Good lord, about %90 of this is dead on. Everyone knows about RP's consistent message, but this is just ridiculous.
Or another way of looking at it is this: the logic of economics and politics is simple, and so RP is really just stating the obvious.
Ron Paul: prophetic genius or just a dude making deductions?
7 retort(s):
The Iraq war was much smaller than Vietnam, Karzai is still president of Afghanistan, our troops are still there (though the number has dropped in recent months), and the dollar has outperformed most markets and other currencies since 2002.
Other than that, yeah Paul is pretty prophetic. Since his speech was just a year or so after 9/11, everybody probably thought he was a nutball at the time, but he saw some shit coming that most others either missed or purposefully ignored.
We're fucked no matter what: the world's reserve currency can't have an infinite supply and feel like printing money whenever it wants to.
If we pay back China by printing more money - or if we reneg on our debt obligations - China can cause an economic collapse here by selling some of its vast American holdings. That will be the next "world war."
Kevin, you should read "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins, you would find it a warming confirmation for many of your suspicions. Also, "Bailout Nation" by Barry Ritholz is really good, as is "Traders, Guns and Money" by Satyajit (sp.) Das.
Perkins is a hoss man. There are some good clips out there I might have to round up.
If you consider Iraq and Afghanistan together they could be seen as 'bigger' than Vietnam, though not in terms of US casualties. Karzai is on the brink; its incidental that he hasnt been removed yet. The puppetry of that government is barely functioning. And yes, the purchasing power of the dollar has plummeted and the people are getting poorer.
On the other hand, RP is wrong about class. Class warfare at home is actually bringing people together, and there is no sign of fragmentation. Contrary to that entertaining but politically oblivious South Park episode, the 12% will never be fighting the 42%. The only opposition is between the 99.99% and the .01%.
Yes, the dollar has decreased in value relative to most other currencies over the past 10 years, but demand for U.S. treasuries has never been higher -- not even during the spike in late 2008.
Even though there technically is inflation, the money supply has been drastically reduced by hoarder corporations who've moved vast amounts of bailout and Fed money to offshore bank accounts. And because, traditionally, a company's stock is worth more if you have more cash on your balance sheet (as well as if you hire less and fire more).
So while there are more American dollars in the world than ever existed before, they are being held by fewer entities than ever before, which is why there are more "poors" in America now than in the last 52 years. I'd like to compare the total population to the rate of poverty but I'm too lazy to do that right now. I bet the povert rate is steeper.
Oh, I got side-tracked and forgot to finish about currencies:
Yes, I was wrong about the dollar increasing in value in the 10-yr timeframe, my bad.
In the last 5 years we tied with the euro, up on the pound and the rupee (hehe), down on China and Japan.
In the last 12 months we're up on everybody except Japan and China.
(unless you also include the Swiss franc and the Australian dollar, which I should to be fair)
I love everything about Ron Paul except the racism and homophobia.
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