Tom Luongo – U.S. Entering Meltdown Stage (TruNews)

A Video by Rick Wiles at TruNews (.com)

Commentary by Charles Sulka

Youtube Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxD-6_uF_7Y

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In this video, Trunews’ Rick Wiles interviews Tom Luongo, publisher of ‘Gold, Goats, & Guns News.’ Between the two of them, there were some very important ideas considered.

Luongo shares Wiles’ obsession with — more than just a fascination with, but a firm belief — in the efficacy and inevitability of *cycles* in human history.

Such talk is dangerous. Such talk reduces / minimizes / eliminates / denies the causality of human action in history. In the vernacular, this is a cop-out. This manner of speaking removes from accountability human errors and crimes, actions, and inactions that are the cause of our problems.

It is impossible to effectively solve a problem unless it is first correctly understood. In military parlance, this could be stated as “knowing the enemy.” In all too many instances, the enemy is us. We struggle to recover from the repercussions of things we are doing wrong (or not doing right.)

Before we can solve our social problems, we have to adopt a reality-based worldview. This is especially true with politics and economics. We cannot simply throw up our hands and say, “Oh well, these things happen. There is nothing we can do about them. We are helpless to do anything because these are the results of natural cycles beyond our control.”

This fatalistic belief in the inevitability of events based on hypothetical cycles of history is both irresponsible and, well, ignorant. This thinking does not contribute to solutions to our social ills; in fact, it hampers progress.

Blaming the inevitability of the course of events on ‘cycles’ of time, without any correlation to human action, is really not much different from astrology (attributing the course of events to the position of the sun, moon, and stars.) This is the thinking that compels a foolish gambler to bet his fortunes on the roulette wheel based on past events, even though there is no actual connection between one spin of the wheel and the next. Each turn of the wheel is a completely new event, from the standpoint of probability. But for some, this fact is incomprehensible.

There are natural cycles — the rotation of the earth, which brings with it darkness and light, night and day; the lunar cycle, which affects both the ocean tides and women’s reproductive cycles; and the sunspot cycle, which interferes with radio communications. These natural cycles and their effects must be taken into account, with appropriate actions taken. But to claim that purely hypothetical, totally unrelated cycles in human history condemn us to a predetermined future is nonsense — dangerous nonsense.

This is similar to the discredited religious doctrine of predestination, the basis of Calvinist thinking. Predestination is no longer in vogue; Calvinism has been universally repudiated. Christians today embrace the concept of free will. It could be said that this same principle applies to economic and political affairs. Man’s fate is not determined by the alignment of the sun, moon, and stars; nor is it written in stone — predestined, if you will — because some have the impression that similar events have occurred periodically in the past.

The future is shaped by past actions That is true. But the past is not unfathomable. Most importantly, the future is not immutable. Man makes his own future, by taking responsible actions in managing the world, learning from history. Or at least he should….

To paraphrase Santayana, those who do not learn from history’s mistakes are doomed to repeat them. In a sense, then, it could be said that fate is subject to cycles; man seems fated to repeat the same mistakes, over and over again, in endless cycles.

But blaming historical cycles for events — rather than accepting responsibility for the results of our actions — is, as I said, a cop-out. It is a cowardly and dishonest attempt to evade responsibility. One example is telling: economists have, for decades, put the blame on ‘business cycles’ which are completely out of man’s control for problems with the economy. The reality is that most of our ills have as their basis the manipulations of those in charge of the economy (and always for the gain of their patrons, the ruling elites.) There are no business cycles that are independent of human action. Financial crises and disruptions in the functioning of the economy are caused by bad policies based on unsound economic theories, or else they are deliberately brought about by financial manipulators and their criminal co-conspirators (economists and politicians.) Blaming economic problems on inscrutable business cycles is a clever trick economists use to absolve themselves from guilt. Evading responsibility for the problems they cause is probably the economists’ first concern in the modern world. This shows that economists either really have no idea what is going on or that they are fundamentally dishonest.

Do not get me wrong. I agree with Wiles and his fellow commentators at Trunews with regard to the current crisis in American politics. I support a comprehensive program of reform measures and, importantly, Wiles’ call for a reformation in American ethics and morals. I only wish there were more Americans willing to take a stand for righteousness. If there were enough patriots willing to take action, maybe we could reverse America’s downward spiral and get the nation back on track.

But the concept of economic predeterminism (cycles) is as dangerous and wrong-headed as the religious doctrine of predestination or the occult practices of astrology or numerology. I do not think it is productive to confuse people with dangerous ideas that distract us all from the task at hand. It is a big job, saving America from the destruction wrought by the greed of corrupt businessmen, the inane policies of clueless politicians, and the lunacy of government economists.

Wiles and Luongo see radical changes in man’s future ….

According to Wiles and Luongo, banks are doomed. First the Federal Reserve, then smaller banks will collapse. With the central bank, collapse is inevitable; and with local banks, many (most?) will die slow deaths. There is little need for banks nowadays; they will die off gradually. People get their financial services from Paypal & Mastercard, on-line lenders, or use prepaid debit cards and, increasingly, crypto-currency. No one needs banks.

In truth, banks have for decades been discouraging customers with low balances or bad credit from even opening accounts. They have succeeded in this. Today a significant number of Americans do not even have bank accounts. (And for those of us who do maintain bank accounts, the experience of dealing with the bank can be frustrating and infuriating.)

It is important to point out that banks can have a central role to play in the local economy, something not mentioned in the discussion on the video. The original role of banks needs to be restored — an idea central to most community-oriented economic programs. Banks should serve as the financial hub of the community, taking in deposits for safekeeping, and returning the depositors’ money … and then some. The ‘and then some’ should be dividends, or proceeds, from business enterprises financed by the bank, using the depositor’s money. This is part of the ‘community values’ central to the Christian family and community values agenda.

There is one major caveat here. If the banks serve as the financial hub and investment center for the community, the banks will be pitted against Wall Street and the investor class. Wall Street and bank regulators have made it all but impossible for banks to play active roles in investments and business activity. This is because in the past there were countless examples of abuse. The simple reason the regulators do not allow banks to play active roles in local businesses is that, historically, banks have repeatedly mismanaged investments or simply stolen all of the depositors’ money. Obviously these concerns need to be addressed, human nature being what it is ….

How does the banking function fit with scriptural principles? As an investment center and financial hub paying dividends, the banks could still be operating in accord with Biblical (Scriptural) economic principles. It need not be mandatory that banks participate in usury (lending money at interest.) In some countries — and increasingly here in America — banks don’t pay much, if any, interest on savings and deposit accounts anyway. In reality they cannot; compound interest always accrues to the rich (the money-lenders) and the parasites who suck the life-blood out of the economy (the investor class.) This is why God forbids lending money at interest (usury). Lending money at interest has been forbidden in Christian doctrine since the beginning. Actually, the prohibition against usury predates Christianity by thousands of years. The commandment against lending money at interest is an Old Testament precept. Some believe that the desire to exploit others is the principle reason the Jews rejected God and His commandments, earning the Lord’s condemnation. Admittedly, it is hard to imagine an end to economic exploitation and usury in today’s world.

According to Wiles and Luongo, not only are the Federal Reserve and central banks in other nations destined to collapse, this is as it should be. This is necessary and good, even if it will be brutal. Central banking needs to be completely re-thought. Private for-profit central banking is evil. It is Satan’s scheme for enslaving the human race.

This is where MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) enters into the picture. So far I have not found too many Republicans who understand MMT, and none among the gold bugs (money-changers who speculate in precious metals and commodities.) From what I have seen, of the few Republicans who do understand MMT, most hate it, because it offers little opportunity for the plutocrats to profit from monetary policy implementation.

You could say that MMT cuts out the middleman. And as any Republican will tell you, being a middleman is where all the big money is to be made. One does not get rich through honest hard work and thrift, except in Horatio Alger stories.

Wiles’ compatriots can generally be categorized as skeptical or hostile to the concept. Remember, these are gold bugs, stuck in an archaic world view. They are obsessed with profiting from others’ loss — getting something for nothing, in other words. This is why they have given their lives over to the unproductive pursuit of profit through currency trading and speculation. Indeed, most gold-bugs secretly hope for financial collapse so they can strut about, boasting that they saw things coming and took appropriate action, turning disaster into an opportunity (an unproductive one, but so what?) I have even heard some in this crowd express the sentiment that the millions who suffer and die from economic downturn and social collapse deserve their fate (for what? for being powerless to stop the idiocy of the elites who dominate the federal government?)

The contribution to society from the activities of the speculators and money-traders is negligible. The money-changers might just as well bury their precious gold and silver (in fact, some do.) In reality their buying and selling, counting and hoarding is both a waste of their time and a shameful waste of their talents, to use the Biblical allusion.

There is a political context, too. Almost all of the dealers in precious metals and commodities are (or formerly were) Republicans. They worship mammon, and are concerned only with what they can garner for themselves, and without having to labor at productive work, at that. These economic exploiters have learned their lessons all too well from their role models in the Bible — the Jewish money-changers. It is ironic that many of these gold bugs think of themselves as Christians and patriots.

Wiles and Luongo discuss crypto-currencies as an alternative to all forms of coinage. Crypto-currencies are a growing fad, popular with speculators looking for undeserved profits without work. Such profiteering is as American as apple pie.

Crypto-currencies might have some utility, however, beyond speculative investments. Crypto-currencies offer mechanisms for people to evade dependencies upon the central banks and authorized currency transfer systems. The assumption is that government — at least government that is subservient to the financial interests because money dominates the system — cannot be trusted to manage the nation’s finances. (They’ll get no argument from me on this.) These so-called patriots and the preppers expect to be forced to operate outside of the legal banking system for survival. You can count me among this group that is skeptical about the government’s ability to provide honest weights and measures and regulate the economy (as mandated by the U.S. Constitution) especially in times of economic crisis. But I would not want to be counted among those who are looking forward to profiting from others’ loss when the economy crashes.

It is doubtful that crypto-currencies will play any meaningful or significant role in dealing with the expected financial problems of the future. I sense preppers and crypto-currency speculators over rate the prospects for wildly fluctuating precious metals and coins, underground financial networks, and barter systems. The world runs on commercial credit. Farmers will not be able to buy seeds and fertilizer or pay property taxes using barter or crypto-currencies. If the government doesn’t get its act together and come up with a functional replacement for the financial system within a few days we will all die of starvation after we use up the food in our cupboards.

Many feel that economic collapse resultant of mismanagement of the economy by government is imminent. It’s not going to be pretty. Nobody will survive except those who live in the country and grow their own food. And even those won’t survive unless they are armed and organized, and united in a cohesive political force. Study the course of events in Russia after the Revolution. The soldiers come and take the food, and kill any farmers who resist. The farmers who aren’t killed by soldiers and bandits die of starvation. The next year, those in the cities die of starvation because there aren’t any farmers growing food. Ask the Soviets how their collectivism and forced redistribution of food worked out for them after the revolution. The Jews ate well. The Bolsheviks were mostly Jews running the Communist Party after the revolution. They ate well for the first year, anyway.

It does not seem to me that the gold-bugs have much to offer in terms of plans to rebuild the economy after economic upheaval and social collapse. This group is focused on profiting from money-changing and speculation, neither of which is productive activity. This is known as ‘profiteering’ by social thinkers. As everyone knows, no one thought less of speculators, usurers, and money-changers — financial manipulators and economic parasites — than Jesus himself. This is why the Jews hate Him so.

However, I do see many of those associated with Rick Wiles and Trunews as starting to think seriously about rebuilding the nation, and incorporating sound principles such as stable currency, honest trading practices, and an end to economic exploitation. Many TruNews subscribers are staunch libertarians in their thinking and have a ways to go, but quite a few are starting to come around….

Libertarians hate government with a passion because they have seen government at its worst. And many are just plain anti-social by nature. Government can be a force for good in the world — if it is honest government, led by honest people, not liars and crooks. This means getting the Republicans out of government. And Democrats too, for they are just as bad. They’re all crooks. It’s time to throw the bums out. They do not have the nation’s or the people’s best interests at heart.

Unfortunately, Luongo risks being discredited because of his strident opposition to the scientific consensus about anthropogenic global warming (climate change brought about by human activity.) Luongo could come to regret his disdainful attitude toward the scientific community and his dismissive views on the limits to growth and the environmental effects of burning fossil fuels. When his views on this subject are discredited, his reputation will be completely ruined. This will reduce his ability to be an agent of positive change in the world.

What we are all looking for is Truth. The search for truth requires keeping an open mind. Pride and arrogance all too often get in the way in our search for truth. To believe that one is smarter than all the scientists and experts in the world — that they are all wrong while you alone have it right — is probably not the smartest thing to think. It certainly is not the wisest thing to express these sentiments in public.

Luongo scoffs at Malthusian concepts — that there are limits to growth — claiming that the prophets of environmental catastrophe were foolish in their predictions. A realistic examination of the predictions of the dire consequences from unchecked population growth and irresponsible exploitation of the earth’s resources reveals that the dangers are real, just that the time frame might be extended out a few years. In other words, peak oil is real; it just won’t come as quickly as some predicted. One doesn’t have to be an Einstein to comprehend that if we keep burning fossil fuels, sooner or later we are going to run out of oil. Actually, it is quite illogical to think otherwise. The earth’s resources are not infinite. Someone who fails to see this could hardly be thought of as a deep thinker.

The fate of the human race is important (just ask our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, who sacrificed his own mortal life to free us from bondage to sin and our own ignorance.) By warning us of the dangers of the Synagogue of Satan — whose mission is to enslave the human race through economic exploitation in a Zionist New World Order — Our Lord showed us the way to freedom. He taught us to seek the truth, to live with integrity, and to be good stewards of God’s creation. Jesus expects us to rule the earth with wisdom, not to destroy our home world in our ignorance.

(File Updated: 02-20-2020 1425 -0500 / 02-23-2020 1710 -0500)

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