Self Delusional, Political Drug Of Choice: Hocus Pocus Hopeium

Otherwise Known As "Hope And Change"

Common Sense Commentary: A ruse common among the Nazis during their rounding up of Jews, in Europe, during their Holocaust days, was to tell those poor Jews, to keep them docile, encouraging words of "Hope" such as .... "Please take with you only those things you will need for your health comfort and sanitation". But in the Concentration Camps they were worked to death, their gold teeth knocked out, their clothing accumulated and their bodies burned in the ovens for a total of approximately 6 million victims. The various Communist regimes used the same sham of "false promise words of hope" in the elimination of upward of 100 million internal enemies of the st ate. Even serial killers use this kind of false hope to keep their victims under control...."I won't hurt you if you do as I say".

These things are a matter of historical record ... so google it and read it for yourself. If dictators and
governments have done such horrific things to their own people in the past, it is not unthinkable that governments, presidents, politicians and bureaucrats might also make false promises, agreements and contracts with their constituents in order to buy their loyalty, co-operation and votes to stay in office.

I once knew a man who constantly made new promises to his son, never kept one of them, but kept making other promises... for years, until the son was grown... and still believed the new promises. its a common human blindness in comprehension.

It is undeniable that our government and most other governments have made promises and contracts with the people which, in time, will be recognized as false.... too late.

Here is an article reported by Kitco News, describing a Citi Bank study of government retirement promises which are completely unrealistic and unfulfillable.
_____________________________________

Thursday March 17, 2016 
(Kitco News) - Twenty of the world’s wealthiest countries are facing a $78 trillion pension loss, Citi Bank said in a report on Wednesday. 

The bank found that for 20 countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the total value of unfunded government pension liabilities, money owed to public sector workers, is $78 trillion. The number is almost double other government debts for these same nations of around $44 trillion. 

“If the liabilities of social security and public sector worker underfunding are added as a form of 'contingent debt’, total global government debt may be three times as large as people currently think it is. Whatever the calculation used, the numbers are staggering,” the bank said. 

“The world faces a retirement crisis,” Citi added. “However, solutions - and opportunities - are available if governments and corporations take steps to begin addressing the issues. These conversations and actions need to happen now.” 


Countries in the study include the U.S., Canada and Australia but it is the European countries facing the biggest challenge, the bank noted. Germany, France, Italy, the U.K., Portugal and Spain have an estimated public debt-to-GDP ratio of over 300 percent. 

"Government services, corporate profits, or retirement benefits themselves will have to be reduced to make any part of the system work. This poses an enormous challenge to employers, employees, and policymakers all over the world," the bank said in the report. 
_______________________________

My Comment:

The above Citibank study claims these debt totals only include 20 OECD countries but the U.S. debt alone is $19 Trillion in actual borrowed money plus an estimated $211 Trillion in unfunded liabilities like Soc. Sec., Medicare, Medicaid etc. If those amounts sound feasible, consider the fact that the official estimated value of our entire nation is only $94 Trillion. In Citibank's own words, above, they confess ... “If the liabilities of social security and public sector worker underfunding are added as a form of 'contingent debt’, total global government debt may be three times as large.... "

So, after Citibank describes this totally impossible situation, they then make the Hocus Pocus Hopium claim ...“However, solutions - and opportunities - are available if governments and corporations take steps to begin addressing the issues. These conversations and actions need to happen now.” No, "now" is too late. It should have been done 25 or 30 years ago.

Their addition of "corporations" in this last quote means heavier, much heavier taxes on corporations, but our government has already, by world's highest taxes, driven many corporation out of our country. Besides that, if they owned and sold all of the corporations in the U.S. it wouldn't be enough to pay the interest on our government debts.

So the obvious question is, "How are they ever going to pay those promised pensions?"

The obvious answer is, "They aren't" and the obvious reason is, "They can't". The money has been spent on wasteful, unproductive, counter-productive programs. Neither are they going to pay any of their other debts with today's dollars. The only thing they can do is continue the huge "counterfeiting" farce of pumping out more and more trillions of dollars until the whole thing collapses into itself and causes the worst inflation in world history. So "Don't keep your savings in paper", said the wise man.

The system is bankrupt and vast sums have been purloined, grafted and misspent. So most people are now living day to day, financially, being pacified on the steady stream of government "hocus pocus hopium" and are in for some life altering, cold turkey DT's

That is why so many Americans have turned to Donald Trump. They want a brass knuckles, belligerent, street fighter who will fight the insane injustice, beat it down, arrest it and throw it in prison. 

A friend of mine was debating the dilemma with a federal employee who kept insisting, "Pensions will never fail, not ever, because they have a contract". Yeah, right. RB

"We can easily forgive a child 
who is afraid of the dark; 
the real tragedy of life is when 
men are afraid of the light" Plato