The Rats and the Bullet

Recently a friend sent me a link to a youtube video. It followed an investigative reporter into the heart of the Myanmar Republic where famine and oppression are the order of the day for the resident villagers. No question, the report disturbed me, yet I was struck by the similarities of what we’re going through here in America.

It seems a certain forest tree in Myanmar produces an overabundance of fruit about once every 50-years or so. During this overabundance (boom), the local rats gorge themselves and then reproduce geometrically – so goes the saying – like rabbits. However when the fruit is gone (bust), the rats then turn their focus to the villagers’ crops, devouring everything in sight. This cycle is followed by famine and starvation.

Isn’t this exactly what has happened here in America? We may not be starving yet but the rats are about devouring everything in sight? The Federal Reserve created our feeding frenzy. An overabundance of fiat money spawned Mal-investment of every kind. Homes & shopping malls were built, all upon the false premise that this consuming could go on forever. Books were written predicting the Dow would exceed 25,000 and now our economy is based upon the lie that consuming can by itself create wealth. Funds that should have been used in production (machinery that produce things) were instead consumed.

The art of thrift is now virtually nonexistent. Speculation is the only game left. Inflation destroys the reason for saving and thrift and as the destruction of the purchasing power of money accelerates, the only hope left is a throw-it-to-the-wind mentality – a roll of the dice to put your money someplace where you can hopefully hedge against inflation. That’s what spawned our real estate boom but like all false premises, sooner or later the gig is up.

Well we’re at the point where not much is left. The rats are about consuming our storehouses and when storehouses are gone the focus becomes mere survival. In Myanmar this takes the form of a four-day trek made by the local chieftain into India to purchase rice. After his purchase and with no beast of burden, the chieftain throws just one bag of rice over his shoulder and heads back on the mountainous trails for home. One bag is all he can carry.

These poor villagers are starving and yet unbelievably they are required to provide food for the government’s local military garrison. Wouldn’t you know, regardless of circumstance, the state still must exact its toll. The story gets worse.

While on a recent food-trek the chief was unable to deliver his tribute on time and when he returned an ominous message awaited him. It was delivered in a plain unmarked envelope and in the envelope was one item – a bullet. The message was so simple, so clear – pay up or we’ll kill you.

I imagined how the chief must have felt when he first received the envelope. What was going through his mind as he pressed it between his fingers and considered its content? Did his gut wrench and brow break a sweat when the bullet dropped into his open hand?

Yes it’s bad in Myanmar but in America many of us receive similarly packaged envelopes. Our local military garrison – the IRS, and the message is the same. Oh for us it may be a little more dressed-up, a little more subtle but it’s the same message – pay up or we’ll kill you. We’ll take everything you own, we’ll throw you in jail and if you try to escape, we will kill you. It’s really that simple and I’ll bet each of us who have received our own little “bullet” feel exactly as chieftain did – our guts wrench and our brow breaks a sweat.

At least in Myanmar the message is stripped of all pretence. At least it’s not shrouded by the pretence of freedom. Ultimately the result here in America is really no different than in Myanmar – oppression, impoverishment and even death for some. The rats are killing us.

Myanmar Documentary – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q08U21Bb4jc