Special Post about the state of the country
by Bill HarrisJuly 12th, 2012
I just had to share this daily post from Richard Russell, one of the many financial experts I read. Richard is 87, I believe, and he posts every weekday on his website. He is one of THE most respected financial experts in the world, and is read by heads of state, Fortune 500 CEOs, and nearly every on-the-know person interested in financial markets. I have been reading him for about 30 years, and he isn’t often wrong. His website is www.dowtheoryletters.com. I take his opinions very seriously. Please read:
July 12, 2012 – Some of my new subscribers may think that I enjoy bear markets. Believe me, nothing could be further from the truth. I have five children: four girls and a boy; I have two ex-wives, and a sister who is four years younger than I am. I feel responsible for all these souls, and the last thing I need is a brutal bear market to struggle with.
I also have a real allegiance to my subscribers, many of whom have been with me for over half a century. In view of all the foregoing, I can say with full honesty that I don’t enjoy or look forward to bear markets.
I say this with the knowledge that “whatever can go wrong, tends to go wrong in a primary bear market.” And we are in a bear market — one that ultimately may turn out to be the worst in history.
I assume that most subscribers were surprised by yesterday’s site, in which I wrote about the US unilaterally raising the price of gold. By now, everybody knows about the danger of our nation continuing on its current path. Aside from the “fiscal cliff” coming up, our whole politico-economic set-up isn’t working. Something drastic must be done — such as a new monetary system, and a new government set-up. The fact is that our Congress isn’t functioning intelligently — in fact, it just is not functioning. Congress is disgustingly corrupt and much of Congress is in the grip of lobbyists. Too many people enter Congress medium-poor and leave Congress rich. The President spends far too much time running for a second term. We should elect presidents for a single six-year term, and then the president should go home and do something else, that hopefully, is useful. The Supreme Court members should be elected, not appointed.
In other words, our whole system is, today, tied up in knots; it’s just not working. We need a non-corrupt political system and a new monetary system. Personally, I’m in favor of any system that actually works on an honest and sustainable basis. Our current system doesn’t work. If it did work, we wouldn’t be in the God-awful mess we are in now. And no, I don’t enjoy bear markets. And I don’t enjoy bull markets that ultimately take stocks far above known values, followed, usually, by a crash.
The old gold standard worked reasonably well. It forced monetary discipline on the nation. The Federal Reserve is an abomination. The nation ran for many years without a national bank, and it was never in the fix it is today.
The Fed is a monopoly run by bankers, for bankers. It should be abolished. Well, there’s no sense in my going through the whole government piece by piece.
The gruesome fact is that this country is not running in a way that is sustainable. As it is, we are leaving our children and grandchildren with a debt-choked nation that is technically bankrupt. We’ve substituted fiat, man-made paper notes for gold. Our whole nation is in hock. Cities, counties and states are now bankrupt and are unable to pay their bills. Raising the price of gold is a stop-gap measure. We’ve got to toss out what doesn’t work, and go back to the drawing board. And if that’s what a bear market will do for us — then let it rip.
But it won’t be that easy. When a nation has a fundamental disease, nobody (certainly not the voters nor the politicians) wants to take the pain of a real, honest, bear market cure.
Subscribers ask me how we could unilaterally raise the price of gold. Easy, one day the president (Roosevelt did it) announces, “The price of US gold is now $4,000 an ounce.” Period.
Three of California’s cities — Stockton, Vallejo, and San Bernadino — have filed for bankruptcy. What about their muni bonds?
Last Friday, the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, sent out paychecks to its employees, as it does every two weeks. But these checks were for amounts significantly smaller than usual because Mayor Chris Doherty reduced all city employees’ pay — including his own — to the state minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
I note that new highs on the NYSE are dropping off with each new day. Today there were only 107 new highs.
Of the 19 sectors that Dow Jones posts each day, 16 were down today, signifying broad weakness. The VIX is still low, at below 19, and calmness and confidence is apparently the order of the day. Today, with such low volatility, it’s inexpensive to buy downside protection (puts). The thought is that if there is any danger, the Fed will immediately act. Thus traders feel safe, which is one reason the VIX is so low. This is a very professional market. Joe six-pack and his wife are not in this market. They’re still in shock (if not broke) following the 2008 crash..
Is history repeating? This is the longest job recession, 53 months, since the Great Depression. The Midwest is suffering the worst drought since the “dust bowl” of the 1930s. The movies are showing the scariest stories since the 1930s. Then it was Dracula, now it is vampires. Then it was the birth of radio and news beamed across America, now it is the birth of the Internet and news beamed across the states and the world.
[This is not Russell's entire daily post, but I thought was important that you read it. His subscription isn't cheap, but well worth it. Consider subscribing if you can afford it.]
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July 13th, 2012 at 7:46 pm
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Hegelian+dialectic
July 14th, 2012 at 4:21 am
I invested all my spare cash in Gold and silver some time ago but I fear the market is being manipulated.
In the UK at least, the libor interest rate fixing scandal is in all the financial newspapers. The price of gold seems unusually load during the current climate and some indicators are pointing to price fixing as govts try to protect their paper, fiat currencies. Some say that the gold market has all the indications of libor manipulation:
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page33?oid=154982&sn=Detail&pid=102055
I intend to hold onto my gold but it has been quite a bumpy ride and if I was to sell now, I would just about break even.
FROM BILL: No matter what happens, gold will retain its value in terms of buying power over the long run. Currencies may not. Debt instruments (anything based on someone else’s power to pay) definitely won’t. You should not be entirely in gold and silver. They will go down in a deflation, probably. Have some cash. Not a bank account, but cash. Capital Preservation Fund or some other treasury-only money fund is probably okay, but even then have some cash out of the system. Yes, everything is manipulated. However, the markets world-wide are too big to be manipulated continuously. The market always does what it’s going to do, eventually, regardless of manipulation. One reason you need to spend some money for some good advice (Richard Russell, Bert Dohmen, Robert Precter, Martin Weiss, or someone else who knows what’s going on) is that without knowledgeable advice your emotions will rule you and you will lose all your money.
July 15th, 2012 at 1:19 am
Soviet union did it 20 years ago, now its Usa turn.
Next, London city. China will sink anyway.
And the better days are ahead!
To human beings, hah hah
July 15th, 2012 at 5:01 am
Bill- I am a 27 yr old college student in Australia, with only $10,000 to my name. What’s the most important thing I can do to prepare for what’s coming? I will not hold you responsible for my actions.
FROM BILL: Hang on to your $10,,000. Keep it in CASH (not a bank account or any other promise to pay) or put half in gold and half in cash. Now is not the time to try to make money with your money (every way to do that is quite risky, especially if you aren’t an expert in such things, AND know what is coming, which many experts do not). It is the time to hang on to it. Go for safety, not “growth.” Also, stay out of debt.
July 17th, 2012 at 1:22 am
Hi Bill, whats your thoughts, I have a property in a good area, but I have debt still on the property not sure if I should sell? Should I sell and take any profits I can, Only thing is, if everything being equal I will have the debt paid off in 4 years and a house to my name, which was always my goal.
I understand this is my responsibility. Your thoughts would be great.
FROM BILL: I wish I had a great answer. I own a house, which I love, but a part of me wishes I was renting and had the money instead. However, it’s hard to sell a house these day, especially in the price range of my house. I don’t know your situation, what the housing market is like, how much you would get for your house, how much you owe, how much you pay each month, what your source of income is, or any of the other variables. If your source of income dries up, what will you do? I do think that if you can sell at a reasonable price (and can hang onto the money over the next 4-5 years you can probably buy something at a much lower price at that point (it will be right when NO ONE wants to buy a house that you should buy). Sorry I can’t give you better advice.
July 17th, 2012 at 8:42 am
Bill’s advice to Tim is terrible for the economy. If everyone told themselves, “I must withdraw from the market and hold cash, for only doom and failure lie ahead,” this would become a self-fulfililng prophecy, something I know that Bill knows quite a bit about. People would find exactly the results they went looking for, unaware that they are creating those results for themselves (and their neighbors).
What we need is for everyone to do the opposite of what Bill is recommending. Tim, however, is facing a collective action problem. Since his action alone is not enough to influence the economy, why should he stick his neck out? It’s like a global prisoner’s dilemma.
FROM BILL: If you want to do the very thing that will cause you to lose your money, be my guest. This situation is/was NOT caused by people doing what is prudent. It was caused by huge debts being incurred.
Huge amounts of credit were created so people could buy things they had not earned the right to buy. More credit means more “money” in circulation which means higher prices, since there is more money chasing the same amount of goods and services. It also means that tomorrow’s money (and today’s, for that matter) was spent yesterday. Now there isn’t enough money, and in fact much of what is thought of as “money” is just someone else’s promise to pay.
This is called “credit money,” and it includes bank accounts, money market funds, IOUs, bonds, insurance policies, and anything else where a piece of paper (or electronic entry somewhere) is one person or institution’s promise to pay someone else. As the amount of debt service becomes unsustainable (which has now happened, with MUCH more to come), debts like this go bad (ie, are not paid).
As this happens the money supply deflates, shrinks. When I loan you $1000, you have the $1000 and I have your IOU, which is just like money as long as people know you’re good for it. So $1000 became $2000. This increases the money supply–what is called monetary inflation (which leads to price inflation).
When these debts can’t be paid, which is what is happening now, it is like a game of musical chairs. If you want to get caught with no chair (ie, holding a promise to pay when the promiser has no money), go ahead. Under your point of view, all of us should just pretend that things that actually have little or no value DO have value. If we all did (so you say), everything would be okay.
But value is set by what people are willing to pay, and when money disappears due to the deleveraging of credit, prices of everything go down because the available money to buy it decreases (in this case HUGELY decreases). In 2008 when the financial problems happened, you may remember that the avereage person lost 40% of his or her 401K. This was a result of unpayable debts causing a lot of supposed money going up in smoke. If you tell me you can’t pay back the $1000 I lent you, then the IOU is worthless. Now $2000 became $1000 again. Deflation of the money supply.
Holding something that is a promise to pay when it can’t be paid is just stupid. Thinking that it’s all a matter of confidence misses the point. It is not a matter of confidence. It is a coming to terms with the FACT that much of the so-called money in circulation was created out of thin air and finally has be shown by circumstances to be worthless. If you want to be caught holding thin air, then buy bonds, have money in a bank account, lend your money to someone else.
I suggest that you learn a bit about how economics actually works, lest you lose everything.
July 17th, 2012 at 8:57 am
While it is perfectly fine to read Richard Russell for entertainment purposes, if any readers are looking for investment advice, they should inspect this link:
http://www.cxoadvisory.com/3585/individual-gurus/richard-russell/
FROM BILL: What an idiotic thing to say. Richard Russell is not “for entertainment purposes.” He is one of THE most highly respected analysts in the world, and a huge number of very smart people look to him for advice. I have read him for decades and he is rarely wrong. Besides that, there are many more incredibly smart people who are essentially saying the same thing he is saying. You are talking about something you know little if anything about. Knowing how to google something isn’t the same as having knowledge.
July 17th, 2012 at 11:39 am
What about keeping cash in a fire-proof safe in your house? That would work too.
FROM BILL: You could do that.
July 18th, 2012 at 4:15 pm
Yay, Bill Harris says my writing is idiotic!
Richard Russell may well be intelligent, respected, erudite, and stimulating. He also has no special foreknowledge of what will happen to the economy. They say you are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts. The facts say that his performance as an economic prognosticator compared to other analysts since 2002 has been unexceptional.
FROM BILL: Russell has one hell of a lot more foresight on what will happen that you do. You are a fool and uninformed. And, this is your last post. I can SPOT YOU regardless of how you appear!
July 19th, 2012 at 2:58 am
Thanks for sharing the advice Bill.
What are the thoughts on the possible new emerging monetary system? Something like kickstarter.com ?
FROM BILL: I don’t know about kickstarter.com. There is a lot of talk of a new monetary system. Whatever it might be (gold backing?) it will not do away with the fact that many people are owed money they will never be paid, which is unethical, and that LOTS of money will disappear, creating a depression. A new monetary system might stabilize things, but it will be a the expense of SOMEONE, some group who will lose money they have righfully earned or have been promised. When money disappears, as it does in a deflation, someone always loses. This is no different than saying that what goes up must come down.
July 19th, 2012 at 8:01 am
Bill, I forget!
Thanks again
You are my friend
July 19th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Hi Bill,
I like your first response from the Kevin thread. And feel aligned with your points about promises to pay, IOU’s, and the inflation of money. I deciding upon taking some action for the advice given from you and from Russell’s articles. However, I would like to align my actions with my business. One of them is to not use credit cards and promote more cash billing. Do you have any advice on how to use “cash billing” when most products are bought online? Kind of like how we can purchase your Holosync online. How can we promote more cash billing through our business? Ideas?
FROM BILL: I use cash when possible, though not really to avoid a paper trail. I just think it’s faster. I use CCs for many things, but NEVER leave an unpaid balance. CCs are a convenience if you always pay them off. If the banks go weird those who have cash out of the bank will have a way to keep going. Those who don’t will be at the mercy of the government, a position in which I don’t want to be.
July 20th, 2012 at 4:20 am
Hi Bill,
First off, I swear I’m a different Kevin than the one annoying you. I appreciate this info and take it very seriously. I’ve learned so much since your first post about social mood.
It’s scary to think about how this is going to all unfold. Hopefully in the end we’ll get less government, but that might just be wishful thinking.
When I was reading Luke’s question above about buying a house a question came up. I was thinking of purchasing soon. I agree with you about staying out of debt, and not buying right now. But what about a multi-family versus a single home to always have renters paying the mortgage? So instead of renting for the next few years, I’d at least have something to show for it when the dust begins to settle. I guess my concern then would be if things get so bad that there’s no renters market anymore.
FROM BILL: What if the renters can’t pay the rent? You’ll still have to pay the mortgage, and the property taxes. In normal times I’d say yes, as long as you have the stomach to deal with renters , but these days I’d stay away from it. Cash and gold.
July 20th, 2012 at 2:35 pm
Hi Bill,
Thanks for your reply and insight about credit cards.
- Do you have any recommended resources to learn how to invest in gold?
- I went to Russell’s website, but it seems to lack information on what you get for subscribing to his paid newsletter. Does he give actionable steps to take when he writes his letters? Or, are his letters geared towards ideas and ways of thinking?
Thanks,
- Nick
FROM BILL: Click on “about”. Yes, sometimes he gives actionable steps. Right now, cash and gold. Trust me, he is worth reading. He writes a website daily (weekdays) and has a newsletter which comes out (I think) 14x a year. If you read the daily website you can skip the newsletter, as it’s derived from the daily stuff. He started with the newsletter, through the mail, and added the website about 15 years ago. He is one of THE grand old men of the financial newsletter world. HIGHLY respected. The Godfather.
July 20th, 2012 at 4:04 pm
“never was so much owed, buy so many few” Winston Churchill., 1940.
FROM BILL: Did you mean, “Never was so much owed by so many to so few”?? That’s the actual quote, but it wasn’t about money, it was about those who fought in WW2, and how much everyone owed them for defeating the Nazis.
July 20th, 2012 at 9:45 pm
Here in finland Churchill is not a hero. He and his cabine declare a war to finland 1941 and never helped us in winter-war 1940 against russians. Only promises without real help. Finns think that Churchill was a genuine opportunist, nothing else. Like Hitler and Stalin.
Good example again, someones hero is other ones clown.
By the way, Im not “a finn”, I am human being.
FROM BILL: To liken Churchill to Hitler and Stalin is an insult to all the millions of people killed by Hitler and Stalin. Churchill may not have thought the Brits should have saved Finland, but that is a lot different than murdering 15 million people, as Hitler and Stalin did collectively.
July 21st, 2012 at 5:21 am
“Never was so much owed by so many to so few.”
Actually, it was said by Churchill about the fighter pilots and ground crew who stopped the Nazi air assault in the Battle of Britain in August and September 1940. I think it was in a radio address.
Rich
July 22nd, 2012 at 8:59 am
“FROM BILL: Hang on to your $10,,000. Keep it in CASH (not a bank account or any other promise to pay) or put half in gold and half in cash. ”
Bill, I can see where you are coming from. It does make sense about the banks and promise to pay.
1. How do you handle not keeping cash in the bank? Centerpointe sells Holosync everyday and you probably have revenues in the hundred thousands, plus payroll. Do you remove every penny from a bank account? What do you do?
2. I’m very interested in this topic, Bill. It seems like you are very knowledgeable about this blog thread. Would you consider writing a blog article about the banking system, keeping cash, investing in gold from your perspective? And include action steps?
FROM BILL: Haven’t you read my posts on Going to Hell in a Handbasket, and all my responses to posters? I cover a lot in all of that.
I do keep some money in Centerpointe’s account to pay bills, but I have always taken as much out as possible and kept as little as possible in the bank.
July 22nd, 2012 at 11:04 am
One question I have is that if we all went and got our cash from the banks, would this not cause the kind of catastrophe that we wish to avoid?
The banks are ridiculously over leveraged, they simply could not withstand any sort of run of them.
FROM BILL: If you got your money out of the bank would it be YOUR catastrophe? When deleveraging happens, money disappears from the money supply. As a result, someone’s promise to pay can’t be paid. Do you want to be the person to whom it is not paid? People taking money out of the banks doesn’t CAUSE something, it exposes the fact that a huge portion of the money is gone. It’s musical chairs. Get a chair NOW instead of waiting until they’re all gone. Money WILL disappear, not because people take it out of the banks, but because it was created out of thin air to begin with, and back to thin air it must go.
July 23rd, 2012 at 11:08 pm
This question might be too esoteric, but do you think there’s any reasonably prudent reason to keep some gold in a bank safety deposit box overseas in addition to some in one’s home base?
FROM BILL: Depends on the bank. For 99% of them, including those in the US, it isn’t a safe place to keep anything. If banks close for a while, you might not have access to the contents of your safety deposit box for months.
July 24th, 2012 at 12:40 pm
Bill, “all the millions of people killed by Hitler and Stalin”.
Yes, you are right again. But…”an insult to all the millions of people killed by Hitler and Stalin”? I dont think so, because they are dead. Deads dont get insulted. Living lunatics get perhaps, but its their problem. Not mine.
Yet the Nazis winner, England and Churchill’s own sins: 1920′s Iraq was a British mandate territory when the Arabs started the rebellion. It was defeated only by the use of mustard gas (better than zyklon B??), which resulted in some twenty thousand Arabs were killed.
Winston Churchill at the time wrote with enthusiasm in the press, saying that “this is just superb thinning the lower races, I want more of this kind!” Underlying, I WANT MORE OF THIS KIND!.
And also he got what he wants…
By the way, this to Prime Minister Blair a very disturbing case, found the British journalists when Iraq had been attacked on the grounds that it would have mass murder weapons.
So, lets not start sucking each others q.. because of Churchill, either. He got also what his country DID and wants, but in a “nazi” or “NKDV” style. For him the ends justified the means. Like to Hitler and Stalin.
And, the German prosecution of a desire to conquer the whole of Europe and the Soviet Union down to and including the Jewish, with other inferior held races and dissidents, destruction, and sees it as some kind of transcendent evil of proof to show a great deal of hypocrisy from Britain, whose empire included at the time vast overseas territories and 1/4 of the world’s population and its best the early 1900s, 33 million km2.
Those areas were occupied by force ruthlessly with “we are better people” thinking (like nazis), genocide and crime against humanity fits the words very often (like nazis). At first, even, it was believed that the colored do not even have a soul.
And, how about “agent orange” in vietnam back in -70`s? Was that harmless gardening, right?
“What you do the weakest of us, you do it for me”
FROM BILL: Blah, blah, blah. Sorry, but I can’t even read this stuff. Grow up. Get over it.
July 25th, 2012 at 7:09 am
Hi Bill,
The article, comments, and discussion here are amazing. Thanks for taking the time to help us understand money, banking, and the economy. I appreciate your dedication and insights.
A lot of people I talk to about the economy’s situation, investing in gold, and removing money from banks suggest that I’m focusing on the negative and fear, and will attract those situations to my life. However, I disagree with them. I used to be one of those “focus on the positive and life will be grand” types of people. All that did was cause more suffering and denial.
I’m choosing to be a human being and accepting the nature of impermanence and both polarities. I consider the negative and positive consequences from my actions (to the best of my ability) and make a decision from a place of clarity. I believe your advice is wise, and I’ve done plenty of research to confirm it’s truth, and I’m choosing to believe in your evidence and the evidence of the research I’ve done. I’ve also found it’s what financially wealthy people do, too. Such as Robert Kiosyaki.
Keep up the great articles. Thanks.
July 25th, 2012 at 9:22 am
Actually Churchill did allow many millions of people to die in Bangladesh during the second world war. There was a great famine there and Churchill refused to send any aid. He also turned back the aid ships that the Americans sent. He actually was a racist and thought that all Indians are subhuman and not much better than animals. Read the books by Ralph Raico if you want more on this.
FROM BILL: Yes, all you anti-colonialists are living in a different century. Get over it. Maybe we should complain about the Roman Empire, too.
July 25th, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Obama is a socialist because he is spending government all the money taken from our taxes and making the US go into massive debt and this government spending is out of control. The spending and debt has increased by huge amounts under this president, and that’s why he is the worst president in history! Obama’s spending spree is a major reason why we all need to buy gold now, because he is increasing inflation with his spending spree, and the massive drop in public mood is all going to be based on how poor everyone is getting because of Obama’s spending spree. What irritates me Bill is how reporters on Market Watch just totally don’t understand this! Look at the false confused drivel they are writing!
http://articles.marketwatch.com/2012-05-22/commentary/31802270_1_spending-federal-budget-drunken-sailor
July 25th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
So I am saying that Obama has this four point plan.
1. Distract from his own failed record
2. Distort Romney’s record and destroy him
3. Divide the American people
4. Destroy the free Enterprise system
Simple, clear, honest and actually true right? So then this idiot replies back, and its so funny because he thinks he is so smart but he is just a dumb idiot, so I wanted to share it with you for laughs:
“Obama is a socialist with the intent to destroy free enterprise, that’s his actual plan, but if he failed in his actual plan then Free Enterprise must be doing well. If is plan is to divide America, and he failed, then America must be doing very well. The problem is that hate blinds the mind to logic. If every claim above is actually correct then we should thank Obama for failing in his evil plans because our country is now so much better off thanks to the failure of his evil plans.
“On the other hand if his plan is doing well then he has a successful track record lol
“Obama isn’t a real socialist. He is a real capitalist. He actually sells books, makes a lot of money, and keeps his growing his personal wealth. Its fun to say that Obama is a socialist, but if you don’t know that this is actually a lie then you are pretty dumb.
“You know everything you can point to that makes Obama a so-called socialist we can also point to Romney for doing the same thing. Romney was a big supporter of a so-called ‘socialist’ healthcare bill in Massachusetts that failed before it was picked up at the national level and passed in the US Congress (Obama didn’t make that law, the congress did, and Romney was one of the earliest supporters) so lol, if by whatever standard you want to falsely insinuate that Obama is against trade, and capitalism in general, then so is Romney, for the same reasons.”
Hahahaha right Bill? that guy was a total idiot! I just crack up at some of these nut jobs who have no idea what is going to hit them when our whole economy vanishes in the blink of an eye because of Obama’s plans!
FROM BILL: Many who support Obama are well intentioned, but incredibly ill-informed. This is because the left wing controls the schools and the media. When you have been taught certain principles and opinions your whole life and they surround you wherever you go, it seems that they MUST be true. Those who look into other sources of information almost always realize that the left isn’t telling the truth–they are telling part of the information and leaving out quite a lot.
And then there are the hard-core lefties, who are those with extreme anger problems (I know–I used to be one).
July 26th, 2012 at 9:00 am
Hi Bill,
I’ve learned more about the economy from your website (this post, the last post, and hell in a hand basket) than 15 years of traditional education. Thank you for that.
Gold and silver are of particular interest for me, however, I know little knowledge about investing in both. Could you help point me in the right direction:
1. What’s your strategy for buying and selling gold?
2. What trusted sources of information do you recommend – paid and free sources – for learning how to intelligently buy gold/silver and when to sell gold/silver?
I suspect you are going to say dow theory letters, correct? Any other resources specifically for gold/silver?
Thanks for your help
- Nick
FROM BILL: I have already answered this in response to other posts. This isn’t something you can learn once and then forget about it. There is a steep price to pay to become knowledgeable about finances. It takes a lot of study over a lot of time, and since all of this is a moving target you have to keep paying attention. Or, lose your money.
July 27th, 2012 at 9:31 pm
Don’t banks guarantee your deposits up to a certain amount in an ensuing crisis? Or can even these legally binding promises be broken?
Here in Australia its AU$250,000, so $10K Tim will be OK?
[source:] http://www.canstar.com.au/government-deposit-guarantee/
FROM BILL: No, banks do not guarantee deposits. Governments do, which means that YOU, as a taxpayer are guaranteeing those deposits. This means the banks can be as risky as they want because they keep the profits when they win and YOU pay for the losses when they lose. This is one reason why we’re in this mess–too many risks taken, and no one is held responsible when the risks don’t pan out. This is pure dishonesty. Why should the public pay for the mistakes of banks (or anyone else)?
July 30th, 2012 at 10:20 am
Bill,
I’m a young man (24) who has been using Holosync and studying LPIP. I’m on course 3 lsn 2 as of right now, and was becoming extremely motivated to pursue my dream of being a professional touring musician as well as teaching others how to create and perform their own music. However, as of yesterday, I discovered your blog and have since read the ‘Going To Hell In A Handbasket’ series and this post.
So now, maybe I shouldn’t be preparing for a new life in the city, touring the country in a band and all the other things I would otherwise rather be doing in a more positive environment. Perhaps I should completely shift my focus to something else. I’ve always had big plans and goals…lots of them. Like traveling the world, sleeping with exotic women, developing the perfect physique, creating unique and technical masterpieces of musical art, settling down, raising a boy and girl etc… But it just doesn’t seem likely in this new age you describe.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for everything you’ve done and I trust your opinion way more than just about anybody. I’m just terribly confused about how I will adapt to these bad times ahead and what I should be doing. I don’t have lots of resources to use in such an event, though I can clear my debt and raise several thousand dollars within the next 6 months.
This all is just a big eye opener for me. I guess I could still try to make an impact with my music and help others, and just accept what the consequences (of not becoming prepared for shit hitting the fan) of my actions. Or I could give up on all my big dreams and goals and choose a simpler, less free life.
I guess what I need to ask is, about how much time left is there? Will I have enough to complete my mission at least (about 10 years)? Will there be safe countries to reside in when we’re already in deep?
Whatever happens, I won’t be forced into the army to fight for someone else’s intentions. I am not some government tool to be called upon when their errors have caused global war. I would happily accept death by treason instead of being forced to inflict harm on others.
Thank you, Bill, for all that you’ve done for us.
FROM BILL: Don’t give up your dreams. However, all dreams, I think, are going to be much more difficult to achieve in the coming years. Better to be informed, though, than ignorant. Don’t shoot the messenger (me)!
July 31st, 2012 at 3:26 pm
Bill:Yes, all you anti-colonialists are living in a different century. Get over it. Maybe we should complain about the Roman Empire, too.
No, we need only to start hole new cultural story.
Next big leap to human kind is coming soon, actually it is now going at the moment. The sooner we start, the less painfull it is.
Roman empire and british empire belongs to same period. Good example, thanks Bill again! Both dominated the money and power.
FROM BILL: Someone will always dominate the money and power. And humankind is about to have a great fall, not a leap.
July 31st, 2012 at 4:22 pm
Bill,
Thanks for replying. My brain has been going through a re-organizational period and recently, I’ve come to terms with what I’ve been reading into lately. I’ve definately been avoiding this thinking, but yet somehow sensed it all along. My point is I’m a lot more fortunate than most living beings of the past, and I should be grateful and choose to cling to things that bring me happiness in the moment…like music, exercise, creation, sharing, learning, mentoring, friends and family..
I’m not sure if I’ll be prepared for an asteroid, solar flare, gobal war etc…but I’m okay with not having a solution. As my dad used to say, ‘you can’t ever save the world’. I’m still hopeful that something good will emerge from all the inevitable chaos humans (and animals) must face. Perhaps a more efficient and sustainable economy, or the evolution of society into a type 1 civilization…or maybe we’re reduced to the dark ages or even worse. There isn’t a way for me to know which is fine. I believe there is time for me to connect with others and find peace.
Thanks for helping me find a more peacful existence.
FROM BILL: Life is an unsolvable mystery, going nowhere for no reason. Enjoy the ride and be kind to others.
August 1st, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Heikki Says: Yet the Nazis winner, England and Churchill’s own sins: 1920′s Iraq was a British mandate territory when the Arabs started the rebellion. It was defeated only by the use of mustard gas (better than zyklon B??), which resulted in some twenty thousand Arabs were killed.
Winston Churchill at the time wrote with enthusiasm in the press, saying that “this is just superb thinning the lower races, I want more of this kind!” Underlying, I WANT MORE OF THIS KIND!.
Hey Heiki, You post a lot of shit, but this post wins hands down. Please CHECK your facts before you post.
August 2nd, 2012 at 4:15 pm
Hi Bill,
In a lot of your responses to people over the last few post, you talk a lot about getting out of debt because it’s going to be dangerous in the next couple years.
Unfortunately, I got into debt without being educated in economics and finances, and lacked personal responsibility.
So, the past four months I have started my financial and economic education to be informed. You talk about the dangers of personal debt, what are they?
What if you can’t get out debt, then the only option is bankruptcy? What are your thoughts on that? Could that be a financial plan to get out of debt?
FROM BILL: I don’t have time to go into this in detail (see my MANY other responses to similar questions over the last several posts). Debts are so huge that they will not be paid. That will shrink the money supply. It’s a game of musical chairs, where money represents chairs. When the chairs disappear, some will not have one. Those who are in debt certainly can fail to pay, go bankrupt, etc. Then those who are not paid will not be able to pay someone else and it will be a chain reaction. It’s already started. If this process starts, units of currency will become more valuable, which means the spending power of what you pay back will be much greater than what you borrowed.
Get out of debt anyway you can. The dilemma of bankrupcy is that it isn’t morally honest to not pay back what someone lent you in good faith, based on your promise to repay. I wish I had a great solution for you.
August 3rd, 2012 at 11:36 am
Gundaylla says:Hey Heiki, You post a lot of shit, but this post wins hands down. Please CHECK your facts before you post.
Gundaylla, sleep well and be well
August 3rd, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Bill: Someone will always dominate the money and power. And humankind is about to have a great fall, not a leap.
Yes Bill, you are right again. Thanks! But lets go further. After this ongoing great fall (of humankind economy) coming much, MUCH bigger leap (of humankind spiritually).
By the way, it is extremely easy to have one million in cash, but it is even easier to be emotionally independent of the cash.
When a human has reached a continuous connection to a force greater than himself (ego).
Did it, done it, too.
I LOVE MONEY!!!! (too…hah hah)
Ps.Bill, what word “love” means to you, personally?
FROM BILL: Emotionally independent of cash? Whatever are you talking about. Cash is needed for your daily needs. Why do you need to be emotional independent of anything?
August 4th, 2012 at 5:36 am
Hi Bill,
I was reading the Elliott Wave intl site a few months back and they have a lot of great information for free as you said. In response to your post above, I have a follow-up question about being debt free.
While EW champion’s that idea in general, they said there is an exception. If someone were to buy a new house with a mortgage (this is key) before the fall, then we have run away inflation, you could pay off that house using much cheaper dollars (inflated dollars) down the road.
For example, if we have 1000% inflation over 10 years, in which 10 dollars is required to buy what costs 1 dollar today, and you buy a $1M house with a mortgage, you’d have to pay back the bank the $1M over 30 years as promised. But if the future dollars inflate as explained, you’d only be paying the equivalent of $100K to buy the $1M house.
Do you see any validity to this arbitrage play or does it still seem too risky in your opinion (because of the inherent unknowns) to carry ANY debt in the near future?
Thank you.
Ken
FROM BILL: That’s been the play for the lat 30+ years. To do it, though, we would have to have inflation. We are heading for deflation.
August 4th, 2012 at 9:03 pm
Bill, I’m torn. I wish I understood how you can both be spiritually grounded and yet know the answers to these financial problems we face with such clarity and focus.
I just moved to the USA from Puerto Rico. I am currently unemployed and I have debt, and the money I got from selling my car is slowly dwindling. I want to do what you suggest, get out of debt, invest in gold and cash. But here’s where I’m so torn.
The one thing I feel I’m really good at and what I love more than anything is telling stories. I especially strongly desire to write novels and films and comics and etc, and perform in theatre and act and produce films. I feel like this desire comes from an inner calling. This is where my creative or perhaps even spiritual self wants to go.
Then my intellectual side just stares at the spiritual side like it’s out of its mind.
I want to study acting. I want to put my last bit of money into it. I plan on getting a job. I don’t have a degree, so I know it’s not going to be anything fancy. So a part of me is wondering if this is a really bad move, even when it feels like the right thing to do.
I know you can’t tell me what to do. It’s up to me to learn and figure this out. But I just want to know…
What is your advice to the artistic types in this time of crisis?
FROM BILL: So you think your artistic side is “spiritual” and your practical side isn’t? But everything is spiritual. Everything is interconnected. It’s all one interconnected thing/event. There’s only one thing/event, and you’re one of it’s eyes, looking out at yourself. True spirituality doesn’t look for one side of the coin over the other, or hope to get rid of one side of the coin in favor of the other. Spirituality includes both the human side and the being side. Both are spiritual.
Hard times are coming. For many they are already here. I just want you to be able to take care of yourself, which means finding a way to be of service to others in a way that causes them to trade their money for your efforts, whatever they happen to be, so you can eat and be warm. Perhaps your art will feed you. But perhaps it won’t. Art has a way of not earning its keep.
I know this is a tough decision. Life is like that. Often there is no clear-cut way to go. Every choice has its pros and cons. I would have an emergency fund and put the rest into your dream. But don’t be blind to what is going on, or to the potential consequences, because in this case they could be severe.
August 5th, 2012 at 11:56 am
FROM BILL: Emotionally independent of cash? Whatever are you talking about. Cash is needed for your daily needs. Why do you need to be emotional independent of anything?
Bill, I dont “need” cash. I LOVEEE cash, too! I need only 4 things. So, I do not love them, I am dependent on them.
Nourishment, warm dry shelter, sex and close relationship to other human beings. Like 7 billions other human beings needs, only.
Can you eat “money”? Can you live in “money”? Can you have sex with “money”? Can you create close relationships to “money”?
Yes, money is a good servant, or should I write was a good servant.
To human kind.
It is a manifestation of an era, and that era is just coming to an end.
Now we are just moving on from a infant stage of development, to more advanced level of development. Whole human kind.
But, dont worry! I do not burn my cash. And I do not try to change the world. In fact, my world is perfect right now. I’m just totally ready for the coming storm before the calm.
Thanks Bill! Holosync is a GREAT tool! I remember how almost 7 years ago, I was ready to just about anything to get something even better. Then came one e-mail … And the amazing journey began, hah hah. Bill, you are the best!
FROM BILL: Don’t be such a bonehead. In this world, money is how you get those things you need in this world, unless you want to skin animals for food or grow your own cotton. If it gets to the point where money isn’t the way to get things, you will be in deep shit, my friend. Money is really just certificates of services rendered, which you can trade for other goods and services.
August 7th, 2012 at 1:23 am
FROM BILL: Don’t be such a bonehead. In this world, money is how you get those things you need in this world, unless you want to skin animals for food or grow your own cotton. If it gets to the point where money isn’t the way to get things, you will be in deep shit, my friend. Money is really just certificates of services rendered, which you can trade for other goods and services.
Ok, I will cange my meme, again.
Thanks Bill!
August 7th, 2012 at 6:14 am
Bill,
Just to clarify! Do we attract all people and situations? or only the majority?
cheers
Joel
FROM BILL: Some you attract through what you do and other cues you give off, and others cross your path in a random way.
August 7th, 2012 at 2:35 pm
Bill,
I took your advice and read up on some of Robert Prechter’s writings among others. One book in Specific I really enjoyed was ‘Conquer the Crash’. I’m radiating with all kinds of new ideas and possibilities after that read! It’s a good thing that you decided to raise awareness about positive vs negative social mood, or else I’d probably woudn’t have seen the imminent shitstorm that’s approaching. Now I can be more prepared and take advantage of the trends and oppurtunities that lie ahead. Cheer up people! Get your head out of your arses and do some research while there’s still time. And remember that you don’t have to be a slave to the herd.
Anyway, I’d like to give you a warm thank you for looking out for our best interests and not sugar coating anything.
Brandon
August 9th, 2012 at 6:21 am
@Amber J Gardner
One of the first things we do when we become spiritual is disown everything that is considered to be not spiritual. However, that’s even non-sense because as Bill pointed out, everything is spiritual, so how can we disown everything that’s not spiritual?
From my own experience, when I became “spiritual,” it was because I saw my life not working. Then, I disowned all the stuff in the marketplace hoping my life would work, and did what spiritual people did – meditate, be aware, etc. However, what happens is that our ego appropriates being spiritual and we now have egohood or the spiritual ego, and life becomes even more problematic (I disowned the money mind and greed, therefore, accumulating a lot of debt).
You can know spirituality or essence or Buddhahood, and function in the world. This requires you, however, to see all the shit that you’ve labeled not spiritual and disowned, and be willing to embody all of the shadows in the marketplace or relative world, such as – greed, money, competition, etc.
Becoming spiritually grounded is knowing that your life is always in spiritual realization – your life is as it is and none other than realization. Integrating the two – spirituality and the marketplace – is where practice helps. Practice closes the gap between the insight of “I am life” and “what I think life is.” I’m not sure if the gap will ever close, but what I do know is attainment of spiritual enlightenment is not what you think. I think attainment of “spiritual ordinary” is more accurate.
I’ve come to know that enlightenment is more of an egohood than freedom; I prefer humble. But nonetheless, keep seeking what you are seeking for, but seek softly
August 9th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Following your recommendations and having read some Prechter and Russell the dangerous thought occurs that they were one shot wonders (for famous market calls) because the data they relied on was itself flawed-this is dangerous because in my own mind’s eye I developed MEWN DOW Theory (MEWN=Modified Elliot Wave N’ths) extrapolating each class of the respective market data into three dimensions prior to bringing them together into the overall market averages. This in my own minds eye gives a very different market fractal to that originally conceived by Mr Dow all those years ago.
Favourites are favourites in any kind are market be it stock commodities futures or sports gambling for performances over long and prolonged arc like seasons or periods are they not? A bit like a long running TV drama where each episode is the short term dealings within the long term arc of the series.
and
The main issue most of us have with favourites is that the wins are tiny and negligable (yet often large over the committed long haul) and what we as humans most often want is that big adrenaline rush from picking up on a non-favourite outlier who can make or break our support/resistance lines on the roll of a dice, and the more we get that hit, the bigger the next hit we crave. If the data says the widely accepted market trends will probably not turn until 2015 do you expect us to keep watching til then? Patience and waiting aren’t easy habits to have.
As someone in the lower socio-economic classes I and others like me are likely to be the ones bearing the brunt of all these turbulences because setback after setback after setback during my younger years leaves me bereft of long term thinking strategies and whilst Holosync is expansive in human development terms-finding or indeed creating long term Anchoring Strategies seem beyond what I feel capable of?
Any guides to strategy development in your recommended reading lists?
FROM BILL: I don’t know what “strategy development” means. If you mean developing resourceful strategies it takes 1) awareness, and 2) criteria (gained through a thorough understanding of cause and effect in the area you’re looking at).
August 10th, 2012 at 5:26 am
Hi Bill,
Thanks once again for posting this stuff. Very interesting indeed. I decided that I’m gonna sell all my stocks and turn the money into gold+cash.
For the record, I’m also from Finland and I haven’t met anybody who thinks that Winston Churchill was an opportunist. One of my good friends is actually a big “fan” of Churchill’s.
August 11th, 2012 at 9:14 am
Nick, I like your post. I’m glad you’re progressing the way you want. It’s a well-worn path: I like money, I don’t like money but like spirituality, I get broke, I like money and spirituality. That’s the first step. And it’s big one. Most people never make it that far.
August 12th, 2012 at 12:59 pm
“When taxes are too high people go hungry. When the government is too intrusive, people lose their spirit. Act for the people’s benefit. Trust them; leave them alone.” Lao Tzu
August 13th, 2012 at 10:08 am
Dear Bill,
thanks for this blog, it has been quite an eye opener for me and also broadened my perspective.
I know, this is not supposed to become a financial forum of course, but maybe you or
somebody else here does have an answer and / or can point where I can find more information.
I understood that cash is becoming higher in value in times of deflation. The point I have is, I do live in Germany. So basically my question is:
Is it financially sane to hold euros in cash instead of dollars (I am also asking because nobody knows what will happen to the euro and in case the euro is abolished then what about the cash in euros …)
Also I would be glad to find some good source of financial information or kind of a newsletter that covers the euro countries in more detail. Maybe somebody has a good hint for me …
Thanks and I wish the best to all of here,
Ulrich
FROM BILL: You’re better off to hold dollars rather than Euros right now.
August 13th, 2012 at 9:12 pm
@Bill,
Thanks for the reply!
Of course it’s all one. Some days I can be very clear and can tackle challenges with the awareness that it’s just things that happen and placing meanings to the things that happen that will benefit me and not meanings that stress me out (“I only have so and so in the bank and need so and so to do this, so I will do this, etc” instead of “I’m broke again! What can I do? I don’t want a job I don’t want, but what I want to do doesn’t make a lot of income. What do I do?? …etc”).
I have difficulty integrating or remembering what I’ve learned so far about everything with the ability to create an income.
Also, I’ve become reading your blog from the beginning and its so great so far. I’ve learned where I am on the human developmental ladder (I’m post coventional, well for most things I believe) and its so fascinating. Thank you.
@Nick,
I guess my problem is that with Holosync and positive affirmations and other spiritual thoughts and practices, and broadening my perceptions make me feel great. But when I think about money or try to solve money problems, I feel uncertain and scared. I think it’s due to a lack of confidence, not having enough information to make the best decision, and focusing on what I don’t want. I lose sight of the whole and lose my broader perspective I have when I’m not dealing with what I call the material stuff.
I really want to achieve (but am definitely struggling with) that state of
“being in the world but of it” (or something like that). Where I can handle money and job issues without unnecessary stress and suffering.
I’m still working on it.
August 14th, 2012 at 8:21 pm
From the most ancient times Bharatiyas (Indians) considered Truth as God, loved it, fostered it and protected it and thereby achieved Divinity. They were devoted to Truth, wedded to Dharma (Righteousness) and regarded morality in society as their foremost duty. Today because people have forgotten Truth and Righteousness they are unable to solve national problems or end communal differences. We have the Bay of Bengal in the east and the Arabian Sea in the west and both merge in the Indian Ocean. Likewise, Bharat exemplifies the combination of worldly prosperity and spiritual progress. Bharat is the country, where the unity of the Jiva (the individual Spirit) and the Brahmam (the Cosmic Spirit) was established. Remember the term Bharat does not relate to any particular individual or country. True Bharatiyas are those who take delight in Self-knowledge. Hence anyone who shines by their own self-luminous power is a Bharatiya.
FROM BILL: Pretty simplistic. Human interactions are more complex than that.
August 14th, 2012 at 8:34 pm
FROM BILL: You’re better off to hold dollars rather than Euros right now.
Question is: for how long? Eh, we’ll know soon enough, yes?
August 31st, 2012 at 7:02 pm
You talk about how we attract people and situations into our lives.
So how do you stop attracting people that are “A** holes” to you, or who have no capacity to love you, and are just plain rude? into your life…
FROM BILL: You will attract those who help you confirm what you think is true–about yourself, about other people, adn about the world. Figure out what you believe, and then carefully watch yourself “prove” (gather evidence) that what you believe is true. You use three methods: 1) You attract the perfect people (assholes?) to help you be right about what you believe; 2) You interpret what is happening in a way that helps you be right, even if there are many other possible interpretations; and 3) You act in a way that causes what you believe to be “true.” Watch yourself do that, and any beliefs you have that don’t serve you will fall away. Awareness creates choice, and once you have a choice you’ll chose what serves you and stop doing what doesn’t serve you.
September 2nd, 2012 at 6:46 pm
Bill,
You talk a lot about doing your research and consider buying and holding onto gold to protect your wealth. Is silver equally as good as gold? What are your thoughts about investing in silver, even during deflation?
FROM BILL: I would suggest that you–as I said–do your research. Though I know a lot about this stuff, I can’t be your investment advisor. I don’t want any reponsibility for what you invest in.
Silver is said by many to be undervalued in relation to gold. That would make it, at least for a while, a better investment. However, I am not into investing right now. I am into hanging on to what I have. In that sense, silver is a LOT more risky. I’m avoiding risky like it was the plague. That make gold and CASH (actual cash) a better idea.
And, in a month the whole situation could change. That’s why you need to stay on top of things and tap into the smart people who have the best odds of giving fruitful advice.
Avoid trying to MAKE money righ now. Figure out how to KEEP what you have. Buying a little bit of silver is okay. I prefer gold. But what do I know?
September 4th, 2012 at 10:12 am
Dean is a friend of mine, got me listening to a demo of holosync, and I was reading his comments on the blog here. Getting a huge sense of the discussions going on here. I’m not sure I see the evidence to support the idea that Obama is a worse choice than Romney, but I’m not dismissing what your saying either. What do you think of the many worlds idea? Many worlds is this idea that every choice we could have made is another universe, and everything that didn’t happen did happen in another universe. However suppose that there is one universe, and suppose there isn’t choice, and suppose only one possible thing can happen. Is there any evidence that proves I could have made a different choice than the one I made? is there any evidence that proves there is more than one possibility? fyi I am not taking any side on this question, I have no opinion, just wondering what is proven and what is speculation. Is there any scientific study that you know of that proves more than one possible choice can be made? I’d like to think there are infinite possibilities and unlimited choices, but what if there is only one?
FROM BILL: There are no scientific studies about this for the same reason there are no scientific studies about whether rocks can think. It’s a silly idea. What good is it to ponder whether you have choice or not? What if you did somehow prove that you have no choice, or that you did have choice. Then what?
Why not MAKE A CHOICE (as you have millions or times) and do something significant with your life. Help someone. Create something. Love someone.
As for Barack Obama, if you want more centralized government making your choices for you, he’s your man. How far will he go with this (assuming he get’s the opportunity to go farther)? According to his own words, pretty damn far. Other examples of people who have taken this sort of thing “pretty far” include the Soviet Union, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and China. Me, I prefer to make my own decisions and to take care of myself. When the government “takes care” of you, it never turns out well. I cite the above countries as examples of that.
September 4th, 2012 at 10:25 am
we choose, I’m not disputing that, with future models and past models
but what if there is only ever one possible choice, and somehow this brain narrows it down
FROM BILL: Yawn. Boring. Get a hobby.
September 4th, 2012 at 11:38 pm
Hey Bill,
couple of questions if you have the time!
I am realising that getting to the point where one is fully aware that they are the creator of their reality and can pretty much have what ever they want is the first step to all this or figuring out a map of reality thats makes them peaceful and happy.! Then after that comes the Hamlet step, I can do this map however I want, but its not me. And finally It doesn’t really matter, I watch myself eat, I watch my self get tired etc…………
So while I have certainly had many isights into the second and third parts, ‘Joel’ is not quite there with creating his map exactly how he wants. But he is absolutely getting there and really beginning to understand it. I think he still has a few limitations that are stopping him from moving forward. We create exactly what we want in the world? what about physical limitations? an athlete who wants to win gold? As my profession is very physical being a dancer: how much of what I can ‘achieve’ is from the way I think and what I believe about myself? and how much is physical?
This must be a very mind numbing question for you and I know there a many much more important things in the world then my career and achievements as a dancer. But it is important to me so I can get to the point where I believe I am the creator of my reality and am in total control of my responses, emotions etc. From this stage I will be able to see that I can do ‘joel’ however I want…… but I am not him. So if you dont mind just a little insight to help me do ‘joel’ however I like.
cheers
Joel
FROM BILL: You are not the creator of your reality. You are the creator of your responses to your environment, however–if you are aware enough to see how you create them. You can have choice about four things: 1) how you feel, 2) howyou behave, 3) which people and situations you attract or become attracted to (though some people and situations happen your way and you DIDN’T attract or become attracted to them), and 4) what meanings you assign to what happens.
There are lots of things you have no choice about and there are lots of limitations. Concentrate on becoming aware of those you could have a choice about and become aware of how you create them.
September 5th, 2012 at 2:20 am
This video explains how the brain is a fractal! It’s amazing! Highly recommended! It explains how every thought you have is really binary code.
http://vimeo.com/48705910
ROM BILL: Surprise. Everything is fractal in it’s nature.
September 5th, 2012 at 3:38 pm
About attracting “A**holes” into your life…you say that:
“1) You attract the perfect people (assholes?) to help you be right about what you believe;”
How would these people know that your attracting them? Does this happen out of some sort of “magic”? Law of attraction?
I have a lot of people in my life right now that just show up in random ways.
And YOU also say:
“Awareness creates choice, and once you have a choice you’ll chose what serves you and stop doing what doesn’t serve you.”
If you choose what serves you with awareness, this will ultimately mean that you will stop attracting people that are “A**holes” to you? Because it no longer serves you…
This seems quite mind-bending. You can’t control other people and whether they will show up into your life or not? Or can you?
ROM BILL: You give lots of cues to other people. You also pick up on cues they give you. Nothing magical about it.
And, plenty of things happen to you that you have nothing to do with. However, if an asshole happens by, and you need assholes to be right about something, you’ll be drawn to them or they will be drawn to you. In fact, if you need assholes badly enough, non-assholes will be invisible to you.
September 6th, 2012 at 11:26 am
Bill, my post is off topic, I just wanted to thank you for your time line recordings, I was walking down the street in my sailing foul weather gear (it was raining) while listening to LPIP Course 3 Lesson 5 off of my cell phone, and as i got to the end of the recording, I sat down at the side of the road (in the shed of a carpenter) to do the time line process you’d recorded for that lesson, and law and behold, I was blown away, I eventually managed to get amazing results from doing this process (I have tried many times over a period of 5 years, and it never did anything for me, but this time was different), I ended up walking away totally light on my feet, wow, good stuff! And even today, as I was confronted with a real life situation that involved potential fear from my part: nothing at all, it was smooth as silk, whereas two days ago the same situation was freaking me out completely. Again, thanks dude!
FROM BILL: Please say that in a video and post it on YouTube. Label it “Bill Harris self-help course.” Winning video gets $200 or a free deeper level. Contest ends Sept. 10.
September 6th, 2012 at 11:29 am
ps: maybe something a bit more on topic: china is talking about buying up the debt of the euro zone, this is main stream news these days, talk about a commie takeover…hmm… . I wonder who’s pulling the strings of all this stuff…wait, I would know, but I won’t say it…I may be wrong still, but I’m not buying into the idea of declining social mood, but that you knew already.
FROM BILL: Europe is their biggest market. They’re trying to avoid a European collapse. It won’t work. China will be left holding the bag.
September 6th, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Bill you used to be a hardcore lefty correct? Now you advise us against voting for the Obama administration yes?
http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-06/bill-clinton-asserts-democrats-create-more-jobs-reality-check.html
This fact check of Clinton’s speech at the democrat convention really caught my eye.
Are you aware of all these facts? Does any of this change your opinion towards the Obama administration?
FROM BILL: NO! Obama wants control of your life through big government. The only jobs a government creates (of any party, any government, at any time) are government jobs, which produce ZERO wealth. They suck wealth out of a society. Jobs are created by entrepreneurs, not governments. All government can do is get out of the way and guarantee the sanctity of contracts. Instead they are undermining the sanctity of contracts, spending taxpayer money and commiting the taxpayers to HUGE amounts of future money. The Democrat statistics are not truthful. As Mark Twain said, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. Obama hasn’t created a single meaningful (non-government) job. In fact, he’s never HAD a meaningful (productive) job.
September 7th, 2012 at 6:24 am
Hi Bill,
I read a recent national news story about an Oregon town fining a homeowner $1M over his pool that was built in his own backyard too close to a wetland behind his property without a permit. Fined him like $1500 a day for two years. And the picture of his house looked like a standard $500K house. Not a rich guy. He has kids he said he has to put through college, etc. Shocking behavior from elected officials. They treat Oregon towns like their own little fiefdoms, some of them.
When I read about a really abusive government behavior pushing about it’s residents, it’s usually in either the state of Oregon or California.
So my question to you is, since you are in one of the more liberal states with an activist-type government, do you ever see yourself leaving the state of Oregon?
Ken
FROM BILL: There are examples of this at every level of government, in every state and also at the national level. Government has way too much power and is way too big, and is spending way too much money. They are, in fact, spending much more than they take in, which they do by borrowing the money. The borrow it by selling bonds, which are paid back to the bond buyers through taxes. This spending is essentially adding future taxes to you and your kids and grandkids so polititians can promise stuff to people to get re-elected. It is unsustainable. Then there is the over-regulation you cite, which is rampant.
September 7th, 2012 at 11:29 am
FROM BILL: Please say that in a video and post it on YouTube. Label it “Bill Harris self-help course.” Winning video gets $200 or a free deeper level. Contest ends Sept. 10.
Now I need to start clearing up the rest as well with time line. Maybe some kid has time to create a video, I don’t. Already own all the levels. Maybe if you’re paying in gold. Thanks though
FROM BILL: You just do it with your phone. Have a teenager help you.
September 8th, 2012 at 4:35 am
Bill,
so what’s the go with these brain stim pills?
do you use them? I am guessing if you give a 3 day trial of them people must see something significant with-in those 3 days to go and purchase more!? just wondering. Not in a rush for anything….. life is good!!! simply curious!
have a good one!
J
FROM BILL: Just some stuff that research shows is good for cognitive functioning. Yes, I use it.
September 9th, 2012 at 3:51 am
FROM BILL: You just do it with your phone. Have a teenager help you.
I know very well how to operate all these digital media tools…I know how to make a video and how to upload it to youtube, it’s just that I don’t feel like doing it.
I better work more on doing time line and working with your LPIP material, while I keep going with the holosync solution program (I’ll be half way through in about a year-what a ride-I’ve done thousands and thousands of hours of holosync so far, and I still have years ahead of me-in my humble opinion it’s more than worth the effort-as I keep going with holosync, I feel safer to make other changes to my life-though I have to admit that some of the changes I want to be doing, don’t come so easy-been listening to your script material lately-sure is that way).
September 9th, 2012 at 6:12 pm
I had intended to withdraw from the debate somewhat but feel compelled to comment on Nicolas’ issue of drawing “A**holes” to you.
One way to explore this issue is you really need to understand the difference between an Alpha or A state of mind and other lesser and perhaps confused befuddled states people get themselves into.
Taking a leaf out of Amber’s book the remedy is perhaps to do some actual staring at Art, for Western Art I used “The Story of Art” by E H Gombrich (I have an original copy but believe it still popular and available). As are many many other art commentary books.
For Eastern Art I used http://www.scribd.com/doc/32147994/The-Tantric-Way-Illustrated cos its free and I like free.
I also revisited my old Tarot card collection, though mostly garbage there were one or two stand out decks (in terms of the artwork not the accompanying meanings).
Looking at art architecure sculptures and the like after a couple years of Holosync and more recently stock market graphics can very much change long held perspectives and opinions.
Gombrich for instance initially wrote his book in the early part of the 1900′s and talks of the gayness and gaiety of the peoples and colours, where fast forward 100 years-gay is clearly claimed by proud male Heterophobes, and/or peoples who think it is what oneness is all about. As a lifelong Heterosexual I would beg to differ and would suggest an Alpha or A frame of mind is closer to what most people (of any denomination, race, colour, creed, sexuality) actually aspires to and is where the study of art through the ages etc etc leads too IMO.
Bill
Is that a Real Jackson Pollack on your wall in your video’s?
FROM BILL: What?
September 10th, 2012 at 9:25 am
So, I’m having a challenging time understanding and applying the Elliott Wave theory. I can see it’s value for timing opportunity, preparing, etc. I’m taking a shot at it, and I think we are going into wave 5 for Gold? Correct me if I’m wrong. And, what count are we at for the stock market?
Finally, if I really want to learn and apply the Elliot Wave theory, what is a great resource (paid or free) to learn. I know to go to the Elliot Wave website, but the material there is not indepth enough to learn. Plus, he has so many products to pick from, not sure which one to go for.
Suggestions? This is open to anyone, not just Bill.
Peace,
Nick
FROM BILL: I am not an Elliot Wave expert, and other than the basics I have not been willing to go through the learning curve to master it to the point where I could do my own analysis. I have other things to do, so I let experts do the analysis and I read it and evaluate it. I find Elliot Wave not so good on timing, and the shorter term the analysis (as far as I can ascertain from reading about it for the last 20 years or so) the less accurate it is–or, I should say, the less accurate the interpreters of it are. Whenever someone does an Elliot Wave analysis of a chart there are several interpretations, one of which (it is claimed) is most probably, another than is next most probable, and so forth. Analysist often disagree on which is which. The Robert Prechter people keep saying gold is ready to fold (rhymes, eh?) while another prominent analyst says that by his analysis gold is about to go much higher. So I don’t base everything, by any means, on Elliot Wave. I do think that the bigger the picture, the more I tend to agree with it. I do, for instance, think a huge depression is in the wings, which will be part a long down-wave following a long upwave that ended in about 2000.
Prechter’s people do have training courses, and he does have books about it, too. Those would be a good place to start.
September 10th, 2012 at 7:12 pm
With the rise of college tuition going up, and the availability of much useful knowledge these days (information age), many people are challenging higher education.
If the economy keeps taking a plunge, many people will be heading out of college and possibly seeking self-directed learning, informal education, or technical training elsewhere.
Are things looking bad for universities and higher education…are they operating a socially acceptable ponzi scheme?
FROM BILL: THe whole thing is a kind of scam. Tuition has gone sky high because Congress subsidized it, almost forcing banks to grant student loans, for which the students are now on the hook, or the banks when the students can’t pay. This sent tons of money to the universities, which are controlled by the progressives (the left wing). The same group that controls education also controls most of the media and most of the entertainment industry. For that reason all that most people ever see are progressive (big government collectivist) ideas.
September 11th, 2012 at 1:19 am
Hey Bill,
I really want to develop my intuition! In working on this I realised there is a big difference between pure intuition and reacting to something from an old unconscious habit or belief!!!!
For example: I walk past someone….. to me they look suspicious. !!! so is it that they are truly a potential danger or is it an old belief I have from a ‘bad’ experience from a ‘bad’ person?
What led me to this question? I went to study on my computer two days ago and I got a bad feeling looking at the computer and study table. I realised where this bad feeling came from! The day before I had a bad experience studying at the table…. I was unproductive and letting my mind wander. So the day after when I went to sit at the same spot I had this alert saying to me; don’t sit there, don’t sit there…..its bad, its bad! At that moment I realised it came totally from me, it was not intuition at all!!!
SO basically I want to understand how to develop intuition and also what the difference between intuition and reacting from an old belief or circumstance I have previously been in!!
I hope I am making sense
cheers
very much appreciate you guys and the work you do!
J
FROM BILL: Intuition is putting things together outside your awareness, based on factual criteria. What you are talking about is based on faulty criteria. Take my Life Principles online courses if you really want to master your emotions, behavior, which people and situations you end up with/in, and what meanings you assign to what happens. http://www.centerpointe.com/life/preview
September 12th, 2012 at 9:21 am
Bill,
What is synchronicity?
And what is the part of you that “watches?” Is it another part of your brain? Do a little investigation and tell me what you find out.
FROM BILL: Look up synchronicity in the dictionary.
Why not FIND the part of you that watches, instead of asking me an intellectual question about it?
September 13th, 2012 at 12:16 am
Hello,
So I am really really wanting to know what my beliefs are!!! I know you say take a look at your life and you will see that is what you believe! But I need a different description! something that really helps me see what my beliefs are!
I know the suggested exercise by answering these questions:
The world is?
People are?
I am?
And yes I could write down answers to all those things, but what I am confused about what the difference between mind chatter and a true core belief! ??
also beliefs can change!
So an example is that I have always believed from a young age that I would be a ‘great dancer’ and would do ‘great’ things with my life. When I am feeling down I may say to my self, “I wont ever do ‘great’ things!” Now how do I find find out if the underlying core belief is that I will or I wont do great things with dance? What is just mind chatter and what is a true core belief!!?
I really just want to find out what I believe about everything so I can begin to change the negative beliefs!!! Not that I have many….. but I would like to eliminate the ones that are bringing me down a little.
I guess watching is the key, which I am getting good at. But still I would also like to know the difference between and actual core belief and mind chatter, or negative thinking.
cheers
Thanks so much for all that you do!!
I do want to take the Life principles course anyway just out of interest. Why is it so cheap at the moment? over half price! nice!
Joel
FROM BILL: Joel, you answered all your own questions. Good job
No one really knows what you believe expect for you. Pay attention any you’ll know what is “mind chatter” and what isn’t. And, what you say when you are down probably IS something you believe. And, negative thinking IS representative of what you believe.
September 13th, 2012 at 12:34 am
FROM BILL: I am not an Elliot Wave expert, and other than the basics I have not been willing to go through the learning curve to master it to the point where I could do my own analysis.
I actually thought you know more on the subject than just the basics.
FROM BILL: I am not an Elliot Wave analysis. Why would I want to go through the learning curve to learn all of those details when someone else tells me their analysis for a few dollars a month, and I can watch over the years and see how accurate they are. Sounds simpler to me. There are many systems of tracking or predicting the markets. Unless your business is the markets, you probably don’t need to become an expert in all of them. I know enough about several of them, and have been following them for 35 or so years, that I can evaluate what others say and agree or be skeptical based on quite a bit of experience.
September 13th, 2012 at 9:32 am
Bill,
We all know your opinion on Obama, could you say what’s your take on Romney ?
FROM BILL: Romney isn’t Obama, which to me makes him much better. He is, however, middle-of-the-road enough that he probably will not do anything radical to correct the problems in the world. He will, however, probably do a lot less to make the problems worse. To spend more when you are hopelessly in debt just makes the day of reconning worse. And, centralized control on steroid and class warfare punishing entrepreneurs and wealth/job creators, which is Obama’s vision, always turns to tyranny. The problems in the world are not solvable. The only question is how bad will the govenment make it before it implodes.
Why does it matter what I think of Romney?
September 13th, 2012 at 4:05 pm
If college is a scam in many ways, what would be a great alternative to people today to learn things rather than regurgitate information from government influenced textbooks?
FROM BILL: The hard sciences are still worth taking, if that’s you cup of tea. College isn’t a scam per se, it’s just run by progressives, who have diverted LOTS of money to the colleges, driving up tuition. Social Sciences and Liberal Arts are quite ideologically left wing. One must have a strong stomach (and backbone) to go through that mill.
I don’t know what the solution is. There are colleges that are not run by progressives. Find them/ And, read, read, read. (Oh, yes: also do, do, do. You learn more by actually doing something, trying something, building something, than going to school. 2% of what I know I learned in school.)
September 14th, 2012 at 2:04 pm
FROM BILL: Why does it matter what I think of Romney?
- It’s informative.
On another topic, there seems to be a new wave of Holosync like products emerging (technological devices designed to increase awareness and brain functioning) have you heard of (tDS) transcranial direct current stimulation ?
Here’s a Scientific American Magazine article
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=amping-up-brain-function
And a website by some guys researching this stuff
http://flowstateengaged.com/
FROM BILL: That has been around in one form or another since the 1980s.
September 17th, 2012 at 11:34 pm
the game of white must win
it’s the game of my narrative is choice, and the narrative that isn’t winning is the narrative that is whatever I did before. The new narrative represents the white that must win
Choice must win, as a narrative, in the battle against, the idea that you whole brain and body is a reaction
Choice must win, as a narrative, in the battle against, the idea that your brain moves in alignment with the laws of physics and has patterns that look like choices but are not in fact choices, just patterns that look like choices
Choice must win, as a narrative, because if we didn’t have that belief, it would all stop working, and the universe would fall apart.
Choice must win, as a narrative, because otherwise we would cease to think we were real, and we might, gasp, even cease to think of the world as real, and that would mean immediately death, and the prompt end to all reality and existence.
Checkmate the end…!
FROM BILL: There are MANY things about being human that you have zero choice about. Choice does not win. You can, though, while you are alive, have more choice about those things YOU create: how you feel, how you behave, which people and situations you attract or become attracted to, and what meanings you assign to what happens. You can only have this choice, though, to the extent you are aware enough to watch yourself create those things, as you do it. Otherwise, everything happens on autopilot, as you were programmed to automatically create them.
September 18th, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Comsider the statement “If a person thinks Obama is a good leader, then they must be a sheeple or zombie, because what you think is true defines the quality of your character.” Thus identity and beliefs (the label zombie, and who we believe is a good leader) are entangled. Character/Ego/Identity becomes stuck with a viewpoint/perspective/belief and to the exact degree of stuckness there is suffering and discord inside the one Buddha, who is us all.
FROM BILL: And this is what you are spending your time thinking about?
September 19th, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Hey Bill,
What is your level of learning in regard to higher mathematics, strong AI, category theory, neurology: specifically memory at the neuronal and network level.
What I want to know is can I field you some highly technical complex questions, or is that not your cup of tea?
FROM BILL: I am an amateur interested in all those things, but I’m no expert. In math I took everything up through calculus in college (and remember little of the actual nuts and bolts), along with all the pre-med sciences, biochem, etc. (of which I remember much more), and today I read many of the books written for intelligent lay people about what is going on in the world of science (NOT the BS “quantum mechanics-to-prove-your-favorite-spiritual-theory books”), plus a scientific journal article here and there when one I’m interested in crosses my desk. I suspect that your technical/complex questions about those questions would not be best answered by me.
September 20th, 2012 at 1:00 am
FROM BILL: What?
Never mind, I was just commenting that I have found staring at various types of images useful in my reflections of the life I’ve lived to date, kind of like useful what do you see triggers, what did you see, what do you want to see,
a favourite is http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/92/612/circle_limit_IV.jpg
As you have said repeatedly in your teachings-we are always a variable in any situation we find ourselves and we can also be responsible to our reactions and so on, I’ve little interest in bullying people for instance for perceived imperfections or lack of complicity or agreement and more interested in self-diagnosis (difficult when we live in a group-think society, thankfully Holosync creates the space), likewise I enjoy filling in the gaps that appear in so many areas of life
why do we sing
Doe a deer a female deer
wheres the polarity of
stag a deer a male deer
beam a block of silver moon
and so on, just chipping away at the seeming nonsenses and absurdities and logic traps perhaps where logic doesn’t actually meet anyones deepest criteria’s feelings and needs.
BILL: There is certain room for contemplation of visual art. I am indeed familiar with the piece in the link you shared.
September 20th, 2012 at 11:48 pm
Does the fed’s open ended QE change your stance on keeping cash?
The fed has just declared suicide on the dollar with its crazy decision to buy 40+ billion a month worth of toxic mortgage securities. It is a banker bailout by another name.
All the central banks have hit the print button, here in the UK it has been going for some time and Japan just announced an obscene amount of money creation. The ECB has just announced it will buy unlimited bad debt from bankrupt countries like Spain.
I bought gold after the first of your first series of blogs and the price has finally risen to something like what it should be after a very bumpy ride.
All this money printing should hold things together for a while but next year could really spelll some sort of collapse.
Money printing is the last throw of the dice for any central bank.
FROM BILL: I don’t think they will be able to create enough money to counteract all the money that is disappearing through deleveraging (deflation). If you are concerned about cash, get some gold, too. No one knows for sure what is going to happen. It’s not going to be good, though, whatever it is.
September 21st, 2012 at 5:15 am
Bill, I am in love with a woman who my head says is totally wrong for me but my heart beats a thousand buckets of blood for.
I split up with her for the 5th time pretending I was fine without her but it seems my lame-ass ass is addicted to the dysfunction.
But here’s the kicker – having her around and all her pressures nd difficulties actually makes me a better person who produces more good stuff and doesn’t just sit around on the lounge wanking and whingeing.
So anyway my question mr love guru is: am I doing a weird “fixing my mum” charade with a crazy woman and I should actually be dating the quintessential ‘spiritual babe’ (whom I actually find the perfection of boring)
OR
Am I doing exactly what I should be doing in order to get someone in my life to push me to achieve to a height which my lazy butt can’t do on its own?
Or option 3: should I stop asking advice and just live my life?
P.s Can you do a post on the nature of love and hate?
FROM BILL: You are the first man to have this problem with women. Hmmm. I would watch yourself as you do this, with awareness. Awareness creates choice. Doesn’t sound like it’s a choice right now.
September 23rd, 2012 at 2:33 am
BILL: Why does it matter what I think of Romney?
It doesn’t matter in the least. Nor does it matter what Bill thinks of Obama, either. Nor anything else, for that matter… other than Holosync, maybe. I read somewhere that opinions and beliefs are self-fulfilling prophecies… probably true. ;o)
The main gist of almost all of the FROM BILL comments is, “Think for yourselves, folks!”
FROM BILL: My view on Romney, or Obama, would only be a self-fulfilling prophecy for ME (I would filter out what didn’t fit my belief, so as to make it seem to be true), but not for them, and only if I did it without awareness. If I believe something with awareness (while watching how I do it internally, what internal representations I make, what I believe and how I look at things so as to collect “evidence” that I am “right) then I can’t unconsciously convince myself that it’s true.
There is a difference between beliefs and facts, too. If I cite a fact about Obama (he wants centralized control), it’s just a fact, not a belief.
I asked why it mattered, because the questioner didn’t ask for any facts, just my opinion. My opinion is that 1) Obama is dangerous to the country, 2)Romney is less dangerous to the country, and 3) nothing either of them do can save us from what is coming. With Romney I think it will be less bad because he’s more likely to stop digging the hole, and less likely to move toward a dictatorship to try to deal with what is coming.
Yes, think for yourself. And, watch what you do with awareness, include how you believe something.
September 23rd, 2012 at 5:54 am
Bill,
Can you talk or converse consciously?
The more I watch and get better at it, we’ll it seems like its just silence, it’s nothing and that’s why you can choose. You can choose because when you watch it’s just quiet! As soon as you take action or start talking again its unconscious……???
Hmmm
Joel
FROM BILL: You can certainly watch yourself while you act or converse. It just takes more awareness–and practice.
September 24th, 2012 at 5:58 am
Hi Bill, I was using Holosync for two years and last year I quited because I had an impression that it harms me. Now I’m nearly sure that I was wrong and my experiences were probably caused by the fact that my emotional threshold is really low. I’ve been attending two therapies for the last several months and though they were really good and helped me a lot, something remains unchanged deep inside me. It seems that life is too difficult for me and I always felt that way. I decided that I want to get back to Holosync but I don’t know where should I start. I’m pretty sure that I was going to fast when I was using it and because of that I got discouraged and lost my faith in your product. What do you suggest? Should I start from the Holosync Prologue?
FROM BILL: If by “too fast” you mean that you went on to the deeper levels before you were really ready (it happens), then perhaps you should go back to Awakening Prologue. I ususally tell epople to just start where they left off, however.
Holosync provides a stimulus. YOU provide the response. I often say that Holosync shows you who you are under the facade. Often, especially if we have had a lot of trauma in our past (as I did), we don’t like what we see (and feel). Seeing what is under the surface with the new awareness created by Holosync causes us to drop the non-resourceful responses we learned as a result of the trauma (which changes everything, and is a huge relief when it happens). If, however, we strongly resist what we encounter, we can get stuck temporarily and it can be pretty intense sometimes. Holosync always wins, though–you can’t successfully resist forever.
This program is most difficult for those who need it the most. I was an example of this myself. Somehow I just kept going–it felt like I didn’t really have a choice. I HAD TO keep going. It felt like there was no alternative.
The key, though, is to learn to observe the feelings and physical sensations that come up–to adopt an observer perspective. Not always easy, but when you pay attention and really watch what is going on, it gets pretty interesting, and you end up dropping the pattern behind whatever is going on (generally a feeling of avoiding some kind of danger, often emotional danger–a perception that something is a danger and must be avoided, even though that perception is really that of a powerless child and therefore isn’t really accurate anymore).
I suggest calling our support department. I would ask to speak to Marc or Rory. 503 672-7117. Holosync will take you to the other side of this. Your job is to do your best to be non-resistant, which isn’t always easy, especially in the first 2-3 levels.
September 25th, 2012 at 4:07 am
Hey Bill. Just out of interest have you seen these two articles that I came across when reading Mauldin.
The Ghost towns of China -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1339536/Ghost-towns-China-Satellite-images-cities-lying-completely-deserted.html
Also –
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19049254
Look out for cars.
Thanks.
FROM BILL: I do read John Mauldin. Forgive me, but I didn’t have the time to go to the links you gave (the rest of you should–and sign up for his free newletters, which are VERY good). I believe I have already read them. I am well aware of the fact that the Chinese government has built entire cities where there are very few people, with huge skyscrapers and lots of expensive infrastructure. This makes it look as if their economy is robust, when actually it isn’t (no demand for the housing or office space–in other words, a waste or resources that would never be made by capitalist entrepreneurs). The Chinese stock market is in a freefall. I have been predicting this for some time, as those who read this blog know.
September 25th, 2012 at 5:33 am
Peter,
I have had similar thoughts the majority of my life. “What is wrong with me”. I have tried Tm, Accupuncture, diffferent diets, etc. etc. When I started Holosync, like most people I wanted results quickly. When I rushed,Holosync kicked my arse. I am now on FL2 (CD4). I has been a long road and there is a hell of a price to be paid. But it is so worth it. I am 7.5 years into Holosync and I am developing into a person I could not have imagined 10 years ago. Take your time it will pay off. Take a break for a couple of days if you need it. And maybe most important try not to beat yourself up when your world is on”tilt”. Take care. Nuke
FROM BILL: Yes, if only I could get people to 1) believe me about what Holosync will do, and 2) use it AS I SUGGEST. (And keep going, regardless of what happens–taking a day off when overwhelmed is appropriate.)
September 25th, 2012 at 8:58 am
Hi, does anyone know if Bose ae2 headphones are ok for the last 4 levels, my Sony ones broke and I can’t find any frequency spec for the Bose ones I’ve borrowed?
Thanks in advance
Bill, great results from the lp course. Thank you for the insights. Feels like im constantly plugging in for a software update!
Recommend to all – money well spent. Best course out there for personal/performance enhancement in my opinion.
FROM BILL: I’m not familiar with all the numbering systems of the various headphones. If, when you use them, the Holosync “works” (ie, it feels the way it usually feels) then the headphones are fine. I’ll bet you can google “frequency response of Bose AE2 headphones” and it would pop right up.
September 25th, 2012 at 10:55 am
Thank you Bill. I already started from AL3 and I’ll see what will be my reaction to it. I appreciate your help. It’s good to be back!
September 25th, 2012 at 3:11 pm
In your LPIP course preview, you say that once you take your map off autopilot , “you can create anything and everything that you want”. What exactly do you mean by “anything and everything you want”?
Would there not be certain things off limits in regards to attainment in regards to over-the-top goals? Is there a point in life when your map of reality is of no use anymore and “luck” kicks in? Or is there no such thing as “luck” and this so called luck is just your map of reality attracting the perfect situations at the right timing because of law of attraction?
FROM BILL: I wouldn’t say there is “luck” in the magical thinking sense, but there are certainly many forces in the world you have little or no control over. The point of the LPIP courses is to learn to watch yourself create those things you do create with awareness, which means to watch yourself create them as you do it. Those things are 1) how you feel, 2) how you behave, 3) which people and situations you attract or become attracted to, and 4) what meanings you assign to what happens. By making these things a choice you are able to create anything that is possible to create, with one further condition: you have “pay the price” to get it. In other words, there is a certain way of thinking (ie, a certain collection of ongoing cognitive behaviors) and acting that will get it for you. You have to adopt the way of thinking and then take the actions. Some things require a HUGE price and for that reason few people attain them. Other things are easier. Some things take several generations of people, standing on the shoulders of those who went before, to attain (modern technology, for instance).
September 26th, 2012 at 1:56 am
“How Your Body Controls Your Mind
You might think that your body’s metabolism reflects your state of mind, but a new study finds that the reverse is often true: Your biological clock actually opens and closes specific communication channels in your brain.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-thomas/how-your-body-controls-your-mind_b_1906101.html?show_comment_id=190840067#comment_190840067
Does this explain why many people (including life coaches) who have done years of holosync still have weight issues?
If not, what is the reason life coaches who have done years of centerpointe still have weight issues?
The point is what if all these “Masters of the Secret” with weight issues are not able to admit to themselves that they can’t think their way out of having extra unwanted weight? They are happy, they are changing lives, but they still have that extra weight. It does not make sense. Masters of the Secret, like yourself, should find it easy to be fit and leading the way to a healthy world of physically fit people. Why aren’t the Masters of the Secret leading the way to greater physical fitness for all Americans? Why is that? This is a seriously real and valid question. I would like to lose weight. Holosync hasn’t helped with that. My overweight life coaches from LPIP and holosync support didn’t help with that. I heard you were doing 100 pushups a day but still are you a fitness champion? What’s the missing story here?
http://www.healthcanal.com/brain-nerves/32472-Neurology-sheds-light-the-causes-obesity.html “You have neuron’s regulating your lower organs. coordinate the activity of organs such as the liver, pancreas and muscles in order to optimize the utilization of nutrients (lipids and sugars).”
How do we know that neurons are not involved in regulating the biological clock in addition to being regulated by the biological clock? How do we know it’s not a two-way communication, or a feedback loop?
I could see how it might be impossible to think your way thin with your brain with a messed up circadian clock regulating the chemicals that set at least some of your thinking patterns regardless of what you want to think.
The author thinks that you have a choice over some thinking patterns, the top down patterns, but not the bottom up patterns. He says those patterns override your brain. It’s not an intelligence either, it’s a timed chemical release.
He says:
“This raises a curious idea about thoughts themselves. As any student of meditation knows, thoughts fall into two broad categories: those we consciously choose to think, and those that arise on their own, out of the mind’s hidden depths. In other words, our minds seem to be forged by interactions between “bottom-up” processes and “top-down” control. ”
How do you, him, or anyone else really know? Maybe all thoughts are arising on their own? Why do some of your thoughts seem to you or others like you are consciously choosing them? None of my thoughts seems consciousness chosen. They are just thoughts. In my head. They are all spontaneously rising actually.
I mean yes there is some predictability.
Like oh I’m having a thought about a buying a hot dog again. Sometimes I have these spontaneously arising thought patterns where it seems at first like I am going to get a hotdog, then I remember the owner talking briskly about having to give a discount, complaining about the other lady, and the onions were not grilled as well as they usually are so this thought pattern automatically shifts into one in which I get something else. It started out as a hotdog getting pattern, and became something else. It was just this spontaneously rising thing. I could tell you I chose something else but that’s not what it seems like, it seems like the thought pattern that changed from a hotdog pattern to a getting something else pattern rose as one thing. Somehow it magically seemed like the best idea. I guess I don’t really understand why some people think they have choice, because every thought wave that I have seems like the best idea at the time.
However if some of your thoughts are rising up because of chemical’s issued by your circadium rhythum, then why should we consider any thoughts to not be spontaneous thoughts?
“The cell never acts; it reacts.” Ernst Haeckel
How do we know that all thoughts are not “just rising up?” what’s the difference between a thought my brain gave to me, and a thought that I choose to have?
What I mean is complex, because what if the thought I choose to have is really identical to the thought my brain gave to me?
What if my choice is just a reaction? What if your choice is just another cellular reaction?
FROM BILL: The body and the mind are an interrelated cybernetic loop, affecting each other.
Everyone make choices; those choices have consequences. If someone would rather eat pie than be thin, they will do that. Do you have some way of deciding what every person should decide in each situation?
Being a human being isn’t easy. We are subject to many things we have no control over, many other we can influence but not control, and a few things that we can control (have choice about) IF we are aware enough. You must not be aware enough to see how you create being overweight, as you do it, to see how you make the decisons that give you that particular consequence. What good does it do to blame other people for what you put in your mouth?
Holosync creates awareness. YOU then have to direct that awareness to the things you create. By creating those things with awareness (ie, watching as you do it) they become a choice. Right now, apparently, you are on autopilot regarding what you put in your mouth. Take it off autopilot by watching your internal strategies for deciding what, when, and how much to eat, as they operate.
I do 85 pushups every morning and use a ROM machine most days (look it up). My resting pulse is 58-60. I always (well, almost always) take the stairs. I’m 62 years old. Not bad for an old guy. On the other hand, I suppose I could drop dead tomorrow. Some things we can only influence, but not control.
Gotta go exercise now.
September 30th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
Nuke, thanks for sharing your thoughts. It’s absolutely true in my case that when I started using Holosync I wanted to be changed immediately but when this process started I was resisting it as hell. I guess it’s because I don’t want to see all that stuff that I have in my head. And there is so much sorrow and feeling of unworthiness and loneliness in me. It’s so hard for me to believe that seeing/feeling it is good for me and that it can be cured. But on the other hand I feel the way you are describing Bill, as I have no choice but to keep going and to face all that hides in me. Somehow I know that if I won’t do it, my life will never change.
Today I made a list of things that I was told are wrong, things I shouldn’t be or do. There is so much of it and I’m sure I can write more. My parents were always saying what a man should or shouldn’t do or be. They still are doing it. I was always living with this feeling that I can’t be myself if I want to be loved and accepted. And this feeling is still very strong in me. I think that when I started using Holosync I was hoping that it will change my personality so I will become a man I should be. Now I’m beginning to understand why there was always so much resistance in me. I just didn’t want to be me. Or maybe it would be better to say that I was afraid to be myself because the price was high. Now I know that it’s impossible not to be oneself and that there is nothing wrong in it. I think though, that I need more time and awareness to accept it.
FROM BILL: Excellent insight. Yes, all those things we were told when we were small have a huge effect on who we are — or at least pretend to be. When we are small we are 1) powerless to resist the big people we’re dependent upon for everything, including love, and 2) we have no information to help us evaluate whether or not what are parents are telling us (sometimes without words) is resourceful.
The way out of this is to watch yourself do it, with awareness. What isn’t resourceful will fall away. Doing this, however, isn’t always easy, because a) we don’t like what we see quite often, and b) we all have a parental voice in our head who tries to enforce the “rules”, even when they aren’t serving us.
Keep going…
October 1st, 2012 at 2:24 am
“Everyone make choices; those choices have consequences. If someone would rather eat pie than be thin, they will do that. Do you have some way of deciding what every person should decide in each situation?”
I’m a little bit skeptical, cynical and sarcastic regarding your reply. I’m not going to put you on a pedestal. I’m just going to let this reflection flow from me raw, and then I will think about what I said after I post it, when I have the most to gain in self observance. I wonder what it says about me that I feel like arguing a few counter points, but I will just allow it. The question is, have you put yourself on such a pedestal that you will filter out the words of anyone who see’s a flaw in the words you have believed in, promoted, and made part of your public social contract defining you for decades?
Obesity is just a choice according to billions of overweight people. Not likely. Do you disregard the facts that sugar and fructose are just as a addictive as the hardest drugs, triggering the same parts of the brain in class A drug addiction? Do you dismiss the idea of a sugar / fructose epidemic without considering the concept that rational choice has been human subverted by each person’s own chemical complex? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wSu6U8OzPk?
“Being a human being isn’t easy.”
So you say, but what else have you been besides a human being? Surely you must have been like a cow or something in your past life in order to have the objective contrast to define how easy or not easy being a human. Or maybe being a human being is neither hard nor easy, except that you create a story to confirm the belief that it isn’t easy.
“We are subject to many things we have no control over, many other we can influence but not control, and a few things that we can control (have choice about) IF we are aware enough.”
Your the wizard of oz. I know this show. It’s a different take on the same kind of circular logic that says if we have enough faith we can achieve anything, and if we don’t achieve anything, obviously we didn’t have enough faith. But that idea that you sell of free choice and doing anything you want with holosync just doesn’t work. Your idea doesn’t work. When people don’t achieve everything they wanted you blame their awareness and their choice. That’s circular logic. However since it pays your bills you keep doing the same show.
“You must not be aware enough to see how you create being overweight, as you do it, to see how you make the decisons that give you that particular consequence.”
There it it is, I didn’t have enough faith in my awareness practice to see it through huh? You suffer from your own circular reasoning.
“What good does it do to blame other people for what you put in your mouth?”
Blame other people? Whose blaming other people. That’s from your subconscious expectation, written in your mind. Your talking to your imagination. Your creating my position, so you can argue against a straw man instead of actually listening to what’s being said.
“Apparently, you are on autopilot regarding what you put in your mouth.”
See your writing my position, creating a strawman. None of what your suggesting is remotely close to being true. Remember to Wipe the fake image of sunlight from your window so you can see the real sunlight.
“Take it off autopilot by watching your internal strategies for deciding what, when, and how much to eat, as they operate.”
I’m watching everything I do with incredible awareness and intensity, and the deepness of my my mind and my intellect is unbelievable. I can describe the entire cosmos and the human brain in mathematical notation. I skipped Linear Algebra and went straight to Differential Calculus. Then I went back and learned Linear Algebra in one day. I understand the entire electrical and chemical structure of the human being, and I can literally understand spacetime in five dimensions, six dimension, eight dimensions, nine dimensions, twelve dimensions, thirteen dimensions, and a version of spacetime in which every potential difference (particle) is it’s own dimension of spacetime. My brain is doing epic things and your brain isn’t. Guess I must be doing something different and better than what you’ve been doing for 40 years.
“I do 85 pushups every morning and use a ROM machine most days (look it up). My resting pulse is 58-60. I always (well, almost always) take the stairs. I’m 62 years old. Not bad for an old guy. On the other hand, I suppose I could drop dead tomorrow. Some things we can only influence, but not control.
Gotta go exercise now.”
Why don’t you do muscle confusion, a good example is the P90x workout series. Doing 85 push ups every is going to result in a plateau, like that moment in a holosync track when your no longer getting the results you got in the beginning. The trick to avoiding a plateau effect (diminishing returns) is to change what your listening to, and change your workout, before your body gets used to a plateau.
With much ironic love
FROM BILL: I’m trying really hard to not call you an idiot, but..oh, shit, you sure seem to be one.
Lots of things are addictions, but–funny thing–not everyone is addicted to them. I have eaten mountains of sugar, yet I seemed to be able to teach myself enough self-regulation (a result of awareness) to not be a sugar addict. If you want to adopt the position that you are unable to keep yourself from putting sugar in your mouth, by all means, take that position. It is the position of a victim, and will result in (yikes!) being a sugar addict. Your choice, your call.
People are addicted to sugar because they would rather have the short-term pleasure of the taste and sugar high than the long term health benefits. When you are about to put sugar into your body, there IS a choice involved. If you are about to put heroin into your body, there is a choice involved. I was a 17-year drug addict. I know about these choices.
I am not using circular logic, and I am not saying that only if you have enough faith, blah blah. Things do not happen from faith. They come from decisons and actions. Faith may have something to do with whether you act, but faith along won’t do squat. I would say that if you don’t achieve something you didn’t act and think like those who DO create or achieve it, and you didn’t keep doing it long enough to get the result. A lot of my life I didn’t get any results, and then I learned how to get results and began to get them. I know what I’m talking about. I could even teach you how to do it, if you were willing to learn (not much evidence of that so far).
Whether you agree or not, when you decide to eat, what you decide to eat, and how much of it you decide to eat, is the result of internal strategies–sequences of internal representations that lead to each decision. Cognitive psychology. Not theory. For 99% of people those strategies happen outside your awareness, so they operate automatically. If you watch those strategies, as they happen–which requires more awareness than most people have, which is why no one does it–you will see yourself doing something that is not resourceful. As you see this–as you run through your strategy WITH AWARENESS–you will find that it is impossible to keep going with it, unless for some reason it serves you.
There is a price to pay, however, to develop that much awareness, and to practice directing it to whatever you are doing to create the outcome in question. Just because you have no done those two things, you poo-poo something you know nothing about.
You think you are aware because of these intellectual skills. Knowledge, or even thinking skills such as pattern recognition, are not awareness. Awareness is the ability to watch what you do to create various things, as you do them. Not knowing how you do them, but seeing yourself do them. You could be dumb as a post and have a lot of awareness. So, if you can figure out HOW your create your emotions, and watch yourself do it, they become a choice. If you can see how you generate your actions, and watch yourself do it, they become a choice. Hard work, though, and requiring a lot of awareness. Better start mediating more. Use Holosync more. Practice watching.
Under your theory of exercise, why would anyone do it? I assure you that the exercise I do is good for me, even if I were to reach a plateau.
Being a human isn’t easy, and neither is being a cow. It harder for humans, though, because they are aware enough to see their dilemma. You have a sensitive body. That is difficult. You will fall apart. That’s no fun. You will die. Again, no fun. Other people won’t do what you want them to do. Another problem. All kinds of physical forces are a problem at different times: gravity, weather, earthquakes, poisons, the need for air, the need for a certain temperature range, and so on and on and on. To say that it isn’t hard to be ALIVE, period, is pretty ignorant.
Better go back to solving equations in your head.
October 1st, 2012 at 2:35 am
Peters post has resonated a little in me and I wonder why after 9 levels and half way through lp course I feel body and mind are disconnected. My mind would love to go jogging today and find work and bake wholesome foods for my kids – the is body weighted down with the ‘but you’re a worthless failure anyway’ anchor.
Thing is, I’ve been ‘letting it be okay’ for quite sometime. Which on one hand takes away the bad feeling but on the other, it’s always there. I see it sabotages everything and is always the unearthed main ingredient in all my faulty processes – all roads lead to this. Time line exercise suggest its per birth.
Is this something I chip away at constantly until one day, when its too late, it’s gone or is it something I manage? I have been watching this, with awareness for about 2 years, maybe more. It feels like its just ‘authentic me’. Stubborn. Holosync takes the sting out of it, it’s ‘okay’ to be pinned down. I have a mind buzzing with fresh new ideas focusing on what I want yet…there is it creeping though cracks always answering back ‘off you go then, see how long that lasts’. Why bother?
FROM BILL: You’re watching the result, not the cause. How have to watch HOW you do it, not THAT you do it. The point of letting it be okay is to not add addition suffering by doing something (which will have consequences built into it) and then ADDING the additional consequence of resisting the fact that you are doing it. Letting it be okay won’t cause you to made a different decision. It just keeps you from resisting, which causes suffering.
I’m not sure I believe you that you would rather go jogging, and so on. You would rather have the results of those things, but results come from certain decisions and actions. You seem to want the results without paying the price to have them. That’s just delusional. Get on the side of cause and effect. If you want the effect, be the cause. Wanting the effect without doing something to cause it is to ignore the wonderful laws Mr. Newton first quantified.
October 2nd, 2012 at 12:29 am
Thanks for that. Will see how it goes.
It’s more that I believe I pay the price but the results are never how I plan them to be. So, jogging for example starts off great ends up with crunchy knee joints. Done every aspect of gym work for last 15 years but think I’ve done more damage than good. Invested in £3k of equipment for work – just as work in this field comes to a stand still. Spent time with ex husband to show children how adults can be civilised, now we don’t speak at all. Tried to develop closer relationships with family and friends after reading previous blogs – alienated them instead and so on. I seem to attract undesireable people who are basically screw balls. Once i knew it was me who was attracting them…batten down the hatches! the people who led me to holosync are major magic thinkers and are almost finished. Even holosync – cause; to become some new agey guru off my tits on zen, surfing through life on a lotus flower helping others as I go. The effect; an analytical observer of myself reading books about economics!
So the cause leads to failed effect, stifling decision making. Still, wouldn’t trade holosync it’s too much of an eye opener.
Thanks again. Appreciate straight talk.
October 2nd, 2012 at 6:49 am
FROM Khan3 (because I’m not the same Khan I was yesterday)
FROM BILL: Sorry, I’m just not willing to read all of what you wrote.
October 2nd, 2012 at 8:20 am
Kahn2 said, “I’m watching everything I do with incredible awareness and intensity, and the deepness of my my mind and my intellect is unbelievable. ”
If that were true, you wouldn’t of made that post.
“I can describe the entire cosmos and the human brain in mathematical notation…”
Impressive, rational intelligence is fun to have. However, if you want to know awareness, then intelligence is stupidity and stupidity is intelligence.
Bill, have you ever drawn any conclusions to why people lash out at you and share their displeasure in the comments when you’re just trying to help and give some love?
FROM BILL: Lots of people are angry, and we are in a time of worsening social mood. People want someone at whom to lash out. It’s hard being a human being.
October 2nd, 2012 at 9:11 am
Bill, one of the things I’ve come to see is that no matter what insight or deeper understand I have is that I eventually get stuck in that understanding. Now, what comes up is doubt to any truth or view. At times, it gets a little scary and fear comes up. But I keep doubting and trusting. Why do I keep doing this, I don’t know.
Have you had a similar experience? Is there an “all sides are included” or “another side of the coin” when the doubt comes to an end ? (Or, if the doubt ever comes to an end?)
Please share what you know. Or, maybe a new blog post?
FROM BILL: You sound like someone who has been studying with Genpo Roshi! Once he asked me to tell me my conception of “how it all is”. I told him, at length, thinking what a smart guy I was. His response? “Now, doubt that.”
Again from Genpo comes the idea that doubt is the doorway to the transcendent. He opened that door for me by getting me to doubt the value of anything to “save me” from the human condition: my ideas, my wealth, my efforts to have good health, my reputation, my education, my spiritual “attainments”, or anything else. It’s when youdoubt it all that you begin to see beyond all the stuff you think is your salvation. Ekhart Tolle and Byron Katie both had awakening experiences in this way, though their doubt came from completely hitting bottom.
Though doubting in this way doesn’t feel good usually, spiritually it’s a good thing. It’s okay to have ideas and so forth, but doubt their value in terms of escaping the situation were all in as human beings.
October 2nd, 2012 at 5:23 pm
Pauline,
I’d like to offer some advice on how I am making my way out of a similar situation.
I had neglected my body for a long time and like yourself, had positive desires for a better situation in my head – but could never make these consistently happen in reality. I am a very ‘head’ orientated person – always thinking about things and somehow coming to the conclusion that they won’t work or they’ll take a lot of effort so why bother to get my butt off the sofa and try? That was my semi-conscious process of desire for a result and then my subsequent justification that the price was too high to pay. By the way, for an unfit person to stop because the discomfort of exercise is too hard is a big underpayment of price which only gets you a negative feedback loop. Then you feel that you’re a failure and that things are too hard so you go back to comfort and continue the cycle of desire/justification. Well I did anyway, I shouldn’t assume things about you.
So anyway enough intro, here’s my suggestion to bust yourself out of your problem. To short-circuit whatever complex/unconscious mental processes are going on preventing you from exercising, just accept that they are there and then instead of thinking about them instead embrace that part of you that doesn’t think, your inner chimp or robot if you will. Set up a system in your physical environment where you are literally forced into change. For me, I joined a fitness class where I had to go everyday or I would have to pay them double for each day I missed. Because money is tight, I had a real-world motivation for showing up each day. I know I’m not motivated ‘towards’ things, moreso ‘away’ from more pain – so this approach worked great. Once you do this for about a month it will feel weirder if you DON’T do it as you now have a new bodily habit and craving for the exercise pleasure chemicals.
Find whatever leverage point is unique to you and then turn off your mind and just get swept along in the routine of it. Every night before bed – put your gym clothes on the floor next to your bed so they are the first thing you trip over when you wake up. Get an exercise buddy or make a new friend so you don’t have to do it alone (its harder). Throw out a bunch of stuff around you that you know you waste time with and make way for the new hours you will need each day to work on your body. Literally engineer a path through your house that makes the process of you getting out of there and into the gym as streamlined as possible so you DON’T HAVE TO THINK, you just have to let autopilot chimp take charge.
I just started level 6 of holosync. While I’m waiting for increased awareness so I don’t even have to try to be motivated – I found a lot of success in setting up a habit system like what I’ve outlined. I can’t always rely on my mind to be strong every day, so I have to set up my life, environment, etc so that it makes me a product of it and I don’t get pulled away by my ‘clever mind’ justifications for keeping things as they are and doing the least amount possible and expecting massive results and change.
Walk around today thinking about the environmental and personal accountability systems you can put in place that will force you to begin doing the things you know you should be doing instead of thinking about doing them…
October 2nd, 2012 at 7:59 pm
I think Khan2 is a terrorist whose weapon of choice is boring people to death with stoopid arguments.
Check out this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUOpqd0rQSo&feature=player_embedded
Video description: “WKBT News anchor Jennifer Livingston’s on-air respsonse to her Bully (Oct. 2nd, 2012)
http://www.youtube.com
WKBT anchor Jennifer Livingston took a moment during Tuesday’s morning newscast (Oct. 2, 2012) to directly address a recent email she received from a viewer …”
Jennifer doesn’t know how to lose weight, but listen to her attitude, she can choose all day, with the deepest awareness, and richest intellect, but the problem is she just doesn’t know how.
Like many of my friends she might be doing sixty minutes of cardio on a bike four times a week, plus arobics classes, plus yoga classes, plus a perfect diet, and still she can’t seem to lose the weight. She might be changing her attitude to copy all the behaviors, NLP, and choices of thin people, and still she can’t lose weight.
Because it’s more complicated than awareness and intelligence, it’s not a matter of psychology, it’s not a matter of behavior, it’s not a matter of standing in your truth as the sole creator of the results you get, she might be doing everything right. She obviously gets results look she is a news anchor.
Maybe it’s about embracing her ignorance and maybe being overweight means she isn’t humble enough to embrace her ignorance? Somehow I don’t think that’s it.
Maybe it’s the technique, like the technique Khan2 mentioned, muscle confusion via p90x or something similar.
There are people who are overweight who do 82 pushups every day, and people who work until exhausted every single day, who are NLP life coaches, but they are still overweight.
It’s because their body has reached a plateau, so there whole workout has become so efficient and so expected the body doesn’t burn calories.
That’s why muscle confusion workouts have such amazing fat burning results. (watch the infomercial for p90x to get the concept, or read about it on the web from another source) Your body doesn’t have time to get used to the work out, and subsequently each workout is power packed to make people get fit and burn fat fast.
I think it might be literally impossible to not get thin and fit on a p90x workout plan while eating healthy the way my overweight friend Wendi eats.
See if you can learn the concept of p90x and then design your own exercise routine to take advantage of the concept of muscle confusion. Then you could could lead a fitness revolution with holosync.
Design your own muscle confusion program, maybe watch the movie “forks over knives” and adopt a diet that is 80 to 90 percent about juicing vegetables. (you can still have meat 10 to 20 percent of the time)
You will have 5% body fat in no time, and for someone who knows how to get results like you Bill, you will rock the world again!
Go Bill Woot Woot! Fitness champion! Leading the world to healthier minds, bodies, and souls!
FROM BILL: I’m no fitness champion. I’m just someone who is 62 and doing my best to stay healthy as I get older. When I was younger I was an athlete, so exercise has always been part of my life (with a few lapses for a year or two here and there). I’m not trying to prove anything or trying to be ultra-fit. Just healthy. So far so good.
October 3rd, 2012 at 1:07 am
Hey Bill,
hope you are well.
So, nature versus nurture! What do you think?
I have spent a lot of time reading about it, contemplating it and thinking about it in my own life.
If I can simplify my question: To what extreme do you think Nurture determines the personality we have?
Your passion for Jazz music, an outcome of nurture?
one’s IQ?
having a good sense of direction? or having no sense of direction?
understanding Math and Science naturally with ease?
I understand your understanding that our beliefs come from our parents, teachers etc when we were small. Beliefs can be changed with enough awareness.
Mozart, Einstein or any known ‘genius’ in any field. Is this nature or nurtured?
I was always extremely creative, loved music, dance, and creating things. As soon as I got to Math and Science class I went completely dumb, I would look at a number and just get confused looking at it. Now that is nature not nurture right? can it change? can one develop more logic, memory …… (left side brain attributes).
How does nature and nurture tie in with awareness?
cheers, thanks for putting up with my dumb questions.
Joel
FROM BILL: Obviously, nature and nurture.
October 4th, 2012 at 4:23 am
Hypothetical question.
If you didn’t know the Presidents name or face, if you didn’t know what the President has said, if you didn’t know what the President believes, if the only thing you knew about the President was his voting record, his executive orders, the bill’s he has signed, his actions as the President, and the results of his influence as President. If you only knew that, but filtered out everything you knew about his beliefs and his vision for government. Would you really believe that another four years of the same president would be as devastatingly tragic for all man kind as you claim to believe.
If you had to filter out everything you learned from Glen Beck, Fox News, Richard Russell, and all the financial experts you read. Would you still have cause to believe that the US and world is headed for economic ruin of the type you have mentioned in your blog posts?
What’s up with all these financial experts like Richard Russell anyway? Who are they, and why do you think their views of the world are reliable, trust worthy, free of warping, free of delusion, free of logical fallacies, free of flawed assumptions regarding the trajectory of global economics as specified in your recent blogs.
How do we know their thinking isn’t polarized like the thinking of officials who decide to initiate a sequence of attacks on other nation states to effectively loot other countries? Groups of very informed very smart people can become delusional and parasitic. If a team of like minded folks begin to see oncoming disaster, or villainy from an external nemesis, person, country, or force, that could be a sign that the people who are seeing this are becoming irrational (fight or flight mode) and are about to attack someone or something literally, or by instructing others to attack.
Predicting Omen’s and Portents of darkness, suffering, and dark economic times is dark stuff.
Filtering out the Presidents words and beliefs again, what actions has he taken so far, in the past tense, that have really upset you.
In five years. Regardless of who is going to be elected. What is the situation that the world is going to be in?
When you started your Hell in a hand basket posts. I was stocking my house with water, extra supplies, food rations, first aid kits, buying gold, getting prepared, gas masks, the whole nine yards. I thought the world was going to crash the next month based on the uproar going on in your blog.
You said the world is going to hell in a handbasket? When? Do you have a timeline? At what point are you going to revise your hypothesis or discount the sources that have led you to this conclusion which is starting to seem like every other doom and gloom scenario I’ve ever heard.
I grew up with Christians, and they had theater productions, about the apocalypse, after the good people are raptured, there are people who are “left behind” and those people become christians, but they have to suffer the tribulations, it’s a horror story, mark of the beast, enslavement of all who want to buy merchandise, murder and slaying of believers, cutting off hands and heads. Every year of Clinton’s reign as President he was depicted by them as the Anti-christ, and every year they predicted the end of the world. You see there are folks who predicted hell because they don’t understand how a world can function properly with a democrat’s thinking. They don’t understand the democrat’s mind, so they write these perverse false stories. The stories are perverse because even when you confront them with contrary data, they still believe their twisted versions of the facts.
If Obama said he was in favor of big central government, that doesn’t necessarily mean what you think it means. He has said other things too that you probably have disregarded to you can stick to the story that he has said perverse things about his desire for big central government.
He’s not actually a communist, you can point to somethings that he has said that make him sound like a communist, but if you include EVERYTHING he has said that makes your interpretation of his words unlikely. He’s not a communist. Your filtering out reality, and that’s makes your hell and a handbasket sound like a parallel to the theological prediction of end times instead of an actually useful prediction we can all use.
Why don’t you link us to a calendar, with dates for each major milestone in the upcoming disaster, both past and present, so we can visual your predictions past and present, including the missed predictions, so we can track how and when your expectations were off.
Because in a year, or four years, if the world hasn’t ended, a lot of people are going to be pissed at you. Pissed enough that your influence is going to progressively decline. So will the influence of all the financial advisors you so admire.
FROM BILL: Give me a shout if you ever make it back to Earth.
October 5th, 2012 at 11:53 am
This is the original ‘nicolas’ not the maniac with the 1- hour long comment with the same ‘Name’.
About Beliefs:
I have been working on the LPIP courses so far, and have noticed a few things…such as a “shift”.
One part I’m finding myself focusing on alot is how to eliminate negative/limiting beliefs once you identify them. For example, if you find the belief, “It’s hard to make money” how would you effectively go in and eliminate it. I know you can read about how to get better financially, and associate with like-minded people, etc. But going in specifically to eliminate that belief, how would you know if its gone completely or just weakened?
FROM BILL: I don’t know if there’s any particular benefit in knowing or not knowing if a belief is gone. Then what?
Watch yourself believing something. Don’t try to change it. Just watch. Watch the internal representations you make when you “believe” it. Even more, watch yourself use the three methods I cite to “prove” that you are “right” about your belief. You can find them in course one, lesson one, beginning in paragraph 65 of the transcript. When you watch something with awareness, as you do it, if it doesn’t serve you, it falls away. If it does, it will remain. Awareness creates choice and once you have a choice you will always choose what serves you.
October 5th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
Bill are you King Lear from Shakespeare?
FROM BILL: No, I’m Blitzen from The Night Before Christmas.
October 6th, 2012 at 12:39 am
ciao bill.
so the solution is to doubt everything that the “voice in my head is saying” ?
thank you.
a big hug from italy.
rosario
FROM BILL: That’s not what I said. I said to doubt that all the things you think will save you WILL ave you–money, power, knowledge, etc, etc.
October 7th, 2012 at 9:00 am
good grief why are people down on nicolas’ long post? he asks some good questions – he simply asked for solid criterion to judge bill’s predictions on. maybe people want to remain in magical thinking / unawareness and base their ideas on persuasive speech, rather than solid and communicable indicators. Even if bill doesn’t have time to produce comprehensive and peer reviewed proof, just the fact that we scorn his questions indicates some insecurity. and nicolas’ questions about obama – well i think it’s just the same point bill makes about glen beck. there’s a lot of idiots who take what beck says out of context. but there’s also a lot of idiots who will blindly believe anything bill says about obama – like calling him a “communist.” that’s about as meaningful as calling bush’s patriot act fascist, or thomas jefferson a racist for owning slaves.
you know, we have a right to have our own independent thoughts, and ask good hard questions. inquiry shouldn’t be a dirty word in a free forum, no matter who owns this blog.
FROM BILL: Obama is esentially a Fabian Socialist. Look it up. He wants world-wide central planning controlled by an elite who know what you need, and should have (instead of you deciding for yourself).
October 9th, 2012 at 4:48 am
There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns-there are things we do not know we don’t know,-Donald Rumsfeld (quote taken from ‘The Signal and the Noise’-Nate Silver).
One of the most interesting things I’ve found in my more religious orientated studies is that some long-lived religions tribes communities peoples have what is known as an Oral tradition alongside the Written tradition, the most prominent to us Westerners perhaps being the Jewish faith (I was following a Jews-Money Money-Jews Role modelling thought process at that time-if I want money role model people successful at money). They have literally guarded the separation of the two traditions throughout they’re history,something we in the West generally fail at, i.e. The written/symbolist stuff is where most of us get mentally trapped and locked into and its only through meditation and or hypnosis/NLP type techniques that we learn to separate them again opening chakras et al and gaining more awareness etc etc.
Now the problem is that I cannot possibly know what Threshold anyone else reading this symbols/text is at. So you Bill may find this totally dull and uninformative whilst someone else might be rushed into a sense of panic or tears/fears and so on-and this is why what Nicholas is saying is potentially harmful-what are you’re motives?
The church rightly or wrongly set out a list of recommendations that people can live by -do unto others as you would have done unto you- being a typical example.
Science came along and stripped society of the more moralistic side of these recommendations.
Does it benefit me to seek to live a life guided by a spiritual mind set of raising people up-when everyone else is having a free for all dragging each
other down-ie I want money and would work towards that with anyone willing to do the same-my experience to date is that the dragging down is unfortunately (for many people)a mindset that cannot easily be changed?
Any tips thoughts on overcoming these types of issues and challenges?
FROM BILL: Not sure what your definition of raising people up includes. I have made a lot of money by reaising people up. I would say that nearly all people who have made money (other than through crime or corruption, where they have stolen the money, which I think is a small minority of money-accumulators) have done so by providing benefit to others, for which those others willingly traded their money.
October 9th, 2012 at 11:34 am
“Alta Says:
October 5th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
Bill are you King Lear from Shakespeare?
FROM BILL: No, I’m Blitzen from The Night Before Christmas.”
Hahaha I laughted so hard when I read this response. Thank you for that moment of comedy
!
This article explains why Obama is a fabian socialist
http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/03/obama-fabian-socialist-oped-cx_jb_1103bowyer.html
after I read the article, and in considering the recent debate between Romney and Obama I can’t entirely rule out this possibility.
Obama’s desire to remove the tax breaks given to big oil companies, and his efforts to take 716 billion from insurance companies seems like it ignores the reality that both the oil companies and the health care insurance companies operate on very low margins. Arguably they operate on very low margins because the money is going to the top executives and share holders.
Romney said Government should not be in the business of picking the winners and losers in the market place. I agree with that. Especially in light of the debacle regarding the governments failed investment in solar energy companies that Obama led.
This reasoning makes Obama seem to be a poor choice for certain kinds of decisions.
However Obama complained about the fact that American, driven by the Bush narrative, put trillions on a credit card to fund two wars.
Now Romney seems to think Obama’s effort to draw down from those two wars is a tragic mistake.
I fear that Bush and Romney may think alike, in terms of putting principle before economic realities. Choosing to fight wars we cannot afford. I say this realizing that Romney has claimed he isn’t going to raise taxes, and he isn’t going to increase the debt, (he claims) but that does not explain where the money to continue funding all of America’s wars is going to come from.
Romney’s balance sheet is not at all clear. As Obama pointed out.
Perhaps Obama is a sub category of Fabian Socialist, just as Fabian Socialist is a sub-category of socialist.
What I mean is that maybe Obama’s heavy hand in trying to stop excess money from flowing into health care insurance companies, and taking away tax breaks for corporate and personal jets, and taking away the governments padding of oil companies actually isn’t based in an overly simplistic notion about gradually nationalizing everything through media and voting. Maybe it’s not a principle driven decision. Maybe it’s a decision based on an engineering view of government as a system of checks and balances. Not based on a view of a central command that gets to dictate everything to everyone and take away the freedom of the markets.
FROM BILL: Trust me on this–Obama wants central control, and central control always ends in tears.
As for the wars, this is a situation with no clear and easy solution. Wars are expensive, and in part brought down the Roman Empire (and several Chinese empires of old). However, we are in a time of deepening negative social mood not unlike the 1930s (but, I think, destined to be worse). There is always a movement to DISarm and appease the dangerous types of the day–in the 1930s the Fascists, Nazis, and communists. In today’s work appeasement is directed toward radical Islam and Russia. Unfortunately, this appeasement always leaves the less-crazy countries (representative democracies) ill-prepared for the war that inevitably results. So do we fight these expensive wars, or leave ourselves unprotected? Not an easy question to answer. Last time, before the good guys could gear up, tens of millions of people were slaughtered. Today, the radical Islamists clearly want to eliminate as many “infidels” as they can, and right now they are VERY close to having nuclear weapons. A sobering thought.
October 9th, 2012 at 11:59 am
Ayn Rand famously decried against the evil of altruism, claiming that the proponents of altruism argued for a vague philosophy of death that they could not embrace or admit to themselves.
Arguably if you take altruism, or self-sacrifice to the extreme, aka Jesus Christ, you have a the smartest person becoming Atlas, a supporter of stupid sheep, who do not deserve to be fed by your labor, but feel they are entitled to it. So the representatives of the neurotic sheep will hate on the rich 1% while demanding to be serviced by them all the same.
Then you have children, who are dependents. Ayn Rand’s book’s do not really feature any children. It messes with her philosophical worldview. Ayn : Children should not exist in a perfect world. Ayn : The child should learn to be independent at the earliest age possible. Going to work in a factory at the age of 4 perhaps. Raised in a world where nothing is given, only earned.
However in Ayn’s world : There is no reason to pay for public education. There is no reason for a minimum wage. There is no reason the public should pay for police, or firemen. No reason the government should be involved in railroad grants.
Without Abraham Lincoln’s massive government investment in the railroads during the civil war I truly wonder if Ayn would have been able to write Atlas Shrugged, as an articulate point that the social politices of government destroy markets instead of building markets. One may make the argument that without the government, the railroads would never have been built to the extend that they were, and America’s markets would never have grown so big. There was no Dagney Taggert with magic blue metal who funded her own railroad and created markets. It was a vision advanced by government, soliticing cooperation from private sectors to drive a coordinated economic vision that actually had collective benefit, meaning it was a win win for everyone. The best companies think win win, mutual benefit, and the best government thinks win / win or mutual benefit. Romney’s reliance on principle may be a strategy to justify a win/lose intention. Maybe Romney intends to win while you lose.
FROM BILL: Rather than argue against Ayn Rand’s imaginary (though pretty realistic) world, why not get into the real world and make your arguments there?
Minimum wages, unfortunately, even though well-intentioned, actually eliminate jobs for the very people it is supposed to help, by pricing them out of the market. And even though the government played a big role in creating the transcontinental RRs, they would have been build anyway, by private enterprise. Just because the government does something doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been done, and done better (and more efficiently) by private enterprise. Those things that private enterprise doesn’t do are not done because they aren’t in demand by enough people for the resourses to be efficiently deployed to create them.
Ayn Rand is arguing that when people pursue their private “selfish” interests, more people are served that when central planners interfere with those interests and direct resources as THEY think best. I think she was right about this. Every example of central planning has failed, and most examples of it have ended in tyranny and a LOT of death and suffering.
Most of the examples (maybe all) of “giant corporations” abusing power involve power that actually comes from government. When government is big and powerful, corporations latch onto it. The solution to overly-powerful corporations is to take away the government power. If this happened (it won’t, though), you would find the companies left to do their best to sell products and services to people, but without unfair advantages backed by government muscle.
October 9th, 2012 at 5:46 pm
I was listening to a self-help motivational speaker; RANDY GAGE, he has alot of interesting points. One is that your results are the average of the five closest people you associate with. So your income, health, relationships, etc. are the result of those 5 people you associate with most.
Thus, this means that if you have negative people in your life, they can ultimately sabotage your success because you will be influenced by them. This contradicts the point of ‘your mind making up your life’ if letting go of negative people is a solution.
FROM BILL: Negative people can only influence you to the degree that you are operating WITHOUT awareness, on autopilot. Unfortunately, that is almost all people. I’m not so sure about his selection of the closest 5 people. Why not 4 or 6 or 3? Sounds like he’s making up the number.
October 10th, 2012 at 9:43 am
I was having a conversation with a friend that doesn’t believe in free markets … Leftists argue that free markets end up in monopoly and therefore anti-monopoly regulations should be made, what’s the libertarian counter argument to this ?
FROM BILL: Monopolies are created by government. All utilities are monopolies, for instance. So were the television networks until cable came along. This is one of the problems with health care in the US. In each state only a few insurance companies can sell health insurance, hence no completition, high prices, bad service. Utility prices are set by utility boards, appointed by government. Not a fee market at all. Same with health care prices.
If a company is given certain advantages by government (as banks are in many cases) they become quasi-monopolies. Without sucking up to government power, a company, no matter how big, has no power other than to offer a product and hope people buy. Sometimes a company is so innovative and ahead of the curve that for a while it SEEMS like a monopoly (or at least the left is quick to jump in and make such accusations). Microsoft is a good example of this. They have been attacked as a monopoly. Do they look like a monopoly today? I think not.
In South America United Fruit Company used to be a monopoly. How did this happen? South American countries gave them a monopoly (or rather, sold them a monopoly). Now they aren’t a monopoly, any more than Microsoft is. If government was small, and had no power to give to companies, they would have no more power than Centerpointe. Big government creates corruption, and big companies are happy to take advantage of it. Without that power, though…
I doubt if your friends in SA have ever seen a free market. And, by the way, look at the countries that have had NOTHING but monopolies (again, government created): North Korea, Cuba, Soviet Union, China. Paradise, right?
October 10th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
“When government is big and powerful, corporations latch onto it. The solution to overly-powerful corporations is to take away the government power. If this happened (it won’t, though), you would find the companies left to do their best to sell products and services to people, but without unfair advantages backed by government muscle.”
Government muscle is different from Mafia Muscle because in theory it is accountable to the public as a whole. Without Muscle that is accountable to the whole public you have private muscle.
This might mean more profits for a corporation, less oversight, and maybe more abuse.
Google famously said that China is operated like a giant corporation.
The Chief Executive Officer of a typical corporation is a central planner, aka central command proponent (accountable to share holders instead of the public)
Maybe you are not against “Central Control” in the abstract, for yourself internally as a person, as a chooser, as a decider, for your company, as the leader, the head of more than one hierarchy?
There are organizations that are democratic, where employee’s have an equal stake, and everyone is a CEO.
Is centerpointe a democratic institution or does it have central control?
I think the problem with Obama is not that he desires central control, I think the problem is that he demands that power be accountable to the public, even privately held power.
When a corporation has to be accountable, to generate profit for share holders (owners), to develop products that are worthwhile to it’s customers (in a free market), and to be accountable to the common public interest (safety, fairness, liability for waste, liability for injuries caused by products) the free money in this country gets itchy.
If the public gets too mad, then accountability demands increase, private companies are overburdened with “accountability to the common good” regulation, and the economy falters.
If the public gets too happy, then accountability decreases, private companies become releases from accountability to the common good, and parasitic, and fraudulent schemes can drain massive amounts of money out of economies.
Ideally there is a middle ground, between private interests, and accountability to the greater public.
FROM BILL: Centerpointe is controlled by customers, as much as I can make that happen. All the money comes from customers, and they only trade money for goods if I make the goods they want. So I am not sitting there “controlling” anything, other than trying to respond to what customers want. All entrepreneurs are doing this. If they don’t they go out of business.
Centeral control means that planners are deciding what is made, as they used to do in the Soviet Union. Central planners would decide what kinds of cars would be made or what kinds of shoes, and how many. Since they were not trying to make a profit, and were not spending their own money, they had no motivation to please the population, or provide what was wanted. In fact, since there was not choice, and no entrepreneurs to offer new products, consumers had no way to vote regarding what they wanted. Such central planning also creates shortages. People used to stand in line for hours in the Soviet Union to get things like toilet paper when it appeared every month or so.
In countries where medical care is centrally planned, there are shortages and no choice.
Finally, how accountable is the government to the public? ObamaCare was passed even though 65% of the population didn’t want it. Elections are held every several YEARS, and the public is so manipulated by the media and special interests who are sucking at the government tit (plus the public lacks much interest in politics, and is woefully uninformed) that they have little power. Certainly not the power consumers have through their day by day buying or failing to buy.
Central planners can’t respond to people’s wants. And, since they aren’t spending their own money, and have nothing to lose (other than an occassional election), what motive do they have to serve. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. How often does the government spend the money you send them in taxes on your first choice? But when you spend it yourself you always spend it on something you want. Mass spending on people’s 50th choice, or 150th choice, or something they would never choose, is a gross waste of society’s resources, on decisions made for them and forced on them by an elite who thinks they know best what people “should” have or want. This didn’t work too well in the Soviet Union, doesn’t work in China, and it doesn’t work in Cuba. In fact, it has created mass suffering wherever it has been forced on human beings.
October 10th, 2012 at 10:26 pm
Hey Bill,
Would you mind giving us a quick opinion of yours on Julian Assange?
FROM BILL: A mentally ill moron.
October 10th, 2012 at 10:31 pm
just read Jim Rickards ” Currency Wars”. very informative for someone like me who is unfamiliar with economics. basically echoes what Bill and others are saying about the collapse of the dollar and the possible consequences of that collapse. although i believe he blames the recession on the deregulation of the banks which i’m not sure Bill believes? and he doesn’t commit to whether we will have deflation/inflation. either way he does say a collapse is imminent.
FROM BILL: This mess was caused by the government setting up a game where the banks can take huge risks and keep the profits if the risks work out, but get bailed out (by taxpayers) if they don’t. If you could invest and get all the gains and have someone else pay for the losses, wouldn’t you go after the riskiest investments (which are also the biggest gainers when they work out)? When Congress raised the insurance on your bank account to $250,000 per depositor, they just upped the amount the bank could lose per depositor and still not have to pay for it. And there are many other regulations like this that encourage risky behavior on the part of the banks and other big financial institutions.
This is yet another example of what I have been saying: when government is huge and powerful, the bigger companies will latch onto that power (ie, buy it from the government). Make the government small, as it was intended, and used to be up until the early 20th century, and there is no power for banks or corporations to co-opt.
October 11th, 2012 at 3:22 am
Bill, I have a question. Why do people in America have like huge parades and treat politicians like rock stars? You said in reply to one of the posts something like that a lot of people are not too interested in politics, or understand that kind of stuff (I think that may have been the general gist of it).
So where do you make the break between interest in politics and ridiculousness? Some people don’t even realize that there are democrat and republican parties in other countries, and it’s just they ain’t popular (there are decently popular ‘green’ parties all over the place, but I could be wrong). Don’t people have better things to do, like cleaning the house maybe? One vote does very little. One vote won’t win an election, it will go to the courts or whatever happens in america when it’s close. Why spend hours listening to debates? That said, the election is on my birthday! woo!
Politicians ain’t trustworthy. They are middle-men. I’d rather go wholesale. Don’t encourage them. Maybe if you ignore them they’ll go away.
I think this is a good social perspective.
So Bill, what is worth knowing about politics?
FROM BILL: In a country where perople have no voice or representation it probably isn’t worth it to be interested in politics. In those countries people are interested in hiding from the powers that be or perhaps overthrowing them, if such an opportunity comes. In the US, where we do have SOME voice (it is being taken away, especially since progressives control the media, the educational system, and to a great degree the internet) it does make sense to be interested. Politicians make decisions that can have a significant effect on your life. If central planners gain control of healthcare (as it seems they are), what you need when you are old, or what others you love may need, may not be available. When the government destroys the value of money, they are robbing you. When they make you pay for senseless projects used to buy votes, they are robbing you. And, if they appease dangerous elements in the world, they could be putting the whole country in danger.
Today, you have to take a lot of initiative to find out what is really going on because the media are extremely ideological. They are supposed to protect us by alerting the public to what is going on, but they tell a quite slanted story. Thank goodness for the internet, private newsletters (and freedom of speech. Unfortuately, Apple, Google, and Yahoo are quite progressive in their views and act like out of control police and may kill the independence of the internet.
Yes, it takes a lot of effort to follow what is going on. It is, though, a fascinating story. I became interested in history when I was about 12, and what is going on IS history. What’s more, NOW happens to be one of the most historically important turning points of the last several hundred years. I’m watching with keep interest to see how things unfold, just as I would have had I been alive in the 1930s and 1940s.
October 12th, 2012 at 2:16 pm
There have been a number of occasions when I’ve got quite cross about the tone of some of your responses to people who say things you disagree with.
Then I have a skim at some of the messages here, and I find myself admiring your patience in taking the time to give thoughtful courteous and informative answers to posts which are quite frankly ridiculous.
Hmmm…interesting.
T
FROM BILL: Terry, really. You think some people make ridiculous posts? On this blog? You’re so cynical. Yes, I have a lot less patience for those who haven’t done their homework but who are SO confident that they know what they’re talking about, and who set up straw men to knock down. Intellectual laziness.
October 13th, 2012 at 9:41 am
hmm, i’ve heard obama called a favian socialist before and didn’t give it much thought. maybe i should look into it more; i admit i haven’t done the research. You may say I’m brainwashed (of course i don’t know if i am) but I feel I am resistant to calling obama a socialist right now NOT because I am brainwashed but because it seems like political name calling more than it is a telling fact. I also still maintain that even if we can somehow define his as such, is it meaningful to then call bush a facist? i personally think of obama as a pragmatist. (I will get yelled at as naive for this, but i might as well be honest here, right? if i am to change my mind) I imagine he shapes policies not accd. to some 19th century progressive political thought (favian socialism), but accd. to the cards he was dealt. To me, i imagine that if Obama didn’t intervene with government stimulus at the time he did, if he didn’t grow government and instead just said you know what, i’m gonna leave the the collapse of lehman up to market forces, he was going to face sure economic armageddon (basically what you predict, just sooner rather than later)
This makes me want to tie my point to an intruiging point you bring up in an earlier post. You say that governments before the 20th century were small(er), as they were intended to be. That’s a damn good point. But I’m assuming that governments necessarily grew as the threat of world war (mass destruction) grew. I imagine that with the threat of nuclear, and now cyber wars, big governments are here to stay. Is there realistically anything we can do to shrink governments at this point? Was there realistically anything Obama could have done to avoid immediate financial collapse? don’t we just have to look at the changes that have occurred since the early 20th century as good, transcending to a new order, in the way you talk about in lpip, because we can’t REALLY do anything about it? so right now, invest in guns and gold to protect ourselves, but be confident that the changes we are going through – while not towards smaller governments – will lead to some higher order?
thanks for your patience…
FROM BILL: That’s Fabian socialist–someone who wants a centralized government run by an elite that knows much better than you what is good for you (and everyone else). There is a battle going on right now between people who want a government that is small and which will leave people along, and those who want POWER. And trust me, the power will not be held by YOU. If that’s what you want, vote for the big government people (look through history, though, and see if you can find an example of when that ended well).
Bush was also a progressive, though not as radical as Obama. He, too, made government much larger (MUCH larger, though not anything like Obama has done, or wants to do). He, too, thinks that the elite should choose for the ignorant rabble. I think the rabble might be misinformed, or uninformed, but they aren’t stupid.
October 14th, 2012 at 7:58 am
Hi Bill,
Hope all is well. I just read the posts over the last few weeks. Even after following politics closely for a couple of decades, I still shake my head (occasionally) at the shocking lack of basic information, logic and critical thinking skills most voters have.
Your health care explanations are a great example. Health care in the USA is expensive and the service is poor. But it is available 24/7 with no rationing.
People see health insurance companies, which are private, and conclude private companies must be the problem here. They can’t see that government forbids competition by law in states, as you point out. Therefore, government interference causes lack of competition which causes poor service and high prices. While an oversimplification, I agree this is the primary driver.
So why can’t people see past “a” (private companies) to determine the underlying cause “b” (government laws forbidding competition)?
Do peoples’ minds wander before getting that far? Does pending 30 min of research on their own to understand an important issue take too much effort? Or do they not even get that far as it’s simply easier to believe whatever their favored political party tells them to believe–be it republican or democrat?
Perhaps some lack the belief in themselves that they are smart enough to understand this stuff; that they are smart enough to go to the library and do research even if they don’t own a computer; that they do have responsibility as voters to understand the issues before casting a vote?
Oh well. I’m not a shrink. Interesting theories. But all quite irrelevant to shaping how the majority will vote.
Nevertheless, I applaud your efforts Bill. While I get the sense your sweeping at the waves as they roll in and your little sphere of influence cannot hope to shift the ocean itself, I, as always, give you kudos for trying.
Thank you.
FROM BILL: The other thing wrong with the way health care is delivered in this country (and, for that matter, almost everywhere in the world) is that the end user does not directly pay for it. They buy insurance, which then pays for it, or the government (which they pay for) delivers it through Medicare. When you don’t see what you’re paying for, and have no choice to walk away and buy elsewhere, service goes to pot, and prices rise.
October 14th, 2012 at 8:11 am
Election prediction:
Obama has outspent Romney 2:1 on ads through debate one painting him as an out of touch, evil rich guy. Debate #1 had huge numbers because people wanted confirmation of this fact before voting for Obama again, who many have grave concerns about.
Debate #1 changed everything in those Independents minds. They saw Romney did not have horns and did not have a master plan to throw old people out on the snow, or whatever. Most of those “undecides” spontaneously changed their votes from a shaky Obama vote to a Romney vote.
Few of those voters will watch any future debates, read anything about politics or discuss it further. Many voters are a-political, have zero interest in it, and spend a grand total of about eight hours every four years following it.
In any case, feeling their due diligence is done after watching debate #1, their decisions have been made.
My prediction: Romney by 2%-3%
October 14th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
FROM BILL: There is no convincing brainwashed people who haven’t investigated the other side of the story. I have studied your side of the story. I used to STRONGLY advocate it. Go read “How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World.”
1. It is in theory not possible that you used to advocate “my side of the story”, because I’m not advocating “any” story, or any “side.” Maybe it seemed like I was, but I know I wasn’t.
2. The cosmos does not present an individual with a strictly true or false proposition. This is not the age of Aristotle, where everything must be either white or black, on or off. As the Buddha recognized, and as both mathematics and quantum physics confirms, there are more possibilities than just true or false, my side or your side. There is the middle way, neither true nor false, and both true and false. So you see it is possible to imagine that some individuals have no side, no position that is not a temporary illusion.
3. I have no belief that is my belief (attached to the individual) this individual may speak the words that belong to a belief or position, but these beliefs and positions arrive in the mind like vehicles arriving in a city, sometimes they stay a while, sometimes they leave and new vehicles come in (new beliefs) no position or belief is attached to my ego.
4. In the study of both neurology and artificial general intelligence I have come across the notion of a model free intelligence. The short meaning, from the study of model free intelligence, is that human intelligence is pre-rational. Intelligence is pretty much Intuition (connection) between nodes. The whole brain is connections between nodes, activated by brainwaves, and chemicals. Intelligence is the linkage of points into patterns, and the link between patterns into meaning. This pre-logical thing can use tools, like logic and reason, in the same manner than it can intuit (connect) a path from chemical hunger, to motor action, to chemical satisfaction. If you thought before that human beings can be rational, think again. Human’s can only intuit (connect) in such a way that mimicks the appearance of rational behavior, it’s not really rational however, it’s simulated rationality. Same thing you might argue, not quite the same thing actually.
FROM BILL: Thanks for the view from outer space. Foregive me for deleting your other 8 or 9 horrendously long and self-absorbed posts. You need a hobby, or to stop taking yourself so seriously. Why in the world would you think I would want to read 3-4,000 words of your angry goings-on about all your silly opinions? And what is cross-wired in your head that you care so much what I say, especially because you obviouly don’t think I say anything valuable (amazing that over a million people all over the world DO care what I say)? Also, it’s pretty silly that you want to advertise to everyone who reads this blog what a nitwit you are. You should thank me for deleting all those posts.
October 15th, 2012 at 10:09 pm
One of the interesting things I’ve noticed as I’ve progressed with Holosync is the amount of differing relationships and types of connections I’ve happened upon during my own research.
You yourself linked Holosync with the work of Ilya Prigogine, which as you say explains what happens when we have overwhelm and a higher order is created.
My own research has led me to the work of Stephen Porges http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Porges and some of his early work on brain-heart communications, not much is mentioned on the above wiki link. Are you familiar with the work of Stephen Porges, does it have any relevance or am I just going-off-the-beaten-track in my brains global quest to be more aware (I seem to have a confusion in what is genuinely relevant for me and what is just interesting knowledge) finding a needle in a pile of needles.
Why am I the way I am?, what are the buried beliefs that continue to sabotage me? I think these questions are why some of us rush the early levels because we simply want to be in a non-self sabotaging state and it always seemingly eludes leading to a rush and jump to the next level,
How long into your Holosync journey did you feel you were no longer self-sabotaging? Is the work of Stephen Porges worthwhile in checking out in deeper detail?
FROM BILL: I’m not aware of his work. And I am still sabotaging myself. Just not nearly as much as before.
October 17th, 2012 at 4:05 am
Bill,
These comments demonstrate beautifully your point about taking people’s govt benefits away and their violent reactions. Look at the hateful remarks these people make thinking if Romney gets elected that their food stamps will be taken away. Now imagine when they really get taken away because of a sovereign debt crisis!
http://www.infowars.com/threats-to-assassinate-romney-explode-after-debate/
FROM BILL: Yes, amazing, but this is exactly the sort of things that happen in times of declining social mood. And, of course, the left has gone to great lengths to portray Romney as someone who hates poor people, and who wants to take away their freebies. I could hardly believe how hateful these tweets are–and how incredibly uneducated the tweeters seem to be.
October 18th, 2012 at 8:48 am
I think Romney is a terrible choice, but the media has gone to great lengths, especially the liberals to portray him as an evil villain. I completely agree with his 47% comment in the private video that was leaked out. People don’t understand that whoever wins, it will not make much of a difference in regards to repairing the U.S. as it is.
FROM BILL: On one hand, the existing debt is way too much to ever be paid. When it becomes clear that it will not be paid, and the powers that be can no longer hide that fact, the deflation that will result will be horrendous. However, if the central planner types, repreented by Obama, George Soros, and others like them, keep control, they will make the ultimate consequences worse. It’s a choice between really horrible and totally horrible. Romney will be much better than Obama, even though he will be in a situation for which there is no real solution. He at least cares about people. Obama just cares about himself.
October 18th, 2012 at 10:47 am
“FROM BILL: I’m not aware of his work. And I am still sabotaging myself. Just not nearly as much as before.”
We are all creating stories all the time.
October 18th, 2012 at 10:52 pm
Bill it’s a good thing you are working out and not eating junk food which destroys the benefit of holosync, junk food is the anti-holosync method!
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/18/your-brain-on-food-obesity-fasting-and-addiction/
Obese people may be less efficient at making decisions, which could be important for controlling impulse behavior.
October 18th, 2012
10:20 AM ET
Your brain on food: Obesity, fasting and addiction
We all know that what you eat can change your physical appearance. It also alters how your body functions, making it more or less difficult to pump blood, grow healthy bones or process insulin.
New research presented this week at the Neuroscience 2012 conference suggests that what you eat can even alter your brain – and vice versa.
Timothy Verstynen and his colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe the brain activity in 29 adults. The study participants were shown words on a screen in various colors and asked to identify the color, not the word. Sometimes it was easy – the word red printed in red; other times it was harder, like seeing the word red printed in blue.
The overweight and obese participants’ brains showed more activity during difficult questions, suggesting they were working harder to get the same answers.
Verstynen said the results imply that obese people are less efficient at making complex decisions, which could be important for controlling impulse behavior.
His team theorizes that unhealthy eating choices can lead to disrupted brain connections that lead to weakened brain performance, which can lead to making more unhealthy choices.
In other words, it’s a vicious cycle.
A second study, presented by Dr. Tony Goldstone, showed the brain’s orbitfrontal cortex may play a big role in how people make food choices. This area encodes the “value” of a food, Goldstone said – i.e. how rewarding or pleasurable it will be to eat.
Study participants were asked to fast overnight. In the morning they were given a breakfast of about 700 calories and shown photos of food while hooked up to an MRI machine. They were asked to fast again before another visit; the following morning they were not given breakfast and then shown the same photos.
The starving participants’ orbitfrontal cortex’s were activated when they were shown photos of high-calorie food. Their reaction was less strong after they had eaten breakfast.
The research suggests fasting or dieting increases the brain’s desire for high-calorie food.
“That’s one of the reasons it’s so difficult to keep weight off,” Goldstone said.
The good news is that research is ongoing to find ways to block our brains’ love of unhealthy food. Two studies presented at the conference analyzed the effect of medications designed to treat alcohol/drug addiction on rats’ eating behaviors.
In one, researchers injected the addiction drug naltrexone into the prefrontal cortex – the decision-making area of the brain – to decrease junk food consumption in binge-eating rodents. The drug worked in the study, but more research is needed to see if and how this could apply to humans.
FROM BILL: Yes, many things, including what you eat, affect your life, your mind, and your health. Such is the lot of humans.
October 19th, 2012 at 1:30 am
Hallo Bill,
to learn more about cause and effect which book of Asimov would your recommend?
FROM BILL: All of his non fiction books are about science, which is about cause and effect.
October 22nd, 2012 at 10:41 am
If people think there is “something wrong with you”, isn’t this unconscious queues that you are sending out, or is it in your behavior? I ask because I keep experiencing that…its like a vicious cycle! It’s as if I did something wrong in the public/social eye. Continuing to get what you don’t want socially…meaning people think you’re stupid or there is something wrong with you when there really isn’t anything wrong with you. Can this be a result of beliefs or is this “bad luck”?
FROM BILL: If you believe that something is wrong with you (and most people believe this about themselves), or you believe that people THINK there is something wrong with you (maybe your parents thought this, giving you this belief?) you will figure out how to “prove” that you are “right.” This is why beliefs are said to be “self-fulfilling prophecies”. You use three methods to gather “evidence” that you are right about your belief: 1) you will unconsciously attract or become attracted to people who will help you “be right” (in this case, you will be attracted to–or attract–people that think there is something wrong with you, or who think there is something wrong with everyone); 2) you will interpret whatever happens as “evidence” that your belief is true, even if there are many other possible interpretations of what is happening, and 3) you will act in ways that help your belief come true. The solution to this is to watch yourself use these three methods to gather evidence. In other words, believe what you believe, but do it with awareness. What you do with awareness becomes a choice, and once you have an choice you will always choose what serves you.
October 22nd, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Bill,
Any chance for a new blog post soon? Thanks!
FROM BILL: Sorry. I’ve been very busy lately. I’m thinking about it.
October 22nd, 2012 at 3:27 pm
dear bill,
please could you help me to see the difference between “attention” (no object) and “concentration” (object to focus on) ?
seems impossible to get the “attention” that krishnamurti speaks about, because if i watch my thoughts, feelings, reactions, etc. this is not “attention” but “concentration” because i have an object to watch.
thank you.
rosario
FROM BILL: When Krishnamurti talks of attention he means the equivalent of a floodlight that lights up everything, while concentration is a small beam of light that lights up one thing. With attention you are just open to whatever comes to your senses, but you aren’t pointing them to anything in particular. In concentration you are pointing your attention to one particular thing to the exculusion of everything else.
October 22nd, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Having recently viewed your 4 free video’s I felt somewhat saddened to hear of your own decision to end the LPIP courses in they’re current format, I feel I’ve benefited greatly from them in the relatively short time I’ve been taking them (as have many more able and worthy people before me).
If I ever say “Don’t you know who I am?” it’s probably a smart move to pause and consider and wait as the next line is likely to be “I’m one of you’re biggest fans”
Paul Allen the Oft-forgotten real genius and philanthropist (much like yourself) behind Microsoft in his memoirs set some computer related AI challenges related to his ProjectHalo (Vulcan inc) businesses.
If you could set some maximizing the benefits and utilization of Holosync challenges (perhaps where you see unfullfilled market gaps) what areas are genuinely underrepresented at the present time? is it better to create a narrow focussed niche or is a more generalist approach best, I find I suffer more through being a generalist but have yet to find a niche I have a genuine visible long-term goal and passion for-any ideas on potential and worthwhile challenges of possibilities for you’re own creation of Holosync and it’s future and direction?
FROM BILL: I didn’t say I was ending the Life Principles courses. I said I wasn’t going to take any more students after the current promotion is over (October 25th, I believe). The courses will always be there for those who are already enrolled, to take over and over for as long as they want.
I think in a business it’s usually better to specialize.
October 23rd, 2012 at 3:29 am
“FROM BILL: I didn’t say I was ending the Life Principles courses. I said I wasn’t going to take any more students after the current promotion is over (October 25th, I believe). The courses will always be there for those who are already enrolled, to take over and over for as long as they want.”
You said that you were going to go in a different direction now, is what that direction is intended for us to know, or am I being too curious?
FROM BILL: It will be a surprise.
October 23rd, 2012 at 8:56 am
so,
why krishnamurti says that
we have to watch our minds with “attention” and not with “concentration”, when “attention” means “no object/no effort” ?
October 23rd, 2012 at 10:59 am
Bill,
You usually say that it will be safer here in the US. It appears to me as if we are living under the eagle eye of Germany’s Gestapo. Could i ask for an example or two of why you think we are not going to be equally screwed? or maybe even more?
If (when) the dollar collapses, we will have a hard time for a good while, no?
It’s going to be very difficult in the United States as this plays out. It’s going to be MUCH worse, however, in the rest of the world. The 1930s were very hard for Americans. They were unbelievably horrible for Europe, the Soviet Union, China, Japan, and many other places in the world. The same will likely happen in coming years.
October 24th, 2012 at 8:34 am
Hi Bill,
I am already enrolled in LPIP Course 1. The website does not give me an option to buy individual LPIP courses anymore. Do I need to buy all 3 LPIP courses by Oct 25 in order to ensure I can get future access to Courses 2 & 3?
Even though I have Course 1 already, it’s still a great deal…it’s just that the timing isn’t good for me at the moment. Will there be an option to buy the “silver” level of Courses 2 & 3 at some point after Oct 25? Thanks.
FROM BILL: You really only bought the first course? Hardly anyone ever does that. Are you sure? I would call support and get the other two course right away before enrollment is closed forever.
October 24th, 2012 at 10:49 pm
How good are your predictions?
If you had to put your money where your mouth is…
Who will win the election?
What is the exact month/yr that the global economy will crash?
What other solid bets on the future are you willing to risk with your own money?
Will you give a high percentage of your wealth and personal savings, let’s say fifty percent of your wealth if Obama is re-elected and the economy does not go to hell in hand basket during the next four years, and instead the economy just gets better and better under Obama?
Will you go on record and make that promise? Will you put your money where your mouth is?
FROM BILL: My money is already “where my mouth is”. Where else would it be? Whether Obama is elected or Romney, there is no way, NO WAY, the the huge debt will ever be paid. When a debt IS paid, or renigged upon (which means the person it is owed to pays it, in essence), all that money disappears from the money supply. This is called deleveraging, or deflation. When it comes, all hell will break lose. So, I am positioned in a way that I think will best protect me from that outcome.
And, by the way, any “improvement” you might see in the economy under Obama will not be real. It will be the result of lies about the statistics, accounting gimmicks, or temporary manipulation of the markets by the Fed and other banks. Obama has no more idea how an economy works than I have about how to build a nuclear bomb. He is in WAY WAY WAY over his head.
The only difference with Romney is that he is LESS likely (not unlikely, but less likely) to continue adding to the debt, to lie about the statistics, and to continue to do things that hamper the economy. Still, he is like the driver of a car (assuming he is elected) that has already gone off the cliff and is expected to save the car from crashing. Neither man can save the economy. Romney is just willing to try to put the brakes on making it worse, though he will have a hard time even doing that. If elected, he won’t be a dictator. Anything he does will still have to go through congress, which is not assured. No matter who wins, we are screwed. We’re just a little less screwed with Romney. And, at least, I think he is an honest man.
How good are my predictions? Well, I bought a lot of gold when it was $300 and ounce, so I’m up nearly 600% since 2002. Probably better than you’ve done on your predictions. I’m betting with ALL my assets that the wheels are going to come off. If you’re so pro-Obama, maybe you should buy Solyndra stock, or stock in one of the other other non-viable “green energy” several companies Obama crookedly forced the American taxpayer to invest in. Put YOUR money where your mouth is.
October 25th, 2012 at 9:21 am
so,
why krishnamurti says that
we have to watch our minds with “attention” and not with “concentration”, when “attention” means “no object/no effort” ?
Rosario, ma perché ti fai tante seghe mentali con tutte queste minchiate? Medita e lascia perdere i contorsionismi cerebrali. Saluti, David
October 25th, 2012 at 5:20 pm
Bill, What it is your opinion on cash gifting programs? Many people make a ton of money from these – and they also say they don’t have to report the money to the IRS because all the money they receive are gifts.
FROM BILL: The only gifting I know of is when you gift up to $13,000 in money or property per year to another person, which is the most you can give without incurring a gift tax (designed to keep you from giving away your money–other than to charity–before you die, so as to keep the government from confiscating about half of it upon your death (the so-called death tax). Since the person has already paid taxes on this money and property left when he or she dies, this is shameful tax, just a government money-grab. The only benefit of gifting in this way is that the money is not in your estate when you die, so the death tax is avoided. If you give more than $13,000 per year to any one person, whether in money or property, and the government discovers that you have done so (or you tell them in your tax return, which is what you are legally required to do), they levy a gift tax. I don’t know how much this tax is, but I suspect it is the same as the dealth tax, which is about 50%. No one actually makes any money on these gifts, other than the fact that of course the receiver of the gift is getting…a gift. The giver just avoids the death taxes (as long as they stay within the $13,000 yearly limit), though he is dead when the saving come–his or her heirs save the money. If you gave away $100,000 before you died (divided among several people, so as to stay within the $13,000 per person limit) your heirs save about $50,000 in taxes when you die. You’re out the $100,000, and those you give the gift to are, I supposed, grateful.
October 27th, 2012 at 4:44 am
Donald Trump on Obama:
http://youtu.be/MgOq9pBkY0I
FROM BILL: Yes, Trump likes attention.
October 27th, 2012 at 7:22 am
nathan- cash gifting programs are a pyramid—regardless of what they are called-giving circles,etc anytime you put in 5000 and get back 40000 or whatever it is called is-immoral -people put money in-dont get it all back-hello ponzi-no ihavent been in one- just ‘invited’ do your research
bill is talking about legally giving money to someone within the law-
FROM BILL: If this is about a pyramid scheme, they are a_ illegal, and b) stealing from people who are too stupid to understand cause and effect or simple arithmatic.
October 27th, 2012 at 11:22 am
dear bill,
please what does it mean
“DOUBT is the doorway to the TRANSCENDENT” ?
thank you.
rosario
FROM BILL: I suspect you read that in a post where I explain exactly what it means. Go read it again.
October 27th, 2012 at 10:35 pm
I’m sorry but your talk of grateful heirs and heiresses does not match many peoples reality and experience of family and community life. When people die every little incident and assumed slight in History gets blown up and magnified and indemnified (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indemnity) into why one person believes themself to be more deserving than others. Why bother getting involved or drawn into such drama’s and nonsence’s in the first place, am I suggesting avoidance? – no, but I certainly do not have the Love of History that you yourself profess. Living here in the UK is like living in the dark ages because of the Hostorical protectionism rackets that have dogged society, most government or local council led initiatives are about segregation and compartmentalization rather than real real freedom to choose. I often wish the german bombing campaigns had reached the West of England so that much of the Historical garbage would have been blitzed and newly designed areas for the here and now could be thrown up. One site or property of Historical interest from a given era should surely be enough, but oh no we need thousands and millions and billions and trillions just for detection of the slightest nuance of differences from one site to the next.
Its the same in software engineering where early computer scientists said yes of course computers will be just like me, and then proceeded to prove that intelligent systems would not operate just like computer scientists. Which is why most modern AI stuff is based more in modelling the Real Natural World around us. Aspect Oriented Programming has silently and sneekily crept into the data libraries amongst all the Object Oriented Programming content (in theory giving better decision making skills), all the locked into intel inside peoples have secretly been switched to RISC (Reduced instruction Set Chips), even microsoft with its new Surface Touch has switched to batting for both sides (later versions will have (Intel inside)) the flaw for all of us is surely where do we draw the lines and distinctions and just how empty must our cups be that these spiritual Zens keep telling us to empty.
Last American Election asked (IMO) whether America was willing to have a non caucasion in the White House, this election doesn’t seem to have any really really deep prejudicial juice to it unless Romney runs around telling everyone yes its me I am the Anti-Christ and I need yes NEED all you fellow secret cowardly inbred Klu Klux Klansmen to rise up and join me in the avoidance of war because I Mitt ‘TEFLON ROM’ Romney am the safest person to be standing next to when theres a war on! Fellow Americans I did not avoid serving with you in Vietnam, to my international supporters I did not avoid the terrorist bombing campaigns that blighted most of Western Europe during the 60′s and 70′s oh no, my time in France was a fluke a coincidence and not a total avoidance of dying with you as a brother in Arms. You can rest assured I will always have you’re back whichever frontline I have you serving in.
If I were a citizen of the USA now the simplest solution to choosing whom to vote for-will be in what Halloween Costume the respective campaigners use for the coming night of Witches and Ghosts and Ghouls and Zombies Vampires Werewolves, did I say Aliens – YES beware Aliens everywhere do it to them before they do it to us yes yes mwahahahaha.
Bill knowing what you know and teaching what you teach do you ever do All Hallows Eve-do you have a Costume?
FROM BILL: Goodbye, Dave. That was your last post. Such hatred does not belong here. Go find some conspiracy theorists friends to rant with.
October 28th, 2012 at 11:51 am
The entertainment industry and Hollywood are going to extra efforts to support Obama. Although this may not be the worst thing, it sure highlights the point that the media wants to do the thinking for people…or tell them what to think; in this case it becoming much more obvious. Makes you think how effective and influential the media, corporations and their advertising, and Hollywood are on the population and their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors!
October 28th, 2012 at 9:52 pm
Hey yall, counter intuitively, it looks like from a historical perspective that cutting taxes on the rich results in economic decline, while increasing taxes on the rich results in economic prosperity. This does not make sense intuitively speaking, and yet there are the facts. What does that mean Bill? Is Obama’s drive to tax the richest a little bit more actually the best thing for our economy? Counter to what seems like the way it should be?
http://conceptualmath.org/philo/taxgrowth.htm
FROM BILL: I wish all you people who are ignorant of economics would not post your opinions about it. You just advertise your own lack of understanding.
There is so much debt right now that it will never be paid off. A debt that will never be paid of will eventually be renigged upon–which means that those who loaned the money pay it (instead of the borrower paying it). This causes all of that money–debt money, which was created out of thin air, and which created huge inflation (a hidden tax on everyone, especially savers)over the last several decades–to disappear from the money supply. This is called DEflation, and it is a killer. It kills jobs, it kills whole industries, and it kills people. It incites violence. It leads to major, worldwide wars.
The ONLY hope (and this hope will not be realized, for many reasons) would be for the economy to grow. A growing economy is one where wealth (stuff that people buy because it makes their lives better) is created. This creates jobs as a side-effect. It also allows debts to be paid off. Debts cannot be paid unless one of two things happen: 1) there is enough growth to pay off the debt, or 2) people live at a lower standard of living until the debt is paid (this, unfortunately, is what is going to happen, and it will happen all over the world and last a LONG time).
When money is taken from the private sector and given to the public sector (in this case, through this absolutely stupid idea of raising taxes) the possibility for growth goes D O W N. The government cannot create wealth. It never has, and it never will. Governments can only TAKE wealth that citizens have created. For wealth to be created there must be money in the private sector, first of all, and then it must be put to work in some way to create wealth–ie, it must be used as capital to create new businesses.
One further point. You act as if increasing tax revenues (which raising taxes won’t do anyway) is a good thing. Why would taking money from people who have made it so that government types can suck part of it into their own bank accounts, through graft and corruption, and give the rest to people who have NOT made it (and yes, there should be a safety net for those truly in need) ever be a good thing, or a moral thing?
What’s more, the government currently spends all the tax money, then borrows another 67% of the amount they sucked out of people in taxes, allowing them to spend/steal even more. This amount is then added to what must be raised in the future in taxes, PLUS the interest on what was borrowed. This just digs the hole deeper and makes the final result even more deadly.
And I use the word “deadly” in the most literal sense. This will end in (again, I mean this literally, not figuratively) blood and tears. Sure, raise taxes. I believe they call such a plan a “death wish”.
October 29th, 2012 at 12:13 am
dear bill,
in your on line course 2, you suggest to read “i am that” by nisargadatta.
nisargadatta says that this world is an illusion.
are you agree with nisargadatta ?
thank you.
rosario
FROM BILL: He means that what you think of as the world consists of your ideas about it. Ideas are not the same as the real thing. See the world without the filter of your ideas and it is not an illusion. Stop trying to figure everything out. You can’t.
October 29th, 2012 at 7:39 am
Bill,
After years of being in the LPIP and almost finishing with holosync, I’ve gotten some real flexibility and awareness of how I create my reality. The LPIP is extremely powerful stuff once I really applied the homework. You mentioned how you’re certified in NLP and Ericksonian hypnosis. And the entire first course (which is fantastic) uses a lot of these practices.
I think they are both very fascinating. Especially hypnosis. Do you have any resources or books you recommend to learn more about Ericksonian hypnosis and hypnosis in general?
BTW, my girlfriend is getting her doctorate in clinical psychology and I’m going through the LPIP again with her. We’re in the first course and she said that the change work your suggesting is much more powerful than what she’s learned in class and through her clinical work. She’s also interested in learning more about Ericksonian hypnosis, NLP and how to use the practices when she’s licensed.
Thanks for everything Bill,
Kevin
FROM BILL: I haven’t been close to the world of Ericksonian hypnosis for years. You’ll have to do your own research. Yes, what they teach in college about psychology is dry as toast and almost entirely useless is helping anyone. I noticed the same thing when I got out of college and began to learn for those who are PRACTICAL psychologist and therapists.
October 29th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Hi Bill,
I was wondering if you have anything to say about Cold Fusion. I’ve lately gotten interested in that again, because it seems to be the real deal. I could be wrong of course.
Have you researched it? If so, what do you think?
FROM BILL: Where, oh where, IS the cold fusion? Show it to me. Oh, it’s right next to the hot ice cream and the perpetual motion machine.
October 30th, 2012 at 12:38 am
As far as I know they’re still trying to figure this thing out. It’s called LENR these days, or Low Energy Nuclear Reactions. There seems to be quite a lot of people interested in this, so I wondered if you knew anything.
I don’t know enough science to be sure whether this is true or a fraud. But the sheer amount of scamming it would take to get this kind of result is more than a little depressing…
So I take it you haven’t researched it in the last few years? Or have you done that and found it’s BS?
I don’t know about perpetual motion machines, but hot ice cream is supposed to be really good. I doubt that though…
FEROM BILL: As I said, I haven’t heard anything much about cold fusion for a while. I suspect that if there was some sort of breakthrough, it would be all over the media. You can find anything on the internet–including the discovery of unicorns.
October 30th, 2012 at 7:27 am
Bill
Have you ever thought of writing down your full philosophy of life i.e. metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, art, politics, economics, etc ?
I recently wrote down my current understanding of these subjects and found it immensely useful. It made explicit my core beliefs and I could correct any contradictions.
I would love to read your philisophy.
Peter
FROM BILL: Why not read all the posts on this blog, then?
October 30th, 2012 at 8:04 am
Thanks for sharing your Definite Major Purpose statement in the recent LPIP video series.
I have to get something off my chest. There seem to be a number of self-proclaimed success gurus that say you should preface such statements with the words “I am” instead of “I will”. They claim that if you use “I will…” the subconscious mind will think your goal will always remain far off in the future instead of happening now, and that this could actually hinder you from achieving your goal. But if you use “I am…”, your subconscious mind will be tricked into thinking that you already have your goal and will therefore help you to get it. I know of one “guru” who actually claims that Napoleon Hill was wrong in teaching the phrase “I will”. Imagine that. Where do these people get off claiming stuff like this?
Interesting that the phrase “I will” is what you personally used in your own DMP statements, and that you successfully achieved your goals. You are someone that actually proved it instead of just spouting some abstract theory. Thanks again for sharing!
FROM BILL: The only thing that can keep you from achieving your goal is not getting off your ass and taking action to achieve it. Goals are not achieved because you had the right wording in your goal statement (nor do they fail due to the wrong wording). Decide what you want. Decide to get it. Want it. Take the best action you can think of, even if it sucks. Notice what happens and reevaluate. Take another action. Keep going until you get there. The goal statement is just to give you clarity, and a deadline, and to clarify what you think the price is, and your willingness to pay it.
October 30th, 2012 at 9:52 am
I like the question Kevin had on Psychology in College. You say that it’s pretty much useless in terms of practical application. It goes without saying this too can be likened to Business courses. Most business schools and courses are aimed at creating corporate managers/ middle managers, and not solidified entrepreneurs. I’ve looked into alternatives, and have found great resources. I know business is based on value-for-value exchange, yet what are the ways in which you can take that to the next level and achieve serious wealth…say tens of millions of dollars? As someone in my 20-somethings I’ve been focusing upon this idea for a long time, because achieving serious wealth is one of my long-term goals.
FROM BILL: Give a lot of value to a lot of people and you’ll make a lot of money.
October 31st, 2012 at 7:24 pm
Hey Bill.
Can you post a new kind of topic please. Looking forward to something new & fresh.
p.s thanks for bringing forth Holosync
Lukey
FROM BILL: To busy right now. I will when I can.
November 1st, 2012 at 4:22 am
Bill,
I’m usually not a fan of posting article excerpts, but I saw this humorous “Halloween” comparison of the media’s treatment of economic reporting under Obama v Bush. If there was ever any remaining doubt the mainstream media was in the tank for the dem’s, what more proof would one need. (I’m sure many of you remember these laughable comparisons as well as I do.)
Ken
————————————————————————
“Twenty-three million people unemployed or underemployed, a $16-trillion debt and repeated trillion-dollar deficits.
Boo.
The scariest thing this Halloween has nothing to do with witches and goblins or even the Munsters remake (ugh). The scariest thing in America right now is the continued awful economy.
An incumbent president running for re-election in a down economy – we’ve heard that story before. Only when we heard it last time, George W. Bush was running for re-election in 2004 and the economy was in remarkably fine shape.
That horror story hasn’t been told by the major media according to a soon-to-be-released report from the Media Research Center titled “Upside Down Economics.” The report shows the reality of two different elections and how ABC, CBS and NBC chose to depict the Bush economy as doing badly and ignored or downplay the many faults of the Obama economic record.
Think back to September, 2004. Broadcast coverage criticized Bush on the economy despite economic growth of 3.3 percent, an unemployment rate of just 5.4 percent and gas prices a low $1.82. Even the $7.4 trillion federal debt is but a fond memory now.
To say Bush was depicted in scary terms is an understatement. His jobs record was actually compared to Herbert Hoover (never a good thing). ABC’s Betsy Stark even warned of a recession in her “World News Tonight” report on soaring oil. She was a bit premature since it took more than three years for that recession to arrive.
NBC’s “Today” highlighted a voter who condemned the President Bush in the harshest terms. “I really think Bush has ruined the economy. We’ve lost so many jobs, and I haven’t seen him do anything to really fix it,” the voter said, even though unemployment sat at a robust 5.4 percent.
The story eight years later has gone from trick to treat. In September (as this research was done) US unemployment stood at 8.1 percent, close to 3 percent higher than it had been under Bush at the exact same point in his term. Economic growth was downgraded to 1.3 percent, part of a continued decline. The tandem of unemployment and underemployment meant 23 million Americans were out looking for work.
But network journalists didn’t dare depict that nightmare. ABC’s professional Democrat George Stephanopoulos interviewed White House adviser David Plouffe on “Good Morning America,” asking about the budget. He let Plouffe claim the administration had “cut over $3 trillion in spending, more than what was called for in the Bowles-Simpson plan,” yet forgot to mention that the federal debt had ballooned to $16 trillion under Obama.
Also left out of that discussion was the fact that Obama’s proposed budget didn’t have a ghost of a chance. It didn’t get any Republican votes in the Senate or any Democratic votes either.
Even gas prices, near and dear to American wallets, were downplayed. Gas was nearly 100 percent higher than it had been under Bush. Rather than media screams, journalists put on a positive spin on things. ABC’s Diane Sawyer reflected that trend when she called for “relief is in sight and soon” on Sept. 4 as gas hit $3.84 a gallon – almost $2 a gallon higher than it had been on Bush.
Less than a week till the election and media honesty about the economy is as elusive as the Great Pumpkin.”
—————————————————–
November 1st, 2012 at 4:34 am
Btw, I firmly stand by my prediction of a Romney win.
Those of you in UK might want to bet on this one. Last I heard, the bookmakers were still favouring an Obama victory 2-1. Easy money.
As an aside, what’s the media’s support “worth” to the dems each election cycle in the US? I’d say 3-5 pts. But it’s getting harder to fool people now that there are other, less biased sources, mainly, fox news. Those who say fox news is biased and the mainstream is fair have generally never watched fox news; they’ve either heard that repeatedly from the mainstream media or from friends–who’ve heard that from the mainstream media.
All IMO of course.
November 2nd, 2012 at 11:22 am
Bill,
I just re-read your blog posts on the 5 stages of Tozan and had a couple questions about shaktipat. You say that shaktipat is a 3rd rank characteristic. Does that mean that all shaktipat masters are in the 3rd rank? If a shaktipat master goes from the 3rd rank to the 5th rank, does he no longer transmit shakti or can he continuing doing so? Does Genpo Roshi have any shakti? Finally, what do you think is the value of shaktipat meditation in general?
Thanks,
Brian
FROM BILL: I’ve seen a lot of people “receive shaktipat” and I’m not sure I’ve ever it seen it change anyone that much. But what fun to believe in it!
November 5th, 2012 at 7:45 am
Bill, will protectionism help our economy?
FROM BILL: It has never helped any economy, but it’s what happens in times of negative social mood. Protectionism means that goods from other countries are charged a tax to come into the US. Guess who ultimately pays that tax? You. It’s supposed to allow more US goods to be sold (also to you) because it raises the price of the competition (from other countries). Why would you want to pay more for something that is made more cheaply in another country? So someone who isn’t making it as efficiently and economically can make more sales? This causes resources (your resources) to flow not to those who are making products in the most cost-effective way, but rather to those who aren’t. This is wasteful to a society. In fact, all actions that interfere with free exchanges of goods and services (ie, free markets) are wasteful. And YOU pay for it. The whole world pays for it. And, if we charge tariffs on goods entering the US, guess who will charge tariffs on US goods entering their country? That’s right. So everyone loses. This is one of a million reasons why the government should not be able to decide FOR YOU what you can buy, and at what price. The government is not protecting you. They are serving their own interests and those of businesses who cozy up to them (“cronyism”). And, these people don’t understand economics (or care, since the worst consequenses of their dishonesty/idiocy usually don’t happen until they are no longer sitting where they can be blamed. Wake up, people. Stop voting for those who promise that the government will “help you.”
November 6th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
Bill why do you think that the integral community, who are supposed to be “smart” people, seem to be biased towards obama ? are they fooled because he “seems” more compassionate ?
FROM BILL: He seems to be more compassionate to you? Hmm. Only to those who don’t look to closely. His approach keeps people poor. It creates debt that cannot be paid. It devalues the currency. It pits race against race and class against class. It ends in economic collapse and tyranny. Check out your neighbor, Venezuela. As for the Integral people, they are mostly liberals. What can I say?
November 7th, 2012 at 6:41 am
Thanks for answering my business question. This question is pointed more towards saving your money.
Recently many financial advisers are all for investing your money rather than doing the traditional long term saving route. Specifically, the author of ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ and ‘Cashflow Quadrant’ Robert Kiyosaki points out that “saving is for losers”. This is because while your saving your money it is going down in value. In building long term wealth…I am looking to wanting to invest but the traditional route of compound interest seems to be very practical as well. For starting a business and getting wealthy, wouldn’t it make more sense to invest in your company and in things such as stock?
FROM BILL: Now is the time to RETAIN your money. Pretty much everything that compounds is someone else’s promise to pay. In this environment MOST payers will not be able to keep that promise. And, there’s nothing anywhere near safe that pays enough interest to make compounding work for you. To find out how many years it takes to double your money by compounding, divide the interest rate into 77. Right now the best rate that is at all safe (and it might not be safe for long) is the 30 years US T-bond. The rate today? 2.754%. You doubt your money in 28 years! Unfortunately, the US government might not be able to pay you back your investment in 28 years. Anything with an attractive interest rate is a promise to pay by Greece, or Spain, or Brazil. Forget about compounding. Think about how to hand on to your money. That means cash or gold right now.
November 7th, 2012 at 7:03 am
Bill,
I’ve gotta hand it to the man, Obama is the best campaigner since Bill Clinton, perhaps better. I looked it up: No president has ever been reelected with an unemployment rate over 7.2%. Ever. Plus all the other massive problems he inherited–then made worse. Talk about turning lemons into “perceived” lemonade. Anyway, I humbly stand corrected. Glad I said IMO! I never thought he get from 47% to 50% within eights days. Props to hurricane Sandy and his brilliant yet ruthless reelection team. A Hollywood production could not have written a better close unless maybe James Bond music was playing in the background during his acceptance speech. (You know, the music that plays when his parachute opens? Yea, that.)
Good luck to us all!
I’m hoping HS will help keep me centered during these turbulent times.
FROM BILL: The demagogue’s friend is a totally uninformed electorate. With progressives in charge of the media, the schools, and most forms of popular entertainment, few know the consequences of what the Obama’s of the world are doing and want to do more of. Batten down the hatches, folks. The next 5 years or so are going to be some of the most grim in several hundred years.
November 7th, 2012 at 8:04 am
Bill, How is it that a foreign country can produce a good more cheaply and efficiently than in the US. And isn’t it less efficent to ship goods over seas.
I’ve read that protectionism helped our nation recover after the revolutionary war under the federalist hamiltonian policy and during and after the civil war with lincoln/henry c. Carey by rasing revenue to pay off the debt and promoting american manufacturing.
FROM BILL: Other countries can make things more cheaply because the cost of labor there is lower. Protectionism serves (temporarily) those who are protected (businesses who competitors goods are charged a tariff). It screws the consumer. Why would you want to pay more for the goods you need? Prices that are raised artificially are just a waste of resources for the whole society.
November 7th, 2012 at 8:32 am
Boy Bill, I really appreciate more and more what you’ve shared with us here. This is the day after the election and I’m amazed at the ignorant and hateful things I’ve been hearing from my friends and people on social networks and comments on news articles. (From both sides of the spectrum)
Like you said it’s going to get worse and even if Romney got elected the problems are too big to fix and the debt too deep (although he would have managed a collapse much better). It seems our entire economy is based on money printing, and corruption and from what I’ve seen most Obama supporters either think he is still going to part the seas, or was the lesser of two evils. What’s happening in Europe is coming our way, maybe even worse and most people are completely blind.
Thank you again for sharing these posts because I’ve been able to watch it all without getting as emotional as everyone else (it’s hard to watch it all happen though) knowing this is the result of a severely negative social mood swing that’s still getting worse and is out of our control. The government is a reflection of the morality of the people and it’s going to be a while before mood swings back positive. But maybe out of this negative mood some good will come and reignite the spark of liberty.
November 7th, 2012 at 11:03 am
How can we have a basic safety net for everyone and still live in a free market economy ? they seem to be incompatible.
FROM BILL: Really. How so? The safety net is only possible with socialism? The US has always had a better safety net, and is less socialist that most other countries (though sinking fast, unfortunately). Why don’t you learn something about economics? Go read Thomas Sowell’s books on economics. Read Murray Rothbard. Read FA Hayek. Read Ludwig von Mises.
November 7th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
Morning Bill
Whats your thoughts on Robert Kiyosaki.
Dad gave me the book Rich dad poor dad when I was 16. Which I liked and has served me well for the moment.
Lukey
FROM BILL: His views are pretty close to mine right now. Certainly the idea of being an entrepreneur I agree with, rather than working for someone else (which is the main message of that book).
November 7th, 2012 at 10:36 pm
Bill,
This is off topic but HS related.
You recommend the aerial7 tank eclipse 3.5 as being a good choice for listening to your upper HS levels. These are decent budget friendly phones and a good choice for most people. But do you know of a higher quality option for those of us willing to pay more for a crisper sound, if you know what I mean?
FROM BILL: No, I don’t. At this point, I don’t care about headphones. If they deliver the frequencies we use, they’re good enough for me. Call Marc at our office. He knows more about that sort of thing than I do.
November 9th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
FROM BILL: Go read Thomas Sowell’s books on economics. Read Murray Rothbard. Read FA Hayek. Read Ludwig von Mises
I have, sorry I’m slow but I’ve never read anything about a safety net in their views, more like tho opposite … in fact Thomas Sowell says that a “safety net” can easily become a hammock, here’s something he wrote:
“We hear a lot of talk about “safety nets” from big-government liberals, who act as if there is a certain pre-destined amount of harm that people will suffer, so that it is just a question of the government helping those who are harmed. But we hear very little about “moral hazard” from big-government liberals. We all need safety nets. That is why we “save for a rainy day,” instead of living it up to the limit of our income and beyond.
We also hear a lot of talk about “the uninsured,” for whose benefit we are to drastically change the whole medical-care system. But income data show that many of those uninsured people have incomes from which they could easily afford insurance. But they can live it up instead, because the government has mandated that hospital emergency rooms treat everyone.
All of this is a large hazard to taxpayers. And it is not very moral.”
I guess what Thomas S. and you mean is that in a free market people could afford a “safety net” that is provided by the private sector ?? … please help me to get this because I’m too blind to see how a “safety net for everyone” as you stated, can exist in a free market.
FROM BILL: No offense, Santiago, but do you really think you have enough of an understanding of economics to even ask this question, much less make such an arrogant state as you “can’t see how a safety net can exist in a free market.” So you have such a discerning undderstanding of economics and free markets that you just know that the two are incompatible? And only in a socialist economy can we have a safety net? Give me a break.
First, you are assuming that if there is a “safety net,” it can only be provided by government. The government can’t even deliver the mail. Their so-called safety net is based on the immoral theft of money that has been rightfully earned by others, and a) it isn’t safe, b) it goes to WAY more people than those who actually can’t take care of themselves, and c) it condemns those who receive it to dependency. It also has changed this country from one where families took care of their own to one where families abandon those members who need help. Private charities and families used to care for those who couldn’t care for themselves. In fact, they still do a much better job of it than the govenment.
In the US there really are very few truly poor. The poor here have TVs, microwaves, cell phones, and cars. In poor countries the real problem is a lack of capital(ism), and a lack of legal protections for private property and the sanctity of contracts. Historically as soon as a country gets those, it prospers.
If you think socialsm is so great, why don’t you move to Venezuela or Cuba, or China? They have a safety net. It covers everyone, and everyone needs it. Oh, wait, the oligarchy doesn’t need it because they are milking the poor.
November 11th, 2012 at 9:12 am
I don’t know much about economics and the economy and even if i did read/study about it online, I doubt I’ll fully understand it unless I took a college degree on the subject.
Obama’s win was no real surprise to me simple because of so much HATE for Romney. Whether it’s the media or he simply didn’t know how to speak in a way that came across as caring for everyone’s interest, the vast majority of people took him as someone who only cared about the rich. Obama was on the bandwagon for gay marriage and women rights, while the Republican’s not so much.
I feel like it’s an exchange. I really don’t know about what is happening economically (I’ll take your word and agree its very very bad), but I do note further progress on other social issues, like gay rights and all that.
Living close to poor people, I understand though that more government aid is definitely NOT good. But a whole lot of people just don’t understand that. I only wished, if Romney was the better candidate, had done a better job trying to reach those people and make them understand that he wants them to get out of poverty, not stay there.
You said in an earlier post we’re in for a grim 5 years.
This scares me.
I mean, why bother with the courses and Holosync if its all going to hell anyways?
I know I only feel this way because I’m making a picture in my head of what grim looks like and thus focusing on what I don’t want.
But all I want to know is what the heck can I do to pay off debts and become financially stable before the shit hits the fan for real.
My subconscious gives me answers that makes me even more worried sometimes. To follow my passion and trust that it’ll provide value for others somehow and that it will work out.
It’s seems too simple, too good to be true, and again the safety issue, that I have to keep an eye on the bad in order to be safe, which is just focusing on what I don’t want.
I simply wish you could maybe do a post or make a comment about how even though things are going to be bad, there’s still something we do to make sure we’ll at least survive, especially those in my own position who’s working min wage and have no money to save/keep.
That focusing on what we want, showing up and taking action will still work despite the negative social mood and the great wave of crap that’s about to engulf us.
November 11th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
You are misunderstanding me Bill, I don’t know where you got this idea that I’m a socialist, or that I’m trying to attack your opinions … nothing further than the truth, I have limited knowledge of economics, so that is exactly why I ask questions to people like you, I’m not trying to compete with you on this, I’m trying to learn form you because I have respect for what you know … no offense but you sound a little paranoid …
I am completely FOR free markets instead of a socialist society with limited liberties (I’m very aware of what is happening in Venezuela) … however, my fear of free markets is that it seems that people who are not able to compete as well as others would be left out. So the concept of having a safety net in a free market sounds great to me, I just don’t see how it could be possible, because it sounds like the opposite of what free markets are, at least in my limited understanding.
So I would really love it if you can explain it to me, I know it may be a complex subject, so with all due respect I’m trusting your ability to make it simple, I know you’re good at making complex subjects very simple …and I’m slow at getting this stuff but I’m making an effort to understand
FROM BILL: Go read the books I suggested.
November 11th, 2012 at 9:55 pm
Great debate between Bob Prechter and Peter Schiff in late October 2012.
you tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZfqCTuC_zw
Pay particular attention at 21:40. Good stuff
November 13th, 2012 at 4:14 am
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/ideas/2012/11/are-your-political-beliefs-hardwired/
Are political beliefs are hardwired?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49792179/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.UKIzg-TO2h0
Are humans becoming less intelligent?
What are the factors that can be leading people to become less intelligent? Toxic chemicals, malnutrition, obesity, can these same factors be responsible for Glen Beck’s mental retardation? Obviously he has less grey matter (logic) and a bigger amygdala (more emotion)
As your politics shift from die hard liberal to whatever they are now as you praise Glen Beck and condemn Obama, Bill, did that journey mark an increasing emotional sensitivity? An increasing focus on loving those close to you. Less regard for people in the world as a whole. Less ability to do logic, particularly math, higher mathematics, programming etc…
It might be that your Neocortex shrunk, and your amygdala got bigger, this could be an obvious combination of malnutrition and delta based brainwave entrainment driven overwhelm.
You might have a brainscan that is very similar to the brains of conservatives.
FROM BILL: You, my friend, are a complete idiot. Sigh. When the morons think they are the smartest people, we know social mood is sinking. Go back to your comic books and leave the adults alone.
November 13th, 2012 at 9:46 am
Book List: The 85 Books About Capitalism You Should Read
http://www.capitalisminstitute.org/books/
FROM BILL: A good list of reading material, to be sure.
November 13th, 2012 at 9:49 am
“Btw, I firmly stand by my prediction of a Romney win.
Those of you in UK might want to bet on this one. Last I heard, the bookmakers were still favouring an Obama victory 2-1. Easy money.
As an aside, what’s the media’s support “worth” to the dems each election cycle in the US? I’d say 3-5 pts. But it’s getting harder to fool people now that there are other, less biased sources, mainly, fox news. Those who say fox news is biased and the mainstream is fair have generally never watched fox news; they’ve either heard that repeatedly from the mainstream media or from friends–who’ve heard that from the mainstream media.
All IMO of course.”
Was Genpo Roshi 5th Rank Tozan before his affair, maybe the ranks of tozan are worthless?
FROM BILL: So you are evaluating Zen masters based on second hand gossip about their behavior? First learn something about Zen.
November 14th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
“We have lost our superstitious fear of evil spirits and things that go bump in the night, but, instead are seized with terror of people who, possessed by demons, perpetrate the frightful deeds of darkness. That the doers of such deeds think of themselves not as possessed but as “supermen”, does not alter the fact of their possession.”—Carl Gustav Jung
November 15th, 2012 at 11:03 am
Ron Paul’s farewell speech about liberty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q03cWio-zjk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
November 15th, 2012 at 5:40 pm
man is always delusional, and if he thinks he is not, then he is all the more so
November 16th, 2012 at 4:48 am
“It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”
-attributed to Mark Twain
November 16th, 2012 at 12:13 pm
“FROM BILL: … Batten down the hatches, folks. The next 5 years or so are going to be some of the most grim in several hundred years.”
Bill,
I agree with your sentiment here.
Are there any particular indicators you think will be fairly indicative that a financial collapse is imminent? (Spain going bankrupt, a TBill auction not selling out, TBill rates that start rising fast to sell out, etc.)
Ken
FROM BILL: It’s already imminent. If you’re waiting for something to happen so you can do something else…do it now.
November 18th, 2012 at 3:34 am
I’m hopeful of impeachment proceedings against Obama for the Libya scandal. But at the same time, I am concerned about that misandrist idiot called Joe Biden being president. I’m not sure who’s worse between the two of them, quite frankly.
What’s your sense about the likelihood of impeachment proceedings and if there is a possibility they will make anything better?
FROM BILL: In times of negative social mood, anything is possible.
November 18th, 2012 at 9:58 am
Hi Bill,
Thanks for all of your resources. After reading and researching, deflation is happening (which may be “no-da” to most) and will get worst. The most valuable resource for me has been Pretcher, Sowell, and Mauldin. I think it’s important to have skills that do produce real wealth, which are things that improve people’s lives. Some of these skills are in manufacturing, construction, technology, refineries, and new energy. I do have some of these skills (building homes), but my main love is spirituality. What are your thoughts of the demand for spirituality going forward in deflation (And I’m not talking magical thinking)? I’m thinking it’s going to be huge because a lot of people are going to suffer and want to reconnect with their Divine source.
November 19th, 2012 at 6:40 am
Bill,
Sorry for another finance question, but do you think it is worth it to move your money into a bank that has a higher Weiss rating? Or do you think that if a collapse happens, all banks will fail? The Weiss ratings seem to indicate that at least some domestic banks (not many) have relatively strong fundamentals. Would you avoid all banks altogether, or look for the safest ones?
Thanks,
Brian
FROM BILL: Obviously you are better off with a bank with a higher Weiss rating. No banks in the US are really safe, though. To my knowledge, there are two banks in the world I would put money in. They are both in Switzerland, and you need an introduction (and at least $250,000) to open an account. And, no, I am not free to name them.
November 19th, 2012 at 5:32 pm
Will do. Thanks.
November 21st, 2012 at 10:51 am
Bill,
It’s been a few months since I last commented on here. Since then, I’ve payed off my car & student loans, invested a bit into gold/silver and am saving as much cash as possible while considering other safety precautions (weapons, food, supplies etc…). I live in a small town located in WV and had previously planned a move to the city…though, now I think it’d be smarter to stay here and be with my family & friends and to avoid the possible civil unrest and chaos that would rapture the city.
With that being said, it really concerns me when experts like Prechter say that bank, bond and stock failure is just around the corner. I worry that I won’t be able to survive and protect my loved ones…or being robbed or shot at. Maybe the market won’t take long to bottom out and we can all go back to normal living. I just can’t imagine how terrible this scenario could be.
Could you please share some good news? I need to hear something optimisstic about the next few years.
Thank you
FROM BILL: The best I can do (other than, yes, stay with the people you love and who love you) is “This, too, shall pass.” Not very quickly, though, I’m afraid. The world has been living on huge amounts of credit for so long that the amount owed will NEVER NEVER NEVER be paid. And, Obama and other world leaders are increasing the debt at phenominal rates never seen ever before, which will make the ending even more dismal. The world will have to live at a lower standard of living until all this debt is accounted for, which will be a long time (longer than it need be because of Obama and other fools who keep making the pile higher). Luckily, the best things in life are free.
November 22nd, 2012 at 11:13 am
Are those in power wanting the currency to fail so they can install a new currency? Of course the new currency comes with new laws that grant privileges (that can be taken away) as opposed to rights which are ‘god’ given.
When things get bad enough ie hyperinflation, the disappearance of our savings to buy hundred dollar toilet paper, etc. it seems then we’d all be willing to accept any solution even the giving up of our rights for ‘privileges’ in order to make the pain of inflation stop.
Is this some version of what the next 5 years might bring in your opinion?
FROM BILL: We are in a DEflationary time. Debts are either being paid off, which reduces the money supply, or are being declared unpayable, which also reduces the money supply. When a debt is made (ie, money is lent), the original money still exists, in the hands of the borrower, and some new money, in the form of the IOU (bond, etc) also exists. If the borrower is thought to be a good credit risk, and everyone assumes he will pay back the debt (which is what happens in normal times), the debt represents a doubling of the original amount of money lent: $1000 lent becomes the original $1000 plus the IOU which can be used as money also (“I’ll give you this IOU in exchange for that item I want.”). This is how inflation happens (simplified–this creation of credit money happens in many ways–this is just a simple example).
When the debt is paid, the IOU is no longer worth anything (nothing is owed any longer). That extra credit money disappears. If, instead of the debt being paid, it becomes obvious that it cannot be paid, as with all the mortgages people took out to buy houses they really couldn’t afford, the IOUs also become worthless. If an IOU is paid, or can’t be paid, either way it is no longer work anything, and the credit money it represents disappears into the same thin air it came out of.
Ordinarily, credit money is a good thing. It is, in fact, the essence of capitalism–it is the “capitalizing of an asset”. This means an asset is turned into capital. The purpose of this is to do something with the asset (without consumming it) that creates more wealth. Wealth isn’t money, though. It is more stuff–more things that make life easier: products, medicines, infrastructure, clothing, food, machines, and so on.
Prior to this idea of capitalizing assets, people generally worked from sun-up to sundown just to create enough to stay alive. The nobility took part of that “wealth” in (supposed) exchange for protection, and because they claimed they had a divine right to it. The protection, of course, was actually provided by the people who were raising the food (the wealth) the nobility were living off, as they would be conscripted into the army when there was need of one.
Once capitalism began, however, assets could be pledged for money (capitalizing those assets) and the money could be invested in something: ships to bring goods back from foreign lands, or the creation of a mill to create cloth, or whatever (later, as capital formation drove the creation of machines, the whole thing accelerated and consumer goods, fuels, etc, were created with this “capital”). Wealth was created. Over a few hundred years so much of it was created that humans of all classes began to have leisure time, medical care, paved roads, indoor plumbing, and on and on.
This ability to capitalize assets (ie, capitalism) completely changed humanity from subsistence to a whole new way of living–one most of us take for granted, since most people are largely ignorant of history, and certainly ignorant of financial history (the progressives who control the schools don’t want you to know how important capital formation is to YOUR LIFE and YOUR COMFORT).
There are still places in the world that are very poor, of course. These places, however, are poor at least in part because they don’t have capitalism and the legal protections that allow it to operate (ironclad ways of legally transfering property, strong courts that guarantee the sanctity of contracts–so promises must be kept, and “honest” money). Hundreds of billions of dollars of assets, of wealth, are sitting in third world countries that common people “own” for all intents and purposes (their family has lived there for hundreds of years and cannot be evicted), yet there is no legal way for this property to be capitalized. They have no deed to the property, and there is no way to transfer ownership other than to their children.
The other poor places have socialist economies/governments, where capital formation isn’t part of the mix: Russia, North Korea, Cuba, etc. These are the places people are trying to flee, in order to get into the places where capital formation is allowed: The US, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc.
I’ve gone on about capital formation at length for a reason. Capitalism grows the pie. It creates wealth. Most socialists assume there is a pie of a certain size, and if someone (an individual or a country) has more, they had to have stolen it from those who have less. Though this certain has happened in history, and no doubt happens now to some extent in some situations, most of the wealth any person or country has is the result of capital creating wealth, not wealth being stolen in some way. (More about what is going on when this stealing does happen below.)
So, to get back to the deflation I was describing: As debts are either paid or acknowledged as unpayable, the debt side of the asset/debt relationship disappears. This is called deflation, just as the creation of the additional “money” is called inflation–something that has been happening at a very high rate since we stopped backing our money with gold in the early 1970s. Now, the debt has become to big to service (pay the interest on). In that period, a dollar has shrunk in buying power by (educated guess) about 1/12th. Things don’t really cost more as much as the money is just worth less because so much of it was created out of thin air.
This creation of money out of thin air (the money creation I described when a debt is created) is GOOD as long as the money goes to something that in turn creates wealth. If someone uses it to start a company and create something people want, wealth is created, jobs are created, and the economy GROWS. The idea would be that it grows enough to compensate for the increase in the money supply. In that case, there is no inflation. (In actual practice, some years there is a little bit of inflation and then in others there is a little bit of deflation, so it evens out. A gold standard keeps it from getting out of hand, because people have to part with gold when it does, and this is a strong motivator–when there is a gold standard–to maintain honest [non-inflationary] money.)
If, on the other hand (which has been happening for many years), the debt money goes for consumable items–items that do not generate wealth, but are simply consumed and then are gone (furniture, homes, cars, stuff you put on your credit card, etc)–then you have debt that doesn’t create wealth. This debt is referred to as non-self-liquidating, because it doesn’t create the wealth that a) grows the economy, and at the same time b) provides the money to pay off the debt itself. This kind of debt does create inflation (which is why since 1970 it takes 12+ dollars to buy what could be bought then for $1).
At any rate, this debt is now either being paid off or found to be unpayable. This causes huge amounts of money (particularly the unpayable debt) to disappear. All the bailouts and QE 1,2,3 etc. are attempts to creates new debt to replace it, so as to avoid the deflation. Once true deflation starts it is a chain reaction and leads to what happened in the 1930s–huge poverty, huge suffering. It is essential society living on less while the debt is “repaid”. Stuff has been created and consumed before the money was there to buy it, and now, finally, the piper must be paid. When you start paying back a debt you have less to live on. This is happening all over the world, and EVERYONE (save a few who have the reins of power and can steal from the rest) will live at a lower standard of living. And, I would predict that this will continue for DECADES, perhaps generations. That is how huge the debt is that will disappear.
Right now the powers that be are pumping more debt money into the economy to try to replace what is disappearing through debt deflation (also called deleveraging). So far they are keeping up. Once deflation really gets going, they won’t have a prayer of keeping up. There is one hope, though:
If the economy grows (enough wealth is created to pay the debt), the collapse that deflations almost always lead to might be avoided. However, unfortunately, the economy is NOT going to grow. First, it is very difficult for economies to grow in this environment. The economy will not grow until the debt has been “paid”–until the deleveraging, the deflation,has run its course. If we had a much smaller amount of debt–perhaps what we had 15 years ago, we MIGHT grow our way out. Now, it’s too late.
Second, in times like these–times of increasingly negative social mood–governments become more authoritarian and LESS free market oriented. More regulation and ways to block capital formation are created everyday. While Obama (to pick one example) talks about increasing job and growing the economy, those who are watching what he actually DOES are seeing action after action after action that blocks capitalism and the free market from working.
And, with a government this large, there are many huge international companies that are sucking on the government power tit, which is why they CAN steal from others. Without that government power (I have said this many times on this blog) these companies a) would never have become so big, and b) would have one power only–to create and sell a product to those willing to buy it voluntarily. Unfortunately, I don’t have room here to go into the reason why this is so here, and it isn’t the purpose of what I’m writing today.
So, we are faced with HUGE, unimaginably high debt that will never be paid. It WILL disappear. That WILL cause a massive deflation, and no amount of government action to create more credit-based funny money will help. Even the money they are creating now is just sitting there in banks as little 1′s and 0′s. It allows them to PRETEND that the assets they hold (all the many kind of debt instruments that will never be paid) are actually worth something. All of these “assets” will eventually be shown to be worthless. Even now, the banks don’t want to lend the funny money the Fed is creating, and there aren’t any worthy borrowers out there who want to borrow it and use it to create new companies and new wealth.
What is coming is a massive game of musical chairs, where the chairs are money. Money (and by that I mean debt instruments–someone’s promise to pay) will disappear as the underlying promise to pay cannot be kept. 7 billion people will be scrambling for a chair as more and more of them disappear. If you have money in a bank, who has lent out 30 times as much as they have deposits (this is called “fractional reserve banking”, and it is legal!), and 3% of the people come to the bank and ask for their money, the other 97% will have no money, no chair, to get. This same thing will happen with bonds, money market funds, pensions, 401Ks, and a thousand other debt instruments.
If your “wealth” is someone’s promise to pay, you will be left without a chair.
Not only that, but historically goverments (which become quite authoritarian in such times–voters actually DEMAND more authoritarianism at such times, a form of insanity to be sure) make anything that a prudent person would do to protect themselves in such circumstances illegal. Again, I don’t have time to give lengthy examples, but two I can think of off the top of my head are hoarding cash (actual currency) or moving money out of the country to places where it might be safer. Both of these will eventually be strongly discouraged, taxed, or outlawed.
So here it is, in a nutshell: 1) Capitalism allows assets to be “capitalized” so they can be invested in something that creates wealth. This has raised the standard of living of humans by probably at least 100,000% since the 1400s. 2) At a certain point, the safeguards that keep this process honest are removed. Two I can think of are the creation of the Fed in 1913 (very anti-free market) and going off the gold standard in 1971. 3) The age of consumer debt (debt that creates no wealth) creates inflation, destroying the value of the money and becoming a silent tax for the entire population. 4) The debt eventually becomes so large it is impossible to pay. 5) During this time the size of government increased by huge multiples, controlling decisions individuals used to make for themselves and adding layers of expensive regulations so that the entire society become like the DMV and huge corporations are allowed to grow and to use government power to legally steal. 6) Eventually the debt begins to DEflate–the game of financial musical chairs begins. During this time the whole world (since the whole world is so interconnected financially today) is forced to live at a much lower standard of living. 7) Radicals and demagogues become mainstream and take over governments all over the world. They say, “Follow me. I know who’s to blame. Let’s get them!” Think Hitler, as one historical example. Hitler was ELECTED. In such times people admire this sort of person and want more authoritarian control (again, insanity). 8) When things hit bottom, you will hear people saying that the world is coming to an end, and that capitalism is dead (it won’t be, though–all other systems only create enough wealth for survival, and people aren’t so stupid that when this becomes apparent they won’t revert to sanity. Let’s hope we live that long.)
So what can you do? I’ve already said on this blog that we are in a car that has already been driven off the cliff, and now the people in the car are asking how to avoid the crash. There will be no avoiding of it.
I don’t know exactly how this will play out. In every case when this sort of thing has happened in history it has ended in a massive war. That will, no doubt, happen this time, too. Who will be involved? There are huge tensions between European countries. There are huge tension (beyond tensions, in fact) in the Middle East. There are huge tensions between China and Japan. And that is just a short list. There are also tensions between many social groups. Those who have become dependent upon government will ultimately be stiffed as the governments can’t keep up with what they are doing to support their dependents. These dependents will then be extremely angry. They will riot (or worse), as they already are in Greece and the Middle East. The public has no idea what is going to happen, or why. They are listening to demagogues who will find someone for them to blame. Right now it looks like it will be the rich, corporations, and capitalism. It may also be “The Jews” as it was in the 1930s and 1940s.
What can you do? Be out of debt if possible, or be prepared for the consequences of not paying your debts, whatever that turns out to be. Store some food. Have some actual cash not in a bank. Have some gold. Have a network of loved ones you can count on. Stop voting for people who are just making the debt (and the eventual consequences) bigger. Consider tapping into some of the sources of information I listed in the last few posts, so you know more about how things are unfolding. Consider what you would do if social servies, utilities, and the infrastructure you count on are either temporarily out of service, or perhaps even out of service for a long time. And, use Holosync. You will need the awareness and higher threshold for stress Holosync creates in the coming years. In fact, it might save your life.
Quite frankly, I have no pat solution for all of this. I don’t know how it will play out, or when. I see it in process right now, though. I know what I’m saying here sounds really negative, and really scary. What can I say? What I know leads me to draw these conclusions. I hope I’m wrong. I don’t think I am. Whatever happens, life will go on in one way or another. The best things in life ARE free. A lot of people are going to learn to focus on those things in coming years, and less on the newest electronic toy.
Finally, I have written these last 4 posts, plus this one, on the assumption that if you are aware of what is happening, rather than just being unconsciously swept up in it, you have more choice about whether your emotions run away with you (and you angrily follow the radicals who want to lead to you) and you blindly follow the negative social mood herd; and you may have a chance of being more prepared. For all of you who want to attack me for posting this, save your strength. I’m not interested in angry debates with uninformated people. Don’t shoot the messenger. If you can prove to yourself that all of this is baloney, good for you. You might go back and read my three posts on Going to Hell in a Handbasket, because a lot of what I said would happen in those posts has now happened, or is happening. Some of the very smartest (and reasonable) people in the world see things the way I do.
I wish all of you the best. As I always say, be well.
November 25th, 2012 at 8:18 pm
Thank you so much for your comment.
For me at least, that was the clearest explanation of what you’ve said is happening you’ve made. Now I can see it without feeling overwhelming feelings of negativity or fear.
Still, my life took a turn for the worst. I’m at the point where I don’t think I can pay off my debts. I can’t seem to build any wealth. The odds are stacked very high against me.
So, I’ve sorta decided to just pay off as much as what I owe as possible or at least gather it all in one place. And either file for bankruptcy or just admit I cannot pay. I cannot maintain a job. I cannot even maintain a healthy and positive living situation.
Holosync and my LPIP Course is probably the only real assets I have at this point.
Perhaps I’ll try to sell everything I own somehow. Even then, it’s obvious I can’t make enough. I almost feel like I just need to get away from as much of the negativity as I can, even if it means shedding every single material object I own and just focus on creating inner peace, even while being cold and hungry and external suffering.
I don’t even know if I’m overreacting or not.
But thank you for at least giving me the tools to deal with all of this without feelings of overwhelming fear and panic.
FROM BILL: Amber, don’t give up. I know you are a writer. Keep writing. Write about what you’re going through. Many people will relate. And, it will be therapeutic. I find it hard to believe that such a beautiful young woman can’t find a partner so you can help each other.