2012 - The Year of Austerity

2011 was the year that our politicians spent flaying the businessmen of this world in a truly Atlas Shrugged manner. They haven't, of course, done any real harm to all their cronies - the heads of corporations, bank CEO's, and other fascistic parasites who fund the political campaigns. The political action came down against the little guy. Taxes were raised, regulations were tightened, new cartels were created, industries were shamelessly nationalized. We all suffered from the increase and prices which resulted from these policies and from a high inflation tax. But I already sense a change in the wind for 2012. The new politically chic word is AUSTERITY. For the last few years it looked as if our thieving overlords were going to recklessly throw us down into hyperinflation. We have been on this road for quite a while. In 2012, however, there will be a change. Politicians would rather preserve the currency they have established (even in its weak and devalued form). Therefore I think they will begin all kinds of shenanigans in order to fix the system once again. They look likely to put interest rates up in order to preserve the currency. Any interest rate hike will, of course, automatically mean bankruptcy and default for most banks as well as most governments themselves. This is where the shenanigans will come in. I suspect the politicians will introduce some kind of measure which will prevent people collecting money owed them by governments and corporations. They will give some kind of ridiculously long term loans and perhaps 'freeze' debts of some banks so that bank runs are impossible and people cannot collect what is owed them. We have know for a long time that European and American governments are already in default - it is impossible for them to pay their national debts in uninflated money.
The other side of the coin will be a change in attitude. So far since the crisis hit in 2008 we have heard a lot about 'social responsibility' and everyone sharing equally in the suffering of the nation. This rhetoric was used to bully the free capitalists (not to be confused with government cronies like corporations and banks). Now in 2012 I think we will hear a lot more about the little man, the average Joe. The politicians will talk about the virtues of self-sufficiency and self-reliance. With this I suspect we will see cuts in benefits and welfare and well as additional tax hikes for middle and working classes. The state will thusly try to highjack the rhetoric used by anarchists and libertarians. This can be very dangerous because many who flocked to our cause may not leave, seeing as the politicians will now be chanting out slogans.
An important part of this process has already begun. We see that the image of the capitalist is being restored somewhat in the culture and media. Whereas the last few years were all about bashing innocent people who happened to make money, now we see the beginnings of hero-worship mysticism in the private sector. The most prominent example is Steve Jobs. The man is a modern day robber baron (this is what the left would call him). He is our contemporary John D. Rockefeller, our real life Hank Rierden. And yet the public and media seem to favour him. Another sign can be seen in movies. Lately a lot more films have included villains who came straight from the government and its bureaucracy. The upcoming film Iron Lady about Margaret Thatcher (the greatest woman of the 20th Century) seems to be an effort by the leftist-dominated movie industry to portray the Prime Minister as a woman, and not a bloodthirsty exploiter, as most people nowadays seem to characterize her.
So, as always, I advise constant vigilance. There is going to be a lot of new newspeak coming on in 2012. There is going to be more and more exploitation. Let's not get caught up in any possible positive aspects of the change, but keep on fighting the statists by any means possible.