There are lessons to be learned from the “Greek crisis”, but you will be hard-pressed to find them in the mainstream media. Yes, the media pundits will blather on about how a sovereign default will hurt our economy and stock market, but what solutions do they offer to either Greece or to Mr. Smith in Anytown, USA. The short answer to that question is “none” since they fail to see (or ignore) the cause of the problem or the solutions to it.
But I am not writing this piece to complain about the media’s failings or the foolishness of the financial eggheads who manage the world “economy.” Rather, I want to point out a few realities of the Greek crisis that should alarm the Mr. Smiths of Anytown, USA. So a few questions:
- Though we have heard of tax liens and frozen accounts, who knew that personal bank accounts could be seized for tax liabilities,
but apparently without due process of law. - Who knew that ATM withdrawals could be limited to some arbitrary amount due to political and economic policy reasons? Or, more to the point, why on earth do we acquiesce to such a blatant violation of our property rights?
- How can banks close with OUR MONEY inside for some indefinite period without that being called theft?
- Maybe the simplest question is, whose money is inside the bank and who has the right to have it?
If you are not aware of the financial chicanery that creates, fosters and “justifies” such abuses, it is time for you to become so. I cannot think of a better start than by reading this book.
But, back to the point, what can we learn from these experiences? Remember, these things really happened in Greece, to real people with real lives. In America we have a tendency to hear such reports and quickly put them in the “it can’t happen here” file. Why not? In what substantive way is our economy any different from the Greek economy? Is our economy free from any of the machinations that brought Greece to its current state? How will our governmental responses be any different WHEN it happens here? Are not the masters of the European Central Bank the same ones as the masters of the Federal Reserve Bank? As they say in the computer business: Same input, same output.
The reason all of this can (and will) happen here is because we live under a dishonest money system that is managed by a few, inter-connected families who protect themselves at all costs…including any costs that they have to pass onto you. We need to protect ourselves from these money masters, but under current circumstances they’ve got the game pretty cinched up. My current financial planning techniques have in place certain actions that you can take:
- A month or more of cash stored at home;
- Storing wealth in alternative vessels;
- Having a supply of intrinsic worth items as a back up;
but these are purely defensive in nature and will not change the course our country is on.
We need to find OR create private and ethical alternatives to the modern banking system. Just like the health insurance alternative I reported on previously, it can be done, but it is going to take our best ideas and efforts. Anything short of a true alternative to the dishonest money system leaves us with a ticking time-bomb in our financial plans.
Greece has provided us a peek into our future. Let’s change that future while we still can. Send me your ideas or suggestions and I will begin to work on a real solution to our problem.