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What a rousing call for action, and the reader slides from euphoria to depression on the realization that a general strike just ain't going to happen any time soon. Karl has my vote for president now. Come 50% unemployment, maybe a lot of other people will feel the same way. On the other hand, maybe they will choose a guy more like Adolph. Never overestimate the American people.

Let's see, the next president could be either someone who says "If you elect me and follow my plan of pain and sacrifice today it will be all sunshine and lollipops tomorrow." Or the other guy who says "If you elect me we will extend your unemployment benefits give you more welfare, more food stamps, more free health care and more free everything and the rich and big corporations will pay for it all. Who do you think the sheeple will vote for?

I have believed for a long time that it is the patriotic duty of every American to pay as little tax as they possibly can. Work under the table when you can. Cross state, county or city lines to pay lower sales tax when ever you can. Appeal your property tax assessment. If you don't have to don't work any overtime. Buy things at flea markets, yard sales and online. In short; Do whatever you can to screw the taxman whenever you can.

A general strike is a good idea but I think that the Gov could probably hold out longer than most people could. Starving the beast without starving ourselves will take longer and require more creativity. This ticker is going to everyone on my mail list.

NATIONAL STRIKE, one day, a warning, the **** does not stop, strike day will become strike week, strike month, repeat as necessary

At this time, there is not going to be a national strike. Americans are too complacent. However, after the global financial Ponzi implodes and people realize they don't have the money they think they do (credit cards are debt!), when people are jobless, homeless, pennyless and hungry, then people will be desperate to do something.

I would not advise strike.

I would advise people to form local "Frugal neighborhood association".

- Advocate 20% saving rate in local credit union

- Favors used over new

- Advocate the using all your material to its maximum (got an old TV that still works fine? Don't change it, stretche it)

- Advocate DIY lifestyle

Truth be told, the people hold the key but they're not used to power anymore, would it be personnal or national.

What you advocate work only if people feel reliant enough. Maybe they should be "Local committee to build self-reliance" or something.

Here is a link to another interesting perspective on labour and Labour Day from an op-ed piece by Robert B. Reich in the NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/opinio....

Although it is titled "How to End the Great Recession", I believe his recommendations range from insufficient to just plain wrong. Nonetheless, his perspective on wage erosion over the past few decades and how people coped is very interesting.

Excellent Ticker!

I know this wasn't at all what your ticker was about, but something jumped out at me that I wanted to comment on.

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Still others would argue that anything STD-related should be barred, since you obviously contracted that via an act that you consented to (absent rape, of course.)

If someone gets an STD from a significant other when they believed they were in a monogamous relationship, that would be "without consent". I've seen this happen to people.

Very nice, Gen. TPTB do not fear the man in the street unless he protests on a massive scale. They know how to deal with him. The only thing TPTB fear is a working class that no longer works (for whatever reason). Economic collapse is a scary thing to envision. I do not have great hope that Americans will arise in any concerted effort to change the current state or direction we are headed before hitting the wall. As you have so often stated the math will assert itself. Reality will reinforce reality. This is not the Dems fault or Republicans fault. It is our fault and the fault of human nature. What plans does government have?

A bill to enable shutdown of the internet in emergency situations declared by the executive branch.

A stealth 1099 gold law buried in the health care reform bill? What? Why?

From Yates:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

………And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

From Claude McKay:

Birds of Prey

Their shadow dims the sunshine of our day,
As they go lumbering across the sky,
Squawking in joy of feeling safe on high,
Beating their heavy wings of owlish gray.
They scare the singing birds of earth away
As, greed-impelled, they circle threateningly,
Watching the toilers with malignant eye,
From their exclusive haven--birds of prey.
They swoop down for the spoil in certain might,
And fasten in our bleeding flesh their claws.
They beat us to surrender weak with fright,
And tugging and tearing without let or pause,
They flap their hideous wings in grim delight,
And stuff our gory hearts into their maws.
--Claude McKay

I guess all I can say is, "Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

Great effort on a note-worthy occasion! Stirring prose about the most significant Do-it-yourself weapon we EACH hold. Our labor.

Why do I labor?

To till the garden, that my winter foodstuffs be healthy and close to hand. To cut and stack the firewood that will keep me warm when the snows come. To build the earth and stone furnace that extracts 90+% of the BTUs contained in the forest gifts thus harvested. To practice and teach the skills that let me and my neighbors live without resorting to purse.

And to purposely de-fund the monstrous racket you so skillfully describe in this poignant Ticker. Today by choice! By necessity---how soon?

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...But even if everyone had a years worth of expenses tucked away in the Bank of Sealy, how long would take until the grocery store shelves were empty, if most people stopped working? How long until electricity and municipal water stopped flowing, and the sewers started backing up? It seems to me that the level of misery for the average person would rise to an intolerable level long before the checks that Congress writes would start to bounce.

Since my home will be completely paid for in another 6 years, relatively no debt, and an awesome job, I struggled how I could go Galt.

The cheap produce prices and fun things taking a lot of my time had my old garden area smooth and mowed. Two years ago I dug it back up, dusted off all our canning and drier stuff. I have food stashed everywhere.

Ticker Forums has been a daily read for me. I spread the word to anyone who listens. Usually I'll end my conversation with, "plant a garden".

Even you city dwellers, squash, tomato, even strawberrys are so prolific, easy, and are almost automatic and take no more space or care then a ornamental.

And Karl...I know it's a looong way from here to a meaningful position in politics, but it will be someone like you who will be our whiteknight...IMO.

I'm pretty sure Karl is much more about white citizens than A white knight.

I'm afraid it's not realistic to have a general strike in the US. Too many people would be afraid of getting fired, as the employers would just hire someone coming off of 99 weeks of unemployment. The most practical plan of attack are to do as Village-idjit and I are doing. Reduce your taxable income below the federally taxable level. I have not paid federal income tax for 9 years now and all 100% legal. Learn how to live on $14,000 a year (for a single person) it is possible to do so.

I think you have distilled it to the essence KD. We can only lay blame elsewhere for so long. Ultimately, blame lies in the mirror.

...or as John Galt said, "The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it."

Good Ticker!

The government is pushing us to a barter/cash system that ignores the tax system. We see new ways that the government wants total control of everything we do. Some of the taxes in the healthcare plan are designed to force every business to declare their income in one way or another. Without the ability to loot the taxpayer, the government would fail.
We see the way it's going with stores like EBAY and Amazon being forced to declare sales on their sites. Too bad the sales by foreigners on sites like Ebay that undercut most American businesses are not included. Everything they do is regressive in nature and will blow up in their faces. The questions is will it be too late for America to come back from this?

When I grill my weenies and drink my beer today I will be thinking about what made America great. The people and their spirit, their pride for their country, their passion for freedom and of course their labors but most importantly God. Whatever plan we come up with to save our nation we will need God to help us accomplish it. Today we should all pray to God for his help and guidance during this time of despair and tell him that we know he has not left us and show him that we have not abandoned him. Please, everyone pray for America today.

Ah yes, simply withdraw your consent.
Simple.
Except that withdrawing consent really means stop working.
And then what? Starve?

And you believe it would make a difference?
After all, Shadow Government Statistics has the unemployment rate at 22%. Doesn't this equate to 22% of the workforce having withdrawn their consent - LOL.
Do you see? The government does not really care about your consent or non consent.
If they cannot collect "your" taxes today, they will:
a) Tax the rich and tax the corporations - we know that the rich and corporations do not pay tax, they merely act as tax collectors; incorporating their tax bill into the cost of goods sold.
b) Or they tax the future through deficit spending.
c) Or they tax you through fiat currency by monetizing the debt.
d) Or they will tax imports - after all, when the United States began this adventure, all Federal Revenue was collected through imports.

However, if you really want to "withdraw your consent" then here is a list of realistic, non violent, no confrontational things you can actively do.
1. Stop working - yes, no more social security tax, no more income tax,
2. Sell your house - no more real estate tax
3. Cut up all your credit cards - no more card processing fees which create revenue for Banks, which in turn is taxed as income.
4. Withdraw your federal reserve notes from the Bank.
5. Use cash for all transactions - this is a subtle move.
By using cash, you actively deny the debit/credit card processing fee.
In addition, you permit the business owner to keep the card processing fee. This amounts to additional income for the business. This does two things for your community. It may permit the owner to continue to employ someone he may have otherwise had to lay off. But it also keeps the economic value in your local community rather than sending this card processing fee off to some bank in XXX (I was going to say new York - but I really have no malice with New Yorkers)
6. Find a nice cave and hunker down

On further analysis, the concept of "simpy withdrawing your concent" only highlights the notion that, short of a repeat of the activities of 200 years ago, there is really very little one can do except "toe the line" or leave the entire system. (and as we have seen, with 22% unemployment, this seems to be what they want you to do)

Sraven... some good ideas in your post to starve the beast, but I am one who chooses not to do the "cardboard box under an overpass." or "find a cave and hunker down" lifestyle. Too much enjoyable stuff in life to do that, unless everything in America totally hits the fan.

I think there is a third option, and it's what I do... know the system, and legally use the system TO YOUR ADVANTAGE! I still pay some level of income tax, and of course, all my FICA taxes (no choice on that one). I do feel that there are some legitimate functions of the federal government (such as a military for our nation's defense), and I am willing to contribute via taxes for those areas, not just going along for a free ride.

As Gen has chronicled over and over, it is the outright deception, fraud, and corruption in government that is a huge problem. I am really frustrated that all this B.S. is going on, while the "cops" look the other way.

Choose this day:

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I owe, I owe,
It's off to work I go.

OR

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Who is John Galt?

Thank you Karl for another great work.

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Learn how to live on $14,000 a year...

Forget that...learn live on above $14k - being broke/poor stinks...

Dakine wrote..

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Learn how to live on $14,000 a year...



Forget that...learn live on above $14k - being broke/poor stinks...

I suspect you speak of something about which you have NO EXPERIENCE!

I live "richer" now than when I had 20X my current income/spending.

Go ahead and feed the beast, Dakine. But don't opine where you have no knowledge.

Start with nothing in your possession and living on $14k stinks... yes - I have 'knowledge'....

Ok, Dakine. I stand corrected.

And, admittedly, starting with a good collection of "stuff" and a reasonable supply of FRNs makes $14k/yr easier. But it AIN'T bad, believe me!

you gotta hustle the clients first to live on 14k right truth :))

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Forget that...learn live on above $14k - being broke/poor stinks...

shhhh!

The remainder of your income comes from CASH transactions that cannot be traced.
jal

OK, Jv. I deserved that!

But at least MY clients got EXACTLY what they paid for...

I am still trying to hustle the clients so I can live off less :)). Hopefully someday soon life will be a lot simpler. A simpler life is the goal.