Monday, April 4, 2011

Dollar Dollar, Who Wants the Dollar?

Are you suffering from the Normalcy Bias?

According to Wikipedia:

The assumption that is made in the case of the normalcy bias is that since a disaster never has occurred that it never will occur (emphasis added). It also results in the inability of people to cope with a disaster once it occurs. People with a normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before. People also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation."
I caught the tail end of an ad on the radio this evening, just enough to make me jot down the website when I arrived at the restaurant. And to further prompt me to look it up when I got home. What I read gave facts and figures and words to what I already knew in my gut.

Inflation is rampant, in spite of the fact that our government keeps denying it. Sure, interest rates are low, thanks to artificial regulation. This allows Uncle Sam to keep borrowing Dollars at 1.5%. They keep printing MORE dollars, causing prices of 85 of the 88 listed commodities to skyrocket. China is dumping US Dollars in to any and every concrete asset they can get their hands on and have been for years.

The US tells us unemployment is down. We scratch our heads and wonder why it is, then, that we can't get a job? Or our neighbor? Or our kids? Where are these jobs? Well, wonder no more.

The unemployment rate today has nothing to do with how many working age people don't have jobs. It is calculated based on the number of people on unemployment. So if you owned your own company, which so many of my friends do (or did) and are now out of work, the government ignores you completely.

If you worked for a company and lost your job, and have been unable to find another job, you're only counted as long as you draw unemployment benefits. Once your benefits run out (and, mind you, you still don't have a job) you are no longer counted as being unemployed!

Who the hell came up with that calculation? And what bozos adopted it as legitimate? Oh. Excuse me. It's the old lie-and-pretend-it's-the-truth game.

Here's another startling statistic. Fourteen percent of Americans are on Food Stamps. That means one out of seven Americans can't afford to buy food. We're not talking illegal aliens, either. We're talking about you and me.

The US Dollar is no longer the currency of choice. It all gets technical and boring from here. But hold in to your bloomers baby: as bad as it's been, the shit hasn't even hit the fan yet. It's gonna get worse.

Now, back to that Normalcy Bias. Do you, like I, believe that America is too great to fall? So was England fifty years ago. Our house of cards is crumbling. Our Dollar is being devalued every time the Fed prints more money. One day soon it'll be like Confederate money after the Civil War. Scrapbook material.

I know this wasn't a pleasant post. I'm feeling quite sick myself. But I love you guys and felt the need to share. I'm thinking it's better to be prepared. To know if a tsunami is coming. At least it gives me time to say a prayer. To stop and thank God for a good life. To tell someone close to me goodbye.

And maybe, if I know soon enough, I'll have time to warn my friends and family so that we can run to higher ground.

~ Olivia J. Herrell

Click here to read the report I read. Then surf around to look at articles if you want confirmation.  I did. *shiver*


Roland D. Yeomans said...

So far the dollar is still the world standard as the British Sterling once was. England devalued their pound, and the world currency organization switched to the dollor.

But once the world market switches from the dollar to the yen or the euro, gas prices will skyrocket, banks may well close as the dollar's values plummets, trucking lines will bankrupt.

It doesn't look good for our future. It is all a matter of when not if. Sigh.


Nighfala said...

I know this is true, Olivia, but I fail to see what the heck I can do about it. The bills still have to be paid, we still have to eat, I go to work every day, I write.

I was getting totally overwhelmed and depressed but finally realized... there's nothing I can do.

Ruth said...

I had listened to it just last week.
Or most of it.
We have been fed a load of crap for a long time and I don't see that ever changing.
It's sad but there isn't much we can do, but make the best of everything.
As far as unemployment, that's why sometimes they say unemployment and sometimes jobless rate- cause there is a difference.

By the way, I liked the CD.

Jo Schaffer said...

Yeah-- we're a little screwed.
Our leaders have been no help on this for years.


Roland, I know. That's the thing.

Christine, there are things we can do. If you have any extra money, put it in things like silver, copper, gold. As the currency fails, those will sky-rocket. There are other things, too. Go check out the full article if you have time.

Ruth, I'm so glad you liked it! Did you download any of the songs?

Jo, no kidding.

Ellie Garratt said...

Scary stuff. I'm in the UK and people keep saying things will get better soon. Unemployment up. Crime up. Immigration out of control. Fuel prices ridicously high. An Aging population. Youngsters unable to get on the housing chain. I could go on.

So prepare the best you can for the worst possible outcome, and then pray like hell it doesn't happen.

Ellie Garratt

Sarah Allen said...

Very interesting post :) Lots to think about, especially for us writers who are not known for our...vast fortunes, at least the majority of us.

Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)

nutschell said...

what a thought provoking post!

Margo Kelly said...


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...