Showing posts with label finances. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finances. Show all posts

Friday, July 22, 2011

Why are Americans still unemployed?

Wisdom Quarterly
An American worker puts the final touches on a beautiful smile (@berto/Flickr.com).

"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns
Or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses"*

Aesthetic Realism states that there will be no economic "recovery" until economics -- making money, creating jobs -- itself becomes ethical, based on goodwill rather than on the common ill-will that has been dominant for centuries.

This grand view points to a road map that Republican B.S. Obama (judged on his actions not his public relations campaigns) for the U.S. economy.

What steps could be taken to create jobs? There are many. We have done it before. After disastrous wars of the past -- and we have pretty much been involved in conflict almost without interruption for 200 years, but these dots are not connected by mainstream history books even though information on most of our invasions, covert wars, conquests, and prolonged occupations are well documented -- we had recovery programs.

There was the G.I. Bill. There was a massive movement to employ artists. There was once even a space program. We built bridges, a massive highway system, reservoirs, scenic routes, a rich library system, civic institutions, all of which we collectively call "infrastructure." The world and we are happier when we focus within.

But some element in power -- a shadow government that pulls strings at the White House, Pentagon, CIA, and other centers of power -- prefers to look for happiness without.

What is the meaning of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? It certainly does not mean happiness. We are not happy, and we were never promised happiness. Just its pursuit. So let's pursue it here. And when we grow happy, strong, and fabulously affluent, lets help others with no strings attached.

The happiest man in the world according to science the Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard

Those strings get us in a lot of trouble "policing" the world, subverting other governments, creating untold pollution and misery. Let's keep it in our pants. And our pockets will runneth over with riches to share with everyone around us. Is it a Cold War we need? Why not a Hot Peace? Let's wage peace!

And as the first act of peace, let's employ our own citizens to help our own citizens.
  • These roads need fixing.
  • These walls need painting.
  • These cities need planning.
  • These national parks need salvaging.
  • These corporations need regulating.
  • (Of course they don't want regulation, who does?)
  • The space above us needs exploring.
  • Plants need planting.
  • Farms need diversifying.
  • The environment needs cleaning.
  • Animals need caring.
  • Kids need raising by the community.
  • Teens need tutoring.
  • Prisoners need rehabilitating.
  • Parents need help.
  • Elders need teaching opportunities.
  • Bread needs baking.
And somewhere somehow there needs to be more candlestick making so we can all meditate (or pray) together in peace.... It's easy and natural.

So why are Americans still unemployed? It seems obvious.

This misery is the way the "powers that be" (which include the international bankers, the Obama administration, the war profiteers in their corporate jobs, the major industries, all of which may be referred to as, however secret its members may be, the "Military-Industrial Complex").

So before you find yourself at your neighbor's throat or blaming those darn economically-pressured immigrants, or becoming a violent xenophobe demanding a scapegoat (ala 1945), look for the real culprit. Nothing that is happening today is happening by accident or necessity. It's someone's plan. And THE PLAN is going well.

Would that they made another plan -- rather than blaming biblical prophecy and the angry, vengeful God of our Judeo-Christian society. There will never be peace without until there is peace within. So that puts the onus on us to peace out.


"The measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members."
  • And if your son/daughter is a CIA functionary or soldier, tell him/her to come home and stop following illegal orders to kill, disrupt, rape, terrorize, drug, and sow fear throughout the world.
Meditate, pray, play, discuss, debate, join together respectfully -- whatever peaceful means it takes to pursue happiness. Because the pursuit, also called the journey, is the happiness. Or as Buddhism likes to say: There is no way to happiness; happiness is the way!


Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Gold hits all-time high (above $1,600/oz)

Wisdom Quarterly

Gold investors favor bars and coins (Euronews)


If one wants profit, silver is a better bet. It's much more volatile. If one wants stability -- preventing erosion of purchasing power in the face of inflation -- gold is safest. But what gold? Coins, paper notes backed by gold, bullion, jewelry, Krugerrand... there is no standard. The scam behind gold is how it's sold. Not all forms are equally valuable. Levels of purity vary; reputations of minted coins by country vary; broker's fees eat into profit; the US government does not want citizens holding actual precious metals. Research before investing. The worst time to go into any investment is at its high. Buy low, sell high. Will gold go much higher before it crashes?

"Where do you think you're going, punk?" "Mmm, I'm trying to get to the bank, sir."

Gold hits new high
Issac John (KhaleejTimes.com, July 18, 2011)

DUBAI — Gold prices rallied to a new all-time high above $1,600 per ounce on Monday morning, rising for the 11th consecutive trading session, the longest winning streak for the yellow metal since January of 1980.

Prices soared as high as $1,603.40 per ounce on Monday morning, driven by jitters over the eurozone debt crisis and the US debt ceiling, before backing off to trade just the $1,600 level.

A stalemate in the US debt ceiling talks and concerns of Eurozone debt contagion continued to underpin the metal’s investor appeal across the globe, precious metal analysts said in Dubai. With Monday’s advance, the gold price extended its monthly and year-to-date gains to 6.6 per cent and 12.5 per cent, respectively.

Yan Chen, head of metals and mining at Standard Chartered Equity Research, predicts that gold may rally to $5,000 by 2020 as incomes rise in China and India, the two biggest users.

Analysts said gold gained on the back of a surge in borrowing costs for Italy. The lack of a deal to raise the $14.3 trillion US debt ceiling also helped boost prices. “The long-term trend is certainly bullish and there isn’t anything in the horizon to suggest why $1,650 or $1,700 shouldn’t be reached earlier than expected. More