Mr. Mustache

I thought that I would share something from one of the sites I regularly read:

If you’re surprised to hear that I knew nothing of the looming shutdown, and that I don’t read (or watch) the news at all, then you will get a lot from this article. Because I’m going to suggest that unless you work directly in the news media industry yourself, you too should be paying absolutely no attention to the news.

I am not sure I entirely agree, but Mr. Mustache has a point. I have cut down on my news consumption, but should I cut it even more? Does it actually matter one month or even one week from now? I doubt it. I actually had a blog post on the uselessness of news. 

But with regard to the current government shutdown, except for reading the faux outrage on Facebook, I also know almost nothing about it. My wife, watching Russian news, may know more. 

I do not feel deprived. All I can say is, thank God. I really mean that, for it was my contemplation of my theme here of leaving Babylon that led me to reduce my news consumption. 

Ah, the bliss of not letting politics consume you! Turn it off now. It is too late for the guy on the left, but you can do it. 

Who is John Galt?

As you may have noticed I have reduced my blogging for a season. Life can get in the way of your passions. I should start up my regular schedule soon. 

If you do not know who John Galt is, click here. 

I have been considering more and more the point Karl Denninger is making here. If one can't really particpate in a corrupt system, then don't. Yes I know that one has to eat, but do you need a new car every three years? Does my iPad still work? If so, do I need the new one coming out soon? 

While most of us are not self employed, or as is the case with Karl and me semi-retired, I think that most of us can gradually opt out of the system to some degree. 

It is something to consider.

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Karl Denninger Retires

I thought it interesting that blogger Karl Denninger has retired from economic life as much as he can, while he will continue to blog sporadically. I understand the rational behind it. It is getting more and more difficult to figure out how one should invest. And even if one does invest, too much is taken away from success.

Good luck Karl.

Here is an interview he did that I found interesting. Not a good video, but still worth "watching."

Pension Train Wreck Coming

I have been reading a lot lately about the pension crisis. I doubt that Obama has an evil plot to steal your pension, 401K or your IRA. It has to be admitted that this has happened in several countries, most recently Poland. The way the scam works is that assets are seized and replaced with government bonds to "protect" the saver. 

The size and nature of the crisis depends on what you are talking about. Most of us Baby Boomers have little or no savings. This is not good. Social Security is underfunded and will force a 25% cut in pensions in 25 years or so. This is bad. Medicare is also underfunded and will run out in 15 years. No one has any idea what this will mean. This is very bad, especially as I will probablyly still be alive then. State government pensions are a mess. They are hugely underfunded, and have absurd assumptions about future investment income. This is very, very bad for retired government workers. 

Making the pension problem even worse is the looting of the system through excessive fees to the "powers that be." Rolling Stone Magazine has had some interesting articles on economics. Thier most recent article about Pensions is no exception to this. I suggest you have a look. 

How will this play out over the next decade? I have no idea, but I suggest you get your financial house in order. 

Refusing to Accept Reality

If we refuse assent to reality: if we rebel against the nature of things and choose to think that what we at the moment want is the centre of the universe to which everything else ought to accommodate itself, the first effect on us will be that the whole universe will seem to be filled with an inexplicable hostility. We shall begin to feel that everything has a down on us, and that, being so badly treated, we have a just grievance against things in general. That is the knowledge of good and evil and the fall into illusion. If we cherish and fondle that grievance, and would rather wallow in it and vent our irritation in spite and malice than humbly admit we are in the wrong and try to amend our behaviour so as to get back to reality, that is, while it lasts, the deliberate choice, and a foretaste of the experience of Hell.

—Dorothy L. Sayers, Introductory Papers on Dante