And that is that the prime directive of any living entity—an amoeba, an individual, a corporation, a government, anything—is to survive. And it will attempt to do so at any cost.
International Man: Young adults saving into IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement accounts won’t be able to cash out for several decades.
What are the chances the government will change the rules before they retire?
Doug Casey: The chances are 100%.
by Doug Casey
International Man: Most Western governments, especially the US, have debt loads and spending commitments that guarantee they will eventually—likely someday soon—try to grab as much wealth as possible.
Retirement savings are a juicy target. But, unfortunately, they’re among the lowest-hanging fruit for any desperate government.
What’s your take on the situation?
Doug Casey: Let me remind you of something that I’ve said a number of times in the past. But it bears repeating because it’s so critical but overlooked, even while it’s so obvious.
And that is that the prime directive of any living entity—an amoeba, an individual, a corporation, a government, anything—is to survive. The government is an entity as distinct as General Motors or Apple Corporation, with its own peculiar interests. It isn’t “We the People”; that’s just a promotional catchphrase—propaganda. Its prime directive is to survive. And it will attempt to do so at any cost.
However, the US Government is already manifestly bankrupt. It has vastly more recognized liabilities than assets—forget about its huge contingent and hidden liabilities. But that’s just its balance sheet. Its income statement is equally out of control, running trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see. To finance itself, it can only tax, borrow, and inflate the currency. Of course, it will do more of all three, but that will no longer be enough. It’s finally at the end game.
It’s inevitable that the government will now move towards confiscating, directly or indirectly, the huge pool of retirement savings some Americans—the prudent, productive ones—have put together. They’ll justify it with patriotic lies.
It’ll probably happen when the stock market melts down in earnest, we’re in the midst of a financial crisis, and the public is panicking. They’ll say, “people have lost so much money in the stock, bond, and real estate markets that we must safeguard what’s left. It’s best that we put all pension funds, IRAs, HR-10s, and what-not into a well-guarded communal pot, funded with sound government securities. We’ll put it in a lockbox and watch over it”.
Safety will be one way they’ll sell it to the scared and ignorant public. They’ll say we’re all in this together. They’ll say it’s time for solidarity. They’ll say that we have to keep “our” government solvent for reasons of patriotism. So let’s all hitch our wagons together and pull as one. They’ll conflate the interests of the government with the interests of society—which can sometimes overlap, of course, but are essentially different or even antithetical.
Be seeing you
MCViewPoint 