Have you ever noticed that nearly all the world’s surplus rests on Wall Street… or maybe in the City of London? I think this is something we should pay attention to.
So, let’s face it directly for a moment: All the big investment markets are owned and controlled by the Western aristocracy: by politicians, high officials, mega-corps and deep-state operators. These people are fully in control of the markets; they can close them anytime they like.
And in fact stock and bond markets are closed, and fairly often. NASDAQ has closed repetitively for technical reasons, all the New York markets closed for Hurricane Sandy, and nearly every market was closed after 9/11. The markets reopened each time of course, but only because it was in the best interest of the aristocracy. They didn’t have to reopen them. These people were – and are – in control.
This being the case, I’d like to familiarize you with two words that you have rarely heard but which are likely to be heard far and wide some day: Systemic Risk. Wikipedia defines systemic risk as “the risk of collapse of an entire financial system or entire market, as opposed to risk associated with any one individual entity, group or component of a system….”
My point is this: Your most serious risk is not from the failure of a single stock or even a group of stocks, but a closure of the market itself.
“They’d Never Do That!”
Of course they would… and of course they have.
Don’t we remember what they did to Cyprus, just a few years ago? Haven’t we seen their current campaign to ban cash? Didn’t we see them save the institutions they owned in 2008, selling average folks down the river? And there’s more, including the US Treasury holding meetings on taking control of IRAs and 401(k)s and the IFM discussing “financial repression.”
The truth is that the Western aristocracy does what’s best for the Western aristocracy. If that means keeping the status quo going, that’s what they’ll do. If it means turning the status quo off, they’ll do that. Shutting it down would be a big and risky step for them of course, but if they face a near-certain loss of control otherwise, you can bet that they’ll do just that.
“Oh TINA, Thou Art a Heartless Bitch”
With due credit to William Shakespeare, TINA – There Is No Alternative – may end up being the most heartless wealth-destroyer in history. Why? Because of everything noted above and because of this:
Anyone who has examined the current situation knows that the markets should have tanked years ago and have been held up with massive currency injections from the central banks. They know that the system would crumble if any serious portion of that was pulled out or even if interest rates reverted to the mean.
And yet, people stay right where they are, smack in the middle of the risk zone. And why? Because there is no alternative. Where else can they put a million dollars or a few million euros? How many of us even have savings accounts anymore? With interest rates hovering around zero, they make no sense.
There are options of course, but they all involve extra work. Dump your money into the stock and bond markets, and you can move it from place to place with the click of a mouse; you can get instant charts and graphs; and of course you get crisp, clean accountings of everything. All is clear, all is simplified, all is easy.
And so, 99% of the world’s surplus has fallen into fully undiversified investments: Regardless of ‘market sectors,’ they all stay in the same big pot, controlled by an aristocracy that nearly all of us either distrust or despise.
This, at least in my view, is not a good plan.
But… TINA!
Yes, there are alternatives, but they involve work. Moreover, they also involve us taking responsibility for our failures. And let’s be honest about that too: Having investments ‘in the market’ means that you can blame any number of things for your losses, rather than taking blame yourself.
One option is to invest on Main Street… in a local business. Truthfully, that kind of investing can be far more personally rewarding, but it certainly isn’t sanitized and sanctified by authority like Wall Street is. If you invest in a dry cleaner that fails, your authority-minded ‘friends’ might ridicule you; if your Apple stock crashes, it’s merely “bad luck.”
But while investing on Main Street isn’t point-and-click easy, it’s far more diversified. And it gives you some personal control over your investments. If, for example, the dry cleaner or the grocer you funded is having problems, you can get involved, rather than watching helplessly from the sidelines.
So…?
So, we face choices. My point is that closing your eyes to your greatest risk – merely because it has an “Approved by Authority” banner draped across it – is a foolish thing to do.
Paul Rosenberg
[Editor’s Note: Paul Rosenberg is the outside-the-Matrix author of FreemansPerspective.com, a site dedicated to economic freedom, personal independence and privacy. He is also the author of The Great Calendar, a report that breaks down our complex world into an easy-to-understand model. Click here to get your free copy.]
Take a look around.
