{"id":10336,"date":"2010-06-17T17:22:36","date_gmt":"2010-06-17T07:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/?p=10336"},"modified":"2010-06-17T17:22:36","modified_gmt":"2010-06-17T07:22:36","slug":"flat-earth-theorists-dumb-but-sneaky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/?p=10336","title":{"rendered":"Flat earth theorists – dumb but sneaky"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tLast year (May 2009) I wrote that Flat Earth theory returns – budget aftermath<\/a>. In that blog, I asked the reader to imagine the time when it was the mainstream view that the Earth was flat, representing an infinite plane. The view largely died at around 3 BC but there are still some characters out there who worry about falling off the South Pole. After all the Nile River runs for thousands of kilometres and drops barely a few feet over that distance which doesn’t fit well with convexity does it? We have been referring to the hysterical commentators and lobby groups who are seeking to undermine the use of fiscal policy as deficit terrorists. However, when I think about term it actually gives these characters too much credit. Terrorists are probably smart and possess skill notwithstanding that they are usually misguided. So we have decided to resurrect the term I used in that blog last year – flat earth theorists (FETs) – because that association more adequately captures how mindless they are.
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\nAs I wrote last year, the current attacks on the use of budget deficits and the arguments being used to justify harsh austerity measures just when the economy needs more fiscal support has about as much wisdom as those who believed that the Earth was flat. We are being told that we are leaving massive tax burdens for our children. We are being told that governments which issue their currency will have to default.<\/p>\n

Japan’s new PM is claiming they have run out of money, hot on the heels of the US President making the same declaration last year. Funny thing that – the US government is still spending. In Japan’s case, they are considering harsh new taxes to help them “pay” for their public debt and will revisit 1997 if they actually follow through on their misguided rhetoric.<\/p>\n

We also have the hyperventilators who think inflation then hyperinflation is just around the corner despite the directional tendency at present being firm towards the deflationary path. Never mind, they are buying gold. I hope they have some cash left over to pay their taxes.<\/p>\n

We are also hearing that the US’s is likely to compromise its national security because it will run out of money and will not be able to buy enough armaments. The obvious retort is that perhaps if they buy less armaments and stop hassling people around the world so much their national security might actually rise. But the main focus is this worry that the nation is running out money.<\/p>\n

So this strange and raucous collection of odd-balls – mainstream economists, politicians, conservative moralists, media barons, etc are making so much noise – that you would think we are all heading for the Armageddon – we are all about to fall over the edge!<\/p>\n

In May last year and again today I affirm that I am staying grounded! Here is the reason why.<\/p>\n

\"sphere_of_the_world\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I suggest the FETs all take a look at this picture which was reproduced from the 1550 edition of On the Sphere of the World<\/em>, which was a dominant astronomy textbook in Europe in the C13th and argued that the world was spherical.<\/p>\n

Even with this, so-called “scientists” still kept standing in rivers with telescopes and followed the path of boats to prove they didn’t disappear before their eyes. <\/p>\n

Clearly, a thorough understanding of the way planets form and the physics that govern their relationships and the empirical evidence that emerges from that understanding negates Flat Earth theory categorically.<\/p>\n

Equally a thorough understanding of the way modern monetary systems operate and the dynamics that govern the relationships between government and non-government and the overwhelming empirical evidence that emerges from that understanding tells us that:<\/p>\n