Gibberings CVIII: I've appeared in some cheap Eastern European porn mag

[Mental Kenny]

You realise that paper money isn't real Spade? It's just a voucher for currency. An IOU. It needs to be backed up by something (gold? I don't actually know too much about this tbh).

Mate the gold standard has been abandoned decades ago.

 

[parttime crackhead]

Had a listen to that stream, not my type of music.

I didn't think it would be lol. Doubt they're going to drop the latest Kaiser Cheifs hit into a mix

Mate the gold standard has been abandoned decades ago.

I knew that I knew fuck all about this lol. What's the score now then? It's still backed up by something real surely? Otherwise, like Spade has been saying, we could just print our way out of debt.

"£100,000,000,000,000 in debt? Oooft, bad one, better get down PC world & get some ink for the printer, it'll be a long night boys but Ferraris for everyone in the morning!!!"

 

[Mental Kenny]

I didn't think it would be lol. Doubt they're going to drop the latest Kaiser Cheifs hit into a mix



I knew that I knew fuck all about this lol. What's the score now then? It's still backed up by something real surely? Otherwise, like Spade has been saying, we could just print our way out of debt.

"£100,000,000,000,000 in debt? Oooft, bad one, better get down PC world & get some ink for the printer, it'll be a long night boys but Ferraris for everyone in the morning!!!"

To be honest mate, I missed most of my international economics lectures back in uni, I was at home doing ket. From the few that I have attended though, I feel that currency these days isn't backed by anything, that's why so many European countries, before joining the euro(Spain, Italy, Greece), were able to print their way out of financial crises. The solution was to devalue the currency to make exports more profitbale and print the fuck out of the local currency, major externality is a rise in inflation.

 

[YellowPolkaDotHalo]

TBH I thought there were a pile of gold bars in the Bank Of England somewhere. I'd be interested to know how it works too.

In breakfast news.. my lovely Mum just bought me some choc croissants round. So civilised.

 

[Myshkin]

The paper money is more real than the numbers on the screen that represent our bank balances though. Anyway the point is we are the creators of money so we (as a country / the world) shouldn't be in debt.

So after twenty-odd years and extensive world travel, you've finally come to the realisation that the system we live under is absurd and utterly counterproductive when it comes to serving the needs of the wider populace? Well done. :D

I was going to say 'the penny finally drops' but then I realised it would've come across as an awful pun.

I'm not an an economist by any stretch, and Gibberings isn't the place to explore this in depth really, but the whole financial system is built on debt and depends on debt to further its existence. The military-industrial complex is a direct consequence of this.

Banks wouldn't exist without debt, and essentially at the end of it all the whole shebang teeters on an empty promise. Essentially the only way to create more money is to create more debt. That's why when all those 'sub-prime' mortgages in the US proved to be unsustainable, the entire world felt the fiscal ripples.

 

[parttime crackhead]

It definitely used to be like that YPDH. I'm not even going to attempt to understand how it works now. It will be of no real use to me & it will definitely hurt my brain to think about it.

The debt thing confuses me now as well. I know that debt is flying about left right & centre but I thought that there must be someone/something that is owed the money. So thing X owes 10,000,000 thing Y owes 15,000,000 but there's got to be thing z out there who is owed 25,000,000. So it balances out.

Now I'm starting to think there's more debt than there is people/things owed money. Which doesn't make sense. Which I guess is kind of the point & why this system is pretty fucked.

Fuck this. I'm going to get stoned.

 

[brimz]

back yonder they had to hqave gold but this hasn't been the case for yonks .

Hence Quantitative easing . printing a load of currency to stimulate the economy . They did it last year i think

Edit

stillcan't find the Fuking Cold Chilling Cat . Begining to think he didn't exist . I have a Big Daddy Kane Album @ my Ma's gaff that was on Cold chillin when they had just been taken over by warner bros. I swear the cat is on it .

Have you got any Cold Chillin Recordings PT ?

 

[Ceres]

Debt is evil, I don't have any and am perfectly happy.

 

[brimz]

It Sure is Nasty.
I like the fact that i fuked up my credit rating forever it's one less thing to worry about . I shouldn't ever need a mortgage so it doesn't bother me . My current tenancy is for 99 years & i can swap if i want so i think i'm quite safe with that.

 

[Ceres]

not buying shit like iphones and 3d tv's helps a lot

 

[Myshkin]

Now I'm starting to think there's more debt than there is people/things owed money. Which doesn't make sense. Which I guess is kind of the point & why this system is pretty fucked.

Yep, you've pretty much nailed it.

Fuck this. I'm going to get stoned.

An appropriate response.

Debt is evil, I don't have any and am perfectly happy.

Glad to hear it.

It is indeed evil, and I find it utterly chilling that the ultimate aspiration and proof of your status as a 'stakeholder' in society (at least in the UK and the US, a few other places too) is the accumulation of a personal lifelong debt (or as near as) - i.e. a mortgage.

And that's something as fundamental a part of human existence as housing.

Ever get the feeling somebody's having a right old laugh?

 

[Ceres]

a mortgage is the only debt that's really justified and useful

 

[Mental Kenny]

It Sure is Nasty.
I like the fact that i fuked up my credit rating forever it's one less thing to worry about . I shouldn't ever need a mortgage so it doesn't bother me . My current tenancy is for 99 years & i can swap if i want so i think i'm quite safe with that.

I have bad credit rating too, great news is though, that according to international banking laws the sharing of information between banking/credit institutions is illegal unless you're under criminal investigation. Only reason I was able to open a bank account here in Oz. Can't legally open a bank account in either the UK or the US, have fucked up rating in both countries.

 

[Ceres]

It is indeed evil, and I find it utterly chilling that the ultimate aspiration and proof of your status as a 'stakeholder' in society (at least in the UK and the US, a few other places too) is the accumulation of a personal lifelong debt (or as near as) - i.e. a mortgage.

And that's something as fundamental a part of human existence as housing.

I don't think having a mortgage confers status, it's more just practically the only way to buy a house. I wouldn't like to go down the road of buying a shitty semi on some suburban new estate and having a wife and kids and 2 cars etc though.

 

[brimz]

I have bad credit rating too, great news is though, that according to international banking laws the sharing of information between banking/credit institutions is illegal unless you're under criminal investigation. Only reason I was able to open a bank account here in Oz. Can't legally open a bank account in either the UK or the US, have fucked up rating in both countries.

Cool good for you .
So like i said my credit rating in the U.K is useless . I'm only allowed a standard bank acct. no credit cards overdrafts this is fine by me .
Let's say i wanted to go to the states to stay woith my family would they be able to find out that my Credit Rating in the U.K is shite ? thus making it immposible to open abank acct. in the states I'm not declared bankrupt though & i do have a tidy bit of money stashed away that i can't access without the permission of My Mother & My Godfather. I'm pretty sure i could get a visa cos of family & also cos i have money to show that i ain't skint .
The only thing is my shite U.K credit rating .

 

[Myshkin]

a mortgage is the only debt that's really justified and useful

Useful? Maybe. Justified? I don't know.

I'm not criticising people buying a house - under the current system it's a 'sensible', prudent thing to do. I just have a huge problem with the idea of housing as 'property' and 'investment' - a commodity, basically. Rather than a basic human need.

We're only beginning to see the social fallout from that approach (as opposed to the economic) and at first glance it's pretty darn bleak.

I don't think having a mortgage confers status, it's more just practically the only way to buy a house.

You misunderstand me.

There's a definite distinction between 'homeowner' and 'tenant'. It's not the mortgage that confers status, it's what you buy with it.

You say "I've bought a house". You don't say "check out my crippling, life-changing debt I've just racked up."

 

[brimz]

Useful? Maybe. Justified? I don't know.

I'm not criticising people buying a house - under the current system it's a 'sensible', prudent thing to do. I just have a huge problem with the idea of housing as 'property' and 'investment' - a commodity, basically. Rather than a basic human need.

We're only beginning to see the social fallout from that approach (as opposed to the economic) and at first glance it's pretty darn bleak.

I nearly made the exact post as Ceres but then thought better of it as it doesn't apply to me.
I think this must be the worst time for decades to get a mortgage .

 

[Ceres]

Yeah I've just been lucky with housing, is easy to forget what it's like for other people. Currently looking for a house for myself as it happens.

 

[parttime crackhead]

back yonder they had to hqave gold but this hasn't been the case for yonks .

Hence Quantitative easing . printing a load of currency to stimulate the economy . They did it last year i think

Edit

stillcan't find the Fuking Cold Chilling Cat . Begining to think he didn't exist . I have a Big Daddy Kane Album @ my Ma's gaff that was on Cold chillin when they had just been taken over by warner bros. I swear the cat is on it .

Have you got any Cold Chillin Recordings PT ?

I don't really have any physical CDs or records these days man. Just a fuckload of MP3s. All my physical music when missing years ago, lost in moves, loaned out & never given back etc, other than a few CDs that my step-dad claimed (funnily enough, NWA's Greatest Hits was one of them haha).

Just having a look at the Cold Chillin back catalogue I don't really have much at all, even in MP3, some G-Rap & little bit of Biz Markie. I'll need to sort that today, can't believe I don't have more than just a few Big Daddy Kane tracks. I'm sure my MP3s are deleting themselves.

That reminded me, I've actually seen Biz Markie live, with Shante as far as I can remember. Kane was meant to be there as well but he shat it at the last minute, so Biz did a good few hours DJ set after the proper show. Basically turned it into a club night after a gig, it was tremendous. This was only a few years ago as well (well, maybe near enough 10 now tbh).

 

[Mental Kenny]

Cool good for you .
So like i said my credit rating in the U.K is useless . I'm only allowed a standard bank acct. no credit cards overdrafts this is fine by me .
Let's say i wanted to go to the states to stay woith my family would they be able to find out that my Credit Rating in the U.K is shite ? thus making it immposible to open abank acct. in the states I'm not declared bankrupt though & i do have a tidy bit of money stashed away that i can't access without the permission of My Mother & My Godfather. I'm pretty sure i could get a visa cos of family & also cos i have money to show that i ain't skint .
The only thing is my shite U.K credit rating .

No. Unless you're under formal criminal investigation, if you go to the US, walk into a bank to open a bank account, they will do a check, but the check will only cover US jurisdiction, so if you have bad credit history in the UK, you will be fine.

I was quite concerned coming here that I wouldn't be able to open a bank account, but I managed to, and I've read quite a bit on the subject.

The thing is that even the same banking institutions don't share information with branches overseas, so if you were to owe HSBC money in the UK(like me), you'd probably be fine opening an account with the same bank abroad. There's quite tough privacy laws, unless you're under investigation for tax evasion/terrorism financing/money laundering you'll be fine.