There are several places where just a few more words would make your historical informatiion closer to the truth. Surely you do not want your historical data to be guility of the same thing the title of the chapter is arguring against. Let's look at a few examples.
Top of page 6 re Fiat Money. All you have to do is add "Roosevelt engaged in the conspiracy by conficated domestic gold from U.S citizens in 1933 and Nixon severed the Dollar from gold internationally in 1971 completing the conspiracy against gold backing the dollatr". Three presidents conspired (well they all probably)to rob our money of value: Wilson, Roosevelt and Nixon. Urge the reader to research the issues.
On page 10 re Back to the Future. Again a few more words will help this historical data come closer to the truth. Where you quote Bush why not include some major members of Congress. Where you site John McCain why not include the other four that were complicit?
On page 11 you just love to quote John Maynard Keynes in a positive light and it just is not so. That paragraph you have used in other chapters he did say but not in the context you use it. Keynes had nothing but contempt for the common man/woman and that they were so stupid they would never know what was happening to the purchasing power of the money...BY THE GOVERNMENT FOLLOWING HIS ECONOMIC PHILOSOPHY OF DEFICIT SPENDING...
An interesting thing about 'the media' is that they are either pawns or jokers!
Pawns because so many of them are bought and paid for by the SuperRich of the world. Want proof? David Rockefeller has thanked member of the main stream media for NOT reporting on the activities of the TriLateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations and other SuperRich activities. Like hookers on the street, the Media will do anything for those that pay them!
Jokers because they are unaware of the founding principals of our great country, the Constitution, business cycles, inflation, the Federal Reserve Bank and the intrinsic value of gold. They are simply looking for the next 'good interview' and they certainly don't want to get people mad (they may not come on their show again!)
Want to know the best part? In her book, Bull!, Maggie Mahar reports that 'the people who lost the most money in the stock market crash of 2000 were those who RELIED ON THE MEDIA FOR THEIR PRIMARY INVESTMENT ADVICE!'
In interview 2006,same link as just posted. Panel even uses detroit auto makers as example of proof of productivity in USA. This link needs to be replayed on a mainstream station today...LOL
You've got to hear this...
Mainstream media denies that a collapse coming(2006), mainstream denies benefits of gold, mainstream praises FED. This is before the #@$% hit the fan last year. Wow, how can all these analysts be so wrong. Peter Schiff only one with sense on this entire CNBC panel...
Your quotes from Keynes had some 'textbook' double entendres. One wonders why finance and economy experts always seem to say the exact opposite of what made sense. For example, the term 'inflation' can mean increasing the money supply to create affordability, or it can mean price increase.
How many people understand what a so-termed expert says? There is a 50% chance that someone is being offered just the opposite of what will help them. Semantics are important and, for some reason, often ignored. You're lucky your rich dad didn't sit on you. Many well to do people don't teach their kids the way your rich dad did. You make me feel lucky.
There is an economist at UCLA who feels that many economic and financial terms and practices have long been so distorted that they no longer do what they were intended to do properly. He is interested in restoring functionality to finance and economy.
I really appreciate the pschological lessons that you try to teach the world. It all begins with the confusion that we are taught as children. We're taught that money is real, when Rich do not think that money is real. We're taught to work for money when the rich do no do so. We're taught to think that the government will take care of us financially; when in reality, the government takes care of the rich. I think that the mass population really needs to invest a little time in psyco-therapy because are minds are so in the gutter on so many levels.
My wife, who is a member of the media, and I have had several conversations regarding this topic. I believe the media is guilty of (i) taking information from the government and other sources at face value and not asking tough questions and (ii) the lack of foresight to connect the dots. We see all of the time, for example, that media simply regurgitate data on unemployment and the state of the economy instead of asking questions or looking further at the "augmented" rate of unemployment. Also, while the media focuses on covering the "story of the day" they fail to look at the broader picture and connect the dots between economic events around the world. Frankly, it boils down to a lack of finanical understanding, intelligence and overall apathy. I don't quite understand it and wonder when the public may begin to take to the streets and fight back against a government out of control.
The dumbing down is due to the cover up of knowledge our leaders lack. They are stupid and have nothing to teach. They want to keep us thinking they have the knowledge and skill to run the country so much so that we should all realize we know nothing and be grateful for their leadership and do as they say. The men (mostly men) who lead our country are stupid and lack the same basic knowledge most of us do. It is more evident now than ever SO many things have happened to prove this. Thank YOU ROBERT for providing us an education and I assure you that you are making a profound change that we can believe in and change the direction of OUR lives and fincial future. Like the blind leading the blind our government won't admit their lack of and need for education regarding money. We who know we are blind are glad to learn and you are awesome to take the lead with the truth you've realized throughout your life. YOUR rich Dad must be very proud!
International Financiers and thier bad secret societies
Hi! Robert just try to visit this website www.iamthewitness.com and looks for " rotschild's timeline " their you can discover some very interesting conspiracies that runs from centuries to centuries and thier wrongdoings still affects our daily activities until now. And maybe you already see the movie in video google the " money masters " it is a 3 hour movie that tells the details of the conspiracy, also try to visit this website www.larouchepac.com and look for that movie titled " Firewall " . that's all I can share at the moment. : )
Dave Ramsey states that investing in mutual funds is better than gold or silver. His total money makeover course causes you to live cheap and be cheap. No rea education except how to live poor and stay poor. I've seen many people who followed his advice and now they are out of all debt, pay cash for everything and haven't fixed anything on their house for over 20 years (carpet included).
The other one is watching mad money with Jim Cramer. It does not take many brain cells to watch him smash things as he raves about stocks. Especially watch the video of him on comedy central in a debate.
Robert, here is a link of a very disturbing video.
It exposes the four ways the world has been taken over by careful planing and conspiracy.
One of the four ways is the money system.
You can skip part one where it talks about religion.
It has been tranlated to several lenguages.
THANK YOU for doing your part.
Gabriel.
In the UK we have not had the clear warning voices of the likes of Peter Schiff, Nouriel Roubini, Robert Prechter, Marc Faber etc. One BBC reporter, Robert Peston, attracted serious criticism for refusing to dumb the bad economic news down and became so trusted by the average Brit that he became known as "the Man who moves markets".
TV comment on the situation is reduced to 30 second soundbites. Men of the calibre of Jim Rogers and George Soros have recently been allowed the grand sum of about 60 seconds to comment.
In fine British tradition the only way to get the message across is thru humour. In two 8-minute sketches the wonderful "Bremner, Bird and Fortune" team convey what happened with subprime, SIVs/CDOs, the regulatory framework, CDS, and now reremics. The links are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWDdcD-1xoo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScwGBNMH428&feature=related
Enjoy!!
Much love and gratitude to you, Robert and Kim
Dumbing down the population about money and financial reality
In my estimation, the dumbing down has been taking place for quite some time in a much more general and pervasive way than the withholding of specific information about finances, but that specific information is able to be withheld now precisely because of the more general damage that laid the foundation for it. In general, the mass media of television and radio is rife with both subtle and blatant brainwashing and prestidigitation by virtue of touting - in unrealistic and glamorous terms - marketable goods, images and recreational activities as the highly desirable end-products to strive for, while completely keeping the focus away from the actual engines of creation for those end-products. It is this disconnect that disenables a person from seeing cause-and-effect, and therefore disempowers them from making any judgment about that cause-and-effect relationship, much less acting on it. As Richard Cantillon originally expressed: "The land is the source or the substance from which wealth is drawn; the work of man is the form that produces it, and wealth in itself is nothing other than food, commodities and the amenities of life". Therefore, a prime example of the mass disconnect from this foundational reality of economy is the fact that there is no grasp of knowledge between packaged food in the grocery stores, and what it actually took to create that food. Once that level of ignorance is created in the population, it is possible and easy to manipulate the availability of more specific financial knowledge otherwise needed to understand what is happening with our money and financial system.
Enormous thanks to you and your team for the education provided here and in your other books.
Just one example:
From Time magazine, 16.03.2009, in the article about Suze Orman:
"Home ownership is a cornerstone of Ormanworld, and a good FICO score makes it
easier. "A home is flat-out the best big-ticket purchase you will ever make," she
wrote in The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke, which came out in
hardcover in 2005 and paperback in 2007. "Just like your student loans, mortgage
debt is truly good debt." The book, which is geared toward people in their 20s,
suggests that a 3% down payment on a home is acceptable in some circumstances
and recommends a hybrid mortgage, which involves a fixed-rate loan that converts
to an adjustable-rate one at some future date ("the Goldilocks option"). Under
normal circumstances, this might work out fine, but if you had followed that strategy
when the book came out, you might have been ruined when the housing market fell
apart."
The sad thing is that still a lot of people turn to her and people similar to her for financial advise.
In general, I think there's a lot of "conventional wisdom" from days gone by that doesn't apply anymore, yet the talking heads keep repeating it as if the economy hasn't been shaken to its core. I don't care what anyone says. These are unchartered waters, and I'm leery of anyone who's giving the same advice in 2009 that they were giving in 2007.
I haven't done enough reading on "stocks as a hedge against inflation" to have an informed opinion, but on Nightly Business Report's retirement special on 4/10, Boston University Finance Professor Ziv Bodie railed against this "conventional wisdom" espoused by one of the financial planners in the preceding segment. He basically called it a myth and said he would advise against most retirees having any investment in the stock market, adding that TIPS were an instrument specifically designed to beat inflation if that's the primary goal.
If anyone can find some clips for Ali Velshi of CNN and Suze Orman I think it would be a good addition to this commentary. People listen to Suze with such confidence, as I used to. Her recommendations of saving money never address inflation. Neither of these geniouses have ever mentioned precious metals to my knowledge.
Thank you Robert for this book. I am also reading other books from you, now about investing.
I am trying to educate myself financially more and more. I have some money from my apartement sold in 2004 (luckely in the Euro otherwise I would have lost half already by inflation).
I am preparing by investing it in commodities. I am also following people like Micheal Maloney (read his book) and I subscribed to David Morgan's newsletters, and listen to Jim Roger. And reading work from Napoleon Hill. I work around this all evenings when I have the time.
Yes, we have been dumbed down, and not only financially, also about our health, I studied alternative healthcare, and there is a monopoly going on by the farma-industry, wanting more profit and taking more risk on anybody's health these days. The government (EU) - read big coorperations - are putting more laws in place to create an even bigger market and taking away the alternative health by putting it to an illegal side.
But schools don't teach us, they make a shape, and everybody has to be in that shape, not be outside the box, otherwise you don't pass the test. When I think about what I learned at school it is a lot of lies and also a lot of facts are not in the schoolbooks. History full of lies, Geography doesn't give you the whole picture (read books from Erich von Daniken). Economy, well that is clear. Biology based on what we see but there is more to what we do not see, think ChineseAcupuncture, Feetrefloxology.
I hope this fiat money crisis will not create what is feared a world bank/power over us. What can we as little people do to prevent that from happening?
I am looking forward to the next chapters. I am so happy to have found you and see more clear.
(Sorry for my bad English)
3 examples of financial dumbing down come to mind
1) Online and tv advertising for mortages and reverse mortgages.
2) Junk mail offers to re-finance your house with a "bi-weekly" program. When I owned my last home, I would receive these two - three times a week. I know bi-weekly programs work, but an unsolicited offer is more than likely designed in the favor of the lender not the client.
3) Reverse Mortgages advertised on tv as a solution to the retirement problem. Some of them may work, but I have heard of fees being charged for the loans as high as $15,000.
So most of the war has been fought using private contractors. In order to go into a war zone, private contractors need insurance. This insurance is very expensive. Who has been issuing these policies? AIG. So, if AIG were to go under, what would happen to the private contractors in Iraq and Afganistan??
I like to say "tell me the rules of the game and then I will play". There are so many industries that do not what you to know the rules of the game. They use their own language and terms to confuse you. I work in the IT world. I am shocked by how simple so many things are in IT. However, we cover them up with black smoke, mirrors and lots of acronyms so people will think this is a highly complicated world. If you hear a term on the news that you do not understand, beware. Google those terms and educate yourself.
I wanted to know more about taxes so I worked at one of the big national tax service stores the last two years. I got a major education about how money flows and where it goes. Do you know what EIC really is?
This year I have bought one foreclosed triplex and I am looking for more. I would not have know the rules of the game of taxes had I not worked in the "biz".
Robert, thanks for everything. You changed the way I look at the world more than anyone.
If you want to know when they are dumbing you down, just listen for the words, "...it's very complicated." I keep hearing this phrase.
If you want to see just how far America has drifted from its foundation, just watch this video Michael Badnarik . It gets very interesting and informative after about 6-8 minutes. Badnarik shows us how much we've been 'dummied down' in reguards to our Constitution and our God given rights in the same way that Kiyosaki is showing us we've been dummied down with our financial smarts.
I saw an interview last week with William K Black, a New York Teacher of the year who professed the dumbing down of our education and the real reason for public education. I also listened to John Gatto who wrote a book about the way that bankers are robbing us. These authors were very interesting.
Just visit Wall Street Journal website, MarketWatch, Barron's, or NYTimes's DealBook.
I could read articles but i have no reading comprehension whatsoever from them. There are just too many financial concepts and jargon that i have never heard of.
There are too many headlines to read and process through, or information overload. Too distracting.
But most importantly, i have no financial intelligence to determine which ones are good news and bad news, and decide which ones will help me to reach my financial freedom.
it is so clear that this is the sort of thing that is happening. Recently I have being going to banks to see their business banking people re loans or setting up new accounts. One question I ask is what do they classify as an asset. they don't like my rich dad reply or when I inform the bank that their business banking people do not know what assets are or what a business really is. I have two businesses. One I would class as a business as I can work on & not in it. the other is a job in my profession. aim is to make both a business.
I have being passing around here two sites to go too. the first is your 2008 prediction on silver where you explain in simple terms what is happening.
the second is http://chrismartenson.com crash course, where he uses 22 video clips to explain the system in depth. the biggest eye opener are the ones on how money is created in your federal reserve bank & how then interest is paid for (no wonder islam considers interest as evil, it shows the fed creating money out of nothing then doing the same basically to pay for the interest so compounding the problem)& also the one where he explains how the CPI is manipulated to make inflation look lower than it really is (or higher than it really is).
One thing I learnt as an instructor in the NZ army is no body is Dumb, but as you say by using your games Robert, everyone learns from their mistakes & everyone learns differently.
thing is in recent years there has being a push for academic superiority. this happened in 2500 BC in Ionian society. when all parts were in equal importance the society flourished (Socrates, Plato, Pythagaras, hypocrotis, etc)but when those that followed the academics thought themselves superior the society crashed. Most of those famous Greek scientists were sons of tradesmen. They understood that the application of theory to practical was needed in equal parts.
Who is more important when your pipes are frozen the professor of Philosophy or the plumber?
See you in Auckland.
It seems to me the obvious dumbing down is the fact that nothing ever gets said by any politician being interviewed. They always use terms to refer to what our President is trying to do, but no one ever actually "explains" anything.
Seems to me no one wants us to "know" anything. Let the government do what the government wants to do, seems to be their motto. Politicians seem to have a "the people cannot touch us" mentality.
My daughter is 5 years old and one of the most popular kids in her class. It seems other kids like to hang out with her and other parents seem to know so much about her even though we don’t really know any of them. Recently, I was watching a TV show with her and asked her not to watch that show any more as I did not like the content and how it was portrayed. After about a month, my wife told me that our doughter has been having problems with her friends. So I took her out for ice cream to see what I could find out. It turned out that the other kids no longer think she’s ‘cool’ as she does not watch the popular show and does not watch it when they all get together for a play date. Despite my disgust, I decided to let her watch the show when she’s with her friends. My point for the story is that it’s very difficult to resist the popular culture, and the popular culture is all about consumption and vanity.
Star Trek has never been my absolute favorite , but I found the concept of “Borg” fascinating. Did the creators of Star Trek use Borg to depict our western civilization? Much like the Borg, resistance is futile when it comes to becoming a part of the melting pot of today’s civilization.
I think, the dumbing down of the average person begins at a very early age by TV and other forms of media. The fact is that even though a kid might be from a well educated open minded family, the media, school, and the society get so much more face time with the kids, than the parents. Our efforts in shaping our kids future is an uphill battle at best. Parents are constantly portrayed as "Uncool" in TV programs, advertisements, and movies. Fathers have especially been portrayed as the parents who have no other goal in their life than to ruin the kid's life.
The truth is that many of today's parents are the products of the same culture, and if they have any time to spare, they would rather spend it memorizing the sport stats or try to keep up with the Jones's, than to read a book, or fight their kids on what they think is right.
In the dark ages most people couldn't read....This made it easier for the King, Queens, and Noblemen to write laws and rules in contracts to steal from the poor because the poor couldn't read....The process today is the same....The only thing that has changed is the language...Accountants, Lawyers, Real Estate Agents, Doctors, Bankers, and just about every other profession today has their own set of internal jargon, which can actually be classified more accurately into it's own professional language. This is done to make the masses unknowingly "dumbed down"......We are currently time warped back to the middle ages thanks to our professionals who write their own form of language which no common person can understand....This is done intentionally for two reasons: #1 It ensures the professionals will always have a job, because their main job is to act as a translator to the common man.....and #2 It ensures that the rich will maintain their power, because the Rich always have enough money to hire better interpreters. These well trained interpreters allow the Rich access to a more accurate understanding of vocabulary, thus allowing them to obtain more power. This gives the Rich the advantage of "sight" or the ability to see within the language. This sight allows the Rich to not only react to changes in law and technology instantly but it also allows the Rich to make the changes others can't see.....Since the poor can't see the changes...The poor end up doing the same things they were doing before the change...and fall victim to the change.....much like a blind person could fall victim to a runaway bus while attempting to cross the street....If you can't read the languages of the professional world....you are blind...and people will always take advantage of someone who can't understand....or see....Just like a 5 year old will trade a big shiny nickle to his younger brother for a small dime......So my question remains the same...Can you see?...or are you just trading in the tiny little dime for a big shiny nickel?
There are several places where just a few more words would make your historical informatiion closer to the truth. Surely you do not want your historical data to be guility of the same thing the title of the chapter is arguring against. Let's look at a few examples.
Top of page 6 re Fiat Money. All you have to do is add "Roosevelt engaged in the conspiracy by conficated domestic gold from U.S citizens in 1933 and Nixon severed the Dollar from gold internationally in 1971 completing the conspiracy against gold backing the dollatr". Three presidents conspired (well they all probably)to rob our money of value: Wilson, Roosevelt and Nixon. Urge the reader to research the issues.
On page 10 re Back to the Future. Again a few more words will help this historical data come closer to the truth. Where you quote Bush why not include some major members of Congress. Where you site John McCain why not include the other four that were complicit?
On page 11 you just love to quote John Maynard Keynes in a positive light and it just is not so. That paragraph you have used in other chapters he did say but not in the context you use it. Keynes had nothing but contempt for the common man/woman and that they were so stupid they would never know what was happening to the purchasing power of the money...BY THE GOVERNMENT FOLLOWING HIS ECONOMIC PHILOSOPHY OF DEFICIT SPENDING...
An interesting thing about 'the media' is that they are either pawns or jokers!
Pawns because so many of them are bought and paid for by the SuperRich of the world. Want proof? David Rockefeller has thanked member of the main stream media for NOT reporting on the activities of the TriLateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations and other SuperRich activities. Like hookers on the street, the Media will do anything for those that pay them!
Jokers because they are unaware of the founding principals of our great country, the Constitution, business cycles, inflation, the Federal Reserve Bank and the intrinsic value of gold. They are simply looking for the next 'good interview' and they certainly don't want to get people mad (they may not come on their show again!)
Want to know the best part? In her book, Bull!, Maggie Mahar reports that 'the people who lost the most money in the stock market crash of 2000 were those who RELIED ON THE MEDIA FOR THEIR PRIMARY INVESTMENT ADVICE!'
Thanks Robert & Kim for your great work!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0YTY5TWtmU
In interview 2006,same link as just posted. Panel even uses detroit auto makers as example of proof of productivity in USA. This link needs to be replayed on a mainstream station today...LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0YTY5TWtmU
You've got to hear this...
Mainstream media denies that a collapse coming(2006), mainstream denies benefits of gold, mainstream praises FED. This is before the #@$% hit the fan last year. Wow, how can all these analysts be so wrong. Peter Schiff only one with sense on this entire CNBC panel...
Your quotes from Keynes had some 'textbook' double entendres. One wonders why finance and economy experts always seem to say the exact opposite of what made sense. For example, the term 'inflation' can mean increasing the money supply to create affordability, or it can mean price increase.
How many people understand what a so-termed expert says? There is a 50% chance that someone is being offered just the opposite of what will help them. Semantics are important and, for some reason, often ignored. You're lucky your rich dad didn't sit on you. Many well to do people don't teach their kids the way your rich dad did. You make me feel lucky.
There is an economist at UCLA who feels that many economic and financial terms and practices have long been so distorted that they no longer do what they were intended to do properly. He is interested in restoring functionality to finance and economy.
Mises Institute also has good information on what it would take to restore the money system to levels intelligent people could possibly agree with. Here is a link to some of their videos:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=von+mises+insti...
I really appreciate the pschological lessons that you try to teach the world. It all begins with the confusion that we are taught as children. We're taught that money is real, when Rich do not think that money is real. We're taught to work for money when the rich do no do so. We're taught to think that the government will take care of us financially; when in reality, the government takes care of the rich. I think that the mass population really needs to invest a little time in psyco-therapy because are minds are so in the gutter on so many levels.
My wife, who is a member of the media, and I have had several conversations regarding this topic. I believe the media is guilty of (i) taking information from the government and other sources at face value and not asking tough questions and (ii) the lack of foresight to connect the dots. We see all of the time, for example, that media simply regurgitate data on unemployment and the state of the economy instead of asking questions or looking further at the "augmented" rate of unemployment. Also, while the media focuses on covering the "story of the day" they fail to look at the broader picture and connect the dots between economic events around the world. Frankly, it boils down to a lack of finanical understanding, intelligence and overall apathy. I don't quite understand it and wonder when the public may begin to take to the streets and fight back against a government out of control.
The dumbing down is due to the cover up of knowledge our leaders lack. They are stupid and have nothing to teach. They want to keep us thinking they have the knowledge and skill to run the country so much so that we should all realize we know nothing and be grateful for their leadership and do as they say. The men (mostly men) who lead our country are stupid and lack the same basic knowledge most of us do. It is more evident now than ever SO many things have happened to prove this. Thank YOU ROBERT for providing us an education and I assure you that you are making a profound change that we can believe in and change the direction of OUR lives and fincial future. Like the blind leading the blind our government won't admit their lack of and need for education regarding money. We who know we are blind are glad to learn and you are awesome to take the lead with the truth you've realized throughout your life. YOUR rich Dad must be very proud!
Hi! Robert just try to visit this website www.iamthewitness.com and looks for " rotschild's timeline " their you can discover some very interesting conspiracies that runs from centuries to centuries and thier wrongdoings still affects our daily activities until now. And maybe you already see the movie in video google the " money masters " it is a 3 hour movie that tells the details of the conspiracy, also try to visit this website www.larouchepac.com and look for that movie titled " Firewall " . that's all I can share at the moment. : )
Dave Ramsey states that investing in mutual funds is better than gold or silver. His total money makeover course causes you to live cheap and be cheap. No rea education except how to live poor and stay poor. I've seen many people who followed his advice and now they are out of all debt, pay cash for everything and haven't fixed anything on their house for over 20 years (carpet included).
The other one is watching mad money with Jim Cramer. It does not take many brain cells to watch him smash things as he raves about stocks. Especially watch the video of him on comedy central in a debate.
Robert, here is a link of a very disturbing video.
It exposes the four ways the world has been taken over by careful planing and conspiracy.
One of the four ways is the money system.
You can skip part one where it talks about religion.
It has been tranlated to several lenguages.
THANK YOU for doing your part.
Gabriel.
http://video.google.es/videoplay?docid=8883910961351786332&ei=MdzbSc-5HI...
In the UK we have not had the clear warning voices of the likes of Peter Schiff, Nouriel Roubini, Robert Prechter, Marc Faber etc. One BBC reporter, Robert Peston, attracted serious criticism for refusing to dumb the bad economic news down and became so trusted by the average Brit that he became known as "the Man who moves markets".
TV comment on the situation is reduced to 30 second soundbites. Men of the calibre of Jim Rogers and George Soros have recently been allowed the grand sum of about 60 seconds to comment.
In fine British tradition the only way to get the message across is thru humour. In two 8-minute sketches the wonderful "Bremner, Bird and Fortune" team convey what happened with subprime, SIVs/CDOs, the regulatory framework, CDS, and now reremics. The links are:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWDdcD-1xoo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScwGBNMH428&feature=related
Enjoy!!
Much love and gratitude to you, Robert and Kim
In my estimation, the dumbing down has been taking place for quite some time in a much more general and pervasive way than the withholding of specific information about finances, but that specific information is able to be withheld now precisely because of the more general damage that laid the foundation for it. In general, the mass media of television and radio is rife with both subtle and blatant brainwashing and prestidigitation by virtue of touting - in unrealistic and glamorous terms - marketable goods, images and recreational activities as the highly desirable end-products to strive for, while completely keeping the focus away from the actual engines of creation for those end-products. It is this disconnect that disenables a person from seeing cause-and-effect, and therefore disempowers them from making any judgment about that cause-and-effect relationship, much less acting on it. As Richard Cantillon originally expressed: "The land is the source or the substance from which wealth is drawn; the work of man is the form that produces it, and wealth in itself is nothing other than food, commodities and the amenities of life". Therefore, a prime example of the mass disconnect from this foundational reality of economy is the fact that there is no grasp of knowledge between packaged food in the grocery stores, and what it actually took to create that food. Once that level of ignorance is created in the population, it is possible and easy to manipulate the availability of more specific financial knowledge otherwise needed to understand what is happening with our money and financial system.
Hello Robert,
Enormous thanks to you and your team for the education provided here and in your other books.
Just one example:
From Time magazine, 16.03.2009, in the article about Suze Orman:
"Home ownership is a cornerstone of Ormanworld, and a good FICO score makes it
easier. "A home is flat-out the best big-ticket purchase you will ever make," she
wrote in The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke, which came out in
hardcover in 2005 and paperback in 2007. "Just like your student loans, mortgage
debt is truly good debt." The book, which is geared toward people in their 20s,
suggests that a 3% down payment on a home is acceptable in some circumstances
and recommends a hybrid mortgage, which involves a fixed-rate loan that converts
to an adjustable-rate one at some future date ("the Goldilocks option"). Under
normal circumstances, this might work out fine, but if you had followed that strategy
when the book came out, you might have been ruined when the housing market fell
apart."
The sad thing is that still a lot of people turn to her and people similar to her for financial advise.
In general, I think there's a lot of "conventional wisdom" from days gone by that doesn't apply anymore, yet the talking heads keep repeating it as if the economy hasn't been shaken to its core. I don't care what anyone says. These are unchartered waters, and I'm leery of anyone who's giving the same advice in 2009 that they were giving in 2007.
I haven't done enough reading on "stocks as a hedge against inflation" to have an informed opinion, but on Nightly Business Report's retirement special on 4/10, Boston University Finance Professor Ziv Bodie railed against this "conventional wisdom" espoused by one of the financial planners in the preceding segment. He basically called it a myth and said he would advise against most retirees having any investment in the stock market, adding that TIPS were an instrument specifically designed to beat inflation if that's the primary goal.
If anyone can find some clips for Ali Velshi of CNN and Suze Orman I think it would be a good addition to this commentary. People listen to Suze with such confidence, as I used to. Her recommendations of saving money never address inflation. Neither of these geniouses have ever mentioned precious metals to my knowledge.
Robert, I just searched for the book online from Amazon, Borders and Barnes & Noble, and I found something interesting...
NONE of them have the book for sale!!! Granted, there are links to affiliates for mostly USED copies.
I wouldn't be surprised if THAT'S being controlled by the elite through the publisher (American Media), too ... possibly by going out of print?
Thank you Robert for this book. I am also reading other books from you, now about investing.
I am trying to educate myself financially more and more. I have some money from my apartement sold in 2004 (luckely in the Euro otherwise I would have lost half already by inflation).
I am preparing by investing it in commodities. I am also following people like Micheal Maloney (read his book) and I subscribed to David Morgan's newsletters, and listen to Jim Roger. And reading work from Napoleon Hill. I work around this all evenings when I have the time.
Yes, we have been dumbed down, and not only financially, also about our health, I studied alternative healthcare, and there is a monopoly going on by the farma-industry, wanting more profit and taking more risk on anybody's health these days. The government (EU) - read big coorperations - are putting more laws in place to create an even bigger market and taking away the alternative health by putting it to an illegal side.
But schools don't teach us, they make a shape, and everybody has to be in that shape, not be outside the box, otherwise you don't pass the test. When I think about what I learned at school it is a lot of lies and also a lot of facts are not in the schoolbooks. History full of lies, Geography doesn't give you the whole picture (read books from Erich von Daniken). Economy, well that is clear. Biology based on what we see but there is more to what we do not see, think ChineseAcupuncture, Feetrefloxology.
I hope this fiat money crisis will not create what is feared a world bank/power over us. What can we as little people do to prevent that from happening?
I am looking forward to the next chapters. I am so happy to have found you and see more clear.
(Sorry for my bad English)
3 examples of financial dumbing down come to mind
1) Online and tv advertising for mortages and reverse mortgages.
2) Junk mail offers to re-finance your house with a "bi-weekly" program. When I owned my last home, I would receive these two - three times a week. I know bi-weekly programs work, but an unsolicited offer is more than likely designed in the favor of the lender not the client.
3) Reverse Mortgages advertised on tv as a solution to the retirement problem. Some of them may work, but I have heard of fees being charged for the loans as high as $15,000.
Robert,
Several years ago I developed my 5 rules of money. They help me understand what and why money acts the way it does. Here they are:
1) Money is smart
2) Money attracts money
3) Money is amoral (amoral not immoral)
4) Money likes stability and predictability it abhors chaos
5) No person, organization, or government ever has enough money!
Every situation where money is involved one and usually more then one of these rules active.
The sad fact is that while money is smart and people think they are being smart with money they only are on a small scale.
So most of the war has been fought using private contractors. In order to go into a war zone, private contractors need insurance. This insurance is very expensive. Who has been issuing these policies? AIG. So, if AIG were to go under, what would happen to the private contractors in Iraq and Afganistan??
I like to say "tell me the rules of the game and then I will play". There are so many industries that do not what you to know the rules of the game. They use their own language and terms to confuse you. I work in the IT world. I am shocked by how simple so many things are in IT. However, we cover them up with black smoke, mirrors and lots of acronyms so people will think this is a highly complicated world. If you hear a term on the news that you do not understand, beware. Google those terms and educate yourself.
I wanted to know more about taxes so I worked at one of the big national tax service stores the last two years. I got a major education about how money flows and where it goes. Do you know what EIC really is?
This year I have bought one foreclosed triplex and I am looking for more. I would not have know the rules of the game of taxes had I not worked in the "biz".
Robert, thanks for everything. You changed the way I look at the world more than anyone.
If you want to know when they are dumbing you down, just listen for the words, "...it's very complicated." I keep hearing this phrase.
If you want to see just how far America has drifted from its foundation, just watch this video Michael Badnarik . It gets very interesting and informative after about 6-8 minutes. Badnarik shows us how much we've been 'dummied down' in reguards to our Constitution and our God given rights in the same way that Kiyosaki is showing us we've been dummied down with our financial smarts.
I saw an interview last week with William K Black, a New York Teacher of the year who professed the dumbing down of our education and the real reason for public education. I also listened to John Gatto who wrote a book about the way that bankers are robbing us. These authors were very interesting.
Just visit Wall Street Journal website, MarketWatch, Barron's, or NYTimes's DealBook.
I could read articles but i have no reading comprehension whatsoever from them. There are just too many financial concepts and jargon that i have never heard of.
There are too many headlines to read and process through, or information overload. Too distracting.
But most importantly, i have no financial intelligence to determine which ones are good news and bad news, and decide which ones will help me to reach my financial freedom.
Kia ora Robert,
it is so clear that this is the sort of thing that is happening. Recently I have being going to banks to see their business banking people re loans or setting up new accounts. One question I ask is what do they classify as an asset. they don't like my rich dad reply or when I inform the bank that their business banking people do not know what assets are or what a business really is. I have two businesses. One I would class as a business as I can work on & not in it. the other is a job in my profession. aim is to make both a business.
I have being passing around here two sites to go too. the first is your 2008 prediction on silver where you explain in simple terms what is happening.
the second is http://chrismartenson.com crash course, where he uses 22 video clips to explain the system in depth. the biggest eye opener are the ones on how money is created in your federal reserve bank & how then interest is paid for (no wonder islam considers interest as evil, it shows the fed creating money out of nothing then doing the same basically to pay for the interest so compounding the problem)& also the one where he explains how the CPI is manipulated to make inflation look lower than it really is (or higher than it really is).
One thing I learnt as an instructor in the NZ army is no body is Dumb, but as you say by using your games Robert, everyone learns from their mistakes & everyone learns differently.
thing is in recent years there has being a push for academic superiority. this happened in 2500 BC in Ionian society. when all parts were in equal importance the society flourished (Socrates, Plato, Pythagaras, hypocrotis, etc)but when those that followed the academics thought themselves superior the society crashed. Most of those famous Greek scientists were sons of tradesmen. They understood that the application of theory to practical was needed in equal parts.
Who is more important when your pipes are frozen the professor of Philosophy or the plumber?
See you in Auckland.
It seems to me the obvious dumbing down is the fact that nothing ever gets said by any politician being interviewed. They always use terms to refer to what our President is trying to do, but no one ever actually "explains" anything.
Seems to me no one wants us to "know" anything. Let the government do what the government wants to do, seems to be their motto. Politicians seem to have a "the people cannot touch us" mentality.
My daughter is 5 years old and one of the most popular kids in her class. It seems other kids like to hang out with her and other parents seem to know so much about her even though we don’t really know any of them. Recently, I was watching a TV show with her and asked her not to watch that show any more as I did not like the content and how it was portrayed. After about a month, my wife told me that our doughter has been having problems with her friends. So I took her out for ice cream to see what I could find out. It turned out that the other kids no longer think she’s ‘cool’ as she does not watch the popular show and does not watch it when they all get together for a play date. Despite my disgust, I decided to let her watch the show when she’s with her friends. My point for the story is that it’s very difficult to resist the popular culture, and the popular culture is all about consumption and vanity.
Star Trek has never been my absolute favorite , but I found the concept of “Borg” fascinating. Did the creators of Star Trek use Borg to depict our western civilization? Much like the Borg, resistance is futile when it comes to becoming a part of the melting pot of today’s civilization.
I think, the dumbing down of the average person begins at a very early age by TV and other forms of media. The fact is that even though a kid might be from a well educated open minded family, the media, school, and the society get so much more face time with the kids, than the parents. Our efforts in shaping our kids future is an uphill battle at best. Parents are constantly portrayed as "Uncool" in TV programs, advertisements, and movies. Fathers have especially been portrayed as the parents who have no other goal in their life than to ruin the kid's life.
The truth is that many of today's parents are the products of the same culture, and if they have any time to spare, they would rather spend it memorizing the sport stats or try to keep up with the Jones's, than to read a book, or fight their kids on what they think is right.
In the dark ages most people couldn't read....This made it easier for the King, Queens, and Noblemen to write laws and rules in contracts to steal from the poor because the poor couldn't read....The process today is the same....The only thing that has changed is the language...Accountants, Lawyers, Real Estate Agents, Doctors, Bankers, and just about every other profession today has their own set of internal jargon, which can actually be classified more accurately into it's own professional language. This is done to make the masses unknowingly "dumbed down"......We are currently time warped back to the middle ages thanks to our professionals who write their own form of language which no common person can understand....This is done intentionally for two reasons: #1 It ensures the professionals will always have a job, because their main job is to act as a translator to the common man.....and #2 It ensures that the rich will maintain their power, because the Rich always have enough money to hire better interpreters. These well trained interpreters allow the Rich access to a more accurate understanding of vocabulary, thus allowing them to obtain more power. This gives the Rich the advantage of "sight" or the ability to see within the language. This sight allows the Rich to not only react to changes in law and technology instantly but it also allows the Rich to make the changes others can't see.....Since the poor can't see the changes...The poor end up doing the same things they were doing before the change...and fall victim to the change.....much like a blind person could fall victim to a runaway bus while attempting to cross the street....If you can't read the languages of the professional world....you are blind...and people will always take advantage of someone who can't understand....or see....Just like a 5 year old will trade a big shiny nickle to his younger brother for a small dime......So my question remains the same...Can you see?...or are you just trading in the tiny little dime for a big shiny nickel?
http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/why_we_need_a_bailo...