Peace Games
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010Author James The Wanderer
The 1983 movie _War Games_ has a sentient computer put in charge (actually, it gains control) of all American nuclear weapons. The computer “games” all the possible outcomes of thermonuclear war, whether the Americans attack first, the Russians attack first, the Russians attack the Chinese who then attack America, and so on; we watch a world map where Joshua (the computer) plots out which millions die, how, where, in hundreds of scenarios, and then the map clears.
[after playing out all possible outcomes for Global Thermonuclear War]
Joshua: Greetings, Professor Falken.
Stephen Falken: Hello, Joshua.
Joshua: A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.
[Source: Wikipedia]
It turns out that this outcome was one the programmer, Stephen Falken, was trying to teach the computer in the first place. Long a staple of leftist pacifists, I suspect the moral “The only wining move is not to play” has now been learned by an entire audience that the Left never expected to, in an arena they never intended it to apply to.
We are learning that the only way to deal with totalitarian Statist policies is not to play.
Entrepreneurs are learning the rules can be changed, overnight, in radical and punishing ways.
The Chrysler bondholders learned it first; a rogue White House and President can rewrite settled bankruptcy laws to benefit unions over investors. New “tanning taxes”, “special fees” and “accelerated collections” can throw cost-expense projections into a cocked hat, in a moment; what sane investor would lend or borrow money under such conditions? In the process of “change”, uncertainty is increased, and no planning is possible. Enough uncertainty keeps money in banks (who might need it to cover increased reserve requirements), in venture capital firms (who can’t figure which way to bet) and in consumer pockets (those lucky enough to still have some, anyway). New ventures can’t find cash to get started; existing firms can’t hire new people, lest they trigger new obligations that could swamp them.
Of course, those in charge in Washington are the smartest, sharpest knives in the world, let alone the Washington drawer; having learned from TARP, bailouts, ObamaCare, and the other “stimulus” efforts, they are now preparing to …. pass “financial reform”, “cap & trade” and more.
Having noticed a drop in tourism due to the BP oil leak fiasco, they now … declare a moratorium on offshore drilling, to raise unemployment on the Gulf Coast higher, and increase reliance on imported oil. Having seen the “divisive” politics of the Tea Party, they now … decide voting rights of white Americans (and, by extension, those of Latino, Asian and other groups) are deniable by Black activists carrying nightsticks at polling places.
There is no feasible solution to incompetent government in the short term; nominally, we must wait until November to vote out the idiots currently in charge, and neuter the remaining ones until 2012.
However, there are things you can do, on a personal level, to mitigate some of the undesirable side effects:
1 ) Avoid doing business with the Imperial Federal Government, if you still are. If your business
is dependent on Federal largesse, consider other suppliers; after all, you cannot depend on
the current regime to keep its promises anyway, so why get or stay involved with them?
2 ) Set aside at least a six-months’ supply of everything you need or use. Tough to do, but vital for future success; if Obama loses in November, and catastrophe somehow misses us (two different scenarios, by the way; see _Wargames_ above), at best you’ll have supplies to work down, and lower your expenses for a while, At worst, you may eat, while other unplanned individuals aroundyou may not. Don’t advertise your supplies, though, or the Statists may take them from you (in order to “level the playing field”).
3 ) Spread the word; save as many with knowledge that you can. The danger period (volatility, unrest or decline) may well last DECADES, so the more who know, the more will survive.
4 ) Don’t forget to vote in November for candidates who will end the madness, assuming elections are held as scheduled. If not, have a Plan B to avoid captivity (make sure your passports are valid, and know where the nearest border is, and how you’ll get there). If practical, send some money overseas, to places where Uncle Sam can’t easily grab or bottle it up away from your control. Sadly, this probably isn’t Canada or Mexico, the closest neighbors; both will probably roll over for Federal grabs of your money.
There are lots of resources on the Web for information on travel, overseas bank accounts, and so forth. Do your homework, make your plans, and fight for what’s worth saving. We may yet Rebuild The Republic, but it won’t be easy or simple; the bastards have had years to set up the problems. Hold on and outlast the villains, the best revenge is living well – after the Crunch, comes the Rebuild. I’m setting aside tools and resources as I write – are you?
Related posts:
Cheri says:
July 21st, 2010
2:38 pm
Here! Here! If we were in the same room, I would stand up and applaud. I had a long conversation/argument with a couple of coworkers this morning talking about “things”. They are younger and still think big daddy POTUS in gonna save ‘em. Worse, they believe that because the big bad banks (which they are) weren’t punished for their misdeeds in Real Estate they shouldn’t be either (suffering for having foreclosed homes and possible bankruptcies). Incredible justification, very similar to POTUS saying something to the effect of: Republicans never told Bush no on deficit spending and suddenly they want to pay for things. The intellectual disconnect can be staggering. Accountability is becoming a quaint archaic concept.
There is no point in playing a game you can’t win, way take a page from the new Star Trek’s “can’t-win” scenario and Captain Kurt’s “reject the premise and change the parameters”.
Cheri
Steve Foste says:
July 21st, 2010
5:47 pm
Just a quick note. Catch Lindas new venue and comment here.
http://www.themeshreport.com/running-scared/
Steve Foste says:
July 21st, 2010
6:02 pm
Nice article James.
You are right, the choice is not to play the game, the question is how do you opt out of the game. It becomes more challenging every day, taxes, government control, racism, politics, possible inflation, deflation, no jobs. Just making ends meet for the typical american and the day to day grind is becomeing overwhelming to the average american and small business. There is an unseen burden building across the land that people cannot put their finger on, they sense it in their daily affairs but are so set in the way things have always been that they don’t understand why things don’t work the way they think they should.
Anger and frustration is becomeing more the norm in our daily activites, people have been spoiled by this instant satisfaction economy and life. People have gotten to the point that the want everything fixed at a moments notice, 24 hr. service, they are angry if the things they want right now are not available immediately and if they don’t have ready cash available for thier wants and needs immediatly, they get angry if they cannot obtain instant credit or obtain a handout somewhere.
This immediate satisfaction consumerism has actually been the downfall of this country, and it is the mental mindset of our government that fuels this pattern.
Millions of people go to work everyday, but do many of them produce anything?
Yes I want to opt out of the system and be self sufficent and independent, but honestly I do not have the answer to that lifestyle.
David Franklin says:
July 21st, 2010
6:10 pm
Hi Steve,
One possible option is to work together in a CO-OP. The necessary part is finding others to join with you, who together, have the cumulative experience and skills to make it a go.
Such a CO-Operative would require mechanical & electrical trouble shooting and repair skills, Food planting, growing, harvesting and storage knowledge, cooking skills, maintenance skills, manual labor, physical fitness, animal husbandry & health care, etc.
You get the idea. Few communes of the 60′s & 70′s survived due to too many mouths to feed but not enough skills and knowledge to do the work.
Think about it. I know I would fit in very well someplace, with many vital skills and yet still, a vital, energetic mind and body at 63.
Kind Regards,
Dave
Linda Brady Traynham says:
July 21st, 2010
7:46 pm
Laughter! I just nagged over at W&G and come over here to find three new articles. That’ll teach me to go home first.
James…superb, dear, particularly the first part. W&G has been my own private diamond pit for finding bright, capable, articulate, clever, ethical people. Cheri, Stephen, and Dave, great comments that deserve better than this brief “Hurrah!” but I’ve got a fairly reasonable excuse, involvement with http://www.themeshreport.com. Adam is on the stock exchange, is the author of “Trifecta Trading,” and tutors in Technical Analysis. The site is in the test phase now with an audience of 20,000, but Adam expects ten times that many before the year is out. Dave, I sent your excellent criticism over to Adam. I won’t prejudice the others by telling them what it was. I always share my toys nicely, and this is another outlet for our talents. OUR talents, sweet, loony, bright, much appreciated friends.
Lynne says:
July 21st, 2010
11:37 pm
The first thing to do is define the problem. For a problem defined is already half solved. As James says it is out of control government. You will have to do a lot of things that take more work. From raising a garden and and animals to homeschooling and going to cash and barter systems. You are a threat, as much as early christians were seen as a threat/scapegoat to Rome or Jews have been seen as a threat/scapegoat to Europe through the ages. Yet the Christians and Jews survived.
Get smart Iran and China can’t stop the internet so start going slowly under the radar. Firefox has a private browsing feature, you can encrypt hard drives and data cd/dvd’s with free software. Go cash and barter whenever possible, use freecycle and yardsales for getting rid of stuff you don’t need and requesting stuff or cash for stuff you want. I’m not advocating breaking the law. Just go to a cash basis, and be private with your info as much as possible.
Politicians seldom account for “Friction”, cause and effect or reality in their plans. I have greater motivation in avoiding taxes than any g-man has for catching me. I save money every time if/when caught and the g-man gets paid the same no matter what he does. Politicians always see people as static and unchanging and don’t account how quickly folks will adapt and change patterns in their own self-interest. Take NY City for instance, they raised cigarette taxes at the same time the NY State tax enforcement folks cut the budget to save money. So cigarette smugglers have an almost free ride and all of the surrounding states have seen an increase in cigarette sales.
The feds couldn’t stop ‘shine during prohibition or 5% of all the drugs coming into this country. Don’t get me started on all the illegals here in this country. Be smart, be the “gray man”.
Steve Foste says:
July 22nd, 2010
4:39 pm
Cool Lynne, seems to be one of my favorite words lately.
James the Wanderer says:
July 22nd, 2010
4:46 pm
Wow, thanks for all the comments! i was beginning to think Admin had “lost” this article, but he was just building up a surge!
Thanks, Cheri, but personal responsibility is becoming a thing of the past. I took out a note for this house, at the time they were willing to lend me a good chunk more than I wanted, so I said “No” and paid about 45% loan-to-value; now they won’t re-finance at lower rates, unless I pay a chunk of fees, and they also say I wouldn’t qualify for my EXISTING loan under their REVISED underwriting rules! Still holding on, paying it down month by month, and I doubt 40% of America is still doing that (according to the foreclosure statistics). But keep trying to educate your friends, they will learn eventually to keep their word or no one will trade with them. I do agree with “reject the premise and change the parameters”, frequently it’s the only way to move ahead.
Steve, Peggy Noonan writes columns like your comment; “we know something’s wrong, but not what to do about it” shows up pretty frequently in her columns. You may not be able to completely withdraw, but please lessen the impact by doing what you can. Right now, just being self-sufficient in ANYTHING, such as food, even for a short time might just make the difference between being a survivor or a statistic. Put some cash in gold and silver if you can, bottle some water and bag some rice and you’ll be ahead of 75% of the country. It’ll be hard to watch the foolish suffer, but it beats suffering yourself because YOU were unprepared. Thanks for commenting!
Go get ‘em, Dave, 63 years and still young! We need more like you – and I plan on being the bootlegger for my co-op, once settled down somewhere. Two degrees in chemical engineering, I SHOULD be able to brew decent slash out of nearly anything with sugars! Good to hear from you.
Texas Lady, are you up to something new? I guess I’ll just have to mosey over and see – was there part of the article (above) that you DIDN’T like? I can take gripes as well as cheers – and the gripes might just make me a better writer, after all (once I’ve cooled down)!
It’s good to hear from you.
Lynne, I’m not as far into the gray market as I could be, but I have sold a few items on Craigslist (a great resource, by the way) and benefited from other ideas as well. Glad to hear you are winning the game, and gaining camouflage – I’ll work on being a chameleon, myself, as I get better.
Once again, thank you one and all for comments, knowledge and support – this is a great place to write and learn!
Cheers!
james
Steve Foste says:
July 24th, 2010
7:55 am
Future Predictions,
I have posted my thoughts about the future on my blog if any one is interested in reading.
http://survivalandliberty.blogspot.com/2010/07/predictions.html
Steve
Linda Brady Traynham says:
July 24th, 2010
8:15 pm
James, I’m as proud of you as if I had invented you! Your articles are great, and my usual complaint…you live too far away to come den up with us. What I am UP to is very interesting, indeed, although it is never going to replace my affection for and participation in the Texas Ring, best li’l site in the whole USA. Michael reported that 5% of those who drop over to visit sign up! This is a BIG compliment.
So…I got an e-mail on investing from some fellow I never heard of, and it was very well written. So I shot him back a brief Ed letter to say so, and he replied, “Wanna talk?!” I said, no, I prefer to write, meaning e-mails. He said this succinctly and I said that briefly and he offered me a column on a new newsletter he’s starting up! http://www.themeshreport.com. Verrrry interesting fellow, it turns out. (Ck that out at http://www.adammesh.com.) There is no conflict with W&G or TTR, since I’m writing primarily on technical analysis, although I have full editorial control. Adam is treating me royally! Right now we’re in the trial stage with a test group of 20,000 readers, but he expects his 170,000 from elsewhere to join, and for us to grow. It’s free, fast-paced, sometimes lively, very fast exchange of info, go see what you think about it. I’m getting my own featured button! (Gosh, I must have worked four days to earn it…) DO look at Christian Tharpe’s work. He already has a button, but the other writers don’t. He gives brief, interesting lessons in charting. In some ways I’m way out of my depth, but the boss likes me, and vice versa. And THANK you, Tony and Steve for submissions in the last couple of days. I’m scrambling a bit to get my feet under me to write for three sites because I refuse to make articles do double duty by writing slightly different versions.
Gosh…I love all of you so! Keep up the great work, please. Linda