Renting the American Dream; New Prepper Resources

Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…

www.poormansurvivor.net

ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

 

 

Renting the American Dream; New Prepper Resources

A Man came into a Wood one day with an axe in his hand, and begged all the Trees to give him a small branch which he wanted for a particular purpose. The Trees were good-natured and gave him one of their branches. What did the Man do but fix it into the axe head, and soon set to work cutting down tree after tree.  An old oak, lamenting when too late the destruction of his companions, said to a neighboring cedar, “The first step has lost us all. If we had not given up the rights of the ash, we might yet have retained our own privileges and have stood for ages.”–Aesop Fable

Harry Truman was right.

The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.

Most people think of Aesop's fables as children's stories, and dismiss them otherwise. Yet, here we have a 2,500 year old example of a very steep "slippery slope" — the first step lost everything for the trees.

This is a concept the elites and the Left desperately do not want you to realize exists.

Renting the American Dream

2008 changed a lot of things — especially with real estate.

For instance — once upon a time, single-family homes were almost always owned by their occupants. Or, in just a few cases, owned by individuals or small corporations that would rent them out.

No more. Today, 35% of rentals are single-family homes. And — after all the bankruptcies and foreclosures from last decade — an increasing share of those homes are owned by large corporations.

One study estimates around $220 billion has been transferred from former or would-be homeowners to those corporate behemoths.

In a post-apocalyptic world, value will not be defined by money but by things that are in short supply or simply don’t exist. So what defines the value of something?

 Is the item necessary for survival and is the item something that will help with long term survival, or does it just meet immediate needs? Is the item a luxury item? These are items that make life easier or may come in handy but are not necessary for surviving. However, these types of items will still have value.

 Trading or barter will become the new standard for commerce. But it does bring some danger, which is why you should never trade alone. In this video, Serious Survivor discusses the ten categories of things that will remain valuable even after the end of the world as we know it...

 10 Most Valuable Things In A Post-Apocalyptic World

 

 

Yours for better living,

Bruce ‘the Poor Man’

 

News of Note

According to reports, Democrats are holding up passage of the US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal due, in part, to provisions that would bring Mexico’s and Canada’s rules on intellectual property protection for certain kinds of drugs more in-line with those in the United States.

In fact, these rules were passed in 2009 as part of Obamacare – which received unanimous Democratic support. The fact that these rules are now a problem just shows how far to the left Democrats have lurched.

When some good economic news comes along, we should be thankful for it, because such moments are becoming increasingly rare.  On Friday, the Labor Department announced that the U.S. economy added 128,000 jobs last month, and that definitely exceeded expectations…

The Disturbing Secrets of the Dark Web

Chances are you have heard of the "Dark Web," alternatively known as the "Deep Web." But, does it really exist, and if so, what exactly can be seen and purchased there? ...More

 

Best Hunting Rifles for Women

Unlike men, women have shorter arms and relatively less upper body strength. What I’m saying is that hunting rifles for women should ideally be lighter, shorter, and less recoil. However, these aren’t always the case with hunting rifles so you would have to substitute one aspect for another. So what rifles would meet these criteria?

Read more >

2 Tips For Navigating A Society That Is Full Of Propaganda And Manipulation

https://mcalvanyintelligenceadvisor.com/32-tips-navigating-society-full-propaganda-and-manipulation

Preparedness

·      Prepper Top 100 "TO DO" list

·      The Snowflake Test

·      32 Tips For Navigating A Society That Is Full Of Propaganda And Manipulation

·      How To Create An Emergency Communications Plan

·      Intelligence source and information reliability

·      How To Build A 2 Block Rocket Stove

·      Frankenskies Full Length Documentary (1:21:41)

·      Chuck Norris lists essentials to live through emergencies, disasters

https://mcalvanyintelligenceadvisor.com/preparedness

 

Poll Results: Do You Think Voters Will Dump Trump in 2020?

88% of respondents say Trump will win again/do not support impeachment and feel Dems are using this approach because they can’t win in 2020.

https://boblivingstonletter.com/alerts/poll-results-do-you-think-voters-will-dump-trump-in-2020/

 

How to Double/Multiply Your Money

There are many ways to multiply your money, but some will work better for certain people. Find out a few of the main options.

 

Google Maps Just Introduced a Controversial New Feature That Drivers Will Probably Love (but Police Will Utterly Hate) 

“There is no moral, ethical, or legal reason to have the police locator button on the app,” the sheriffs’ association wrote in 2015. “We are concerned that terrorists, organized crime groups, and gangs will find this a valuable tool to further their illegal activities.”

Google has always responded by saying that drivers slow down and strictly obey the law when they know that law enforcement is nearby.

 

Home Survival Plan

https://secure.food4patriots.com/media/pdf/PSP/report-ultimate-home-survival-plan.pdf

 

People need to become more self-reliant, not more dependent on government.

How to Survive the War on the Middle Class

 Download at: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AgMpmQI6plfXh0T3zKGDM-c3PUnr   or here:

http://1drv.ms/1d9kfiU

Although some survival supplies can be pretty expensive, most of the things people will need after the SHTF are dirt cheap. For example, right now toilet paper only costs about 50 cents a roll. But once the store shelves are bare, most people will trade a lot for a single roll of toilet paper. And that's just the beginning.

 When you think about disaster preparedness, keep in mind that a lot of cheap stuff we take for granted in today's world will be extremely valuable and desirable after SHTF. This is the stuff you want to stock up on now. Not only will you need it for yourself and your family, but you may also need it for bartering.

 Here are just 40 examples of cheap items you'll want to stock up on while they're still available. I'm sure there are plenty more...

 40 Dirt-Cheap Items That Will Be Priceless After The SHTF

 

A Final Note…

Contributors and subscribers enable the Poor Man Survivor to post 150+ free essays annually. It is for this reason they are Heroes and Heroines of New Media. Without your financial support, the free content would disappear for the simple reason that I cannot keep body and soul together on my meager book sales & ecommerce alone.

Useful Resources from our storefront-See new items!

You Can’t Buy Life Insurance After You’re Dead-Prepare NOW for Emergencies…

Finally, grab an emergency power solar/battery radio weather radio!

 

Support our efforts by shopping my storefront…

http://RetroGuy.net

 

Is the American Dream Dead?

Poor Man Survival

Self reliance tools for independent minded people…

PoorManSurvivor.net

ISSN 2161-43

A periodic digest of urban survival resources

Is the American Dream Dead?

   In July of 2015 I got a letter from the government telling my old personnel file had been hacked by the Chinese along with millions of others…During Obama’s term in office personnel files were stolen by China.

At one time I had a Top Secret Security Clearance and I used to monitor Soviet and Chinese military [mostly submarine] activity.  I left that activity permanently around the time former President Clinton began giving away technology to China [even though the Chinese were already hacking and stealing high tech from US firms such as Boeing at the time]…little reported or believe or reported by amateurs in the press, President Trump has indicated that the Chinese are a bigger threat to the United States than Russia and I agree completely as that nation has ambitions of world domination.

Of course, our President gets little respect from the press and a mainly ignorant population belittles him as well.  Recently Yahoo ran a piece crying about how little progress the average person has made despite Trump’s improved economy.  That is true to an extent but as several polls have indicated it is because the average American does not know how to manage their money and they have reverted back to high credit card debt levels of 2009…not learning their lesson.

Yahoo always runs news which is anti-Trump or somehow negative so here is a nugget of something positive:

Good news on the economic front! A few weeks ago it was reported that the unemployment rate dropped to 3.7%. That's the lowest level since 1969 (back when I was a teenager!). And US Average Hourly Wages have increased by about 5% since January 1st. (source: TradingEconomics.com)

 

If your finances have improved this year, I hope that you've taken steps to make your future more secure. No one can control the future, but there are things that we can do to make future problems easier to handle.

 

One way to do that is to pay down debt. Good times or bad, debt is a drag on your finances. Why not use any increase in pay to reduce your debts? Or if your stock gains aren't in a retirement account, you might want to sell some appreciated stock and apply the proceeds to any debt you might have.

It is true however, most people are people are being squeezed by higher costs such as medical costs continue to head north but the president has nothing to do with that.  Once Obama’s subsidies ran out [which he borrowed from Medicare] insurance firms started raising their premiums and that had zero to do with Trump but the fault lies completely with Obama.

Also, most Democratic led state governments are broke due to their overly generous pension programs to government workers…CA, NY, MD and especially IL which cannot even pay their income tax checks to residents.

During Obama’s second term in office the jobs picture was horrible.  He almost didn’t get reelected.  Hoards of young people were forced to move back in with mom and dad.  Millions were added to the welfare rolls and Democratic voters in cities in Detroit were wooed to vote for him with gifts such as the “Obamaphone.”  Of course, he had help from former President Bill Clinton who campaigned hard for him in exchange for the promise of a job for his wife and for his support for when it came time for Mrs. Clinton to run for the office of president.

A group called Third Way did a study which found:

Third Way’s study finds 62% of jobs fall short of middle-class standards when considering both the pay and — this is critical — the cost of living in the metro area where the job is located. 

Within that 62%, about half are characterized as “living wage” — that is, enough for a single childless adult to share a two-bedroom apartment with another self-sustaining adult. The other half fall below even that modest standard and are considered “hardship jobs.” 

The American Dream Is Killing Us,” is the title of a 2016 article by Mark Manson at the Observer website

 

Manson is an older Millennial (born 1984), author of a book called The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** 

 “The American dream is simple,” he wrote: “It’s the unwavering belief that anybody — you, me, your friends, your neighbors, Grandma Verna — can become exceedingly successful, and all it takes is the right amount of work, ingenuity and determination. Nothing else matters. No external force. No bout of bad luck. All one needs is a steady dosage of grit and ass-grinding hard work. And you too can own a McMansion with a three-car garage… you lazy sack of s***.” 

In other words, do all the right things — get the good grades, get the degree, get a good job, yada yada — and you’re set for life. 

If it was ever true, it sure isn’t now. “By almost every major statistical measurement,” Manson wrote, “the average American is worse off than they were a generation ago.” 

“Our staggering national debt,” Robert Kiyosaki of Rich Man, Poor Man fame points out, “is due in large part to highly educated politicians and government officials making financial decisions with little or no training in the subject of money.” 

“But my concern is that too many people are counting on President Trump to save them,” says Robert.

 Robert speaks with the authority of someone who’s co-authored two books with Trump. (Robert hastens to add he is neither Republican nor Democrat.) 

“I doubt he can save anyone,” says Robert, “unless they are first willing to save themselves.” 

 “Let he who can, save himself.” Don’t outsource your prosperity to the politicians.  Any politician. 

National politics has become a Kabuki theater battle between parties. Instead of representing the interests of the voters and upholding the Constitution, politicians appear to battle over partisan issues while both sides grow government and take away our liberties. When it comes down to it, American politics is not Republican versus Democrats. It's government versus the people. 

I'm not one for flag worship, but I was very sympathetic toward the "tea" in the Tea Party's adopted name which is an acronym for "taxed enough already." But the Tea Party movement was quickly co-opted by opportunistic Republicans, and the anger of Americans at restricted freedoms has been turned on other Americans rather than the government at which it should be rightfully directed.

In MI where I live we have a do-nothing democratic senator [Stabenow] who has been in DC for 20 years who has always voted against military raises and their medical care so I am personally hoping our newcomer, a Black combat veteran and West Point grad, John James, will rally enough of voters –who traditionally vote democrat, despite getting crapped on by those leaders because they are led by unions- to get some new blood into office.

It has been said all politics is local and I support that maxim and therefore urge folks to vote tomorrow…

Salute Veterans Day - SUPPORT WOUNDED SOLDIERS

Looking for ways to honor our veterans?  The Veterans History Project was established by Congress in 2000 to collect the personal accounts of American veterans from every war so future generations can hear their stories—and you can contribute by donating wartime memorabilia or recording a video interview with a veteran in your family or community.  Find suggestions at:  LOC.gov/vets

You can honor Veterans [Nov 11^th] by sending care packages to troops overseas or by sending gift cards from Amazon, Walmart, etc. by donating them to Comfort for America’s Uniformed Services which helps members being treated at military hospitals.  Here are the addresses for each organization:

SupportOurTroops.org/care-packages

Cause-usa.org

Mail to Cause, 4201 Wilson Blvd., #110-284, Arlington, VA 22203

What you need to know about managing debt as you near retirement

7 habits of successful retirees: Can you make sure you have a happy retirement?

10 secrets to attracting money

This is the average FICO credit score - how does your score stack up? 
Demand for Tiny Homes is Getting Bigger (CNN Business) 

More than half of Americans would consider living in a home that's less than 600 square feet, according to a survey done by the National Association of Home Builders. And among Millennials, interest increases to 63%.

Behind the Latest Rosy Jobs Figures, Here’s the ‘True State’ of Americans’ Financial Lives (MarketWatch)
Despite optimistic metrics like a nine-year-long bullish, if volatile, stock market, higher than expected job and wage growth, and consumer confidence levels nearing record highs, millions of Americans continue to struggle, a study released Thursday from financial consultancy nonprofit the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) found.

America’s Other Family-‍Separation Crisis (jdargis)

America imprisons women in astonishing numbers. The population of women in state prisons has increased by more than eight hundred per cent in the past four decades. The number of women in local jails is fourteen times higher than it was in the nineteen-seventies; most of these women haven’t been convicted of a crime but are too poor to post bail while awaiting trial. The majority have been charged with low-level, nonviolent offenses, such as drug possession, shoplifting, and parole violations. The result is that more than a quarter of a million children in the U.S. have a mother in jail. One in nine black children has a parent who is, or has been, incarcerated.

Americans Save Less to Sustain Spending as Income Gains Cool (Adam)

Risks to the outlook include President Donald Trump’s global trade war -- which is boosting prices and making some companies hesitant to invest -- as well as a stock-market swoon and a fading of the effects from fiscal stimulus. At the same time, consumer optimism remains elevated amid a tight labor market and lower taxes, providing support for spending in the final quarter.

As the housing market stagnates, American homeowners are staying put for the longest stretches ever (Adam)

Across the country, homes that sold in the third quarter of this year had been owned an average of 8.23 years, according to an analysis from Attom Data Solutions. That’s almost double the length of time a home sold in 2000, when Attom’s data begin, had been owned.

It’s partly the long tail of the housing crisis that’s created stagnant conditions and a less dynamic housing market, Attom spokesman Daren Blomquist told MarketWatch.

America's Social Depression Is Accelerating (pinecarr)

Beneath the rah-rah statistics of "the greatest economy ever," the social depression is accelerating. The mainstream is reluctantly waking up to the future of the American Dream: downward mobility for all but the top 10% of households. A 2015 under Obama Atlantic article fleshed out the zeitgeist with survey data that suggests the Great Middle Class/Nouveau Proletariat is also waking up to a future of downward mobility: The Downsizing of the American Dream: People used to believe they would someday move on up in the world. Now they’re more concerned with just holding on to what they have.

Over Half Of America Gets More In Welfare Than It Pays In Taxes (Thomas R.)

The political implications of this are considerable. As Ludwig von Mises once noted, once we get to the point that a majority of the voting population receives more in benefits than it pays in taxes, then voters will demand more and more wealth be transferred to them through government programs. It will then become politically necessary to extract larger and larger amounts of wealth from a minority in order to subsidize the majority.

 

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This kit normally sells for $27, plus shipping and handling and is rated 4½ out of five stars by customers.

While supplies last, these kits are available for only $21.95 and that includes Priority Shipping [we were forced to increase prices due to another round of USPS price hikes]. Go here for this deal:

https://www.bonanza.com/listings/72-Hour-Emergency-Food-Supply/547081212

 

Contributors and subscribers enable the Poor Man Survivor to post 150+ free essays annually. It is for this reason they are Heroes and Heroines of New Media. Without your financial support, the free content would disappear for the simple reason that I cannot keep body and soul together on my meager book sales & ecommerce alone.

 

Bruce, the Poor Man- philosopher, social critic & cynic

 

Support our efforts by shopping my storefront…

http://RetroGuy.Net

 

A Smoking Frog Feature, Shallow Planet Production

 

Blind Pigs & The Destruction of Detroit, The Cure for a Shrinking Paycheck

Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

http://www.PoorManSurvival.com

For Independent Minded People!

ISSN 2161-5543

"Expect the best. Prepare for the worst.
Capitalize on what comes."
- Zig Ziglar-

 From The Smiling Dog Saloon Files

 

In This Issue:

1.        Make Money from your homestead

2.       Frugal homestead security, reduce electric bills, Storage solutions in a small home

3.       The Henry US Survival Kit

4.       How Socialism Came to America & Destroyed Detroit-Part II

 

 

Uncle Scam’s Never Ending Quest to End Your Privacy

 

   The FBI recently closed down and stole the assets of the Silk Road e-commerce site, an effort led by that flatworm socialist up-Chuck Schumer of New York (seems too many political jerks hide out in that state).  He’s been on a crusade against free and open markets and is targeting other internet-based and offshore outlets for engaging in unregulated, under-the-table business (the bane of all bureaucrats).

 

While it is true some illegal activity took place on Silk Road, that is hardly unique…you can find the same behavior on most US street corners (especially New York City).  Silk Road had vowed to protect the privacy of its users but that didn’t fly in the face of the FBI which hacked and stole millions of dollars of BitCoins from user accounts.

 

Other sites may be targeted in the future as well and it may come to a point where you are forced to provide identification before you can use sites such as Craigslist.  One should never assume you have any kind of privacy online as long as the government has unlimited play money to use for spying purposes.

 

  On a related note…those Black Boxes I reported on several months ago in automobiles – 96% of cars made in 2013 have these tracking devices or the so-called Event Data Recorders.  These have been pushed down our throats by insurance firm lobbyists and beginning  September 1 of next year, they will become mandatory for every car.  A lot of politicians got paid off for this so your driver behavior can be tracked by insurance companies and Big Brother…politicians have never met a bribe they didn’t like.

 

Practical and frugal home security
read more here

 

PM’s Roundup of Useful Resources…

 

Make Money From Your Homestead

If you live on a homestead or are considering moving to the country, think about ways you could profit from your slice of the Earth. From animals to cooking and homesteading skills, there are myriad ways to supplement your income without leaving your property. Take your woodlot, for example: With proper management, you can harvest firewood, mushrooms and other wild crops for cash. Already have a knack for spinning? Sell the yarn from your fiber animals at local markets and in the community. And don’t discount your baking skills; those muffins, cookies and baguettes could earn you extra dough from week to week. Making money from your homestead takes some patience and creativity, but once you find a system that works for you, you’ll see how easy it can be.  From our friends at GRIT magazine.

Raising Rabbits for Profit
Cultivate Goldenseal Herb for Health and Profit
Forest Management for the Farm
Starting a Home-Based Business
Raising Goats for Fun and Profit

 

The Cure for a Shrinking Paycheck!

Find More tools and resources here:

http://www.poormansurvival.com/Pages/bootstrapbiz.aspx

 

Reducing electric bills in a mobile home
read more here

 

 

The Henry U.S. Survival kit

 Made by Best Glide ASE for government agencies,  law enforcement and military. The items are good quality, made in the USA, and are U.S. Military and NATO approved. This kit contains almost every tool that will be useful when you dump your boat in the rapids or your pack mule runs away. The only items missing are food and water. The tools for getting and carrying these are in the kit - See more at: http://www.alloutdoor.com/2013/11/04/henry-arms-survival-kit/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=2013-11-05&utm_campaign=Weekly+Newsletter#sthash.nHioRe3i.dpuf

 

 

An Incredible 26 Piece Altoids Survival Kit - DIY

If you told me I'd be fascinated by an Altoids survival kit, I'd have thought you were crazy. This mini Altoids survival kit is comprised of 26 total parts, including the tin. It's unbelievable how many items this guy can pack into such a small place.

 

• Get Your Green On–13 Energy (and Money) Saving Gadgets
• 15 Cool Ways to Save on Electricity

Storage solutions for a small home
read more here

 

 

The Nanny State- Your Weekly Dose of Government Misinformation

 

Food riots, China cyber attacks, the rise of conscious AI and other 'what if' predictions for a future in flux
(NaturalNews) Where will you be when the food riots begin? What will happen when China unleashes a cyber attack on the power grid infrastructure? Will you say no to the government gunpoint vaccinations teams that go door to door administering "influencia...

 

Unjustified overtime pay routinely used by DHS employees

A report by the Federal Office of Special Counsel (OSC) offers details of what it calls a “gross waste of government funds” and a “profound and entrenched problem”: illegally claimed overtime by DHS employees. The practice, which may add up to 25 percent to an employee’s paycheck, has become so routine that it is often promoted as a perk when managers try to recruit new employees.

 

The Parting Thought – Nothing to worry in the land of the free!

 Part II 

 

How Socialism Came to America...

and Destroyed Detroit

 

In 1961, the last Republican mayor of Detroit, Louis C. Miriani, lost his re-election bid. He probably would have lost to anyone who ran against him because he was known to be a crook. He later served 10 years in prison for tax evasion.

 

The man who defeated him, Jerome Cavanagh, was a Democrat. He ushered in a new kind of politics in Detroit. Cavanagh, who was white, got elected by promising to give Detroit's African American population the civil rights they deserved. But he didn't stop there. Seeing the political advantage to serving this community's interests, he did all he could to bring government benefits and government spending to Detroit's black community.

 

Cavanagh brought socialism to Detroit.

 

Mayor Cavanagh was the only elected official to serve on President Johnson's Model Cities task force. The program was modeled after Soviet efforts to rebuild whole urban areas in Eastern Europe. At the time, this centralized approach to urban development was proclaimed as an advantage to the Soviet system, something that could give them an edge in the Cold War.

 

Detroit received widespread acclaim for its leadership in the program, which attempted to turn a nine-square-mile section of the city (with 134,000 inhabitants) into a "Model City." To help finance the effort, Cavanagh pushed a new income tax through the state legislature and a "commuter tax" on city workers. He promised the mostly poor and black residents of the Model City area that the rich would pay for all of these benefits. He bought their votes with taxes they didn't have to pay.

 

It was classic American socialism.

 

More than $400 million was spent on the program – and that was back when quarters still had actual silver in them. The feds and Democratic city mayors were soon telling people where to live, what to build, and what businesses to open or close. In return, the people received cash, training, education, and health care.

 

But they didn't like being told what to do... or how to live. Not surprisingly, the Model Cities program was a disaster for Detroit. Within five years, it had helped trigger a complete breakdown of civil order and the city's population began to rapidly decline.

 

On July 23, 1967, police attempted to break up a notorious "blind pig" in the heart of the new Model City. Blind pigs were after-hours clubs that featured gambling and prostitution. They were part of the black culture of Detroit, with many having been in operation since the Prohibition period. The community tolerated these establishments – but the political leadership didn't want any blind pigs in the new Model City area.

 

On this particular night, at this particular club, the community was celebrating the return of two Vietnam War veterans. More than 80 people had packed into the club. The police decided to arrest everyone present, including the two war vets. This outraged the entire neighborhood, which began to riot. The scene turned into the worst race riot of the 1960s.

 

As Doug Casey likes to say about the War on Poverty, "The poor lost." The violence killed more than 40 people and left more than 5,000 people homeless. One of the first stores to be looted was a black-owned pharmacy. The largest black-owned clothing store in the city was also burned to the ground. Cavanagh did nothing to stop the riots. (He claimed a large police presence would make matters worse.) Five days later, President Johnson sent in two divisions of paratroopers to put down the insurrection.

 

The situation destabilized the entire city. Most of the people who could afford to leave did. Over the next 18 months, 140,000 upper- and middle-class residents – almost all of them white – left the city.

 

And so, you might ask... after five years of centralized planning, higher taxes, and a fleeing population, what did the government decide to do with its grand experiment? You'll never guess...

 

Seeing it had accomplished nothing but failure... The government expanded the Model City program with 1974's Community Development Block Grant Program. Here again, politicians would decide which groups (and even individuals) would receive state funds for various "renewal" schemes. Later, big business was brought into the fold. In exchange for various concessions, the Big Three automakers "gave" $488 million to the city for use in still more redevelopment schemes in the mid-1990s.

 

What happened? Even with all of their power and all of the money, centralized planners couldn't succeed with any of their plans. Nearly all of the upper- and middle-class citizens left Detroit. The poor fled, too. The Model City area lost 63% of its population and 45% of its housing units from the inception of the program through 1990.

 

Even today, the crisis continues. At a recent auction of nearly 9,000 seized homes and lots, less than one-fifth of the available properties sold, even with bidding starting at $500. You literally can't give away most of the property in Model City areas today.

 

The failure of the Model Cities program and of the War on Poverty wasn't surprising. What is surprising is that every single mayor of Detroit since 1961 has been a Democrat. And extremely liberal, black politicians have filled almost every major political office in the city since the mid-1960s.

 

For example, John Conyers, Jr. has represented most of Detroit's worst neighborhoods since 1965. Today, Conyers is the second-longest serving congressman in the House. And his election track record could be described as "Putin-esque." Conyers doesn't merely win all of his election campaigns... He wins by margins that aren't explainable in a normal, two-party system.

 

He defeated Republican Robert Blackwell in 1964, getting 84% of the vote. He was re-elected 13 times in a row from that district, all with a greater margin of victory than 85%. Ironically, the district was so ill-served by his socialistic policies that about half of the people moved away. The population losses led to redistricting. From then on, his margin of victory has fallen... to "only" around 80%.

 

These election results don't seem reasonable, do they? They aren't. By controlling the state legislature in Michigan, the Democrats are able to draw the congressional districts in a way that guarantees them almost permanent control. It's no different than what despots do all over the world. They hold an "election." But it's only for show.

 

And what do the Democrats do with this power? They push a form of American socialism. This political system features transfer payments, government jobs, and lucrative government contracts to voters in exchange for political support – and in many cases, outright bribes. They do all of these things under the cover of "progressive" politics and "social justice."

 

But if you brush away the veneer, what you find is a history of abuse of power, corruption, and outright bribery. Conyers himself was found guilty of several minor ethical violations in 2006 – mainly of using his staff as personal servants, forcing them to babysit and chauffer his children. In 1992, he was one of the most egregious abusers of the House Banking scandal. He wrote 273 bad checks and left his account overdrawn for nine months. But that's all small-time graft compared to how things really work in his office and in his district.

 

How do I know? Well... just ask yourself where Conyers' wife slept recently.

 

Monica Conyers, the wife of the second-longest tenured congressman in the United States, sleeps in a federal prison in West Virginia. She pled guilty to bribery in June 2009. She is serving a 37-month sentence for accepting $60,000 in bribes as the president pro tempore of the Detroit City Council. And yet, Conyers won re-election handily in 2010.

 

How is that possible? How do such people get re-elected?

 

These people and their political philosophy have destroyed what was once America's fourth-largest city. There is almost nothing left of what was the capital of America's industrial heartland. It's not hard to understand what has happened. When you start taxing people at extremely progressive rates to pay for socialist "benefits"... when you start telling them which schools their children must attend... when you start giving jobs away to people based on political patronage, race, or anything other than ability... you quash human freedom, you create dependency. And you deter capital and investment... which bogs down productivity and economic growth. If continued for long enough, it leads to social collapse.

 

Source:  Stansberry Research

 

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