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America’s Stubborn Left Clings to Nicolas Maduro Despite All Evidence

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by Jenipher Camino Gonzalez

It’s time to admit that Venezuela’s “21st century socialism” failed.

President Donald Trump’s full-fledged backing of Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president of Venezuela last week, was met with a bipartisan support among American political leaders. But one stubborn segment of the ideological spectrum is unimpressed and has gone so far as to compare Trump’s move to America’s 20th century transgressions in the region. These protests are being led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Noam Chomsky and other notable cheerleaders of former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who brought socialism to the country two decades ago. The elder statesman of America’s left penned a tone-deaf letter, co-signed by dozens of U.S. intellectuals, rejecting attempts by Venezuela’s opposition to remove Nicolás Maduro from office and insisting that U.S. sanctions are to blame for “worsening” Venezuela’s economic calamities.

Although the Democratic Party establishment has fully embraced Guaido, freshman members of its new House majority have troublingly joined the chorus against Trump’s decision.

Rep. Ro Kahnna (D–Calif.) took a shot at Sen. Dick Durbin (D–Ill.) for embracing the opposition leader, calling Venezuela’s situation an “internal, polarized conflict.” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D–Minn.) took to Twitter to decry “U.S. meddling,” adding that Venezuela’s Supreme Court, stacked with Maduro loyalists, had declared Guaido’s action “unconstitutional.” Never mind that in 2017, that same court allowed Maduro to strip Venezuela’s Congress—the only governing institution he did not then control—of its powers and set up a parallel legislature, essentially giving him dictatorial power.

To be clear, supporting Maduro or downplaying the catastrophe he and Chavez have overseen in Venezuela is a fringe position. The leadership there is responsible for human rights abuses, rampant corruption, and a full-blown humanitarian crisis in the region, with the United Nations putting the number of Venezuelan refugees abroad at a staggering 3 million, or almost 10 percent of the country’s total population.

Last year, Maduro was re-elected in what the U.S. called “a sham election,” which the European Union said was neither free nor fair. Among the abuses, second-place candidate Henri Falcon accused the government of buying votes through food and money giveaways at polling stations.

Internationally, Guaido has the backing of a vast majority of Latin America nations, the U.K., Canada, Australia, and counting. The E.U. has given Maduro eight days to call new, credible elections or it will also back the 35-year-old opposition leader.

With Maduro’s dismal record and a nearly worldwide consensus against him, why are some on America’s left turning their fire on the United States instead?

Venezuela’s Socialist Failure

Hugo Chavez’s experiment was cleverly dubbed “socialism of the 21st century,” in part to lure and charm the international left, which was hungry for another shot at making socialism work somewhere.

Read the Whole Article

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Business

Wealth Transfer around Collapsing Asset Prices

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The decimation of the middle class continues through 23% unemployment1 and the daily evaporation of net worth. Those who remain employed are running to stand still  taking up the slack of former, less fortunate, co-workers. Mortgage holders above water are the exception and many are cashing in what’s left of their 401k to meet expenses. The word retirement is fading into the dreams of yesteryear and will be a mere web-search term for children born after 2000.

There is a moral, peaceful and non-violent way to be on the receiving end of this slow-motion artificial wealth transfer. One of the keys is to understand . . .

Why Asset Prices Collapse

“Asset prices collapse during periods of hyperinflation when priced in gold.”2

When first reading that I wondered, “If assets are desirable and the currency is worthless then why would their price go down?” The answer is that prices rise in fiat and fall in gold. Why would prices fall when measured in gold? Current news headlines provide some answers:

  1. Some assets were overpriced to begin with and are returning to normal.
  2. Unemployment leaves people with less to spend causing less demand.
  3. Those with income cut back, save more and buy less causing less demand.
  4. Current housing inventory and projected foreclosures could meet demand for three years of sales. That figure is closer to four months in an efficient market.
  5. Equites, when priced in gold, have lost enough real value to cause people to flee into safer investments.
  6. Retirement plans are being liquidated to meet monthly expenses
  7. Luxury items are being sold to meet monthly expenses.

If current trends continue #2, #3, #5, #6 and #7 will get worse. If the banksters checkmate themselves into an inflationary corner then they will get much worse.

Women, Computers and Volcker to the Rescue?

In the early 80’s America was rescued from runaway inflation by three things:  A massive influx of women into the workforce, the personal computer and the temporarily sane monetary policy of Paul Volcker. Many women followed the pied piper of woman’s liberation but the piper’s agenda was to double the work-force tax base. The second rescue was the personal computer and the ensuing  productivity boost it poured into the economy. From a monetary point of view the same amount of money was now circulating in an economy with more productive workers and twice as many of them. Once again, the American public and ingenious entrepreneurs saved the state from its incompetence. Mom is now gone from the house, working and replaced with daycare and using computers developed by private entrepreneurs. And yet, it’s Paul Volckers’  monetary policy that is purported to have rescued America.

Is there anything on the horizon that could rescue the economy, today, as women and computers did in the early 80’s? Cold fusion? Free energy from the sky? A quadrupling of workers or their productivity? I’m not sure. But, there are ways to rescue oneself and family in any circumstances if they are understood.

Inflation and What Else?

The US has done more to cause hyperinflation than any country that’s ever actually had it. And yet, the US continues to escape this well-earned fate. Instead, bubble after bubble is popped and the proceeds are put into the bags of the ones who create them.  For those who care about macroeconomic measures the most reasonable short-term expectations are more of the same of the last decade:

  1. Informal Devaluation
  2. Stagflation
  3. Continued Decline

Great, but it’s a waste of time to dote on things one has no control of. Instead, why not bone up on the usual ways wealth is transferred under these circumstances? The “Collapse” that everyone is expecting is occurring in slow motion. However, since it’s easier to see the trades if we pretend it will happen overnight I’ll refer to what I think will happen over many years as the “Collapse”, below.

Wealth Transfer around Collapsing Asset Prices

Vulture economics is wealth transfer from weak to strong, emotional to rational, unprepared to prepared, city dweller to farmer, productive to unproductive, Keynesian to Austrian, and from the manipulated to manipulator. In a crisis the unprepared and wealthy (In fiat only) will sell anything to meet basic needs. In Weimar, well-to-do city dwellers came out to the countryside to exchange cigars for meat, pianos for wheat flour and gold watches for potatos.3 In essence, they traded Diamonds for Water.

Prior to Collapse

In a trade of Diamonds for Water the guy with the water gets both and the guy with the diamonds gets some water before losing both.

The general pre-collapse roadmap is to:

  1. Think like a foreigner in your own country.
  2. Move towards employment and safety.
  3. Postpone the purchase (And sell excess) of future collapsing assets.
  4. Don’t payoff your house. Make the minimum payments on all mortgages and large fixed debts.
  5. Purchase real money and wealth storing assets.
  6. Stock up on the life essentials while they’re available and cheap.
  7. Invest in the factors of your own production.
  8. Warn who you can without causing resentment.
  9. Make a shopping list for the eye of the storm.

My Optimal choices are laid out in Your Optimal Bailout Plan, Depression Proof Your Money, Checklist for Hard Times and 240 Jobs That Won’t Disappear in an Economic Crisis. Essentially, you sell assets whose price will collapse (Further) and buy the staples of life while they’re available and cheap. Later you buy the “diamonds” by preserving the purchasing power of your savings and not relying on anyone to provide life essentials for your family. If hyperinflation occurs pay off your mortgage with an egg. If it doesn’t use silver and inflation to pay off your house.

Foreigner in Your Own Country

You hear it all the time: Those ‘foreigners’ come over here with suitcases and buy everything in sight because the Euro/Yen/Yuan/Franc is strong. The opposite used to be the norm: Americans traveling everywhere for $10 a day on world wide shopping sprees.

Gold is the best money in the world and enables easy conversion to every form of cash. If your idea of cash is limited to government issued fiat then at least hold a stable one. They’re all based on nothing but Swiss Francs and Canadian dollars will faire better than the dollar. See How To Buy Swiss Francs in 5 Minutes or Less.

Today, you can swap in and out of any currency in the world with the click of a button. There’s nothing to prevent swapping into the strongest fiat of the moment. It’s well known that during the currency crisis’ of Chile and Argentina the first people to exchange local fiat for US dollars were among the few to keep their savings from disappearing into smoke. Those who bought dollars prior to the official devaluations and newly issued local currency were saved. Soon it will be even more ironic that the widespread use of US dollars provided the stability needed for these countries to transition into a new fiat currency based on ten times the nothing of the first one that collapsed.

Or, you can “play it safe” and keep your “money” in the bank.  You’ll be able to retain and spend every cent as it’s being devalued.

Field Trip

Take $500 to the bank and tell them you’re going on a trip to Switzerland and would like to purchase Swiss Francs. Take the Swiss Francs and put them in your pocket and let the feeling of having cash wash over you. If you ever need emergency cash convert them back and you’ll probably get more dollars than you started with.

Factors of Your Production

The best investment is in the factors of your own production: Health, education, training, building a strong network and community. If there’s no market for your specialty consider moving and/or directly producing what your family needs. Create a water rain catch system, grow your own food, make your on electricity, etc..

“Before you hunker down get out of the way”4

Many people are newly unemployed. Though beyond the scope of this article to explore would moving be a better use of your time than scanning the want ads? Would a move within the US, or to another country, be the best start of a new business or profession?

Wealth Storage

The TRJ/CRB is a benchmark representation of commodities as an asset class. These commodities are not the only place to store wealth but they do represent assets with well established markets.

  1. Aluminum
  2. Cocoa
  3. Coffee
  4. Copper
  5. Corn
  6. Cotton
  7. Crude Oil
  8. Gold
  9. Heating Oil
  10. Lean Hogs
  11. Live Cattle
  12. Natural Gas
  13. Nickel
  14. Orange Juice
  15. Silver
  16. Soybeans
  17. Sugar
  18. Unleaded Gas
  19. Wheat

Most of these have indexes for those who trust brokerage accounts. At least 10 of them, however, could be personally purchased and stored. Notice this list is in the Before Collapse section of the article.

Collapsing Assets

All of the following assets are collapsing and will continue to collapse relative to gold. Don’t be fooled by nominal price increases in fiat. Sell them now, if you can.

  • The US Dollar
  • Municipal Bonds
  • US Treasuries
  • High Multiple (P/E) Stocks
  • Financial Stocks
  • Equities in consumer discretionaries
  • Grand Pianos
  • Diamonds
  • Luxury cars
  • Yachts
  • Jewelry
  • Rental Houses
  • Designer Watches
  • Designer Handbags
  • Recreational (Only) Property
  • Luxury (Empty) Apartments
  • Overpriced Wine

Signals to Look For

The Mainstream Media does not report real news so you’ll have to glean the timing of the worst part of the collapse from alternative media or inductive reasoning applied to personal observations. The short list would be:

  • Witnessing a diamonds for water trade.
  • A precipitous rise in gold or silver.
  • Stock market collapse or close.
  • Sharp increase in the rate of failing banks.
  • Social unrest, heated protests or riots.
  • Bank holiday followed by formal devaluation.

We had family members stay with us, last Christmas, from Venezuela. The week after they returned home Chavez devaluated the Bolivar by 40% for non-food and medicine imports causing panicked shoppers to flood the stores to beat overnight price increases. A devaluation of 40-50% seems to be the norm. States may fear social unrest if taking more than 50% of people’s money overnight.

During Collapse

  1. Trade gold, silver or other wealth storing assets for assets whose price has collapsed, but, still represent good underlying value.
  2. Stay out of the way of those competing for food, water and essentials.
  3. Help whatever family and friends you can.
  4. Pay off your mortgage and all fixed debts denominated in the collapsing currency.
  5. Buy houses, land or whatever real estate you can use and manage.
  6. Buy equities of companies unlikely to be nationalized (If there are any) and who produce things needed to rebuild.
  7. Go bargain hunting with whatever you have left.

Shopping List

  • Real Estate
  • Farm equipment
  • Fertilizers
  • Agricultural commodities
  • Energy producers
  • Mining companies
  • Oil producers
  • Energy
  • Forestry
  • Manufacturing
  • Mining
  • Transportation
  • Utilities
  • Water

Real estate now shifts to a good buy as people dump it for essentials or to escape. You may have sold luxury condos and vacant rental houses prior to the collapse. Now is your chance to get them back … if you want ’em.

Gold Cost Average the Purchase of Real Estate

You can do it with stocks so why not with real estate?

It’s the same principle, just harder to imagine because real estate is rarely cheap enough to allow it. Instead of lamenting the nominal price drop of your house buy two or three more during the collapse. When things return to normal it will more than make up for what you overpaid in the housing bubble. By this time you may have already paid off your house with silver because the mortgage is denominated in fiat and you’ve got real money.

When sanity returns you will have saved yourself from being one of those guys you meet who got burned in Peru, Chile or Argentina and are still bitter over never having recovered from the collapse.

After the Collapse

Welcome to the latest third world country. Your neighborhood is starting to resemble the pictures from your last trip to Mexico. The middle class is gone or fled, labor is cheap, imported goods are expensive and the local goods get exported to countries that can afford them. Infrastructure disintegrates for lack of money and power outages are  a way of life.

Try to look on the bright side: Markets have been cleared of toxic debt, derivatives have disappeared, entitlement programs have been cut or renegotiated and policy makers have learned their lesson!? Or is that being too optimistic?

Well, at least labor is cheap and you can afford a nanny for each child if that’s your style. And massages, spa treatments, manicures and dinner out will be as affordable as they were on that last trip to the Belize!

Don’t Be a Vulture

The problem with eating raw flesh and blood is that it’s not good for you. Vulture economics requires stomach bacteria for digesting flesh without remorse. You’re not a genius to be in a temporary position of strength with your fellow man. But, you have a chance to act like one for recognizing him as such. This is your moment to shine by using strength in an exemplary manner. The golden rule remains golden. Will you?

If someone offers diamonds for water give them water and let them keep their “precious” diamonds. Use the chaos to invest in assets and people who are going to improve lives. If anyone’s going to be left with capital to rebuild why shouldn’t it be the good guys?

“For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.”

– Matthew 25:29

1Shadowstats, September 9th, 2014

2In Peter Schiff’s 2007 edition of Crashproof

3When Money Dies: The Nightmare of the Weimar Collapse

by ADAM FERGUSSON.

4Peter Schiff, “The Little Book Of Bull Moves in a Bear Market”

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Business

240 Jobs That Won’t Disappear in an Economic Crisis

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The real unemployment rate is 22%.1 John Williams predicted a climb to 35% in light of the many negative converging factors of this artificial economic crisis we’re in.

A job lost in this economy is hard to replace. We may attempt to do what we love and hope the money will follow. However, less division of labor means less job choice. With one out of three workers unemployed it may come down to to doing what we must so that groceries will follow.

If you have a job hold onto it by:

  1. Becoming an invaluable employee with a superior attitude.
  2. Volunteering for extra work and showing great interest in what’s profitable for the business.
  3. Helping your company cut costs and waste.
  4. Contributing to your companies goal of bringing in revenue or new customers.
  5. Being a source of income, not expense, to the company your work for.

If you lost a job, recently, can you work part-time for your previous employer or hire yourself out in the same field?

If not, it’s back to the drawing board of . . .

Matching Abilities to Market Opportunities

In good times we may have the luxury of matching our most fulfilling abilities with a market opportunity. With less opportunities we have to either create our own market in line with our purpose (Optimal, but not easy) or match one of our less fulfilling abilities to a remaining opportunity. Either way, it’s helpful to have a clear view of what opportunities still exist.

The purpose of this article is to keep a running list of jobs and opportunities that exist even when the economy goes south. Such a list is useful to both entrepreneurs and job seekers, alike. Obviously, the more self-knowledge you have about the complete range of your strengths, weaknesses, values, goals and purpose the better chance you have at optimizing the work you do in any environment. However, a comprehensive list of jobs, known to be available in hard times, makes it much easier to zero-in on a best fit. My hope for this list of Jobs is that it:

  • Puts a wide range of opportunities in front of you all at once.
  • Jars your mind into creating a clear picture of what always needs to get done
  • Points out an opportunity you might have missed or never thought of.
  • Causes you to think of something, not on the list, that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise (Please e-mail me your suggestions).
  • Enables you to optimize a match between your abilities and market opportunities rather than taking the first thing that comes along.
  • Enables a jump to higher state, closer to your individual purpose, even during these hard times.

As a list maker I know the value of a complete list. Although overwhelming, at first, its true value is the specific insight they give. You’ll care about only two to five items on this list. But, you’ve got to sift through a mountain of dirt to get to a gem. And, your dirt is someone else’s gem. The goal is to do what needs to be done that nobody else can, or is willing, to do.

Range of Strengths

People have a range of strengths and talents and are very adaptable. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that each person is capable of doing 100 different jobs for which they could get paid. Let’s also say that each of those 100 jobs were listed out and prioritized such that job 100 was least preferred and job one was most preferred. It would be a very fortunate person working only on jobs 1 through 5. In hard times, however, one may need to flexible and willing to do any of those 100 jobs depending on what opportunities exist.

Of all the things you can do, for which there are opportunities available, pick the ones you could do, with relative ease, better than 80% of the people. It may sound cold, but, if you can’t perform in the top 20% then you’re a general worker and more likely to be expendable as companies cut back.

Consider More Than One

The ideal work for you may be doing two or three of these jobs on a part-time basis and getting your own small business started as a long term project. There may not be full-time work for your top choice and businesses seek temporary help during hard times. Even if you can find steady work in your top choices it’s always wise to hedge risk through multiple sources if income.

The Ways of Hard Times

In hard times, people and businesses tend to:

  • Fix, not replace, existing equipment.
  • Expand sources of revenue for their business.
  • Cut the number of paid work hours in the week (Furlough days).
  • Ask employees to take pay cuts.
  • Focus on cutting costs to the bone.
  • Take better care of what they have.
  • Focus on essential needs rather than desires.
  • Seek entertainment or psychological relief from endless worries.
  • Seek temporary help rather than full-time employees.
  • Keep work in-house rather than outsource.

Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous (And in Demand)

There’s always work available for people willing to perform dirty, difficult or dangerous jobs. Since these terms are subjective only you can decide what they mean. Ideally, something others consider difficult is not difficult for you. Same goes for dirty or dangerous. To provide good samples I’ve included all the jobs from the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs and denoted them with an asterisk.

Work is Everything You Must Do

Anything you must do to provide for the needs of your family is work. When performing this work you are employed whether you’re paid or not.

What we really need is to provide food, clothes, shelter and security for our families. We need the real things listed in Checklist for Hard Times. A job is an indirect means of providing these real things for our family. Anything you can do to provide them, directly, decreases your dependency on working for someone else.

  • Barter with your excess instead of spending new money you have to work for.
  • Cut overhead.
  • Swap services and expertise with trusted friends.
  • Store new money into real things instead of disintegrating fiat money.

All the simple things suggested in Your Optimal Bailout Plan and Depression Proof your money can be done whether you have a formal job or not. In fact, being formally unemployed may create a time and space to work on eliminating the need for a conventional job, altogether!

After all, who cares if your labeled ‘unemployed’ if you’re meeting all the needs of your family?!

Jobs For Hard Times

Anyone who has seen a balance sheet for a business knows there’s a small number of income sources and a large number of expenses. Each job, below, represents a possible source of income.

(Note: This is a running list. Please e-mail your ideas for additions and subtractions. I’ll post them here at YourOptimal so others may benefit.)

Accounting – Cut costs and avoid taxes
Accupuncturist
Agricultural Equip. Parts & Personnel
Airport Maintenance*
Alligator Farmer*
Alpaca Farmer*
Alternative Communications Systems
Animal Barber*
Appliance Repair
Auto Mechanic
Auto Parts & Personnel
Bakery
Bankruptcy Consultant
Bar – Tender, Keep, Supplier
Barge Demolition*
Barter Exchanges – Clearing Houses For Goods.
Bat Guano Collector*
Battery Recharging Services
Bee Exterminator*
Beekeeper
Bicycle Shop & Repair
Big Animal Vet*
Billboard Installer*
Bio-Diesel Recovery*
Blacksmith
Blogger or Freelance Writer in a Unique Niche
Bodywork – Car, Truck
Bologna Maker*
Bridge Painter*
Buoy Cleaner*
Bus Driver
Camel Rancher*
Candle Maker
Cardboard Packaging
Career Counselor
Carpenter – Temp shelters, House Repair, Security
Casino Food Recycler*
Catfish Noodler*
Cattle Rancher*
Cave Cleanup*
Cave Digger – Excavate Wine Caverns In Napa Valley*
Cell Tower Maintenance
Charcoal Maker*
Cheese Maker*
Chick Sexer*
Chicken Raising/Breeding
Child Daycare
Chimney Sweeper*
Chiropractor
City Hall Jobs
Coal Miner*
Coffee Shop – Barista, Proprietor
Communications Equipment Repair
Community Colleges – Career (Re)Training
Complementary alternative medicine
Computer Rental & Repair
Concrete Spreader*
Cook/Chef
Cooper – Barrel maker
Copywriters for Ad Copy
Cosmetologist – Basics That Boost Spirits
County Clerk Office
Crab Fisherman*
Crawfisher*
Custodian for Empty Buildings
Dairy Farmer*
Debt Advisor
Debt Collection
Demolition Worker*
Dentistry/Oral Surgery
Diaper Cleaner*
Direct Marketing
Disaster Cleanup*
Doctor
Doctor’s Offices
Drivers – Bus, Van, Truck, Dumptruck
Drugstores
Educational Services – Trade Schools, Retraining
Egg Farm*
Electrician (Power Generation & Distribution, Communication)
Electronic Waste Recycling*
Engine Repair / Mechanic / Machinist
Engineer (Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Metallurgical/Materials)
Entertainment And Diversions – DVD Rental
Exterminator*
Farm Equipment Repairman
Fill-In Worker For No Shows
Firearms Instructor
Fish Gutter*
Fix Things
Food Recycler*
Foreclosure Services
Fruit
Fuel Tank Cleaner*
Garbage Collector*
Garbage Pit Technician  – Convert Trash Into Electricity*
Gardener
Gasoline Service Stations
General Stores – Mom And Pop
Generators Ac & Dc (Supply, Repair, Maint, Installer)
Glass Maker*
Goat Farmer*
Golf Ball Diver*
Goose Down Plucker*
Gourd Maker*
Green Algae Grower*
Grocery Store
Groundskeeper for Large Estates
Guns And Ammo Supply
Gunsmith
Handyman (Carpenter, Plumber, Roofer, Mr. Fix it)
Harvest Field Workers
Harvest Hops*
Harvest Walnuts*
Healthcare Services (Admin, Therapy)
Heating Oil Tank Removal*
Herb Grower/Supplier (Medicinal)
High-Rise Window Washer*
Home Retrofitting For Senior Access
Home Security And Locksmithing
Homeschooling Teachers
Honey Harvester*
Hoof Cleaner*
Horse Breeder*
Hot Tar Roofer*
Hunter/Trapper
Hydroelectric Dam Maintenance*
Import / Export – Anything & Everything
Infrastructure Repair – Communications, Utilities, Roads
Installing Insulation
Internet Café
Junkyard Dealers
Language Translator
Lawn & Garden Parts & Personnel
Leatherwork / Tanner
Leech Trapper*
Liquor Stores
Locksmith
Maggot Farmer*
Marketers – Drum Up Business
Massage Therapist
Mattress Recycler*
Mechanic –  Aircraft
Mechanic – Automobile
Mechanic – Keeping Stuff Running
Midwife
Mortician
Mosquito Control*
Mule Logger*
Museum Conservator
Mushroom Farmer*
Nurse
Nursery Worker
Off-grid Power Supply – Sell, Install, Repair, Consult
Oil Drilling*
Optometrists
Ostrich Farmer*
Oyster Harvester*
ParaLegal Services
Paramedics/EMT
Parent – Stay at Home, Homeschooling
Parts & Personnel for EVERYTHING
Pawn Shops
Pest Control*
Pet Groomer*
Pharmacist
Physical Therapy
Physician (General Practice, Surgeon, Ob-Gyn)
Physician Assistants
Pig Farmer*
Plumber
Plumbing Parts & Personnel
Potato Farmer*
Power Supplies – Fix, Repair, Maint
Precious Metal Dealer
Psychological Counseling
Recharge Batteries
Reindeer Farmer*
Reloading
Repair – Home, Car, Commercial, And Industrial Repair
Repair Shops
Repairs And Maintenance Of All Kinds
Repairing Utilities
Repossession Services
Roadkill Recovery*
Rock Quarry*
RV Maint & Repair
Salespeople
Salt Miner*
Salt Supplier
Schoolbus Driver
Scrap Metal Recycling*
Second Hand Stores
Security Consultant
Security Guard
Security Improvements – Building Barriers, Install Cameras
Seed Supplier
Senior Care Management
Septic Tank Technician*
Sewer Inspector*
Shark Catcher*
Sheep Castrator*
Shoe Repair
Shrimper*
Skull Cleaner*
Sludge Recycler*
Snow Plowing
Soldier – If you really must
Spray Insulation*
Steam Ship Cleaner*
Steel Mill Worker & Recovery*
Stonemason/Bricklayer
Storage Unit Cleanout
Storm Drain Metal Recovery*
Street Vendors – Meat, Corn, Fruit, Ice Cream, Tacos, Candy
Sunken Logs Recovery*
Survival Supplies Dealer
Swap Meets – Setup, Organizers
Tailoring/Alterations
Teacher/Tutor
Telephone Repair
Temporary Workers (Biggest Category And Opportunity Here)
Termite Controller*
Tire Recycler*
Tofu Maker*
Toilet Crusher And Recycler*
Towtruck Driver
Trade Schools
Truck Farming And Large Scale Vegetable Gardening
Turkey Farmer*
Unloading Railroad Cars
Utilities
Van Drivers
Vegetable Gardening
Vellum Maker – Turns Animal Hides In To Paper*
Veterinarian
Vice: Sex, Moonshine, Drugs, Gambling
Waste Water Sewage Plant*
Welder
Well Digger*
Wind Farm Technician*
Windshield Glass Repair
Wine Maker*
Wood Stoves
Worm Rancher*

*These were featured jobs on the the Discovery Channel show “Dirty Jobs“.

1It’s 9/2/2014

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Business

Depression Proof Your Money

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The money printing bailouts have only just begun.

Yes, we’ve had some deflationary bankruptcies to help decrease the money supply, thank God. But, as you can see, even the most staunch conservatives are now begging the government to crank up the printing presses. As history predicts, they just can’t help themselves.

Most of the strongest advocates for the bailouts know what they’re doing. They know that pumping this much fiat money into the economy will lead to hyperinflation. But, whoever gets the money first can use it to purchase valuable assets while it still has some purchasing power left. By the time the money makes its way to you and me its purchasing power will be mostly gone.

But, there’s still time. . . (As of 9/25/2008) . . .

. . .To Depression-proof your hard earned money, savings and retirement plans from the upcoming hyperinflationary depression.

If you know what to do it doesn’t take long to:

Move Your Money From Here . . .

  • Bank Accounts
  • Savings Accounts
  • CD’s
  • Government Sponsored Bonds
  • Money Market Accounts
  • US Domestic Stocks
  • Financial Stocks of Any Kind, in Any Country
  • Treasury Bills
  • Municipal Bonds
  • Mutual Funds Made Up of Primarily US Domestic Equities
  • Bonds and/or Bond Funds of Any Kind
  • Under Your Bed
  • In Your Backyard

. . .To Here

  • Swiss Franc Bonds
  • Foreign Stocks that pay dividends
  • Agricultural Indexes
  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Real Estate (Low Prices and Hyperinflation can payoff your house!)

It might only take one hour to preserve a lifetime of savings!

Talking Heads

Judging from the reactions and interviews on TV many wealthy people were blind-sided by the financial crisis’ of the past week. After those talking heads get off the air you can bet they’re moving their money and assets around to protect themselves.

I like Ben Stein. He’s a smart, likeable and decent human being. He’s also more wealthy than the average Joe and is frequently seen on TV commenting on economic and investment issues. Unfortunately, Ben didn’t see this financial crisis coming.

When history is used to predict or avoid an outcome the correct past event has to be chosen as the model. The dollar is losing its status as the world’s reserve currency. Central banks around the world are covertly dumping dollars and purchasing gold and other real assets. And the US government is largely powerless to do anything about it. In fact, the stewards of our currency are printing up their own personal bailout packages just prior to their exit from the world stage.

This is not a normal recessionary business cycle we’re witnessing. The talking heads on TV telling you to “Stay the course” are giving you the correct advice for the wrong time. If they didn’t warn you of a financial crisis of this magnitude then why would you trust their advice now?

Return OF (Not ON) Your Investment

In times like this the perfect is the enemy of the good. If you haven’t already reallocated your investments then you don’t have time to be a perfectionist. Think in terms of preserving the purchasing power of your money and consider any increase a bonus. Look at the list of destinations, recommended above, and choose one you’re comfortable with.

Brokerage Accounts

Correctly choosing the particular holdings in your brokerage account is much more important than choosing the brokerage firm, itself. People who were using Bear Sterns or Lehman Brothers to hold their investments did not lose the holdings in their accounts. It was the stock of the brokerage firms, themselves, that plummeted, not the investments they held for you as custodian. I don’t use this firm myself, but, one company that is getting it right is Peter Schiff’s Europac.net. Check them out if you’re looking to make a switch.

Banks

Even with a bank you’ll probably get money less than $100k back if you want it. You may have to stand in line, be limited to partial withdraws and be inconvenienced, but money you have in the bank will most likely still be returned to you. But, the dollars may not have much purchasing power when you get them back. The FDIC does not have enough to insure all the deposits in banks that are about to fail. But, the government will just create more money for the FDIC to keep functioning when they run out.

If you want to be spared any inconvenience for your short term banking then choose one with a high star rating at www.bankrate.com.

Silver May Not Be an Option

In the Bailout Plan sent out two months ago I recommended silver as my personal favorite way to store and preserve value. There is very little physical silver left for purchase. I still recommend calling your local coin shops to check. However, you may end up having to purchase gold instead of silver. If so I recommend gold eagles, austrian philharmonics and any denomination of bullion bars from a well-known mint.

You could purchase shares of the silver ETF SLV, but, this is a far less attractive alternative to keeping the physical metal in your possession. See my article SLV is Not Silver for more on the pitfalls of investing in SLV.

For a broader perspective on precious metals read my article Silver and Gold Do Nothing or Why is Gold Money?

How Much Inflation and When?

10% and now. One, three, six months from now? Increasingly more. But, isn’t 14% and climbing enough?

Start making decisions now while your dollar still has enough purchasing power to purchase things that have lasting value.

Checking Account Alternatives

If you’re losing 14% a year in your checking account due to inflation then even simple things around the house start to be a better “Investment”. You should probably have at least three months of expenses in your checking account. After that, if you’ve already paid off your credit cards and reallocated your Retirement account then here are some alternatives for the money left in your checking account:

  • Food That Stores for Long Periods like cereal, canned goods, rice
  • Water, Water Filters or Storage
  • Computer Upgrades
  • Software
  • Prepaid Utilities like gas, electric, cable, cell phone
  • Prepaid Property taxes

Or anything else you’re going to have to purchase in the next year or two. Why not purchase them now while the purchasing power of your money is stronger and you still have a job?

Web Resources

This article is an update on the Your Optimal Bailout Plan I sent out at the end of July. See that article for more background.

www.europac.net

www.shadowstats.com

www.lewrockwell.com

www.allamericangold.com

www.silverstockreport.com

Copyright © 2008 by Terence Gillespie. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given to McGillespie.com

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