Living in a smaller future - Federal Reserve reduces your standard of living

Today's 2% drop in the Stock Market, due to job weakness, and general fears, is caused by the devaluation of the dollar last year. Additional forces include the near constant drumbeat of media fear and talking heads talking ourselves into a recession.

The inflation of the currency (the reverse tax to keep the rich out of bankruptcy) is causing commodity prices to increase. As these basic commodities, oil, water, food, go up, the prices of other items increase. Additionally, the amount of disposable income is reduced, causing fewer purchases outside the core items to be made and producing fewer jobs and lower profits. This in turn, causes the bad news, and causes the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. Re-read the paragraph until the interest rates cannot drop any more, and we have a currency failure.

It's a common story for those economies who cannot stop borrowing money to fund basic needs. The Brazilian model is a great example of how you can get out of this loop. They broke off from the debt based borrowing from the world bank, reduced their need for foreign oil, and restablized their economy. Now, they are in good economic shape and can manufacture their own goods.

Because of the decisions of the Fed and the sub-prime insanity, we will be living in a smaller future. You can see the changes already. Our population continues to grow, primarily through immigration birth rates. Each of us is having to live on less, because with the increase in population and the decline of our currency, we have to spend more proportional money on basic commodities, leaving less for the investment into our economy.

Due to the devaluation of the dollar, we are slipping more into a third world banana republic. We export our resources and import critical commodities and finished goods from our enemies to survive. We export our technologies and ideas in exchange for cheap trinkets. It's the biggest fire sale since the Indians sold Manhattan to the Dutch.

We are seeing a sea change in our lifestyles compressed into a few years. Just two years ago, SUV and huge Hummers were the largest portion of the car industry. Now, due to increased oil prices due to massive currency inflation, we are seeing cars like the FourTwo Smart Car. Most the young are living in communal residences. Roommates, friends, pals, all living in a single place sharing the increasing burden of shelter. The single family suburban dream is just a fantasy for most them.

You are seeing this big push for "carbon neutral" lifestyles. That's a fancy marketing term for smaller lifestyles. The OLPC is a good example of the technology that will support this change. As oil drives towards four+ dollars a gallon, we will see more people ride scooters, bikes, and use mass transportation. Here in California, you are seeing more people walk because they cannot event afford that level of transportation. Nobody walks in LA, unless you cannot make enough to live on.

It's a smaller future for the people in the United States, due to the Federal Bank taxing us through devaluation of the dollar.

How do we deal with this change? We have to adapt to survive. The old ideas for financial prudence are going out the window. We have to look at our lives with the fact that the dollar is no longer a stable currency, it is a subject to the near constant devaluation and changes of the Federal Reserve.

There are two general ways to approach the problem. One I call "Mobile Lifestyle" and the second is "Turtling".

The mobile lifestyle concentrates on the elimination of stuff in your life, those things that tie you down to a specific location or industry. This is a lifestyle best suited to people without children or who are adapted to moving and living.

The second lifestyle is Turtling. Turtling is where you become self-sufficient in your current location.You remove yourself from the grid, reduce your dependencies on things produced outside your ability to travel in a few days. It most resembles the lifestyle of rural farmers in the 1930s, but updates it to today's reality of lack of space.

Welcome to your lessor lifestyle.