Tuesday, November 30, 2010

A Lunch Conversation: Twilight of the Gods Time for America

Yesterday, I had lunch with a very successful businessman.I have been doing business with him for more than 10 years. He is as shrewd as they get. His accountant once told me that this man is the smartest man he knows.

This man was born in the Middle East and came to America to make his fortune. In the 10 plus years, I have known him, he has never talked politics with me. Never. He thinks business, not about politics. This man is now 70. Over lunch, he looked at me wearily and said, "I came to America because the opportunity was here. That opportunity is slowly sliding away for others. The government is squeezing everyone. I'm getting squeezed with new tax enforcement and new regulations. America is decaying from within. I am not sure where the place to be is, but it is certainly not America anymore."

When the apolitical types know there is something wrong. There's a lot wrong. They wouldn't notice it unless it was smacking them right in the head. And that's what the government is doing, squeezing with this rule and that regulation. It will eventually become clear to everyone that the country is crumbling, by then it will probably be too late. And the solutions offered may be worse than the disease. Keep one bag packed, my friends. It's very close to Twilight of the Gods time for America.

10 comments:

  1. What a great write up. Thank you for sharing. Unfortunately these sentiments are becoming more common. I am a 26 year old student of economics, born here. Growing up I assumed through blind faith this was "the land of the free". As I got older and began to expand my knowledge and experience I quickly found out that I was sadly mistaken. I am not alone either, many of my friends and peers, even kids younger than me know the time for a mass exodus is soon upon us. The ship is sinking. You can't live a freely and try to make a dent in the world, or even better your financial standpoint when regulation strangles you at each turn. You can't live happily when you are fearful of coercion and aggression. There has to be a market for freedom somewhere across the globe. The key is finding it.

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  2. Being a Cuban refugee I have come to the same concluson. Where to emigrate to has no easy answer. Plus the US exit tax makes it expensive to renounce your US citizenship. It would be ironic that 50 years or so after my exile from Cuba it becomes once again free while the US descends into a totalitarian morass.

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  3. The question is, where to go? This isn't like England in 1800, where you can bail for Australia or America. There's nowhere left. (Belize, Costa Rica, or Taiwan may work for some people, but those aren't options for me for a number of reasons.)

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  4. Interesting. Keep one bag packed.

    Where would we go when it all comes crashing down? Where *could* we go?

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  5. Back in the summer, I had lunch with an older gentleman who provided scientific research labs with a very particular supply. While we were talking, it became increasingly clear to me that he was an easy going and patient man. What I am trying to say is he did not appear to be a rabble-rouser. He seemed to enjoy talking about his business, too. Then I asked him about his prices. He said for the past 10 years he's been in business, he hadn't changed his prices at all. But this year, he said with a sudden change in tone and expression, "those fuckers got me".

    A lot of people are feeling the pinch this year. And a lot of people are upset over it. The general mood in America is a sour one, and the government is being looked at as the source of their agony.

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  6. Anon III wrote: "and the government is being looked at as the source of their agony"

    And that's a big part of the problem; no one wants to do any introspection to see if true fault lies within. So much easier to blame it on someone else.

    Think: people buying homes they didn't need with money they didn't have...

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  7. "Anon III wrote: "and the government is being looked at as the source of their agony"

    And that's a big part of the problem; no one wants to do any introspection to see if true fault lies within. So much easier to blame it on someone else.

    Think: people buying homes they didn't need with money they didn't have... "


    Yes, its their own fault that it is harder and harder to become an entrepreneur and save money here because of the burdensome senseless regulations, as well of the constant squandering of capital via bad centrally planned banking policy. Its their fault they have to spend more of their savings on basics because their saved cash is worth less as time goes on. And its their own fault they were handed a bunch of cheap money and had no clue it was bubble money. Its their fault Greenspan created this bubble economy. Its their fault that bailout and stimulus measures passed despite their objections. How dare they blame the government.

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  8. It is not open to argument. The government views commercial activity as the goose that lays golden eggs, for them to collect. Then they decided to direct everything the way they wanted by force (laws). Now they have throttled the goose.

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  9. Late George Bush early Barak Obama, he govt turned to looting whatever value there was. I dont know the reason but it is obvious. Nothing is accounted for, no ballance sheets are available, trillions are borrowed and dispersed. This is the end game. Someone should really do a blog on the next best country for the upper middle class but unconnected to go to.

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  10. Keith –

    Wow, even when given a sign, an entitlement-minded gent such of yourself still refuses acknowledgment.

    You wrote: “And its their own fault they were handed a bunch of cheap money”

    How Freudian, how telling. No one was handed anything; recipients actively sought out and took that money. No one was forced to buy a home they didn’t need with money they didn’t have. And I still find it utterly fascinating that the act of RENTING is completely ignored by most as an option for ensuring there’s a roof over one’s head.

    Thank you for proving my point.

    Are John Mauldin disciples the only ones who have seen through the over-valued housing thing since the early millennium and have acted accordingly by renting??? Does that name ring a bell, or have you and your entitlement-brethren been too busy watching DWTS? But hey, why do due diligence when you can be a zombie in front of a box?

    If you want to debate “spend more of their savings on basics”, let me know.
    Because I’m sure very little of that savings was spent on big-screen TV’s, furnishing the McMansion, newer-model cars, extravagant clothes, and kids they couldn’t afford.

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