalty.
Hamburger has gone up 45% since 2003, that probably costs me 100 a year.http://cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/price-ground-beef-hits-all-time-high
Car and home insurance has gone up about 400 a year.
Gas and electricity rates are up and cost me 100 bucks more a year.
My water costs have tripled and added another 200 a year. So has sewer and trash. 200
So just those things cost me an additional 3100 a year each yr. That is huge and probably right in line (with the things I am missing) at the 7-9% listed in the Chapwood Index. Btw, from 2007 through 2014, my retirement fund gave me a 1% cola each year.
So people don't care and they feel powerless to stop it anyway. Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
Brian