General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGeorge Soros on the Coming U.S. Class War
'The situation is about as serious and difficult as I've experienced in my career.'/snip
Soros doesnt make small bets on anything. Beyond the markets, he has plowed billions of dollars of his own money into promoting political freedom in Eastern Europe and other causes. He bet against the Bush White House, becoming a hate magnet for the right that persists to this day. So, as Soros and the worlds movers once again converge on Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum this week, what is one of the worlds highest-stakes economic gamblers betting on now?
Hes not. For the first time in his 60-year career, Soros, now 81, admits he is not sure what to do. Its very hard to know how you can be right, given the damage that was done during the boom years, Soros says. He wont discuss his portfolio, lest anyone think hes talking things down to make a buck. But people who know him well say he advocates making long-term stock picks with solid companies, avoiding goldthe ultimate bubbleand, mainly, holding cash.
Hes not even doing the one thing that you would expect from a man who knows a crippled currency when he sees one: shorting the euro, and perhaps even the U.S. dollar, to hell. Quite the reverse. He backs the beleaguered euro, publicly urging European leaders to do whatever it takes to ensure its survival. The euro must survive because the alternativea breakupwould cause a meltdown that Europe, the world, cant afford. He has bought about $2 billion in European bonds, mainly Italian, from MF Global Holdings Ltd., the securities firm run by former Goldman Sachs head Jon Corzine that filed for bankruptcy protection last October.
Has the great short seller gone soft? Well, yes. Sitting in his 33rd-floor corner office high above Seventh Avenue in New York, preparing for his trip to Davos, he is more concerned with surviving than staying rich. At times like these, survival is the most important thing, he says, peering through his owlish glasses and brushing wisps of gray hair off his forehead. He doesnt just mean its time to protect your assets. He means its time to stave off disaster. As he sees it, the world faces one of the most dangerous periods of modern historya period of evil. Europe is confronting a descent into chaos and conflict. In America he predicts riots on the streets that will lead to a brutal clampdown that will dramatically curtail civil liberties. The global economic system could even collapse altogether. /snip
More at http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/01/22/george-soros-on-the-coming-u-s-class-war.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_afternoon&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_afternoon&utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)But if Soros is right, we will find out. I look at other countries, and I realize there is a lot farther we can fall.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)gateley
(62,683 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)gateley
(62,683 posts)southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)job. He has been working part time. People are struggling. If government can't help people with unemployement and food stamps I just don't know what will happen. All these republicans will lose their jobs and you watch how all of a sudden they will become democrats. Republicans have no heart.
gateley
(62,683 posts)Austerity Program, is in worse shape than ever, while Germany gave everyone unemployment to compensate for hours lost working to keep the people spending and supporting the economy. Makes sense to me.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)the streets. I hope and pray to god that doesn't happen here. I can't fathom that happening here. It is so scary.
gateley
(62,683 posts)southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)SammyWinstonJack
(44,130 posts)southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)in this country can't afford to stock up. We are making it from payday to payday. I just don't know. God help us. We have one party who could careless wheter people live or not.
gateley
(62,683 posts)food, etc. I think community is more important now than ever, yet it's lacking more than ever.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)depresssion that they lived on a farm. She said they grew their own food. They never went without. She did say every so often strangers would come by and ask for something to eat. Their parents never turned any away. Yes I think your right about that community is going to be important. I'll tell you we have 12 acres and I wish we could afford a tractor to grow veggies. I would love to make sure to help out people who will need food. I have a neighbor who is renting a piece of my land. I think he wants to put goats back there. I think next year I am not going to take his money. I am going to ask if he could give us money veggies. I'm old and my husband can't do it either anymore. It is sad I would let people use my land free to plant in return for some beef or veggies. I think as things get harder we will see some bartering.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)Make no mistake about it. The next one will cost the U.S. and certain misled European countries many multiples of the waste, squander, debt and imperial over-extension of the last one. The next will be the last of the American Imperial era. It's been engineered that way by those who are shorting America, and want to pick over the pieces of what's left.
Last Rogue Superpower, acting as predicted. Bye, bye.
just1voice
(1,362 posts)Religious wars that have no basis in religion, entire countries full of people being ripped off, massive propaganda networks fueling worldwide lies, non-stop pollution, 1000s of criminal corporations, rampant criminal global speculation by politically connected banks, huge slave labor countries like China, an extremely large and murderous military/industrial complex in the U.S., worldwide financial collapses, rioting on national levels, food and water hoarding companies, curtailment and removal of civil rights worldwide, election fixing everywhere: this is most definitely a period of evil.