[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('duke3522', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('sventvkg', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jack', 'A')bsolutely. Also sharecropping. In a few decades, I expect to see serfdom and - perhaps - chattel slavery again.

Unless someone wishes to argue that humankind has gotten kinder, gentler, and more compassionate in the last 150 years....

[duke3522]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('duke3522', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('sventvkg', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jack', 'A')bsolutely. Also sharecropping. In a few decades, I expect to see serfdom and - perhaps - chattel slavery again.

Unless someone wishes to argue that humankind has gotten kinder, gentler, and more compassionate in the last 150 years....

[Doly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('duke3522', '
')Now my hope is that given any situation where the corporations manage to get the Feds to enact some type of indentured servitude scheme that the local authorities and citizens will not allow such an obscenity to occur.

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('duke3522', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('duke3522', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('sventvkg', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jack', 'A')bsolutely. Also sharecropping. In a few decades, I expect to see serfdom and - perhaps - chattel slavery again.

Unless someone wishes to argue that humankind has gotten kinder, gentler, and more compassionate in the last 150 years....

[Slowpoke]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indenture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt_bondage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truck_system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debtor_prison

[bruss01]

Indentured servitude, perhaps, but likely institutionalized.

(see previous thread on debt here: http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic11316-0.html)

They will not come with tanks and guns to march people off to "slavery". They will simply create a financial incentive for the employers in a town (gradually, not all the same month or year) to "relocate" to somewhere like Mexico or India where people work for a pittance. Then they provide generous "emergency unemployment benefits" to help people while they're looking for work. Those weeks of looking for work become months, then years... a new administration promises to clean up the "unemployment benefits abuse" problem by making some kind of community service mandatory for benefits recipients. It pays next to nothing, but you get some free food every week and a dormitory to stay in if you need it because you're homeless. Eventually the Government's idea of "community service" will change from cleaning up parks and roadsides to piece-work on an assembly line, goods which are sold internationally and the proceeds go to service the National debt. You still get your 2 glops of rice a day and a cot at night, and will be glad to have a place to sleep out of the cold. The program will not be "mandatory" but good luck trying to find a job on your own, they now do that kind of work only in Mexico or India. You will participate or starve.

See my original thoughts on the new bankruptcy laws below:

******************************************************

Easy credit and liberal home equity loans are being made available right now, basically to anyone breathing who can sign their name.

Bankruptcy laws are being revised with much more draconian terms. Be sure that other laws of ever-more austere intent are to follow.

In the not too distant future, people will not have jobs/income with which to repay their debt. In fact, in the hyper/stagflation situation many see coming, people will be lucky to make the rent and by food, let alone pay any debts. Many will not be able to afford rent, let alone a first, second or third mortgage. Some will be forced to go into debt simply to buy food, believing that a brighter day will dawn, in which they will be able to repay their debt. But they will be a long time waiting, and each day they will find themselves deeper in debt, just to keep surviving.

IMHO - the powers that be are aware of all of the above. If their intention was simply to save themselves from monetary loss, they would not be liberally extending credit in view of the looming collapse. This leads to the conclusion that loss prevention is not the primary aim. People who are deeply in debt, who took home equity at the real-estate peak, spent it on bahama vacations and expensive "toys" will wake up one day to find that their house is only worth 1/4 what the mortgage is for, they've just gotten laid off from their job, and bankruptcy laws have been re-written to prohibit just shrugging your shoulders and walking away. They will be faced with an establishment that says "get a job, and pay your bills, or WE'LL give you a job..." - basically a legalized form of slavery. Those who resist will end up in the modern day equivalent of a debtor's prison. Perhaps this is what the FEMA camps are for?

This situation will result in the emergence of a hybrid of private enterprise and government - enterprise to provide labor and reap profit, government to provide structure and enforcement. This hybrid of industry and government is called fascism, which is one of the most efficient forms of national resource management. It is also one of the most ruthless regarding individual freedoms and rights. A time will soon come where in the judgement of many, efficient resource management will become more important to the nation's survival than nebulous concepts such as "freedom". Especially when one of the most essential resources will be labor.

The primary goal is control - confiscation of property and involuntary servitude for debtors who have no means to repay what they owe.

Under this system there will probably arise a distinction between two classes of citizen - the debt-free freeman, and the indentured corporate servant. The freemen will live wherever they like, provided they can pay all their bills, including taxes. The indentured class will likely live in dormitories/barracks adjacent to their work facilities. Freemen will participate in commerce - the indentured will be prohibited from participation in commerce - they will be permitted to neither buy nor sell. this is logical because they will have no money and no credit, all their "earnings" are spoken for to repay their debt. Never mind that their "work" only earns enough to pay their corporate masters for interest of their debt - and if they ever earned enough to touch the principal, the masters would simply raise the interest rate. (Pull out your credit card agreement - you'll see that they can change the interest rate to any amount they choose, at any time, for any reason. Scary, huh?) They will be served corporate and/or government sponsored meals in company cafeterias, wear standard issue uniforms, and have all the necessities of life but none of the niceties including freedom. And because the principal remains untouched, they will be serving a de-facto life sentence.

To diferentiate the freeman and the indentured in commerce, perhaps a subcutaneous RFID chip in the hand or forehead of each, along with some kind of visible identifier (like perhaps a tattoo)?

To my mind, this is an excellent reason to get out of debt, and stay out.

[oowolf]

Montana, which was for a long time one of the highest per capita income states, has been turned into a federal welfare fiefdom. For many young Montanans there is no future except the military.

[oowolf]

Montana, which was for a long time one of the highest per capita income states, has been turned into a federal welfare fiefdom. For many young Montanans there is no future except the military.

[The_Toecutter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')ou still get your 2 glops of rice a day and a cot at night, and will be glad to have a place to sleep out of the cold. The program will not be "mandatory" but good luck trying to find a job on your own, they now do that kind of work only in Mexico or India. You will participate or starve.