as per

As opposed to the EU's declaration and promise of human rights, freedom and democracy, the EU-elite has proven to be a strong supporter of dictatorships in the very middle of EU. The case in point is Hungary, which is not a subject matter to get rid of by blaming it onto the burdened communist past of Eastern Europe. This issue should be in the very center of attention in all Europe, because the present Hungary signifies the future of Europe if they will continue ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. During the years after the collapse of the Soviet Union and having regained independence for 16 years, Hungary has been on the path of a peaceful democratic development and economical growth until the current liberal-globalist government has gained control over the country and destroyed its democratic economic-political-social achievements.
It is not coincidence that Hungary is the first to ratify the deceiving Treaty of Lisbon. Why? Because Hungary's current government is also a fraud.

In Hungary the current government seized power by fraud (the PM Ferenc Gyurcsany admitted himself that he lied about the state of the economy to win the last elections) and has kept power according to the definition of dictatorship: through intimidation, terror, suppression of civil liberties, and control of the mass media. Fatal injuries have been inflicted by extensive and bloodiest forms of police violence (similar to that of Burma); national holidays and all assemblies have been suppressed; the country lives in terror threatened by unlawful prosecution, political imprisonments, political murders, tortures, harassments and intimidation by a new KGB-like secret police, the population and the mass media is silenced or controlled by the government, the government spends tax billions on weapons to reinforce the dictatorial police to be deployed against the taxpayers, the EU-dictated genocide-equivalent "reforms" are forced onto the society, including increasing taxes and prices that has turned a well-functioning economy into lethal stagflation, dismantled the social security system and health care, closed schools and hospitals, reduced public transportation, and in effect, has inflicted an African-level poverty of millions in the middle of Europe.

This is what the EU considers "development, security, democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights"(???)

The EU has been informed in many ways of the above facts: that a new dictatorship has been established in the middle of the "democratic" EU, and as a result the Hungarian population is actually under genocide - in the meantime being replaced by massive invasion from other continents. This is unknown outside the borders of the country simply because the mainstream "official" media hide all real news about Hungary. The petitions sent to the EP representatives have been simply ignored, and in answer to the detailed reports on human right violations sent by civil associations of attorneys, the EU claimed that human rights are each country's private matter! (To demonstrate the EU's double standards, in the meantime Ms. Merkel claimed "We don't have the right to look away when human rights are trampled on" when commented on the human right violations in Africa.)

According to the opinions of academic experts and many honest politicians, the EU Treaty signed in Lisbon is in fact the EU Constitution - with only minor differences between the two. In the latter the emotional factors associated with the common anthem and flag are omitted, yet the Treaty gives up national independence on the most relevant issues such as foreign policy, labour rights, the common law and tax and social security systems. Since the EU-leaders and the Treaty itself claim the opposite of the truth, just to avoid the "dangerous" NO outcome of a repeated referendum, such an avoidance and misrepresentation of the truth constitute a fraudulent attempt to seize power over the citizens and nations of Europe.

In general: on what basis do the EU-elite claim that it is democratic practice to attempt to establish a supernational state over all citizens of Europe via clearly dictatorial methods and via mass-media control, - ie via a campaign that echoes only the opinion and interests of an insignificant number of politicians? Are dishonesty, fraud and lies parts of the EU's definition of democracy? Is the EU-leadership aware that electoral representation loses democratic legitimacy when the representatives turn against the voters' will? Do they realize that this is exactly what the current EU-leadership is doing?

I wish Everyone a Happy - still free and democratic - New Year, that is, WITHOUT the Lisbon Treaty!

I recall reading in the book Fanshen, in pre-Communist China one of the principal aims of work was to amass a pot of gold, literally, and bury it.  This had tragic consequences for the peasantry which were almost comical if they were not so sad.  I'm with Marcfrans on this one.  I'll take my cours force lumps, and like 'em.  Better management of the existing system is a much smarter path than going back to the gold standard.  For civilization to function, we all have to share certain illusions, even if deep down we know them as such.  The greenback and euro having value is one of them.

It is however true that a gold coin feels really good in your hand.

Full agreement with your arguments.

Besides the desire to return to the gold standard, there are also demands to restrict or abolish the ability of banks to create money or lend money that they do not have. It would be interesting to see the effect on the economy if plentiful and cheap cash is eliminated for stability. For some reason, this idea has never been acted on...

Gold is a limited resource. Our ability to do work increases over time because of technology and better productivity methods, and ultimately because of increases in population.

This implies that there will be less gold available to invest in every succeeding generation. As a result, few people who would possess gold would want to exhaust it on a work force that ultimately will decrease its value.

Unless there is a way to make or find more gold, our economies would probably collapse, or turn to other models such as slavery as methods to evade the expenditure of gold.

Perhaps a partial gold standard arrangement can be applied instead. A country should maintain a specified amount of gold as a minimum guarantee of its currency in conjunction with productivity as well as sustainability trends based on workforce characteristics.

As regards to the statement: -inflation is permanently and structurally a feature of paper currency economies- isnt that the same as saying: heat is a natural and permanent feature of an engine...which is ultimately the function of an economy?

So how do we reduce heat, or inflation in an engine? We reduce heat by changing the design and materials of an engine in order to burn more efficiently the fuel that is being spent. In fact adding too much fuel to burn may flood the engine, so that no work is done at all.

Too much money in a system encourages people to be less productive...create more debt and ultimately decrease the value of the money and decrease the ability of the fuel to to turn the engine over.

Hence, the extra fuel has to be sucked up by something. Perhaps that is why nations allow a large number of immigrants, since it is hoped that they suck up the access, making money more valuable,and expanding the power of the engine. Unfortunately this will work temporarily, in the same way a sponge would work, if immigrants are not working.

The problem lies in the fact that sponged up fuel is doing no work...work...meaningful work is what is necessary. What is meaningful work? Basically it is the production of goods or services that would make us willing to keep working for in order to attain or exchange them for food and commodities which we desire.(cyclical, but that is the idea, isnt it?)...The work has to also be efficient(focus on this later).

Ultimately making laws easier to allow small businesses to emerge helps the economy keep on running. Small businesses will suck up the money, thereby increasing its value, burn it to produce goods, and will be dynamic enough to sense the markets and change and cheap enough to allow themselves to be replaced by others..

Perhaps, large companies should begin to look at themselves differently.. they should begin to invest and finance various small businesses...ultimately making themselves a body of many and diverse small businesses...

"Analysts say that Denmark's adoption of the euro would have little to no economic impact. The Danish crown is tied to the euro in a very narrow band, which means that interest rates are effectively set by the European Central Bank."

Vicious lies.

Based on the EU's recent practices we might complete the Britannica's definition of modern dictatorship:
“Modern dictators usually use force or fraud to gain power and then keep it through budgetary and monetary control, as well as intimidation, terror, suppression of civil liberties, and control of the mass media.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

The EU’s primary weapon is the Euro. This is how the central EU-oligarchy can achieve full monetary and budgetary control over the EU member states. The common currency and common central bank creates a control that has an equivalent colonizing effect as military control, because a hostile central monetary and budgetary intervention will cause stagflation, which is a macroeconomic weapon for the central EU-elite to overpower whole nations and continents. Later on, in case there will be protests against the fatal effects of monetary dependence and because of the society’s impoverishment triggered by the centralized fiscal and microeconomic manipulation, the deployment of central military power and police violence should be expected. The EU’s strategic goal is to colonize all Europe and they use an Orwellian exclusive control over the mass-media to keep this goal hidden.

The current economic symptoms in the EU countries already show common signs and projections of the vicious cycle called stagflation. Stagflation is a centrally and purposefully inflicted macroeconomic malady, which, via the general increase of the costs of production, is evolving into a self-reinforcing lethal macroeconomical process. This means that increasing unemployment and high taxation will cause recession while the increasing prices will maintain a high inflation. Experience shows that at an advanced stage of stagflation all you receive from your government are empty promises, which will never be fulfilled. Later your government does not even bother making promises, it will use physical oppression. Once the Lisbon Treaty would come into effect, the EU will be your government irreversibly crippling your country as described above.

It is blatantly obvious that the goal of the current EU leadership is to obtain a position to rule all Europe, by violating our rights with lies and fraud, as they have already done so by signing the rejected EU constitution without our consent. Lying about the real effect and dangers of the monetary union under Euro is also alarming.

Denmark: say NO to Euro. All Europe, say NO to Lisbon Treaty: stop the ratification process. With the Lisbon Treaty your country gives up both macroeconomic and military independence. Our freedom and democratic future is at stake.

“Modern dictators usually use force or fraud to gain power and then keep it through intimidation, terror, suppression of civil liberties, and control of the mass media.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

1) One can always 'rely' on Amsterdamsky to use foul language, and then to proceed to make an uninformed (usually oneliner) comment.  It must have been that 'education' that he received in the Detroit and/or California public education systems (?).  Kapitein Andre take note, and do not think for one minute that too little public money was spent on Amsterdamsky's 'education'.  In his particular case, potential positive externalities involved in that "public good" are not noticable.  

2) The desire to go back to a "gold standard" is a form of primitive economic 'religion', it is a 'fetish'.  While there may be many things 'wrong' with the euro and the dollar, or any other currencies in the world, the fact that the price of gold fluctuates sharply, is not one of them.  Before 1971 the gold price was (officially) 'fixed' at somewhere around $ 35. After the move to generalised 'floating' exchange rates started, the price of gold rose to over $ 900 (in the late 1970's and early 80's, Jimmy Carter must have had something to do with it!).  It subsequently declined over the years to about $ 120, and today, it is up again to over $ 800.   So what?  Who cares, unless one has been 'investing' in sterile jewelry or bullion?

3) The proper economic goals for societies can be reduced to two kinds: goals of (1) efficiency and of (2) equity.  The latter kind have essentially to do with income distribution in society.  Any judgment in that regard will depend on ideology, and appropriate  economic policy methods will belong in the domain of fiscal policy.

So, the focus should be on 'efficieny' goals.  In practice that means that economies should be judged on the basis of how good they are at (a) increasing real (after inflation adjustment) per capita income, and at (b) how close they can get to 'full employment' of available resources.   

There is no theoretical reason why a gold standard would deliver better on these efficiency goals, than the current monetary systems of the euro and the dollar are doing.   And I doubt that economic historians could confirm that past 'gold standards' have delivered better on that score.  On the contrary, it would seem rather foolish to make "money supply" in the economy dependent again on the vicissitudes of a particular metal's availability (rather than on "money demand", i.e. in line with income-level-dependent transactions- and precautionary motivations of individuals).

This is not to deny that there are continually problems in the financial system of one kind or another, and excessive debt creation could be one of them.  These problems have to be tackled rationally, but there is no 'automatic pilot' that can guarantee rationality. For that, it suffices to go back and look at the 19th century more closely.  

Yes, state power can be a problem.  Hence, citizens have to control the state.  For that you need a democratic political system, and not a gold standard.   

"Looked at against the price of gold, however, the euro’s record is less impressive. In 2000, an ounce of gold cost about 260 euros. Now it costs over 550 euros. It is true that the collapse in the gold value of the dollar has been even greater (from under $300 in 2000 to over $800 now)"

Good observation.  Meanwhile our lying sack of shit government tells us inflation since 2000 is something like 2% when everyone knows prices have more than doubled.