EVEN ATHEISTS ARE FAITH BASED
GREG FOREST·MONDAY, JULY 17, 2017
There has been a lot of talk and speculation about the diminishing size of people who would describe themselves as “religious.” Regardless of where you are on the theological spectrum, from atheist to fundamentalist, we are all people of faith – not questioning the creed, making daily tithes, and decisions that effect our lives while thinking that a Higher Power has their backs. The U.S., and all other countries worldwide are submerged in a faith-based monetary system that incorporates all the dogmas of religion including, I’m sorry to say, End Times and Armageddon.
I suppose I should insert a very important caveat here, I am not an economist or expert on finance. I don’t need to be. Common sense and basic arithmetic serve as my primary tools. Not being an expert is actually an advantage as the plethora of expert findings and explanations coming from those that rule our economy are very long, complex and esoteric. Economists and monetary experts know this litany well and realize it is complete bullshit. The complexity of the numbers is such that nobody has the time or inclination to drill down into the numbers. To our economic Masters, the working class’s lack of understanding of how things really work is a feature, not a bug.
Since Richard Nixon separated gold from our currency in 1971, we have been using money that is only worth the paper and ink that it is printed on, if even that. You could no longer convert dollars to gold and our money was now, “backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.” Which means that the dollar in your pocket only has value if you have faith in the solvency of the U.S., the Federal Reserve and the strength of the U.S. economy.
So if you look at the Federal Reserve and its policies, it is easy to apply not complex mathematical models, but common sense to the current situation. What happens when those who have been buying our debt no long have faith in the credit worthiness of the U.S. government? They look elsewhere to park their money and seek safer harbors for their wealth.
It is similar to buying a new car, what would be the chances of acquiring a loan be if your credit was already vastly overextended, there is no money in your bank account and you have no visible source of income? You would basically be asking for a signature loan based only on the bank’s faith that somehow, even factoring in your current economic status, you will be able to repay the debt. Even the sleaziest car loan companies would hesitate to extend you credit. That should have been the situation when bankers looked at home mortgages during the run up to the 2008 crash. That is similar to how U.S. and global investors are now shying away from parking their money in what used to be the safest an most stable currency in the world.
The exposure in derivative market was floating at around $15 trillion in 2008. That number has ballooned to over $668 trillion – many times the total value of the annual planetary GDP. There isn’t enough capital in the world to cover these bets should the banker’s overreach plunge us into the next major financial crisis – one that would make 2008 look like missing lunch money.
While this is going on every day, the U.S. consumer/taxpayer blithely goes about their day thinking that all is well and the men behind the wizard’s curtain have things under control. They have faith that institutions like the F.D.I.C have their backs regarding their savings. The reality is that as of 2016 the reserve amount to cover bank failures required by law to be in the F.D.I.C. coffers is a whopping 2%! Should a global economic meltdown occur again, for every $100 in your savings account, the F.D.I.C. will have your back to the tune of $2. If there is a major run on the banks you probably won’t get even that much as it is possible the bank’s doors will be shuttered and the ATM network won’t let you access your accounts. Needless to say the economy will grind to a screeching halt when there is no money (at least any that has any intrinsic value) in circulation. Even atheists should pray this doesn’t happen.