I've been told a story that the Dutch economy was based on Tulip bulbs at one time (how true that is, I don't know). One day, a foreign sailor comes to port and he sees all these tulip bulbs in trays being sold for various prices depending on the variety. He thought they were onions. He grabbed one and ate it. Folks were not only shocked, but they also realized that their economy was based on tulip bulbs, and their economy collapsed. [Explanation: The Dutch lost "trust" in the basis of their economy, the Tulip. Without the peoples trust (example: in the U.S. we "trust" the dollar will purchase something, a common belief that it is actually worth something when it is only a piece of paper) in what their economic system was based on, there was an economic collapse.]
The U.S. economy is based on credit. This credit far exceeds any properties that one has to back said credit. Thus, the U.S. economy is based on debt, and most of the debt is without any form of backing. The debt that does have backing, such as real property, is losing value. The subprime loan forclosures are partly sucking the U.S. and world economies dry. With increasing unemployment, there are not as many buyers to purchase the properties that are forclosed upon or the properties are sold at a much lower value thus furthering the struggle the U.S. economy is in. The dollar, in a very real sense, is based mostly on NOTHING.
So, with banks like IndyMac experiencing what can only be called runs, and other banks struggling or on the verge of collapse, the falling value of the dollar (which is inflated in value anyway), make the values of banks and the dollar even less, but not what they are actually worth, which is far less as they are all mostly based on tulip bulbs...er...credit.
But such worthlessness can be maintained by illusion. Illusion meaning lies. Although the dollar has been HIGHLY inflated for years, its worthlessness is maintained by the belief in the lie that it is worth far more than it is. This lie is maintained by FORCE. The U.S. is the most terroristic nation and has the worlds largest nuclear arsenal and sincerely wants to use it. With a-holes in office like King Dick and co-King George, folks are more apt to kneel before U.S. brutality and accept that indeed, the dollar is worth its highly inflated price.
However, with rising gas and food prices, decreasing incomes, rising unemployment, increased bankruptcies, excessive health care bills, etc., the average good old American is left holding a whole lot of something, and that something is debt. Debt that folks are having increasingly hard times repaying because of high gas and food prices, lack of employment, etc.
I have this funny feeling that someone, somewhere, is doing some serious cooking with a tulip bulb.
Tiptoe Through the Tulipsby Tiny Tim
Tiptoe through the window
By the window, that is where I'll be
Come tiptoe through the tulips with me
Oh, tiptoe from the garden
By the garden of the willow tree
And tiptoe through the tulips with me
Knee deep in flowers we'll stray
We'll keep the showers away
And if I kiss you in the garden, in the moonlight
Will you pardon me?
And tiptoe through the tulips with me
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