The Student Loan Boycott

Posted Jan 25, 2024 By Martin Armstrong

President Joe Biden promised student loan cancelation during his initial presidential campaign. This became a big selling point for one-issue voters strapped with debt, but Biden likely knew this was a promise he could not carry out. The Biden Administration made a dent in the student debt crisis by forgiving around $127 billion, which means that tax payers at large will foot the bill. Three years have passed since student loan payments were paused due to COVID, and now, millions are refusing to resume payments.

Around 43 million borrowers now owe $1.63 trillion in student loans. Intelligent.com found that around 25% of student loan borrowers have not made a single payment since October 2023 when the grace period ended, and 60% have missed at least one payment since then. Why? Well, 69% state that they simply can no longer afford to pay off their debt. Around 9% said they are entitled to debt cancelation and will not pay a single penny as an act of resistance.

Boycotting student loans is asinine. Should people boycott their mortgages, car loans, or other debt that they deliberately agreed to take on? Lenders will not cave as this is simply business.

The on-ramp period will end in September 2024 and 18% have said they are waiting nine more months to resume payments. Do they realize their loans are still accumulating interest? They still need to pay the accrued interest before any of their payments go toward the principal. This period was merely meant to give borrowers a cushion from October 2023 to September 2024 to sort out their finances. The Education Department will begin reporting missed and late payments to credit bureaus in September.

Millions may see their credit scores ruined. Loans become delinquent after 90 days, and after 270 days, loans will go into default. The government will prevent anyone found delinquent from receiving future aid. Forget receiving any tax refunds. They will garnish wages, taking what they feel is necessary without factoring in your other monthly expenses. Still holding out on the student loan boycott? The government can take legal action against borrowers’ assets. You could lose absolutely everything.

To the 69% who say they can no longer afford their loan, bankruptcy is no longer an option, thanks to politicians in the same party offering loan forgiveness without a plan. Former President Bill Clinton repealed the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 in November 1999. This handed students to the banks on a silver platter as they could no longer discharge debt through the traditional bankruptcy process.

September 2024 also happens to be when our models predict a massive rise in civil unrest and a potential DRAFT at the end of the month. People wanting to boycott will lose absolutely everything if they abandon their loan payment responsibility. There are serious consequences for failing to repay your debts.

The Goths – Ancient Rome’s Migrant Crisis

Posted Jan 26, 2024 By Martin Armstrong

The globalists refuse to declare the migrant crisis an “invasion,” but we have history’s guidance to show us what happens when an unsustainable number of people enter a nation. The Goths, a non-military group considered migrants, are a perfect example. These men, women, and children sought refuge within the Roman Empire. This was not an invading army but rather a fleeing population seeking safety from the Huns. The Goths, long-time foes of the Romans, appealed to be admitted to Roman territory due to the threat they faced and needed to seek asylum. This event led to significant consequences and marked a turning point in the history of the Roman Empire.

The great Gothic migration involved hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children. While, to some degree, the growing unrest in the East pushed them southward, there is also little doubt that the border defenses of the Roman Empire had also been seriously weakened by the political instability and economic pressures that were building within Rome itself. Of course, the rumor of great plunder and riches available in Roman territory acted like a magnet much in the same way as the rumors of streets paved in gold in America prompted great European migrations during the 19th and early 20th centuries or the outdated stereotype of the American Dream.

By 238 AD, the Gothic position was so threatening to the Roman Empire that Emperor Maximinus was forced to pay them vast amounts of tribute, similar to how countries currently pay all expenses for migrants. While his aim may have been to buy time, this demonstrated weakness on the part of the Romans, who were still in the middle of internal political struggles for power. Internal imperial rivalries ultimately defeated Maximinis. Within less than four years thereafter, the Goths began a series of raids along the Danube.

A decade later and Philip I attempted to quell the influx of migrants, but died while battling his successor, Trajan Decius. Rome was simply decaying gradually from internal struggles, which weakened the economy and constantly pitted one legion against another in a struggle for power. We see internal struggles today throughout the West as politics continue to divide the people. The Romans did not consider the Goths to be a force that would threaten the entire Empire, but rather more as a barbarian force looking for plunder rather than power.

Trajanus Decius declared the Goths an enemy and attempted to force them out of the empire, only for the masses to return a year later. The Goths were prepared this time and formed several strategic alliances with enemies, such as the Dacian Carpi. This led to a full-scale invasion, and the Roman Empire suddenly found itself besieged as war raged on in Moesia, Dacia, and even in Thrace, while the main body of the Gothic invasion was preparing a descent into the region of the Black Sea.

After many battles, the Goths emerged as the new masters of the entire Danube territory, all the way to the Black Sea. Trebonianus Gallus emerged as the new Emperor who could do nothing to reverse the Empire’s humiliating defeat. The Goths now turned to Illyricum and Thrace, burning and plundering their way across the region. By 253 AD, the Goths set sail along the Black Sea, headed straight for Asia Minor, which was wide open and waiting to be plundered.

The Roman Empire was declining until Emperor Aurelian came to power and began restorative efforts, including anti-immigration policies. He not merely launched defensive measures, he moved on the offensive against the Goths and demolished them through a series of battles. The Goths were driven out of the Balkans and into Dacia. Aurelian also greatly restored the Black Sea defenses, which helped those regions rebuild their economies as well. However, Aurelian failed to pursue the barbarians into the Roman province of Dacia, pulling back and establishing the new border once again along the natural border as originally defined by Augustus – the Danube.

Aurelian’s decision to redraw the borders left Dacia in the hands of the Carpi and the Goths. Once the Goths were contained, they began to divide into two distinct groups – Ostrogothic and Visigothic kingdoms. These groups would evolve into powerful states that would ultimately bring down the Roman Empire in the West.

Those in favor of the Gothic migration stated that the newcomers would increase tax revenue and benefit the Roman economy. It was a humanitarian crisis and Rome’s responsibility to solve. Instead, the unsustainable influx of Gothic refugees contributed to the eventual fall of the Western Roman Empire. The event marked a turning point in Roman history and was part of a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressures of invasion, civil war, plague, and economic depression. History always repeats.

The Price of Dying – Repeal the Estate Tax

Posted Jan 26, 2024 By Martin Armstrong

They say the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. And taxes on dying if you’re in the US. That’s right, the luxury of death comes with a price in the land of the free, thanks to the death tax. Now, Republicans are working to introduce legislation that would allow Americans and their families to rest in peace, free of charge.

The estate tax, or death tax, was first executed in the United States in 1916 as a means to generate revenue for the federal government. Supporters said it would address concerns about wealth concentration. The tax has been rewritten and revised over the years and numerous states have imposed their own death tax on top of the federal one. This is not the same as the inheritance tax that directly taxes beneficiaries.

US Representative Randy Feenstra, a proponent of eliminating this absurd tax, believes this bill is hurting farmers in particular. I have heard similar sentiments from my own clients. People fled England to America to avoid government confiscation of property through taxation. Britain has a 100-year land lease program whereby you pay the actual fair value of the property you bought outright. At the end of that 100 years, the next tenant must pay the full fair value once again. This is how the “rich” made their money keeping it in the family and never selling land. It is also why Britain was forced to hand Hong Kong back to China after 100 years.

People fled to America so they could actually pass property down to their children like the rich landholding families in Britain. This was the origin of the term “freehold” meaning you could actually own the land. America was the land of opportunity because it was all freehold and people could for the first time rise from the poor rank to that of the rich by hard work, saving, and being able to create wealth for the family unit. This was the American Dream.

Failing to repeal this tax will change American agriculture. As Rep. Feenstra notes:

“Over 99% of our country’s two million farms and ranches and over 95% of our nation’s small businesses are owned and operated by individuals and families. In other words, the American economy is powered by mom-and-pop shops on main street and farms that have been in the family for generations. Naturally, the federal government only sees these incredible farms and small businesses as potential sources of tax revenue, completely ignoring the sacrifice and labor that made these enterprises successful.”

This is one of the reasons why the wealthy in China are buying US farmland. The manner in which governments globally treat farmers is shameful. The government is not our next of kin; we do not save our entire lives to provide a better life for government.