Text 30374, 139 rader
Skriven 2009-03-28 08:55:34 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
     Kommentar till en text av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
Ärende: How the US will split
=============================
Hello Roy,

On Thursday March 26 2009 11:53, you wrote to me:

 MvdV>> Electronic transfers are no more than the electronic equivalent
 MvdV>> of issuing IOU's. A system that heavely depends on trust. Trust
 MvdV>> that when push comes to shove the debt will be honoured.

 RW> Exactly. I made one of those transfers just last week. I bought pro-
 RW> perty along the shores of Lake Michigan and wired the payment thru my
 RW> bank to theirs. I got something tangible, while they got an IOU. ;o)

And it works because the seller trusts that the IOU from his bank will be
honoured when push comes to shove. Which in turn works because his bank trusts
that the IOU issued by your bank will be honoured.

Had your bank a history of defaulting on IOUs, the bank in Michigan would not
accept an IOU from your bank and the deal could not have been made that way.

 MvdV>> You say that when Texas splits off from the US, it will give
 MvdV>> the middle finger to those who want Texas to pay their share of
 MvdV>> the US national debt. Now how trustworthy is a country that
 MvdV>> just weaseled itself out from under their fair share of a 1000
 MvdV>> billion Dollar debt?

 RW> Weaseled? They take no part of the billions of tax dollars given away
 RW> by a government that has tripled the national debt. A debt that my
 RW> great grandchildren will be paying for, if Texas doesn't seceed.

Yep, that is in the game. The union is for better or for worse. By joining he
union, the government giving away those billions is the Texas  government too
and so Texas is responsible for its fair share of its spendings. If Texas
seceeds without paying that debt, it will be perceived as defaulting by the
rest of the world. And then you can forget about cross state electronic
transfers. Anyone selling something to a Texan will demand REAL money...

 MvdV>> Don't be surprised if those you trade with, refuse your IOUs
 MvdV>> and insist on the gold.

 RW> Actually, they will be less inclined to deal with a government who is
 RW> in debt to China for the next century,

There is that too...

 RW> than they will with a government who knows it's financial limitations
 RW> and has an actual 9 billion dollar reserve.

The rest of the world will not forget about Texas' fair share of the debt to
China. with or without secession.

 MvdV>> Could be that there is a niche market for US beaf.

 RW> In fact there is. Because US beef is much better than it's counterpart
 RW> from other countries.

"Better" is in the eye of the beholder.

 RW> The marbeling from the fat makes the beef tender and very tasty, while
 RW> South American beef if not so tender and not so tasty.

According to YOUR taste. Other may perceive the fat for what it is: FAT. In
this part of the world animal fat  is considered a health hazard.

 MvdV>> If so, the European fancy restaurants will survive without US
 MvdV>> beef. If not...well Europe will survive without fancy
 MvdV>> restaurants. No skin of my back.

 RW> That's what they said about taverns and bars too, when they outlawed
 RW> the sale of liquor. It didn't turn out that way.

Apples and oranges. Liquor is and never was a nice market. US beef is.


 RW>>>>> Your beef may be Argentinian, or it could be Texican shipped
 RW>>>>> via Aregentina.

 MvdV>>>> That would show on the record. As it is.. no US beaf on the
 MvdV>>>> shelve here.

 RW>>> It's usually kept in the cooler.

 MvdV>> Yep, om the shelves in the cooler.

 RW> Meanwhile, they keep corned beef on the shelves with the other canned
 RW> foods.

I am not talked canned food. I am talking fresh beef and the fact is that there
is no US beef sold in the shops and supermarkets in this part of the world.

 RW>>> I'm told it's the best there is.

 MvdV>> "Best" is largely a matter if taste. Often an acquired taste.
 MvdV>> So statements like that do not mean very much.

 RW> The snowbirds seem to think so, as they buy it before any other in the
 RW> supermarkets here. Being from the northern states where winter is
 RW> still raging, they have a better idea of the variety.

Conjecture...

 MvdV>> When I moved from the Netherlands to South Africa, one of the
 MvdV>> things I missed was the Dutch coffee. Compared to that what was
 MvdV>> sold in South Africa was terrible.

 RW> That's what I thought about beer when I went east of the Mississippi
 RW> river to visit relatives. The best they had to offer was Pabst Blue
 RW> Ribbon, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin brew. Along the way I'd stop and pickup
 RW> a case or two of Coors (yuck) for my BIL. In turn, he'd buy me some
 RW> Carling Black Label beer, a local brew that wasn't found west of the
 RW> Mississippi. Now I can't get what was my favorite beer brewed in the
 RW> northwest because it's a west coast exclusive. So, I no longer drink
 RW> beer.

You just have to acquire a taste for whatever you can get.

 MvdV>> So when one of my friends from The Netharlands came to visit
 MvdV>> me, I asked them to bring some Dutch coffee. And you know
 MvdV>> what... it was a bummer.  It tasets like nothing. apparently
 MvdV>> may taste had adapted.  Coffee is an acquired taste and
 MvdV>> acquired taste can be lost.

 RW> But it can also be re-aquired.

Of course. When I returned, I quickly re-acquired the taste for Dutch coffee.
But now I do I hardly drink coffee any more.


 MvdV>> Good for you, but there is plenty of refining capacity in
 MvdV>> Europe. We won't miss yours.

 RW> I doubt there's any US refined oil going to Europe anyway.

Probably not.


Cheers, Michiel

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