As has happened with other civilizations no longer in existence, they went by the way, because of stupid expansionism, increases in government size, currency devaluation, and degradation of the populace’s morality, education, and ethics. Let’s examine one.
Expansionist, militaristic, ’policeman of the world’ America, has 737 overseas bases. According to Chalmers Johnson, in a recent article, the military, “Deploys well over half a million soldiers, spies, technicians, teachers, dependents, and civilian contractors in other nations.” Huge numbers of billions of taxpayer dollars go to Kellogg, Brown, and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, of which we have all heard about with their non-bid contracts by the hundreds. Whole sectors of the American economy have come to rely the military for sales. These sales to the military, of course, are paid by taxes. As an example, the Department of Defense recently bought 273,000 bottles of sunblock lotion.
There are 6,000 military bases in America and its territories. Okinawa alone, has four Marine bases, and has had for 58 years. There are $5 billion worth of military and espionage installations in Britain, which have long been conveniently disguised as Royal Air Force Bases. Some of the foreign bases are so huge, that they require bus lines to transport personnel around in them. Occupants of these bases usually live quite well, at taxpayer expense of course. There are swimming pools, clubs, gyms, fancy restaurants, and of course schools for their children.
Have you heard of a place called Kyrgzstan? There are over 1150 Military there.
All of the overseas bases cost a fortune to operate. Hundreds of billions each month. They are located in places which irritate the natives in most cases. We are indeed being ruined by what Dwight Eisenhower warned about, and that is the “Military-Industrial Complex.” While we anger people when we place bases in their lands, we also degrade the dollar continually. Why do we need military bases anywhere in the world, or for that matter hundreds of embassies? Why, Why, Why?
Imagine the expenditures incurred by hundreds of thousands of military stationed overseas, plus the backups, food, supplies, arms, communications, and fuel needed for these bases. They constitutes a great portion of the budget deficit. This doesn’t include the wars, which I will cover next time.
Why is silver now only sold in 500 ounce lots? The answer is actually simple. All silver from all mints comes in 500 ounce boxes. If our shipper had to break them down, re-count, repackage, and re-box to smaller portions, they would have to hire more people, and maybe even build a plant addition. You just cannot imagine the volume we are experiencing, and in order to cope with it, it just has to be in 500 ounce lots. This saves lots of expenses, space, and costs. Will you get your silver in a couple of months? Yes. We trust A-Mark, A-Mark trusts the mints, they trust us, and we hope you trust us. If that worries you, you can wait of course, till there can be instant delivery, if ever, but I can only imagine what pries will be then. More and more people every day are switching their assets from paper to gold and silver, and the volume is actually almost impossible to handle. That’s why the phones are so busy. We’re sorry, but we don’t know how to solve it!