Tag Archives: Minor unaccompanied refugees

Oct 2 2017

The Death of Socialism – the Rise of Tyranny


Armstrong Economics Blog/Understanding Cycles

Re-Posted Oct 2, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Hi,

I tend to agree with your view about the decline in socialism.  However, I fear it will be replaced with the other extreme. Doesn’t the pendulum usually swing from one extreme to another?

Regards,

Jack

ANSWER: Absolutely. This is the ONLY reason I am doing what I do. The risk is that we turn more authoritarian and lose all our rights. This is the trend in motion. “Socialism” as far as benefiting the people has been a mere fraud and this is what people are rising up about without identifying in this exact manner.

Socialism gave government extraordinary power. They love that power. What you are witnessing in Spain is the real essence of this thirst for power and they will never hesitate for one second about killing the people. Marx handed government this whip of power. Millions have died ever since. When Shakespeare wrote “The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers” he was really speaking about government prosecutors. They care nothing about honor, dignity, morality, or ethics. Their job is to trash the constitution and maintain their 98.5%+ conviction rate. If the parents of these people knew the evil they inflict upon society, they would NEVER be proud of their children. I have NEVER met a prosecutor who has EVER been ethical. They are far worse than the people they prosecute and the court appointed lawyers who manage to lose every case are just as worthless individuals at the end of the day. This is all a symptom of the decline and fall of civilization.

We will have a brief shining moment to push the pendulum back in the opposite direction. My fear is what what comes after 2032 is another PUBLIC WAVE. We must be very careful that this battle for power does not extinguish everything worth living for.

People are writing in and asking why am I always right. All I have done is put the pieces together and it is not that hard to understand what makes everything move and shake when the computer monitors the world. God does not speak to me in the middle of the night. If he did, I would ask, can I go home now?

I have a family and if I were selfish, I would care less about them and only myself. I would not be writing this right now and I would be on some island waiting for the mushroom cloud on the horizon to signal it is all clear. But I have a family. Trust me, not even they want to look at what I see so I just do what I need to do and do not preach to them. They will see it when it smacks them in the face.

There are those of us who see. Just remember, you cannot force others to see what you see. The best you can do is soft-peddle and simply point out the trend and let the light go on in their own mind. So enjoy this gift of life while you can. Just keep one eye open fixed on the horizon. When it is time – you will know it.

So until it is time for Scotty to beam me up, I am trapped here, compelled to watch what I do not want to see and I cannot change the channel. History repeats because human motivation remains the same throughout all time and circumstance.

Oct 2 2017

Marxism/Socialism Is On the Decline


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

RE-Posted Oct 2, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

 

I have warned that we are in a period where SOCIALISM is collapsing – not CAPITALISM. The distinction is manifest in rising retirement ages, reduction in social benefits, and rising taxation. This is also evident in politics. The Democrats really have no face to put forward as their leader. Hillary lost and even Elizabeth Warren is way out of touch for the average American.

Nevertheless, we are seeing this trend where socialists in politics are in a major decline. The Democratic Party in the USA has been declining ever since FDR won the first election in 1932. Each time the Democrats win, it has been with lower highs and the declines are always making lower lows. Looking at the map of Democratic states with governors, it is shocking to say the least. This is why the press is fighting so hard against Trump and the Democrats are desperate to keep the proposition that Hillary should be president and was prevented only by the Russians. Of course, there is no allegation that any of the emails released from the Democrats were forged. So the info was real regardless of who hacked the Democrats.

Looking around the world we see the same trend, In Germany, the SPD is losing seats. Everywhere we look, Socialist parties are on the decline. Der Spiegel published an article highlighting the same same we have been forecasting  that there is a decline of socialist parties in Europe as well. Der Spiegel noted that even a strong socialist candidate in Austria still struggles with the baggage of the “old, sclerotic social democracy.”

We have tagged this past year as the Year from Political Hell. We have witnessed BREXIT, the election of Trump, and the decline of Democrats throughout the USA. In Germany, the socialists were part of the government in 10 out of the 15 countries within the European Union (EU). Der Spiegel suggested that there was a real chance that German Social Democrats will no longer be part of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition following the German vote. The AfD has been rising and soared a major victory winning seats for the first time illustrating the shift to the right.

We are witnessing the same trend in Italy and this too could be an upset in early 2018. If Italy turns away from the socialists, then center-left parties could collapse and hold only 6 EU member states out of 28. That means the socialists would be reduced to the periphery: Malta, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Even the left-wing Syriza alliance in Greece has proved to be a joke failing to do anything for Greece whatsoever.

In the Netherlands, the Labor Party captured only 5.7% of votes in the last election. French Socialist Party candidate won only 6.4% of the vote, and his party went on to receive a miserable 9.5 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections a short time later. In Poland, the Social Democrats lost everything and no long hold even a single seat. In Norway, the Labour Party lost to the conservatives. The only place where the socialists gained was in Britain. There the Marxist/Socialist Jeremy Corbyn won among the youth with promises that could never be kept.

All of this warns that society is turning more to the right because the socialists have reduced economic growth, jobs, and the living standards by raising taxes. The words of King Oscar II of Sweden seem to be coming true.

Oct 1 2017

Spain Reveals EU Does Not Stand For Human Rights & Making Revolution Inevitable


Armstrong Economics Blog/European Union

Re-Posted Oct 1, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

The Spanish state police violence have turned against the people showing that they are clearly still a fascist reign supported by troops. Riot officers have been firing rubber bullets at crowds protesting in a Barcelona street, sending people running for cover. Countless are injured. This demonstrates that Spain is not a place for investment and one should be very cautious about even buying a house in Spain after this display of ruthless authoritarianism. The  Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy has demonstrated he is a fascist and this is EXACTLY the type of person that caused the American Revolution.

We should all take pause and read just the first two paragraphs of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. The King sent a whole army to his house to kill him for writing these words. He was warned the army was coming and told to flee into the hills which he did. I fully disagree with Donald Trump for supporting Rajoy. That has been a total disgrace and Trump needs to study history.

The suppression of the vote will now only turn even those who were on the side stand against the government. In war, you kill someone’s father. Their family will remember for generations. Spain has just confirmed that revolution and civil war will be inevitable. Canada allowed two referendum votes to separate for Quebec and Britain allowed Scotland to vote. It is a fundamental human right to overthrow any government when it becomes oppressive. Rajoy is a disgrace to the EU and Brussels is a disgrace for shutting down the vote of the people.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

Oct 1 2017

How to Save the Planet With Pushing a Button


Armstrong Economics Blog/Nature

RE-Posted Oct 1, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

 

I have previous told the story about attending a dinner in Washington and being seated with the entire Environmental group. It was a Washington elite political dinner and because I attended with my friend Dick Fox who was Chairman of Temple University and I was an adviser to the University, whoever it was that made the seating arrangements for these tables of 10  seated us with the environmental groups. This was in the mid-90s. Dick was the one who kept trying to drag the truth out and there it came. These were the heads of the top three environmental organizations. They admitted that the real goal was to reduce human population by making it difficult to expand and build houses. Labeling everything wetlands would reduce the ability to expand housing and thus shrink the population. When Dick got them to admit that, he moved in for the bottom-line question and asked: “So who’s grandchild are you trying to prevent from being born? Your’s or mine?”

Well now this is the constantly reappearing theme with both the environmentalists and the Global Warming crown. The Swedish Lund university has come out with a list with “live options” that can rescue the climate and save the world. The number one recommendation with the biggest impact is to stop having babies. I previously wrote how Canada wanted to solve the problem by having companies lay off workers and thus fewer people driving cars every day.

Obviously a war will do were we kill 50% of the population to keep with their reasoning. We should ask Rocketman to please eliminate 50% of the world population and he will be the hero of the environmentalists and Global Warming Crowd. It would be so nice if they volunteered to be the first casualties. Then perhaps they can lead the way for the rest of us.

So please can you push that button but target a few universities first? Perhaps we can save the planet that way

Sep 30 2017

Rajoy Shuts Down Airspace & Orders Google to Stop Assisting Separatists


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Sep 30, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy who is becoming a disgrace to the image of a free society and is illustrating what governments do in a Private Wave – they become authoritarian whenever they lose power. Rajoy has gone way too far showing the world that Spain is itself a country risk for there is no human right or standard of international law. The Catalan supporters are now occupying poll points to protect their right to vote, while Rajoy has now blocked airspace over Barcelona as he wants to prevent the referendum in Catalonia by all means.

Rajoy had his puppet Spanish Supreme Court order that Google had to delete an app that had been used by the operators of the referendum to communicate with each other. The corrupt Spanish court ruled that the “On Votar 1-Oct” application on the Google Play smartphone app shop violated the ban imposed by Spain to conduct the referendum. Rajoy is totally out of control and is illustrating everything that is wrong about the EU and how it claims to stand for human right with the refugees but crushes anyone Europe who disagrees with the politic elite.

The Spanish Supreme Court pretends that the constitution does not allow for separation. So if the constitution also said you had to kill you first born in Biblical tradition, would that also be constitutional simply because it is written there? No constitution can mandate that the people are not allow the change the constitution. Even in the USA, there are constitutional amendments. Income tax was forbidden, but the majority agreed with Karl Marx and then amended the constitution in 1913. They were horrified at the Russian revolution following Marx 4 years later, but it was too late. Human rights suddenly did not include the right to be treated the same simply because you possessed more than your neighbor.

The vote will take place in a total of 2,155 polling stations. The government has shut down airspace to prevent others from flying into Barcelona to join the protests.

The Rajoy’s judiciary has also initiated investigations against more than 700 Catalan mayors, who support the independence referendum. The Regional Parliament had passed a bill in Barcelona in early September, which freed the way for the popular decision. The government in Barcelona had originally declared that if the independence won a majority, they would decline independence in 48 hours.

Canada allowed Quebec to vote of separatism TWICE. Even Britain allowed Scotland to vote on separation from the UK. Spain is showing the world that it is still a fascist state true to heart – not a democratic state. This raises serious concerns about foreign investment into Spain. If the government changes its position, you will find that country risk overpowers investment opportunity. BEWARE!

This is an extremely important event for the whole world. This is revealing the TRUE nature of the EU, and we must understand, this political infection is spreading like a disease worldwide. This is what happens in a Private Wave when government loses power – they become more authoritarian.

Categories: Politics, SPAIN
Sep 29 2017

About Half 2.5 million Refugees Still Waiting for Approval for Asylum


Armstrong Economics Blog/Refugees

Re-Posted Sep 29, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

According to Eurostat, at the end of 2016 there were almost 1.2 million migrants waiting for a decision on their asylum applications. Already, about 880,000 people were granted asylum with only 66,000 being returned to their home country. Then there were 110,000 people whose whereabouts is just unknown. This means that by the end of 2016, some 52% of 2.5 million refugees were still waiting for their asylum to be granted.  The bulk or 53% of all asylum seekers come from only 3 countries – Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq according to what they claimed. About 50% of all asylum applications were filed in Germany.

Sep 28 2017

Catalan Police are Siding with the People Against Madrid


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Sep 28, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

Ukraine-Livi

COMMENT: Mr. Armstrong, the police in Barcelona are starting to defend the people against Madrid. Thank you so much!

REPLY: The critical moment in any revolution is when the police/army switch sides to the people. Yeltsin stood on the tanks in Russia and the army stood down. In Ukraine, I warned that the people had to get the police to switch to their side and the revolution would succeed. I wrote that the riot police in Kiev were really imported Russian. To beat the government, the real police had to turn against the imported police. I am not speaking from OPINION. I am speaking from a pure analytical perspective looking closely at every revolution and how they unfold, fail, or win.

Where is there trouble? Look at Venezuela. The police and army are defending the corrupt government against the people. That is when blood flows in the streets and it is usually the people. The Spanish government has still a core of fascism running through its veins. It is attempting to use riot police against the people the same identical manner as we saw in Ukraine. It has been at the instigation of the government of the right-wing conservative Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, who is against the people and hopefully will be rejected in the months ahead by all of Spain.  Rajoy has ordered the regional police to be placed under the supervision of the Spanish security forces, including the guardia civil, a paramilitary police group, which is widely disused in Catalonia. This is clearly the action of what a dictator would do – defend the government at the expense of the blood of the people. Rajoy has to understand that government is NOT the sovereign of a state – it is the people!

Rajoy has used the bogus court that holds that any national decision over the independence of Spain against the will of the central government is unconstitutional. The Spanish Constitutional Court has show it too is in the pocket of the political elite. It is a HUMAN RIGHT for the people to overthrow the government whenever it becomes an enemy of the people. The American Revolution in short was the fight between America and England, in order for America to create their own country which is a fundamental human right. We were NOT created to be slaves of a political state.

Let me make this very clear. The human right of revolution is fundamental throughout history and government should beware that oppressing the people with pretend laws declaring revolution illegal is in itself a violation of human rights and a display of authoritarianism. It has historically been the right and duty of the people of any nation to overthrow a government that acts against their common interests of the people and threatens the safety of the people without probable cause as we are watching in Spain. This principal has been stated throughout history by many in one form or another. It is a foundation of human rights that has been used to justify EVERY revolution, such as the English Civil War, the American Revolution and the French Revolution just to mention a few.

The calls for EU intervention are increasing against Spain are increasing by the day. Barcelona’s mayor Ada Colau called for a mediation mission of the EU Commission on Thursday to defuse the crisis between the Spanish central government and the Catalan nationalists. A representative of the Catalan regional government accused the EU of supporting the “brutal repression” of Spain through its idleness. This is also becoming obvious for it is also tearing at the heart of of the EU which is also truly a dictatorship when the head of the EU also does not stand for election. The EU Commission has taken the position that it was a question of Spain’s domestic policy. So if there is blood on the streets, then that is OK for any member of the EU to kill its own people who want political change even when it is the majority?

An escalation of the crisis will strike a deep blow into the heart of the interests of Europe. It will shake the foundation of the EU for it will stand as an example to all members that the EU supports oppression for separatist movements are anti-EU and against their self-interests. How can the EU defend Catalonia without undermining its own political power?

Catalan General Prosecutor, the regional officials of the Mossos d’Esquadra, has come out and expressed reservations about the order to prevent the opening of the polling stations of Madrid. The Catalan police are 16,000 strong and they have now declared in the short message on Twitter  that the implementation of the Decree risks the “undesirable consequences”. These concern the “security of citizens” and the “more than foreseeable risk” that the public order is disturbed.

 

We are watching history unfold that will be profound for the Euro and Europe moving forward. If the Euro closes tomorrow below 11662, then the rally against the dollar is probably over.

Categories: Politics, SPAIN
Sep 28 2017

Spain To Send in Troops To Stop Voting for Independence


Armstrong Economics Blog/Civil Unrest

Re-Posted Sep 28, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

Spain has continued to show the world that fascism is alive and well. Madrid is sending in the troops to shut down the planned Independence Day vote in Catalonia. Madrid, according to Reuters, is taking steps to prevent the vote at all costs. They have ordered their regional police force to take control of all polling stations from Friday and prevent voting. They announced: “We can confirm today that there will be no successful referendum in Catalonia.”

There is a major political crisis brewing in Spain that will spread to the rest of Europe. The elite will not tolerate any such vote against the federalization of Europe with Brussels at the head. On the weekend all the regional police units had been subordinated to the commanding authority of the Ministry of Interior in Madrid. What will be critical here is whether the police of Catalonia split and defend their own people against Madrid oppression. That will be the critical point that determines the break-up of Spain.

The independence vote is to take place on Sunday. The government in Madrid rejects the vote as unconstitutional. The Catalans call on the EU to defend the EU’s values ​​and to take action against Spain’s repressive steps. The Catalans are armed for any escalation and it will now depend if the Catalan police kill their own people or defend them against Madrid.

The government in Madrid has sent 16,500 Spanish policemen to Catalonia to prevent the referendum. They are to be accommodated in ferries in the port of Barcelona. However, Catalan port workers have announced to refuse to supply the ferries. Meanwhile, the prosecutor ordered the regional police on Tuesday to arrest the leaders of the vote and block the presidential election zones.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, is clearly showing the entire world that not merely is there a Crisis in Democracy, but that the EU democratic values mean absolutely nothing when they go against the political elite.

This is a question of honor and do we really have governments of the people and by the people?

 

Sep 28 2017

Germany – Trying to Form a Government Won’t Be Easy


Armstrong Economics Blog/Germany

Re-Posted Sep 28, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

Trying to form a government in Germany is not so easy. Green leader, Simone Peter, says they and the FDP agree with Merkel that there should be no limit to refugees. He said” “In a coalition with us, there will be no upper limit for refugees, just as with the CDU and FDP. The CSU has to adjust to this if it wants to seriously question Jamaica,” he told the Rheinische Post.

The CSU, normally the sister party of the CDU in Bavaria, saw what they lost to the AfD. Even Merkel is vowing to bring back the right into the fold.

Meanwhile, the 75-year-old former Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) is to become the new Bundestag president. The Bild newspaper reports that Schäuble has already given his consent to his departure as Finance Minister. Schäuble would therefore not be in charge of finances in the new government. He has been the federal finance minister since 2009. As the Bundestag President, Schäuble would not participate in the coalition negotiations

Sep 26 2017

Has Merkel Been Undermined in Germany?


Armstrong Economics Blog/European Union

Re-Posted Sep 26, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

 

There German election was on par with the global trend that is rising up against the establishment as we have known it. Angela Merkel has been accused of weakening her respective coalition partner. The election result of the Bundestag election shows that not only the SPD has to worry about losing ground, but the Union of the CDU and the CSU in Bavaria has been substantially weakened.

Merkel has always created a coalition by incorporating the key program points of the other parties into the Union. However, the election saw the Union lost nearly 9%, which is a historic defeat. In addition, there is a real rift emerging now with the CSU in Bavaria, where the CSU fell below 40% for the first time. In both cases, this has been caused by the refugee issue Merkel has tried to pretend is not a crisis.

Merkel has drastically underestimated the AfD and the refugee crisis. She concentrated on the Greens and the SPD and tried to bury the other parties with extremist labels. The AfD Merkel tried desperately to paint into the Nazi corner. She has failed to understand that the refugee crisis is a real crisis and it has undermined the people’s feeling of security.

The Union and the SPD wanted to negotiate the issue of refugees and migration. The SPD under Martin Schulz even was proposing that they should be allowed to vote. Without any comprehension of how serious the refugee crisis has been, Merkel attacked even the German-Turks in the TV duel as Turkey told Turks not to vote for Merkel. Schulz raged against the German-Turks despite the fact that the Turks in Germany were not refugees and had been there for decades.  Merkel positioned the CDU to the left of the center with the SPD in her entire term of office and wanted to put the key to their long-term strategy in this election of socialism.

Merkel’s Grand Coalition has seem a significant vote amounting to 46.8% voting against everything she stands for. The people have elected the FDP, the Greens, or the Left Party, while the bourgeois-conservative voters have moved to AfD. The union lost a million voters to the AfD, which was remarkable. This goes to the substance of the refugee crisis.

Merkel and her Grand Coalition have tried to downplay this political disaster. While Merkel has clung to power, the CSU is demanding concessions how in light of its loss to the AfD in Bavaria. Merkel may still be in office, but she suffered a defeat that was morally decisive as was the case with Hillary Clinton.

Merkel’s CDU has been unable to prevent voters from abandoning her Grand Coalition. She has indeed not strengthen the Grand Coalition, but weakened it. With the economy turn down and the inability of the ECB to cope with the deflation, the prospects moving forward for the Grand Coalition appear to be headed for a major political collapse.

Merkel’s failed strategy of setting up a left-green-conservative Volksspartei in the center for the CDU has meant that Germany is currently almost unregulated as Merkel has tried to be the Chancellor embracing all points of view except the AfD.

Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) were hoping to at last oppose Merkel. However, they lost 5% from the 2013 election which has reduced them to a diminish socialist party. The SPD won just 20.5% of the vote, which was the party’s worst result in the 19 general elections since the creation of the federal republic. This demonstrates what our model has been forecasting that we are in the collapsing stages of socialism.  Martin Schulz his SPD party had no choice but to go into opposition “to defend democracy against those who question it and attack it,” after dropping to a post-war low.

Talk of the SPD abandoning Merkel and joining a black-yellow-green coalition with the FDP and Greens, does not look to be promising. The opinion makers in both parties are radical opportunists but not really team players. This would produce a coalition of just 40.1% against the CDU’s 32.5%.

Merkel has clearly abandoned the conservatives, which puts tremendous pressure on the CSU in Bavria. The CSU has made it clear that they must position themselves to the AfD given the attitude in Bavaria. This position is completely incompatible in a coalition with the Greens. It is as good as incompatible with a FDP. The CSU could not possibly align with the Greens without being in complete opposition with the AfD.

Merkel’s previous political strategy has called into question coalition politics. Yet after 12 years in power, many say that Merkel would have to be dragged out by the hair. The see the CDU as too corrupted by holding power too long. The CDU has lost all vision of where the people really stand. The AfD has offered these “deplorables” as Merkel called them an alternative, because the CSU was not able to penetrate the Union.

Merkel has won the first place and she has become a chancellor for a 4th term. But because the German political parties are in ruins, the question arises whether being chancellor even matters in this environment within Germany. Some fear that Germany will go the way of the Netherlands or Spain and muddle along temporarily governed by provisional rule until a new election is unavoidable in the end. Merkel’s underestimating the Refugee Crisis may seal the fate of Germany moving forward. An those who saw the Euro defeating the dollar; well good luck. The rend is down long-term.