Sraven wrote..

1. Stop working - yes, no more social security tax, no more income tax

This is unlikely to have any real effect. Your employer will hire someone else to do the job, and there are plenty of job-seekers out there. Then that other person will get the income and pay the tax.

Sraven wrote..

2. Sell your house - no more real estate tax

This one strikes me as particularly counter-productive. Whomever bought your house will still have to pay the tax. Meanwhile the beast has collected the real-estate transfer tax, and the buyer will likely have gotten himself a mortgage.

Numbers 3, 4, and 5 are good though.

-Uwe-

My ****ing head is spinning!

Since yesterday, Obama has put out 4 plans! 1 Home Loan Mod plan, 1 R&D tax credit plan, 1 small business plan and 1 road and rail plan.

STOP SPENDING! Jesus H Christ!

STRIKE NOW...EVERYBODY! Great KD~

Seems I've advocated for a national level strike, civil non-compliance, and being a civil(ized) PITA to .gov before. So Thank you Karl for this ticker!

So most people aren't in the position to easily and voluntarily take a week off to strike, but I'll bet many small businessmen are. Could start with a 2-3 day general closure. Each small business could send out a 'press release' and contact their local tv news to declare why they are closing down for 3 days. Flood the media. How big of a percentage is needed to get that ball rolling?

Playing the game within the system as a few here suggest is certainly valid too.

WITHHOLDING taxes for a period of time would certainly deliver a me$$age to .gov too. Escrow your funds in case you are singled out to be an example and need to stay out of jail or save your house/business, but if millions did this there should be good safety in numbers.

None of this works without large numbers though, so the involvement of many in influential positions is needed to spread the word set the date. Be those people a few 'good guy' politicians, or radio/'net personalities, or well to do business owners, or a combination thereof, they (much like Ayn Rand's story) are the ones needed to stop the wheels from turning.

What it will take to turn things around are getting 269 "untouchables" elected to Congress. You neeed 269 people with nothing to lose so that they can't be threatend or blackmailed into towing the party line.

I think it's crazy to say that we all should just stop working. Where does that lead? Also, not paying taxes doesn't do anything either. They just print up the amount that they need. As long as they have the printing presses, you aren't going to starve them. It might be different if they had to come after our gold. There you might have a fighting chance. But until the Federal Reserve is dismantled, you'll never get anywhere and we'll be slaves to the banksters forever.

A general strike will never work. There are far too many people who are willing to replace you.

What we to do is find a way to convince all the small business owners to stop sending in their quarterly taxes. If we can get 25% of the small businesses to stop feeding the beast, the rest will see no point in continuing. Stop filing quarterly taxes, stop collecting and sending in Social Security payments, etc. Doing things that way would mean that workers can continue to be productive for their employers and we starve the beast at the same time.

Of course the employer would have to give the employee what was supposed to be sent in to the government because it rightfully belongs to the employees but I'm sure that could be worked out.

Maitski... some good points, I like that "untouchables" idea, but the outright printing money has dangerous consequences to our nation, as Gen has pointed out in numerous tickers. If done thru proper channels, some entity has to buy that debt, and compounding interest on that debt builds up as a mathematical certainty and creates more obligations to be met.

I see "starving the beast" as more of a moral fight against the corruption and abuses of government, and we can all participate to whatever degree we feel comfortable.

I thought Gen was solid on stating that outright printing would jack the credit markets to a screeching halt and blow up interest rates thus blowing up .gov.

Thank you . . . You have illustrated my point very well . . .

'Talk is cheap'

- It's easy to talk about something but harder to actually do it.
Easy to talk about "Starving the Beast"
Easy to talk about "withdrawing consent"

And to be honest, I believe that is all it is "Talk"
Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk . . .
It's like one of those "hen pecking parties" men used to talk.
(Please - no offense meant to the ladies)
You sit around with your cup o tea and your doilies (you know what a doily is - it's one of little crocheted ornamental mats so famous at tea parites)
And you talk and talk, mostly gossip, but never DO anything about it -
Never DOING only whining and complaining.

If you aren't willing to do what it takes, simplify your life, . . . please
Stop complaining
Just take the Blue Pill. The story ends.
You wake in your bed and you believe whatever you want to believe.
And tomorrow you can take up crochet and create your own personal doily.
You can put a Flag on it and an Eagle and the words Patriot.
And live happily ever after

Most people simply cannot afford stop working and hence must pay the "ransom" for the privilege of working. The only way to fight back while still working is spending as little as possible, therefore denying "indirect" taxes levied on the consumption.

Folks, I see no way out. The only way out seems for the total collapse of the system. "Changes you can believe?" Strike that. " Justice for all via 9"? Ask bondholders of GM? Congressman and woman? Ha, what a joke? The only way to discipline Congressmen and women is to vote all incumbent out. Will that happen? Fat chance.

I just heard Obama announced a plan to spend, er, borrow, another 50 billion to jumpstart economy. The younger people ( defined as anyone under 45) of this country is doomed. They have themselves, their parents and their grandparents to thank for.

If the cops joined us three days would do it.

3 days, no work, no shopping, no pay bills, just stay home, sip a beer, and email your congress-slimes that you've gone on strike because of their misdeeds. The only hard thing about that is getting millions to do it at the same time. Period.

Grin and Bear it, the NWO does not give a flying **** a DOO, ABOUT YOU or any one else.
IT is more apparent, that congress has no control and is in,on the scam. They have a gun to their head, and by accepting all graf and evil directions, will be richly rewarded.
Soon, they fear that we the people will have a pitchfork pointing at their ass, but they are taking the high road, thinking they will be protected and treated as "elite".
We can not stop them, period. No way, no how.
It is planned and utter destruction, from within. Jefferson warned us about this, as he was against slavery and having nearly 100 slaves and bangin one every night. Why? Because he had to go with the flow, to gain influence and power.
The FED is not run by bernanke and our contry is not run by elected officials of government.
Only a perceived democracy.
Iran, and their "democracy" needs a constitution. ****, use ours, we don't use it anymore.
NIce ticker and creative thoughts, though.

Difster wrote..

What we to do is find a way to convince all the small business owners to stop sending in their quarterly taxes. If we can get 25% of the small businesses to stop feeding the beast, the rest will see no point in continuing. Stop filing quarterly taxes, stop collecting and sending in Social Security payments, etc.

This small business owner does not fancy being Bubba's cell-mate.

Glennb6 wrote..

So most people aren't in the position to easily and voluntarily take a week off to strike, but I'll bet many small businessmen are. Could start with a 2-3 day general closure. Each small business could send out a 'press release' and contact their local tv news to declare why they are closing down for 3 days.

That I would happily do if someone with a big enough soapbox actually coordinated it and I felt there was a chance of a few thousand others doing the same.

But it does take numbers. To paraphrase an old protest song: If just one person does it, they'll think he's crazy and it won't have any effect.

-Uwe-

http://www.zazzle.com/revolt_bumper_stic....

Disclaimer: I earn 10% for each bumper sticker sold. ^-^

John Michael Greer (Lefty Enviro type) made a similar point a few months back in an essay called "A Blindness to Systems".

(From the essay)
"I’ve come up with a way to eliminate unemployment in the United States – yes, even in the face of the current economic mess. What if I explained that it would also improve the effective standard of living of many American families and decrease their income tax burdens? And that it would also increase our economic resilience and sustainability, and simultaneously cause a significant decrease in the amount of automobile traffic on America’s streets and highways?"

His solution is to down speed and downsize your life. Have one parent stay home. Less gasoline spent going to work, and the corporatocracy of intrusive government and too big to fail companies are starved of capital.

Several other posters have already advanced the idea: if you don't owe anyone any money, you don't really need that much to have a pretty good living. Put your income to living and experiencing, not collecting stuff.

What if more of us mirrored Diocletian, who retired to gardening after he stepped down as Emperor?

"If you could show the cabbage that I planted with my own hands to your emperor, he definitely wouldn’t dare suggest that I replace the peace and happiness of this place with the storms of a never-satisfied greed."(Hinc Marius patrum memoria, hinc iste nostra communem habitum supergressi, dum animus potentiae expers tamquam inedia refecti insatiabilis est.) SEXTUS AURELIUS VICTOR, LIBER DE CAESARIBUS, 39.6

OK I had to drive an hour to pickup my craigslist find (bumper for my truck, new $4-$500, CL-$250) So i had time to think. I am a printer. I always tell people, "the power of the printing press belongs to those who own one" I have printed Tickers in the past and handed them out in my shop.
This one deserves more. I am willing to print thirty thousand copies. I will give them, 500 at a time, to the first people to PM me. You can pick them up completely free at my shop in East Texas or I will mail or UPS to you at your expense. I will send them and you can paypal me the postage when you get them. I only require that you do not ask for them unless you will commit to distributing them, they won't do any good if they end up on your backseat or a shelf in the garage. After it is formated for two sided printing I will post the PDF so you can print them locally if you choose.
Getting Karl's message in 30 thousand more hands cant hurt anything.

I recently did a checkup with my accountant. Based on what he anticipates for tax rates next year and my age and investments, he recommended I cut my income by roughly half next year. With my main business I will have worked 6 days a week with out a vacation and only taking off two days for Thanksgiving and three days for Christmas the last three years. This has generated over $250K of revenue each year and with my investments I am doing well. However, my accountant showed me where I will end up at the end of next year in almost as good shape as this year, working half as much. By working less I can take $$ from my SD IRA to make up for the lost income and not have it taxed at the potential 40% Hopey Clown and the Idiot Circus has in mind for me.
So this will free up someone to take my place??
I have discussed this with my clients and they are planning their Cap X work that I oversee around my schedule. My clients so far have been very supportive. They said this would help them in cost forecasting for projects and the contractors I work with are looking at their book for next year and are on board with it too. There are three other consultants that work for this client doing the same thing and as we are all about the same age and economic status, they have signed on with it also.
So four of us are going from $250k year to $125 or so. I can deplete my IRA without penalty and put it to, uh better use. My accountant has got me down to nothing before I am 70.
Am I starving the beast? Well he is going on a little diet. And if things turn around and Hopey Clown and the idiot circus are replaced, I can gear up and go back to good times.

Yes I really would like to see a good general strike get going. Some years ago there was some guy in South America who wouldn't give up power. They had a general strike and he was out in like three days. I forget who it was. He was holding on and holding on against all the POLITICAL pressure.
GENERAL STRIKE---poof.

I think they've pretty well figured out how to make it so you can't work or make any money so their time is limited anyway. At this point, I don't think they really care, their plan is to just spend and borrow until the currency collapses, they'll be off living wherever. I guess a general strike will just make it happen sooner rather than later but it will also send a message for the present.

"Sewer rates have gone from $1.15/cf in 1992 to $7.40 in 2008 (a more than six hundred percent increase)"

100% increase => $2.30
200% increase => $3.45
300% increase => $4.60
400% increase => $5.75
500% increase => $7.00

More than 5 hundred percent, instead of six hundred percent?

I'm reminded of the guy who said he "felt dirty in the eyes of God" for participating in the present system.

It often seems like the present system doesn't offer many opportunities in the way of honest, productive employment.

Not everyone feels soiled by their complicity with "the system," and I suppose there are many people who feel that such roles as are available to them do provide some overall social or economic benefit--besides a regular paycheck.

But I'm not feelin' it.

I can't help but wonder why people have put up with this as long as they have, why more people haven't looked for a way to "drop out," so to speak, and devote their lives to doing something they really believe in and value.

While there are lots of reasons for this, I think one very big reason is that no one knows what they really believe in and value, and they have very little idea about who they are and what they might want to do. This is mainly because of relentless programming--designed to tell us who we are and what we want to do, and what we should believe in and value.

It would be some world, wouldn't it, if people refused to degrade themselves in the service of a corrupt system?

I remember my grandfather saying he would never work for no man.

A friend of my Aunt's had built a restaurant with his own hands - a place out in the country that he built - it was very rustic - like hand built log structure rustic. Anyway, as the town grew out toward him and I imagine the Depression lifted, it prospered. His sweat equity built something lasting for his children and went untaxed for decades.

We need to learn from these Depression survivors.

Sharon wrote..

they have very little idea about who they are and what they might want to do

There is a great deal of insight in this statement. They call it "the rat race" for a reason: like rats, people are easily caught up in their base instincts and the monotony of everyday routines and rituals. Most Americans (who work) are far too busy and exhausted to contemplate the meaning of their existence on a regular basis, never mind keeping abreast of what's going on in the political or financial sphere. (Yes, let's be honest: what percentage of the population reads the Ticker, or any similar publications? What percentage would refuse to read such things, even if they were being paid for it?)

Having traveled the world a bit, I know well that Americans work harder and faster than most others, and take far less time off for leisure and pleasure. It's the vestiges of the old Puritan ethic, which cause us to enslave ourselves quite voluntarily.

I do not see any chance of mass uprising any time soon. Historically speaking, popular revolts happen only when the population is pushed past its collective breaking point. As long as the vast majority of Americans remain materially (if not spiritually) comfortable and reasonably busy, they will leave the status quo in place. The power and economic elites know this quite well; they're banking on it, and they're quite correct in their assessment.

Nothing will change until 30%+ of the population is unemployed, bankrupt, and living in tent cities. At that point we're a third-world country with a proud past, perfectly ripe for takeover by a nationalist demagogue with ambitions for a Fourth Reich... Oh yeah, it can indeed happen here -- just like it can (and did) happen elsewhere. I do sincerely hope we can dodge that bullet when the time comes...

Yet until we're approaching the breaking point, I remain extremely skeptical of any "populist" movements (e.g. Tea Party); they all smell of AstroTurf. For instance, look at the role of Koch Industries, as recently exposed by The New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/....

Until a true crisis grips the country, kicking every citizen in the wallet and directly in the gut, all you're liable to see is engineered tempests in teapots.

Fantastic work Karl, might be your very best. It is amazing to me that, aside from a few people protesting the AIG bonuses, there has been almost ZERO large-scale outrage directed at the financial criminals. Not a single person in handcuffs, with all the blood and theft and wrecked lives that are directly on their hands. It's sad.

Someone also posted a link to an editorial by Reich in the comments above - I highly recommend everyone read it. Income inequality is the problem and only a truly complacent (drugged on reality TV) populace could have allowed things to get to this point.

The rich get richer while the rest run faster trying to stay in place (or fall behind, more likely). At some point there will be a worker revolution in the USA, history proves that this is almost a certainty. It isn't possible to maintain these obscene levels of inequality indefinitely in a society - eventually people will say enough.

Here it is ladies and gentleman.

Karl Denninger is calling for a general strike until a Communist dictatorship is installed and eliminates "them" -- Them, of course being the rich, the kulaks, and anyone who gets in their way in performance of their righteous task of enforced "equality.