Reasons to be cheerful

Here is a list of reasons the world economy may not be doomed.

1) Continued productivity increases in the domestic economy of between one and one and a half percent a year.

By 'domestic economy' I mean housework rather than paid work. In my opinion much of what we regard as industrial productivity growth is actually the effect of household gadgets allowing people to work longer hours. This accounts for many of the mysteries of economic growth- such as why the working week is not getting shorter as productivity rises. It was commonly believed in the 1960's that we would all be working ten or twenty hours a week by now. My theory also explains why we do not feel as wealthy as we appear to economists. This is because much of what looks like consumption to an economist (dishwashers, pizza, time saving gadgets of all kinds) is actually capital expenditure. These items do not increase living standards but merely allow people to work longer hours.

Increases in domestic productivity will always leak across to GDP sooner or later. Current productivity growth can be seen as a sort of latent GDP growth that is stored for future years.

No, no, no- not imperialism- solidarity!

2) The possibility that Africa may become a cheap labor reserve once China prices itself out of the market. Living standards must and should rise in China and this will result in consumer goods inflation in the West unless a new manufacturing base is found. It is quite likely that many low tech Chinese manufacturing operations will relocate to Africa turning most of Africa into a Chinese colony.

3) Continuing reductions in computing costs.

4) The possibility of eternal life! Sooner or later a biotech company will spark the greatest stock-market boom in all of history. The mere rumor of viable technology will do this.

5) Death cults such as radical Islam tend to burn themselves out over time. Marxist terrorism was quite common in Europe in the 1970's and then simply stopped being trendy.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

6) The main threat to the west is probably China and this may not materialize. China is at present following a colonial policy towards markets it regards as its own. The problem with this is that it leads to war. When nations seek to establish ownership of markets and resources they enslave the colony and they also deny other nations the markets and resources they need to maintain an industrial society. Very few nations will willingly allow themselves to become rural backwaters. Most prefer to go to war. Western nations realized at the end of world war two that peace and free trade go together and this is one reason Britain disposed of its colonies.

China has already ensured itself a virtual monopoly over the extraction of copper by purchasing influence in Africa much as the British Empire did in the last century. Unfortunately the British monopoly of certain resources (or the fear of it) helped to bring about the first world war and I hope that China will not repeat the Empire's mistakes. China could wage economic warfare and tip the world into a great depression but I hope they have more sense. I also hope that China will become a functioning democracy without going through civil war or Soviet style economic collapse. In fact democracy, peace and openness to the west tend to go together. Right now I would rate China as having greater than 50% chance of making it.

Saddam is one 'survivalist' who did not survive.

7) None of this means that you should not prep for the worst. A well prepared individual is prepared against every eventuality- this includes everything from a household fire to choking on a chicken bone. Being a survivalist is like having an insurance policy if the worst happens.

Things I like about liberals.

For the Liberal- intent is everything. Results nothing.

A while ago it occurred to me that there was not a single liberal that I could name as an honest human being.

This worried me. It reminded me far too much of the way feminists talk about men. Maybe I was as bad as them?

For this reason I set out to write the hardest post of my life. I aimed to find everything that is good in the opposing gang.

Liberals generally call this sort of thing sexual harassment.

THINGS I LIKE ABOUT LIBERALS.

1) Liberals are often gentle, thoughtful and intelligent individuals. I know this because they usually do quite demanding jobs. They do their best to be open minded and genuinely appear to be listening when you talk to them. Unfortunately everything they hear is scrambled by their liberal 'education' and is never truly understood. They remain as unaware of the real world as a blind mole. They can be quite sweet but are clueless.

Liberals are so clueless they are rather sweet.

2) Liberals often operate on the level of magical thinking. They believe terrorists will stop killing if we love them. They believe this because it would be 'nice'. On the personal level this can be quite charming such as the free hugs campaign, guerrilla gardening, the delightfully innocent we are what we do and the charmingly insane real life superheroes. Liberals are actually overgrown children. They want the world to be lovely and sulk when it is not. They should be loved and cared for but kept away from matches and political power.

Tony Benn sending a young supporter off to be a hostage for Saddam. He did not go himself.

3) The most popular politician in the UK is probably Tony Benn who was born in 1925 and has moved steadily to the left his entire life. Like many socialists he was born to privilege but flew as a pilot with the RAF in the second world war. He later renounced his title but not his socialism. Tony Benn generally talks liberal tosh but somehow he appears to be a decent man and not a hypocrite and has never been corrupt. He is shown here signing the belly of a teenage fan- he was 80 at the time but was still able to recruit willing hostages for Saddam Hussein. Unlike the current crop of castrated nobodies that make up liberal politics in the UK he is not ashamed of being a man. Unfortunately these qualities were not inherited by his son Hilary Benn MP who is the ultimate mangina and New Labour careerist doublespeak merchant. A revolting specimen on every level.

Liberal men often combine a horror of masculinity with excessive facial hair. Some of the women too.

4) Liberals can sometimes ask the right questions even if their answers are always wrong. Right now the buzz word among certain liberals is 'transition'. This is the belief that the advanced economies are entering a prolonged period of crisis brought about by peak oil and the credit crunch. Unfortunately neither of these problems can be solved by applying 'big government' solutions because the state is bankrupt even at its present size. If the economy begins to shrink as a result of rising oil prices it will mean that the state will have to shrink as well.

Liberal efforts to hijack transition generally center around the New Economics Foundation in the UK. They try to link transition with an egalitarian economic model that is driven by value judgments rather than economic calculation. Nevertheless they cannot 'un ask' a question once it has been asked. Governments of all kinds have tried to stimulate economic growth by expanding credit and debt. The result has been exactly as the reactionary Austrian school predicted it would be. Unfortunately the New Economics Foundation  recommend boosting credit by means of complementary currencies and schemes to tie money down to particular locations. This resembles the developmentalism that wrecked much of Africa and is the last gasp of liberalism in the area of economics. The irony is that ANY discussion of the real issues will only bring about a smaller state. Unfortunately the guys at the NEF are too intelligent and too honest to avoid the real issues.

Be a self made man

Most of my readers have more formal education than I do. My only achievement on leaving school at 16 was proving that I was not ESN (having an IQ below 80). In fact my IQ was 133 and the reason I could not concentrate was that I was bored. I think this is the case with many disengaged boys in school today. Very little is expected of them and they would do better if it were.

One answer is to educate yourself. It is quite possible to do this while working and without generating a huge pile of debt.

The first resource I found was Alison. This is a great bunch of computer based learning packages (over 100) that you may pick from as you wish. They do not result in a recognised qualification because they are done at home rather than under exam conditions. Nevertheless you are tested at the end of each course and your results are posted on a public web page you may direct employers to.

One interesting thing about all self learning is that most people do not have the discipline to do it. I have just completed unit two of psychology on Alison and found that only 67 people have completed the course even though 409 have started it.

Another, similar resource is the Email College. This site is run entirely by volunteers is a magnificent example of the generosity of internet folk. Unfortunately it is less professional than Alison and contains courses on pseudo subjects such as numerology as well as more useful things. You may also like to look at About U which is a more commercial but still free alternative.

Finally we have Open Learning which is a product of the Open University. The Open University is an internet based state university based within the UK that posts its lectures and its reading materials on the Internet. This makes it possible to gain a degree very cheaply even if one works full time. The Open University has made these materials freely available to anyone who wishes to study them. Open Learning will not result in a degree as there will be no summer school or examination at the end but it is possible to point an employer to your record of study. You will also find that you can download Open University broadcasts through the iTunes software.

If you prefer to learn face to face you may prefer the School of Everything. This operates rather like an internet dating agency but puts teachers in touch with students. You are then free to contact them directly.

The BBC also operates some free online courses. Their offering is rather fragmentary because they have a number of conflicting purposes. Skillswise, Key skills 4 U and its private sector alternatives are very good adult literacy and numeracy resources but they do not not result in a qualification although Move On can sometimes do so. It is possible to use the move on site in combination with a free course that is held in most local colleges. If you take the test (and pass) you will then be issued with a certificate. The Languages section of the BBC site is better than many paid for products and the most impressive thing I have found on the Internet so far. This site even includes a sort of interactive soap opera where characters talk to you and threaten to hit you with saucepans unless you make yourself clear. Great fun. There is also an extensive site dedicated to helping children with their GCSE's, some of which may be useful to adults. The remainder appear to be a mixture of TV tie ins and green propaganda.

I would like to finish by mentioning two more government resources. First there is Advice Resources which is intended for people working in the many government advice outfits that grew up during the Blair era. In reality you are far better going directly to this site that you are trying to get help through the bureaucracy. There is also the Teach ICT site which is aimed at computing teachers.

Finally we have the completely useless Skills Account which employs a vast number of advisors who do nothing but call one another lies! If you try to open an account they will mess it up and if you try to close it they will refuse to do so and then phone you up at home. Avoid.

The great beauty of this approach is that it may be tailored to your own life goals. Here is my own plan to give you some idea how this might be done. Your own plan will be completely different but it should reflect what you are trying to do in life.

You may also follow a less structured approach by selecting whatever you need from wikiversity or work through the various free resources put out through the British Libary.

Some resources are not designed to make sense on their own- such as this GCSE Maths revision site and this more general site.

What works for me.

Here is a list of thing that get a chubby 46 year old laid. They were pretty much the same things that got a swelt 17 year old laid. In fact neither game not the raviges of time upon my body have had any effect upon what does and what does not work for me.

WHAT WORKS

1) A change of scenery. I can get laid on holiday- particularly when I am not surrounded by too much luxury. Hostels are best as most people leave their boring identities at home. This even happened when I became briefly homeless about 15 years ago. I have never had so much attention from women before or since which makes me doubt some of the things the community say about social proof!

2) Anything do do with German girls. They are quite masculine in a way and will hunt you down if they want you. They are also very good in bed.


WHAT DOES NOT WORK

1) Being overly sensitive.

2) Being a provider.


This is just my personal experience.

How to revive British tourism.

Britain is full of unused tourist resources. This is a list of the top five.

5. Britain by train.

One of the glories of Britain is that the countryside is so diverse. It is hard to travel more than twenty miles in any direction without finding yourself in a completely different landscape. You will find the people there speak differently and even eat different food. The best way to see this is by train.


4. Neolithic Britain.

Stonehenge is famous but Britain is actually full of ancient sites. Many of them (such as Glastonbury) are the center of much myth and legend. Some are older than the pyramids of Egypt. They are more modest is scale but they have their own mystery and atmosphere.


3. Literary Britain

There are many literary Englands. Think of Sherlock Holmes, Dickens or even Harry Potter. Each of these exist within their own world and this is part of their appeal. There is now a Dickens theme park in Kent. 221b Baker Street has also become a Sherlock Holmes museum. Harry Potter has gone to Orlando however.


2. Food Britain

British food has had a bad rap for a long time. This is partly because British people have not valued there own food. British food was also suffered from two world wars when eating badly became a sort of civic duty. Everything was sent to the front.  Few people can remember just how dreadful life was for most people in the 1950's and 1960's and British food came to reflect the general grimness of life.

This has now changed and English people are now discovering to their surprise that there are many tasty local dishes that have even become fashionable in France. Britain also has more than 700 distinct cheese types compared to a mere 246 from France.

1. Canal Britain

Britain was the first industrial power and still has 2000 miles of canals and navigable rivers. It is possible to travel from one side of the country to the next on a houseboat.

To his credit, Tony Blair did seem to recognize the potential of canals for a brief period. The photograph is of the Falkirk wheel- a sort of boat lift near Glasgow that was built in his reign.

England is not London

David Cameron, the British Prime Minister was at the Serpentine Gallery (yes it is supposed to look like this)  London last week to tell the tourist industry that they must get their act together. He is both right and wrong to do this.

He was right because tourism is the second largest earner of forigen currency for the UK but he is wrong because the underperfomance of the UK is due to government policy. China is clarly the future here but Britain falls at number 22 in the league of Chinese tourist destinations while Germany is number 10. This is because Chinese nationals require visas to come here but not to Germany. This is because we have a colossal assilum problem in the UK. All any of these tourists need to do is claim assilum and they will be fed and housed to a standard that few of them could aford at home. We end up being inhospitable to tourists because we are far too hospitable to globetrotting freeloaders.

Germany (and France) also market the countryside far better than does the UK. There are literaly hundreds of cities and towns with their own charm. All of them are worth visiting.

England invented mass leisure and we speak the most common international language. One side effect of early industrialation was that we have enjoyed around 200 years of heavy capital investment in a variety of UK distinations that are currently being under used.

This period generated the supremely mad archetecture that can now be found in almost any seaside town. The photograph from the glass floored ballroom in the Blackpool Tower where you can literally dance on air. Blackpool also has no less than four piers which is odd as they serve no objective purpose whatever.

Most people believe that cheap air flight killed these places. In fact they have their own appeal that is not dependent upon the weather.

I will take resorts that I know fairly well, Southend on Sea and Brighton. It is possible to reach either resort from London in about an hour and a half. Both resorts have pebbly beaches and similar climates and yet only Brighton may be found in the guide books. This is because Brighton has reinvented itself in a way that Southend has not.

BRIGHTON

Brighton has the delightfully mad pavilion where the Prince Regent hid from his crazy wife. Note how it combines Hindu and Muslim elements.

The stained glass windows appear to form eyes. The whole place is an acid trip.

Brighton quite deliberately set out to ensure that it attracts wealthy people. It markets itself as gay friendly because gay people have little to spend money on but themselves. Note the rainbow flags. It also hosts conferences to keep the hotels full in winter and is home to several language schools.

Even the government promotes Brighton as some sort of sex haven using the slgan 'free love' on the Visit Brighton website to promote the idea that casual sex in Brighton somehow does not count. There is a nudest beach and nude cycling too. This seems a shrewed marketing move as English girls are notorious for sleeping with multiple partners abroad. Why not do it in Brighton too?

For some reason machine guns and anti tank weapons are sold openly without anyone thinking this is odd.

SOUTHEND ON SEA

Southend on sea's main claims to fame are the bizzare 1.34 mile long pier- the longest in the world and the excelent adventure island.

The main problem is that where Brighton has sought out people with money, Southend has done the opposite. The town now specialises in assilum seekers who do not work and who sometimes become involved in crime. Some of the money they receive may even go towards terrorism.

The lesson seems to be clear. Get rid of what you do not want to make way for what you do. There is a degree of defeatism in certain seaside towns and yet Brighton goes from strength to strength. Towns such as Southend do not mention their greatest strengths which include friendly crabs and large fish that swim with you like dolphins (maybe this would freak people out?). The key to regeneration is a strong identity and the absence of drunken and violent elements. Southend needs to get rid of its asylum seekers.

Slow down and take it easy!

There is a movement towards slowness sweeping Europe- well hardly sweeping- this would be far too stressful, but spreading nonetheless. Most of the links are from the UK but there are probably equivalents in your own countries.

First came the Slow Food Movement this originated in Italy as a reaction to McDonald's. Italians are nationalistic about their food and the farming lobby has a great deal of clout so this was not greatly surprising. The movement became something more than a protest and became more a celibration of community and of the family. One reason families have become so fragile is that they rarely eat together and it is often not home cooked food if they do. If efect the Slow Food Movement became an anti feminist movement because families where both parents work cannot have time for the civilizing influence of good food that the movement advocates.

Next came the concept of Slow Towns. The motivation behind some of these projects may be slightly suspect. Expensive local traders often lobby to keep the national chains out of their area because they cannot compete. You will notice that the only customer in the Ludlow greengrocer is clearly a tourist. I feel a little sorry for the local consumer who has to pay tourist prices. The chief motivation behind making Ludlow and other similar towns into slow towns seems to be tourism rather than the quality of life for local people. Ludlow also takes great pride in its local food and hold a food festival each year and supports taste real food. Ludlow also has a longstanding survivalist group which takes this self sufficient ethos one step further.

We have the sublime Idler magazine with its mix of upper class anarchism, practical idling tips, humor and parenting advice in the form of the Idle parent that became a minor cult of its own. The slow movement even has its own mass movement in the form of the International Institute for Not Doing Much. I say 'movement' but the truth is they do not actually do anything at all. You may also like Early Retirement Extreme,

Feminism keeps us all running round in circles to buy things we do not need. If we ever stopped we might wake up and realize we were men and women rather than cogs in a machine. The whole movement is pro human and anti feminist without even realizing it. I support idleness! Just don't expect me to do anything about it!

All photographs are from Ludlow- the first UK slow town.

Thank you! Thank you!!

Thank you for linking to me and thank you for following my blog on Google friends connect. I have created a Karma League to the right of this page so that you know how much I appreciate you all.

The top ranking karma site is In Mala Fide which is not always work safe but is fascinating. The site is named after a French Fascist and the current article is called 'white is right' and yet the blog itself is moderate, intelligent and conversational in tone. In Mala Fide has linked to a number of my articles in the past. Thank you.

Next comes Marky Marks thoughts on various issues and Rex Patriarch with classic MGTOW blogs. Cool Tools 4 Men combines science with men's rights and the Counter Feminist a highbrow MGTOW blog. The Troll King is yet another MGTOW writer but with an angry edge- the site is not always work safe.

Thank you all.

Everyday Hazard Survivalism (Ghost Nation Wiki)

Everyday hazard survivalism is a two stage process.

1) Identify the the threats that exist in real life- not just the imaginations of newspaper editors.

2) Identify cost effective ways to deal with these dangers without withdrawing from life or becoming odd in any way.





Here are the top ten causes of accidental death in the United States.

You will note that this excludes illness and assault. This is because illness will get us all in the end. The big two are cancer and heart attack.

1) Road Traffic Accident.

This is by far the greatest cause of death in healthy adults. You might think that this may change in less developed nations but in fact the death toll is even greater in developing nations despite fewer people having cars.

Use public transport if you can.


2) Falling off things.

This commonly occurs at home where no help is available. Workplace accidents are declining steadily in the advanced nations.


3) Poisoning.

People love to change the doses of their medicines. There are also many new age authorities advising toxic overdoses of vitamins and minerals.


4) Fire and smoke inhalation.

I thought this would be higher.


5) Drowning.


6) Choking.


7) Medical complications and errors.


8) Shooting yourself!


9) Getting run over while a pedestrian.


10) Electrocution.

You may improve this page on the Ghost Nation Wiki.

The Alpha Strategy

The Alpha Strategy is a conservative investment approach first mooted in 1980 by John A Pugsley in his survivalist classic 'The Alpha Strategy- the ultimate plan of financial self defense.' It may be read free of charge here

The book starts from the basic question 'what is wealth?' and concludes that wealth is anything that makes life better. In other words your home is wealth, as is the food in your pantry and the clothing you wear now. Your share certificates may or not be wealth. In fact they will only truly become wealth the day you sell them or when you receive dividends from them. This is because you can only exchange them for things of actual use when this happens. Paper money is never wealth as it only has whatever value other people ascribe to it. In other words- a pound or a dollar is a scrap of paper that may be exchanged for wealth but it is not actually wealth itself.

This may sound like a spendthrift manifesto but is not because it identifies two other forms of wealth. Wealth can be expressed as personal knowledge and tools. This need not even cost any money. Alison is a series of free online courses that anyone may access. Wealth may also be expressed as gold and silver (even though these metals are really just alternative currencies.) The way to become truly wealthy is therefore to exchange fake wealth such as paper banknotes for real wealth such as useful tools and skills. This may include a conventional education and career but is should contain other skills as well. This will make life more interesting and provide a hedge against future uncertainty.

One way to combine the Alpha Strategy with prepping is to compile a 'survival C.V' '. This is a list of self reliance skills one has acquired. This can include quite ordinary skills such as elementary plumbing or first aid  that are useful in everyday life. The survival C.V may be posted online so that people may contact one another in advance. The information would be removed in the event of any real emergency so that the survivalist is not contacted by people who have nothing to offer.

It is also useful to keep a record of intangible assets. This can include anything from the people you know to obscure facts and inside information. It has two purposes. First of all it reminds the writer of all the resources at his disposal. Secondly, it may be posted online as a networking tool and a record of what the writer can do for others.

I am also creating a page on projects and requests. This is basically a list of things that I need and that other people may be able to help me with. If you can help then please let me know and tell me what I can do for you in return.

I will eventually offer a Ghost Nation diploma that will also be free of charge. It is unlikely that an employer will be very impressed by this but I believe it can be made into a genuine resource.

The prepared individual should see his life as a total wealth account. He should constantly add to his stock of skills, personal qualities, friends and useful contacts. Intangible assets (such as friendship) are particularly useful because they cannot be redistributed in any divorce court.

This fits very well with my own approach to survivalism which is to survive by helping others to survive. I intend to acquire survival skills that would make me useful in a crisis. The great thing about this approach is that it is possible to be open about it. Many U.S survivalists are secretive about their physical preparations because they have purchased a great deal of desirable survival kit. They fear that their less well prepared neighbors may kill them for their generators and their supply of dehydrated food. This is not a problem if you choose to put your money into acquiring skills rather than things.

N.B One side product of this philosophy is that it promotes good neighborly behavior. The goodwill your neighbors have towards you is an intangible asset- which is inherently more valuable than cash because it can neither be eroded by inflation nor taxed.

The future of Game

This is where I think the pick up industry is going.

1. Most of the major brands in the pick up industry are making far less money than they used to. The most financially savvy of them all, David DeAngelo has left the industry and become a business motivation guru. Style (who wrote the only mainstream book on the subject) now writes about other things. This is because most of what they offer can be freely downloaded off the Internet. Boot-camps can also be found locally at lower cost.

2. The industry has gone a complete circle and partially negated itself. It started out as a box of tools to trick women into bed and then discovered 'natural game' which rejects pick up lines and scripts. Most pick up gurus advise their followers to be their best selves. The trouble is that this logic abolishes the need for gurus in the longer term.

3. The industry has not developed a major new theory for about three years.

4. The emphasis still seems to be upon night clubs. This is odd because night clubs are badly suited to natural game (the current vogue) due to the short attention span of these women. We see more emphasis on day game but very little on social circle game. I predict that the future is in social circle game because this is best suited to the easygoing sociable and friendly persona most pick up gurus are urging their students to adopt.

5. There is a marked reduction in hero worship within the community.

6. I had expected some sort of feminist backlash and an attempt to associate seduction with rape. This has not occurred and this may be because the numbers of active pick up artists is very small. I would guess that less than fifty men in London go out four times a week and regularly approach girls. This probably equates to less than a thousand worldwide.

Thank you for linking to this post.