When will the penny drop ?

Good thread.

I used to consider myself well financially educated - i.e. I had read the foundation books (Rich Dad Poor Dad, Richest Man in Babylon, Think and Grow Rich) and many others on specific investment classes, but mainly real estate and shares

I had more than one property, had dabbled in shares, managed funds, CFDs, etc. and had very mainstream views on how I would achieve financial independence (mind you even this amount of reading and mainstream thinking is above 95% of the population - IMO).

Then a number of factors led me to this site and I started doing some more reading, including 2 Rolling Stone articles on Goldman Sachs. I was dumbfounded! And a bit scared and angry at the same time. I realised things did not work the way I had always thought.

So I've been making up for lost time ever since and aggressively growing my stack and reshuffling priorities.

While I always felt a little disconnected with the average person (no idea of economics, world issues, glued to facebook, reality tv, etc) and often saw the masses getting off the trains in the morning as rodents on their way to the treadmill, that disconnect has grown substantially since I've seen the light.

So to answer the question, no I don't think the penny will drop for the general populace until its literally smacking them in the face.

As it is, those who I try to speak to about the issues we're facing at the moment, and my investment in PMs look at me as if I'm a little crazy (a question I have pondered myself many times both before and after).

Now I just hope that I have time to reach my goals before the SHTF - a good smackdown would go a fair to helping with that.

 

That is just what THEY want you to think man.......put on a foil hat and think again!

 

All good stuff FMF, but did you buy yourself a decent gold detector?

 

I did EM - the best - GPX 5000 with Nugget Finder coils

Just gotta find them damn nuggets now :/

(In the midst of planning a 12 month trip around Oz, with detecting heavily featured)

 

I can fully understand people switching off from doom and gloom forecasts. We are bombarded with it constantly. I have been hearing it all since the 70s - the world is overpopulated, peal oil, pollution, global warming, environmental catastrophes, famine, weapons of mass destruction - just listen to the news these days and it is all depressing.

Financial meltdown becomes just another one of those doom predictions to most people so how much of this can a person listen to and take seriously? How many people have the time to even read and learn about these things. I am quite sure that the great majority of people would consider it all exaggeration and fear mongering. After all, how many of us even bother to talk to others about it, without them thinking us a crazy fanatic 'consipracy theory freak'.

I know before I discovered this site I was already thinking about the huge US debt, and of gold as a way of preserving wealth but after spending a few months of reading all the stuff on this site and references I became really engrossed in the subject of world finance and started stacking silver , but it does take time to research and ordinary people just would not take the time to do it. Most people I know would rather just go out and buy a lotto ticket.

After all, maybe nothing will happen, or it may take many more years than we think and something quite unexpected may cause a complete turnaround in the meantime.

Are we guilty of living in a constant state of fear of what is going to happen instead of living for the day? :|

 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCUOEoPucJ8[/youtube]

~ Bill Hicks


"If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed."

~ Mark Twain


I switched off the TV in 2005, we still have one but there is no aerial. I have a mobile plan but no mobile phone ($5 plan = $10 discount on internet). Last gadget I bought was a wood fired pizza oven.

I would be in trouble without my internet though!

I don't think the Sheeple as they are called will ever have the penny drop! The main stream media will chose a target, at the moment it is immigrants, and have the whole thing blamed on them, or cheap workforces abroad, or the Greeks, or someone else, whoever.

The best we can hope is that the masses turn on the banking system or the politicians but they are hardly going to bite the hand that feeds them, best to stick with the immigrants and gypsies.

 

It's no different a mindset to what you see regularly on SS. Check the RE forums here and you'll see this ideology is alive and well, with a large following of agreeable stackers on board.

As for the rest?

Was covered pretty well actually by a recent YouTube series by the Sons of Liberty Academy

http://SonsOfLibertyAcademy.com

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUWQ3yu19Bk[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzU5X3RfHjg[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evmi0U2zjrw[/youtube]

I think you'd have to be pretty blind or bias to assume that SS is anything above what the average Joe out there is.

Just 5 minutes looking at the abundance of 'investment' style threads here shows clearly that the only thing that separates us from them is that we use better insider information to squeeze the system whilst the average idiot just follows the herd and hopes for the best.

When it all goes to shit. many here may be on the 2nd bottom rung other than the absolute bottom rung financially and honestly, that's about all that separates many people here from the herd we lambast out there.

 

Agreed,

Usually the gov run media, spin and generate stories that have us fighting amongst ourselves. To conquer is to divide; have the masses spend most of there disposable time and resources on pointless self interest consumerism, to perpetuate fear so we disengage from community and give support to unlawful wars ourself fearful of being classified as a criminal for not paying a parking fine. To ask for more entitlements till we eventually are indoctrinated into slavery rather than self reliance and liberty. To end up owning nothing and forgetting who we are by dumming us down with politically correct mantra and a carefully planned curriculum for our children within our education system so we no little of any importance, to target the males within our society so we are pushed to the edge of the herd and picked off rather than stand up and defend as our rightful role. To break down the family unit with new legal definitions of marriage, for example. To generate countless thousands and thousands of statutes and by-laws that no one could ever possibly be aware of and comply with, to form countless treaties with the UN that imposes additional statutes to our people and businesses to comply with.

Yes I do look and notice the people in our public transport system, hurridly walking the streets in peak hour, and boxed up in there cars and wonder where there level of awareness sits. I feel a sense of collective concern for what we are losing and where in the west we headed too.

However, there is a feeling stirring, people are waking up and have noticed some change in people and attitude.

When an extreme situation forms at the same time a counter move usually generates to self regulate the distortion.

 

Chilli said (on a thread similar to this):

"...We are all interacting with people we would probably not mix with in our everyday lives.
We are on this forum a bit like a minestrone soup, ones a carrot, ones celery, some are old onions, other fresh onions, some beans, others are the garlic, some hot or mild chilli , others are the salt or pepper. Now how shall we cook this minestrone soup ?..."

One of the best comments Ive read on here, ever!

My version goes "Get over it and get on with it."

 

Mmmm, I love Chilli. Some herbs make me fart (no offence Basil)

 

Don't get me started on The Project.



Remember just a few months ago everyone was on the Kony bandwagon? :lol:

This thread is great.

 

I went for 2.5 years without a TV a few years ago after it broke and I couldn't afford a new one. Was bliss.

I got a new housemate who went stir crazy after 1 week and used his first paycheck (he moved interstate to get a job) to buy one. When he left a couple of years later went without again for a couple of years until I inherited one when my grandparents died.

Thankfully as a result of the period without we still don't use the TV much (and especially not as a babysitting device for the young'un). She doesn't care (because she never knew any different) and was reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory level books out loud to us before she was five. [Not her favourite but indicative of her ability.]

Now if I could only wean myself off this bloody forum. Spend waaay too much time on here nowadays :lol:

 

Just heard the best new saying in a long time.

There are three kinds of people in the world.

1) Those that make things happen

2) Those that watch things happen

and

3) Those that say " what the f**k just happened?"

You don't want to be in the third group.

 

Has not dropped for the 50 people lining up in the mall this morning to get a new i phone............

Felt like yelling at them or asking if they knew the POS

Very sad.........

 

I was watching one of Chris Duanes videos yesterday and he said "when someone enters a new consciousness, they will never revert back to the old" I think he sums it up pretty well. Its going to be an awakening process which will pick up speed and spread. Cant say I've been very influential over anyone though, I think its something that has to happen on your own.

 

"A mind that is expanded by a new idea will never go back to it's original dimension" -Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Born March 8, 1841 Died March 6, 1935

 

I like one of the David Morgan sayings

"If everybody is thinking the same, then nobody is thinking at all"

 

An article I read the other day,

One day, I was walking through the grocery store. I had just finished writing my first 55 Lessons , and so it was like that feeling that you get, when you feel like you have actually accomplished something. You may feel a bit tired, but have a sense of relief. As I stood in line to check out, I was wondering if anyone would really appreciate 55 spiritual teachings. And at that very moment, I glanced down, and there was a Cosmopolitan magazine with a sexy super model on the cover and some big bold black print that read: "55 Ways to Seduce a Man". That's when it hit me the earth plane.

I had just written 55 Ways to Spiritually Evolve and They Want 55 Ways to Seduce a Man.

I said to myself, "People Don't Want 55 Spiritual Teachings People Want 55 Ways to Seduce Each Other. People want sex, money, entertainment, and materialism." Magazines spend massive amounts of money every year on demographic research and analysis to determine the interests of markets. In other words, they determine What People Want and then they sell it to them. I was a creative director in marketing communications for 20 years, so I know a bit about it. But, everybody knows what sells anyway.

So, let's have a bit of fun with this

A few months ago, I was curious about the actual numbers, so I did a bit of research on Average Global Monthly Searches for certain keywords. What people are searching for is what people are looking for. What people are looking for is What People Want. You may find it more surprising than you think.

My initial question was on "spiritual teachings." I found there were only 2,900 Global Monthly Searches for 'spiritual teachings'. So, I was like, "ok, kind of fits my theory, but it's really metaphysics so, let's check: metaphysics". I found that 'metaphysics' has 368,000 Global Monthly Searches. So, I was like, "ok, it's an improvement, but most people don't even know what metaphysics even means, so let's check on: philosophy". And I found that 'philosophy' improved to 5,000,000 Global Monthly Searches. Cool.

Then, I said, "ok just out of curiosity, let's check: religion". And 'religion' checked in with 11,100,000 Global Monthly Searches. So, I said, "wow. let's check: God". And God checked in with 55,600,000 Global Monthly Searches. And I said, "Holy Cow, God, did you know that people are looking for you, and not a religion? The numbers prove it 5 to 1. And God said, "So Let It Be Written, So Let It Be Done". OK

And then I heard Jim say, "Five to One Baby, One in Five. No One Here Gets Out Alive." But never mind.

So, I looked up what was next. 'Money' checked in, with 68,000,000 Global Monthly Searches. And then 'Dining and Entertainment' combined, checked in with 72,200,000 Global Monthly Searches. 'Love' more than doubled them with 185,000,000 Global Monthly Searches. Wow, What People Want is Love, Money, and Food. But to really see what I was analyzing, I had to check Global Monthly Searches for: 'Sex'.

'Sex' gets 618,000,000 Global Monthly Searches that's 618 Million for the numerically impaired.

My initial comparison was to find out the difference between Average Global Monthly Searches between: 'Spiritual Teachings' (2,900) and 'Sex' (618,000,000). 'Spiritual Teachings' didn't even come close. The figure didn't even show up on the graph. I had to combine the total figures for 'spiritual teachings', 'metaphysics', and 'philosophy', just to get a hairline to visually show up on the graph. Funny, eh?

Ok. It's nothing new. Everybody knows that sex sells, but the actual number of Global Monthly Searches for 'Sex' is staggering. To be searching for sex on the internet is Not Normal it's strange. You don't have sex with a computer. You have sex with another person another human being. And if you think the search for sex is isolated to men, you're wrong. There's 151 Million Global Monthly Searches for 'Men', 83.1 Million searches for 'Boys', 124 Million searches for 'Women', and 226 Million searches for 'Girls'. So, girls and women are looking for it, almost as much as the boys and men are.

Now, What Do People Want even more than sex? Take a guess. What do you think people are looking for more than sex? What do you think could even possibly come in higher than sex? Take a guess. Take another. People usually can't answer this one. It baffles 'em. Wait for it Wait for it

Movies! The Global Monthly Searches for 'Movie' and 'Movies' combined, ranked in at 1,124,000,000 1.124 Billion Global Monthly Searches 13.4 Billion Global Searches a Year for Movies! Movies Win! People want 'movies' almost twice as much as they want 'sex'. People want 'movies' six times more than they want 'love'. People want 'sex' three times more than they want 'love'. Food, money, god, religion, and metaphysics don't even come close. Don't Blame Me. This is the world you live in.

According to an Analysis of Global Statistics, all you really have to do to make the world happy is: Don't Talk About Metaphysics, Spirituality, Religion, or God Just Make Some Money Love Someone Take Them Out for Dinner Buy a Few Drinks Take Them to a Movie and Then Have Sex with Them.

Ha, ha, ha. It's too hilarious.

But Just So You Know I also did a little bit more research

There are 68 Million People a Month that "Don't Know Why They Do What They Do".

There are 414 Million People a Month that "Don't Know What They Are Doing".

I'm sure the figures are higher than that, these figures are just the ones that admit it.

So, just because you get lucky enough to have someone take you out for dinner, drinks, movies, and some sex it doesn't necessarily mean that they know what they are doing or why they are even doing what they are doing so you may actually end up disappointed with their poor performance.

Ha, ha, ha.

This world is ruled by entertainment and sex. The numbers prove it. There's a very small percentage of people in this world that are actually looking for something beyond what the world of ego and the system have to offer to them. There's a very small percentage of people in this world that are actually looking for something sacred. Truth and Wisdom aren't mainstream.

2012 - Khris Krepcik