Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/12/trump-jeffrey-epstein-ghisla...
OK, so hearsay from Epstein. Which could easily be reliable. And could also not be. Also unclear precisely what "dirty" means. So sure, it adds to the pile, but we're not there yet, IMO.
What happens when US economic data becomes unreliable
271–280 of 418 posts
Re: What happens when US economic data becomes unreliable
#272Earlier quoted context omitted.
The first sign many Roman citizens had that their empire had collapsed is when a bridge near them fell down and nobody showed up to repair it. America's been in that mode for a long time.
That is your local city and county, not the "American empire". And your judgement in choosing where you live!8))
Is your local city and county not part of the empire?
If the empire doesn't have any cities and counties, it must have already collapsed.
Re: What happens when US economic data becomes unreliable
#273Earlier quoted context omitted.
The first sign many Roman citizens had that their empire had collapsed is when a bridge near them fell down and nobody showed up to repair it. America's been in that mode for a long time.
That is your local city and county, not the "American empire". And your judgement in choosing where you live!8))
Take a drive on an interstate highways. Whenever I take an Uber/Lyft to the airport I ask the usually (more like 100%) foreign born driver to compare the highway (I5) and the airport (SeaTac) with the same from his country. The comparison is bad for the US.
US is a third world country, but Americans do no want to admit that.
Re: What happens when US economic data becomes unreliable
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It'd take decades to rebuild that trust that was lost in a matter of weeks. There is some truth to this. Other examples of crossing the line and breaking long-term trust would be: To Canada: Statements about Canada last year. To Europe: The idiocy around Greenland earlier this year To the Middle East: Current events.
I do wonder how far certain acts could go in rebuilding the trust. Ie real actual legal liability. Line up anyone who did insider trading, the doge guys, the big mouths in the big house, and put them through a zero tolerance military tribunal. No bullshit kangaroo court where they're let off with a slap on the wrist because they're rich. I mean strip every last one of these motherfuckers of everything they're worth.…
The Supreme Court doesn’t care. That’s the #1 sign the country is over, it’d take a miracle to get out of this decline. And then everyone is just going to be pardoned. There were no ethics baked into the constitution, that was the fatal flaw, even businesses have such things to prevent lawsuits or internal drama or issues
Re: What happens when US economic data becomes unreliable
#275Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly: The 0.01% Elite bleeding out the planet and their biggest worries are: 1. How do I keep my doomsday bunker servants in line? 2. Or is a ticket to Mars the better option?
Mars isn't a good option due to lack of magnetosphere. Personally if you want to propagate life by shooting containers of RNA at different extraterrestrial plants.
It's an excellent option if you want to secure an incredible amount capital investment in a non-nonsensical pig of an idea - with visionary animations doing the heavy lifting as the most alluring lipstick known to man.
Re: What happens when US economic data becomes unreliable
#276Earlier quoted context omitted.
There will be no "peripheral states flipping" in the USA. Secession is not an option here.
This is only true as long as there is money for the military. When money is gone, the military is gone. Money goes easily when a country has a large debt and need other countries to continue to buy into that debt.
> When money is gone, the military is gone.
I feel like the lesson from other countries is that the military will be the last thing to go. Public funding of everything else will be sacrificed to keep the military powerful, and leaders will be from the military. That will be a complete breakdown of democracy of course.
Re: What happens when US economic data becomes unreliable
#277Earlier quoted context omitted.
The use of GDP, or GDP/Population as the primary metric is a real problem. We need to use a metric that is closer to "total economic benefit for the median person", that would include income, as well as government services.
The Gini coefficient and sometimes its' velocity would be a better alternative. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient
(1 - Gini) * GDP/Pop ?
Re: What happens when US economic data becomes unreliable
#278Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've never met a single person willing to attest to filling out a BLS survey. Not once. If their methodology is built on that + unemployment data from State Unemployment agencies + data from payroll processors, anyone not collecting state unemployment benefits is invisible to the system, and half of the payroll is actually not even consituted of U.S. Citizens. Admittedly, if I could find a single instance of someone…
> I've never met a single person willing to attest to filling out a BLS survey I’ve never met a single chicken farmer. Does that mean I should be sceptical about them existing? Like, what sort of metric is this for truth finding? > to assume benevolent intent No need. Markets move on these data. The rich and powerful bet their money on what they say.
No one's ever met a Gideon either.
Re: What happens when US economic data becomes unreliable
#279Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not the military that makes it impossible. It's the incredible level of interwoven left/right, progressive/conservative, urban/rural populations in more or less every state. More people voted for the current president in CA than in more or less any other state. Yet it is viewed as a "blue" state. The millions of Democratic voters in large cities like Houston or Atlanta may not control their state legislatures, b…
People are building bunkers and tax avoidance as protest is becoming popular again. I think all people want is to secede.
These are niche behaviors. Most Americans live where they live, plan to remain there (with the possible exception of what is left of the trans community in nominally red states, and some women in similar states). If and when the shit truly hits the fan (to the extent that it has not already done so), most Americans will be right where they are now, without bunkers and having filed their taxes.
Re: What happens when US economic data becomes unreliable
#280Earlier quoted context omitted.
Getting citizenship requires planning.
Only if the local government is still intact, which in this scenario is unlikely. At the very least they could bribe their way in.
Not even that. I doubt there are many governments that would not find ways to naturalize a billionaire, if they are willing to invest.