The Elephant In The Room

Have you ever heard anybody refer to “the elephant in the room”?  It’s quite an old saying which means nothing more than this: there is something BIG in the vicinity that everybody is ignoring.

What Is This Elephant?

While the stock market has rallied somewhat (Dow Jones still down 40% from its high), this has little to do with the REAL world’s economies.  I say that because the stock markets around the world are places for the BIG players to gamble other people’s money.  The stock markets are NOT reflections of how well a country’s economy is doing, but rather, a reflection of how people THINK economies are doing.

The elephant I’m referring to is the DEPRESSION that many countries (including the U.S.) are currently in.  While this isn’t being said aloud, many people KNOW this to be a fact; from people without  jobs to most politicians, they KNOW what is going on, and they are very, VERY scared.

The News

You will not see this information on your television, nor will you read about it in your newspaper, because the very last thing people want to talk about is how the world’s economies have been messed up. The media (TV, Newspapers, Magazines, Journals, Radio etc.) will typically give the public what they want, NOT THE FACTS.  They do this to make money and to have power.  Money and power are often the same thing, but  not always.

Money and Power

Money stops becoming power when nobody will exchange anything for it; not their time, their effort, their possessions or their emotions (love, greed, fear, affections etc.).  This has happened many times in history and it will happen again (not might, it WILL).  Money loses its value to people when enough people lose faith in it (faith = belief without proof).

It’s happening in Zimbabwe now, it happened in Germany, Hungary and many other countries and people lose their trust in it because of inflation.

Who Caused This Depression?

EVERYBODY who spends more than they earn are the cause of inflation.  Whether it’s an individual, a household, a town, a state or a country, when people spend more than they make (live beyond their means) they cause inflation.

Zimbabwe has for several years simply printed money to pay for things that they couldn’t actually afford (Zimbabwean Dollars) .  At one point, in 2008, $4 (U.S.) would buy you 10,000,000 Zimbabwean Dollars (that’s ten MILLION).

When people become this out of touch with reality (and I assure you people DON”T know when they are out of touch with reality) lives are ruined by the tens of millions.  Proof of this is in the history books, and you only have to visit a couple of Second World War museums around the world to understand this.

Wars

Wars are fought for ridiculous reasons and instigated by ridiculous (ridiculous = worthy of ridicule) people.  When humans feel threatened, be they regular Joe’s or world leaders, they will fight for their livelihoods.  The “politician mentality” will ensure that the world will see many more wars and I just hope I’m not around to witness one.  But the stark reality is, there may well be a big one on the way.  When economies collapse, politicians and religious leader (often one and the same person) will look for ANY way to lay the blame at somebody else’s feet, often another country.

While this may be considered “scaremongering” I don’t think it is at all.  Being prepared and simply NOT IGNORING the elephant in the room.

We ARE in a depression and wars often follow economic depressions.  That’s not scaremongering, it’s just history.

Prepare now; it starts with a survival mindset. Understand and accept what’s going on.  Acknowledge the elephant in the room.  Then read as much history about previous economic depressions as you can.  Finally,  DO something to get ready for some bad stuff.

A policeman friend of mine once told me why he uses a particular sidearm (one with LOTS of BIG bullets in).  He said “I’d simply rather HAVE the firepower and not need it, than need it and NOT HAVE IT.”

That’s a really good survival mentality.

Luke.