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Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:28:33 +0000

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By: ....

.... — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:28:36 +0000

The America that once was is no more and there is no going back. This country was founded on a simple concept, go out and take whatever you can get.. unfortunately we have all taken everything we could and now the only thing left is to take from each other so lets all enjoy the ride as we kill each other for.

p.s Oil is nothing but fozzilized plant and animal remains so in essence we are all graverobbers and graverobbing is bad karma, so no wonder the world’s so messed up

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:02:29 +0000

Question for Gary: Your words…

‘”Deserving poor”..? And exactly how do you determine who deserves what and when? The goverment decides I guess? Then the government forces me to pay for strangers? That’s socialism no matter how you slice it. It’s that kind of touchy-feely nonsense that leads to national socialism and totalitarian communism”‘

Aren’t you already paying for ’strangers’? Last I saw some pretty big amounts of cash was being handed out to some rather undeserving ‘indigent’ and ‘poor’ bankers?

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:37:48 +0000

I thoroughly enjoy this website as most of the articles make basic common sense. But every now and then an article comes along that hides it’s petulance behind verbose grand standing. I do see your point but you need to rethink it. We have many people in South Africa who think this way… they created Apartheid, and now they’re going to put a criminal fraudster in charge of this country and its a mentality; got nothing to do with skin colour. The only way they get away with it is because an ignorant majority believes its in their ‘best interest’. In the USA your very existence, and success, is based in immigration and you have the only truly respectable constitution on the face of this planet except that it’s spirit is being crushed by a privileged few because the average American is allowing it to happen. Who is more guilty? The rapist or the witness who does nothing? You are now going through the pain that the rest of us went through decades ago… living with constant fear and conflict in a fortress mentality of kneejerk rules and regulations which restrict freedom, liberty and the right to self determination. Look inside and ask yourself… ‘Am I free?’ Only you can answer that. What’s happening to you is not new to the rest of us… we’re watching our own histories repeat itself, with painful similarity, in the US. Isolationism will defeat the spirit of the constitution and only strengthen the ’slavers’ and speed your descent into Feudalism or something similar. Learn to live and let live but consider the sage words of Edmund Bourke: “Among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot long exist” South Africa is descending into a swamp of corruption and crime which is being blamed on ‘Apartheid’, a system long gone. ‘Apartheid’ today is just a convenient justification for corrupt South Africans to justify their present crimes. Similarly, do not blame illegal immigrants for your own discontent; they’re a tiny minority and not your enemy and the least of your worries. Go take a long, hard look at your perceived enemies and maybe you will start to see your own smoke screens? Be careful what you wish for

By: Oldmanriver

Oldmanriver — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:18:04 +0000

I apologize to all if you mistook my comments earlier to mean that Don is a worthless person or “non-Productive”. What I meant to say was that in the new economy that Don has envisioned his position in life would be very difficult to maintain. With the loss of so many jobs, riots, deaths and scarcity of resources only the people that can change their mindset quickly and act very fast will have a snowballs chance in surviving. The future that he would have us have would most likely include the imploding of the USA as a nation. Think about all the services that Federal and State Government provides, imagine that they would stop instantly tomorrow. We saw what happened during Hurricane Katrina when just a small portion of the USA basically quit working. Ironically the people most likely to excell in a situation like that are those that are probabably on some sort of government assistance right now. Its very likely that most of the readers of this column including myself would not survive this. Imagine a world where only the strongest survives…think africa. That does not sound very appealing at all. The average american simply does not possess the skill sets needed to adapt to this type of lifestyle very quickly. At least during the depression most people still lived on farms and were basically subsistance agriculture. Thats not the case now days. I think the most useful model to see what we would be in for would be to look at Soviet Russia and what happened after it broke up. Are you all prepared to see 50% of the women engaging in prositution at one time or another just to make ends meet? Are you prepared for a lifesyle where if your neighbor wants something of yours he just kills you without any consequences? There was a fellow I worked with during the late 90s who was always talking about what he was doing to prepare for Y2K . He liked to ask other people what they were doing as most people werent really doing anything about it. One time he asked a good ole boy transplant from kentucky if he was doing anything to prepare. The good ole boy kind of sat back smiled and said “I dont have to do anything, I have a rifle and Im a pretty good shot. I also know where you live”… Are you all prepared to have to kill your neighbors in order that your own family survives? Its not the good and decent folks that excell in these situations, it is the person who is willing and capable of being the most viscious person in the area. It would take a massive change in peoples mindset compared to what we have now. Another ironic point is that people willing to band together in some sort of socialistic group or community would also have the best chance of survival. No man is an island and in hard times that is even more so. People like to romanticise the independant person, the lone wolf but when things get bad those are the first people to get culled from society. It has only been recently with our wealth and the support of the government that the individual had a fighting chance by themself. If you look back in history socialistic groups are the norm. Im sorry for rambling on but I truely do wish Don well, I just think that many of his ideals are misguided and will cause needless death and destruction. Is that the society you want your children to inherit, where the law of tooth and club reigns supreme?

By: Gary Gibson

Gary Gibson — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:19:53 +0000

I know Don is harsh, but some of these response are really irking me.

“Deserving poor”..? And exactly how do you determine who deserves what and when? The goverment decides I guess? Then the government forces me to pay for strangers? That’s socialism no matter how you slice it. It’s that kind of touchy-feely nonsense that leads to national socialism and totalitarian communism.

As far as production…Productive activity counts as fulfilling a role that the market demands. It doesn’t have to be farming or manufacturing. My local grocer doesn’t “produce” any of the products on his shelves, but I’m sure as hell glad he is doing his “non-productive” job and making goods and sundries available to me. Same with Don. I’m glad he was there to sell me gold and silver.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:55:18 +0000

To Don Schott,
While you present some good thoughts and solutions, most of which are admittedly what we need, you are so typical of why this country does not work. You polarize and inflame those that think differently. Where oh where does your brain find it “wonderful” to live with riots and for millions to die? I suspect you have a high IQ, but you surely have a low EQ.
I will put all future Whiskey and Gunpowder issues in my trash bin, and look elsewhere for intelligent thought.

By: Goldbug

Goldbug — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:59:20 +0000

Sound advice but you lost credibility when you began ranting.

By: 4caster

4caster — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 23:42:29 +0000

I agree with Mark Johnson, Jeff Stears and Sarah. Don Stott appears to suggest that the US disengages from the world. He wrote everything except “Bring back Smoot-Hawley”. US isolationism was tried and failed twice in the first half of th 20th century.

I am a liberal. I believe the freedom of the individual to be paramount, provided that he or she doesn’t interfere with the liberty of another. I strongly advocate free movement of goods, capital and people, also the integrity of currencies. I also believe the rich have a duty to support the deserving poor – those who can’t support themselves, not those who choose not to work.

By: Oldmanriver

Oldmanriver — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:17:11 +0000

Mr. Scott,

While I agree that the size of our government has gotten out of hand, I dont think that disbanding enmasse is going to bring the country out of our current situation. If anything this will excerbate the situation as you will have an inceased number of people without jobs. I guess you could make the arguement that it would be intense short term pain followed by a faster recovery. I find it interesting that you extoll getting rid of all the non productive people. I find that very brave on your part as you produce nothing. From the description posted here and your website you buy and sell precious metals. Im glad that that occupation has been fullfilling and enriching for you but in no way would I think of it as productive. If going by your theory that all non productive people leave or die. I recommend that you take your own advice to leave as you are hardly ready for a darwinistic challenge should your ideas come to pass which I for one do not wish to happen. The gold and silver you own will hardly be worth anything. I give this advice go buy some farmground. Some good farm land in a place that dosnt need irrigation such as Illinois, indiana or Iowa. Buy some animals, learn to grow your own food and make your own things. If things get as bad as you wish them to you wont be able to eat your gold and no one will trade food for a worthless metal.