Near the end empires, massive corruption...economic,moral, military arrogance. the first sign is the destruction of the wealth of the country. the USD is the storage of wealth for many americans.
New ground to air missle technology can shoot down any jet or cruise missles. US cannot afford a ground war. heavy casualties in syria. like of hundred thousand troops need on the ground. street battles like vietnam. not like iraq US spends 2 trillion /year in military and totally useless. --------------
How on earth would we go to war when our debt is increasing $1T/year? This is crazy Another war that US gets involved and we will be exactly where Roman Empire before they collapsed Either get in to war and collect the expenses afterwards from whoever benefited Or don't get involved, period.
+1. all wars after WW2 US got itself into make no sense to me. NONE not economically,not politically.if all those money was used in R&D,rather being burned for nothing-cars would fly long time ago. The U.S. military is the single largest consumer of energy in the world
USA politicians like to pound on their chest, show their teeth, and strut like a rooster but cowardly pick on only those they think are weak. But with as much trouble as the USA has had with the weaker countries, the USA will likely loose if they have to go up against the likes of China or Russia. World War 2 would have looked very different if Germany had not picked a fight with the Soviet Union (the giant in the European Theater). However, I am sure the USA would be one hell of place for any foreign invader with all of the gun savvy gun owners in the USA.
+1 and this is precisely why US don't need all the military they have now. who would invade US? what for? the only reason for invasion would be retarded US foreign policy,that they have for decades.
I was looking for a place to post a good piece of media....investment related in a rather diversified way......economically driven (of course).....Bernanke, Central Bank strongly influenced, too..... ...when I came across this thread. I would be making a big, personal mistake by posting any more beyond the two STATEMENTS and OBSERVATION in the LATER section of this post as relates to what I have seen posted so far. I DO feel compelled to do the STATEMENTS and OBSERVATION, though, in the last half of this post. (I still want to get MY SUBJECT posted where there may be the most interest, and this thread doesn't appear to be it. I don't want to be a tease either. Happy to share it. I will leave an audio link. It is a Bloomberg interview of a sought after wealth management fellow. He gave in a minute or two some recommendations based on broader macro-economics considerations: "Gluskinâs Rosenberg Turns Bearish on Treasuries (Audio) (HEY...DON"T WORRY....I am directing you to something he said OTHER than treasuries.) Sep 27, 2013 David Rosenberg, chief economist and strategist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates, says the U.S. economy will "do better in 2014" and inflation will be more of a concern than deflation, making him "bearish on Treasuries." Rosenberg talks with Bloomberg's Tom Keene and Scarlet Fu on Bloomberg Radio's "Bloomberg Surveillance." It is only 10 minutes, but to cut to the quick, scroll the slide to the 7 minute mark, start listening, and really pay attention at the 8 minute mark. From there it is only a minute or so to listen. http://media.bloomberg.com/bb/avfile/News/Surveillance/vrFlENPZ_9vw.mp3 LATER: OK...here we go.... My take on what I am seeing being posted at this thread that I feel so compelled to post about,.... ....This thread is essentially chit chat. It is on a timely subject. We all have something to sink our teeth into on this thread. And into a LOT. And I suspect PASSIONATELY. It goes to the heart and soul of ME as I see the unfortunate destination of this country I love. I am passionate on the subject. (It is driving my life into new directions including putting my money where my mouth is when I say that.) MONEYMAKERSS, in my opinion your opening post--as simple, short, and pointed as it was--is in my opinion with one exception sadly factual. The operative words were "massive corruption," "economy," "morality." I take issue with "military arrogance." However, except for two statements and an observation, I am not going to post about any of this which of course this thread is about. STATEMENT 1: Those operative words I labeled as "sadly factual" should be replaced with TRAGIC. They are the characteristics of leadership in Washington D.C. And this is the leadership example we portray for our kids ! The same kids by the way that we have known for years before the financial crisis that are going to inherit the debt we leave them. Post financial crisis, we put that indebtedness into afterburner, rocket mode for them. The same kids who we have made dysfunctional after their schooling to be unable to get a career going. STATEMENT 2: MONEYMAKERS I make exception to your use of the phrase "military arrogance." Now maybe you are not really thinking about the military people themselves, but the arrogance in which they become a tool for leadership to wield. If you DO mean the arrogance of the military people themselves, you will have to give examples. I know of only one example in which you would be right. Lyndon Johnson allowed the ARMY to run the Campaign in Vietnam. In my opinion, the Army general in command was indeed arrogant. The Army, he believed, would win the entire Expedition on the ground. After 50,000 dead and countless others physically and/or mentally maimed by the time Nixon took the Presidency, Nixon chose to bomb the hell out of North Vietnam-- the 10-day Christmas bombing of strategic targets. The North Vietnamese raised the white flag to stop the war. (No other president before him had the guts to do that, because "the Red Chinese would come streaming across into Vietnam" was their logic.) Those two statements are the extent of my contributions to this thread. Essentially, (1) the tragedy of it all, and (2) my address rebutting the notion of military arrogance. OBSERVATION: Just a stand-off look at what posters are contributing: I see scattered facts, appearing generally true before the reaching of conclusions. I see primal screams. (Remember, I am passionate, too.) HOWEVER, I see armchair quarterbacking (OPINION-ATING) that I possibly may have respect for if the posters had credentials suggesting background in geopolitics. The learnedness I am seeking among those who enter this arena are a solidly educated background in history, economics, and a little political science. In contemporary times, CURRENT EVENTS and their details (which become HISTORY) are a must. What I am saying about the scattered facts posted here is that they lack the historical, economical, and political science CONTEXT. It is these disciplines that take these scattered facts, and tie them into a respectable thesis. Primal screams are justified. Pissing in the wind comes back to make a wet, usually embarrassed face. Why is this important ? I typically don't blame the leadership in Washington D.C. They are who they are. They were who they were when they got elected. I blame the voters who put them there making the same sound bites I see in this thread because they make conclusions with no background to be sound. Because I don't know the posters here, maybe the posters are in fact well schooled. If I knew that for sure, I would take the other side of the trade--having a different conclusion. What the hell...I may even become convinced. But that dialogue won't take place because I have another agenda to fulfill at ET. Maybe over a beer, though ? .......
Whats not to like??? Large Public works programs to keep the public happy ( welfare, ss, unemployment, food stamps, disability, fha,medicare, obamacare, wasteful subsidies, $123 trill unfunded liabilities) Large Wasteful military complex that gets into wars Currency debasement. Fallen gov'ts in the past had these things in common. OP Bearice reincarnated ?