borrowing – debt – interest

Prophetic Protocol

Prophetic Protocol on December 6, 2008

In the unfolding crisis of global finance and economics, it is important to discern (as best one can) the plans both of the Lord God and of his enemies. Many people may be hoping that the crisis will ease off in the near future, thanks to the apparently energetic interventions of many governments, but such an easing would serve neither the justice and mercy of God, nor the ambition of his enemies . . .

One commentator gives seven structural reasons why the crisis is by no means over. Four of them concern our present lamentable money system, whereby the mass of money circulating in the world is loaned into existence, so that if nobody lends or borrows, there will be no money to circulate: 1 Most potential borrowers in the USA, private or corporate, are now tapped out, so anybody lending to them is liable to go under. 2 Nobody can force households or businesses to borrow or spend. 3 Nobody can force lenders to lend, especially when most borrowers are insolvent. 4 Whatever money people can get hold of is going to paying down debt, or to savings.

The other reasons for the party being over are: 5 The real estate-finance-insurance economy is dead, because transaction and debt velocity are way down, with nothing to stop them falling still further. 6 Governments and corporations alike are living with fantasyland expectations of yesterday`s revenues being sustained tomorrow. 7 The USA already has too much of everything, e.g. hotels, offices, homes, cars, television sets, etc, etc. Inventories are full, and liable to move slowly at best. The party is over. Over.

Now money-men are amongst the most astute and motivated of mortals. It is inconceivable that they did not see this crash coming. Consider this text, published in 1905: “We shall create by all the underground methods available to us, and with the aid of gold which is all in our hands, a universal economic crisis whereby we shall throw on the streets whole mobs of workers simultaneously in all the countries of Europe. These mobs will rush delightedly to shed the blood of those whom, in the simplicity of their ignorance, they have envied from their cradles, and whose property they will then be able to loot. But “ours” they will not touch . . . we shall take measures to protect our own.”

Now the class warfare planned for 20th century Europe by means of Communism may have been replaced by race warfare planned for the 21st century globe by means of immigration, but the basic plan, to be achieved by gold through a “universal economic crisis,” has apparently not changed.

And the Lord God`s plan? To use his very enemies, the Masters of Gold hungering for global domination, as a scourge to lay across the backs of his apostate children throughout the world, who have turned away from him, to materialism . . . to gold.

Kyrie eleison.

Giga-Shenanigans

Giga-Shenanigans on October 18, 2008

Without pretending to be any kind of an expert on matters financial or economic, I have for over a year now been following with a keen interest the evolution of the financial crisis that burst upon the global scene in the summer of last year, 2007. One could guess that it would have an impact on all of our daily lives, and also it seemed to be the beginning of that massive reality check which a number of us have long since seen coming.

As to our daily lives, a recent article on CREDIT CARDS made good sense. It said, get rid of them! The crisis consists essentially in mountains of debt, piled up over tens, even hundreds, of years, and which must be paid back or defaulted on. Now credit cards are an all too easy way of running up debt, and the rates of interest to be paid on them are often sheer usury. Unless one is very disciplined in their use, they should be torn apart and thrown away, and debit cards should be used in their place, if necessary. St. Paul says, owe nothing to any man, except charity (Romans XIII, 8). The Old Testament says, the debtor is slave of the creditor (Proverbs, XXII, 7).

As for the grander question of a global reality check, many things are not clear in what is happening, because the hidden paymasters of the media make sure that we never get the complete truth on their television or in their newspapers. What their lies will not twist, their half-truths and omissions will conceal. They are an “operation of error” (II Thess, II, 10).

However, a few things seem clear. Firstly, the recent 700 billion dollar “bailout” in the USA is a mere drop in the bucket compared with the problem to be bailed out – a mountain-range of 1.4 quadrillion (thousand thousand thousand thousand million) dollars’ worth of worthless debt hanging upon “derivatives” (highly complicated financial instruments of many kinds, whose value derives from other assets). Secondly, only by fantasy and greed can so many money-men over the last 20 years have chosen to deal, or let themselves be tricked into dealing, in such worthless paper, that its collapse now threatens the global economy.

But it is absurd to imagine that the world’s top money-men did not foresee the danger. The evidence abounds that they deliberately created the danger, so that to avoid losing all our goodies in a global collapse we would come begging to them to impose on us their global police-state. We have worshipped Mammon. Now Mammon is poised to enslave us.

Kyrie eleison.

Old-Fashioned Advice

Old-Fashioned Advice on May 10, 2008

A priestly colleague of the Society of St. Pius X in the United States who judges, as I do, that it is not outside our duties to watch the unfolding of the dramatic crisis now engulfing the world’s entire financial structure, as put in place after World War II, gave me last month a copy of a series of practical points of advice which he hands out to his threatened flock. Let them be shared with readers of “Eleison Comments.”

Since the situation is grave enough for panic to emerge as a possible temptation, he begins with an important principle: “Do not panic, but use prudence,” i.e. realistic good sense as to what is not only desirable but also practicable . He continues with seven points on the handling of HOME FINANCES:

– Stay out of debt, or, at least go into no more debt.

– Pay off credit cards.

– If you cannot pay for it with cash, do not buy it.

– Pay off the car. Buy a used car with cash, if that is what it will take to get rid of heavy monthly payments.

– If you are in an adjustable rate mortgage, get out of it fast, and change to a fixed rate mortgage. The latter may be more expensive, but it is certainly less risky. On any monthly mortgage payment, always pay down more against the principal, if possible. Better still, pay off the entire mortgage with the bank, if you can, by borrowing from a relative, but make a mortgage with the relative, so that it remains tax deductible.

– Consider down-sizing your home if that is what it will take to get rid of the bank mortgage.

– If you have savings, hold gold and silver.

As to HOME LOCATION, my colleague continues: “You should consider moving if you live in a big city. If the dollar goes bust, the State will be unable to make welfare payments, and neighborhoods and even suburbs will become much more dangerous places.”

Finally, as to the MEDIA (firmly in the hands of the enemies of true order), he makes three precious points:

– Do not believe what the media tell you.

– Axe the television set, prime poisoner of people’s minds.

– Forget the big newspapers and “conservative” talk radio.

To this excellent old-fashioned advice, but which it may or may not still be possible to put into practice, let me myself add one point, which can always be put into practice: if the family is not yet praying the daily Rosary, start tonight!

Kyrie eleison.

Storm Advice

Storm Advice on December 22, 2007

The Christmas present for readers of “Eleison Comments” will be some practical advice for what looks like a very ugly financial situation advancing upon all of us. The advice comes from a man who worked on Wall Street for a number of years, now retired. Nobody is obliged to take seriously what he says:

1. Maintain at least 1,000 dollars in cash in a safe place inside your home.

2. Consider carefully whether any investments you may have are easily redeemable.

3. If you own securities, make sure you obtain stock certificates documenting your ownership.

4. Do not maintain any bank account in excess of 100,000, and consider carefully just how much faith you have in the government’s willingness or capacity to truly insure your “FDIC-insured” bank account.

5. Consider carefully keeping some funds in a currency such as Swiss francs, or purchase gold or silver coins if you believe these will not be confiscated in the event of a financial crisis.

6. Consider withdrawing from any debt instruments currently yielding less than the present true rate of inflation.

7. Consider withdrawing funds from tax-deferred investment plans, despite any penalty that will be incurred, because a crisis may make such funds in effect inaccessible.

8. Consider just how liquid your stock holdings may be in a crisis, because markets can and have been closed, and your assets can be frozen while they lose their value.

9. Develop a master plan for riding out the storm should there be a disruption of essential goods and services.

10. Do not take out loans under any circumstances.

11. Cut back on consumption. Buy necessities and eliminate purchases of “extras.”

12. Increase cash savings. Save no less than 10% of net monthly income.

13. If a major bank fails, seriously consider withdrawing all funds held in savings accounts and all but the bare minimum necessary for current expenses in checking accounts.

Forgive me, dear readers, for adding a 14 – do not ask “Eleison Comments” for financial advice, because “Eleison Comments” is incapable of giving any such advice. It is only capable of recognizing that we have made idols out of our money and our governments, and we are all going to be punished through our money and our governments. God is merciful, but he is also just. The Divine Baby came to Bethlehem to save our souls, not to save our money. Happy Christmas.

Kyrie eleison.

Get Real

Get Real on August 11, 2007

The state of mankind today is desperate. The mass of human beings in the nations that – alas! – lead the world are living not in God’s reality but in a dream-world of their own making, which they then impose on reality. There will soon be a hefty reality check, and it is one check that will not bounce!

Take for instance how Western women – and men – who can do so, fight the reality of their ageing. While God certainly designed the beauty of youth to ensure that marriages would continue the human race, he never designed this beauty to last into middle – or old! – age as an ongoing temptation. Is there not something pathetic about how wives – and parents, grandparents – can feel forced to look as young as possible, as long as possible?

Or take finance, a reality now looming. All the Western nations are deeply in debt. The United States in particular was technically bankrupt in the early to mid-nineties, yet its insane borrowing has gone on and on. On June 7, the US national debt stood at nearly nine trillion dollars. The annual interest on that debt is 406 billion dollars a year, or well over one billion dollars every day. The debt is increasing at the rate of 1.38 billion dollars every day.

Within the USA, here summarized is how one realist describes the financial situation: “The Credit Market has dislocated, liquidity has evaporated, and if the Federal Reserve intervenes once more in an effort to save the Bubble Economy, the day of reckoning may be delayed but it will only be the harsher. Confidence in “Wall Street finance” has been shattered because the manic bubble in Credit Insurance, derivatives and guarantees is bursting, the manic bubble in leveraged speculation is in serious jeopardy, and the currency markets are a derivative accident waiting to happen. It has been a senseless Credit and speculative orgy. There will be a very, very heavy price to pay.”

By whose fault? That of the money-men and their hidden masters? Of course. But who allowed themselves to be suckered into believing in easier and easier money? Unreal investors!

By the fault of the politicians and the same masters? Of course. As one US Congressman recently said, he and his colleagues are unhappy because they deep down know they have heavily indebted their children tomorrow to get re-elected today. But who did the re-electing of such free-lunch politicians? Unreal electors!

So what should Catholics (and not only Catholics) do? Get real. Fasten seat-belts. Get out of debt (Rom. XIII, 8) as far as possible, as soon as possible, though it may be too late. And prepare to thank God for the coming reality check, because it will be rather healthier for the salvation of souls than today’s Goldilocks economics.

Kyrie eleison.