This prediction was interpreted in August, 2011
Century X, Quatrain 81:
Treasure is placed in a temple by Western citizens withdrawn therein to a secret place, the temple to open by hungry bonds, recaptured, ravished, a terrible prey in the midst.
Interpretation with Explanatory Remarks
This prediction supplements Century II, quatrain 95, which predicts serious social unrest and bloodshed in the U.S. Century II, quatrain 95, was posted on this Website, http://CurrentPredictions.blogspot.com, on May 25, 2010 under the title “The Monster, Mayan Calendar and Related Prophecies for 2012”.
Century X, quatrain 81, describes a social uprising in the United States, during which the American people will revolt against the “wealth holders”/privileged class, and there will be bloodshed. Both predictions describe a violent social uprising and the forceful expropriation of property/assets by a hungry population, similar to what transpired during the October 1917 Bolshevik revolution or the French revolution of 1789.
It is important to note that the way these two predictions are worded they infer that the uprising could be identical in violence, motivation, and purpose to those of the October 1917 Bolshevik and the 1789 French revolutions.
General Comments:
Let us now examine this prediction to determine what he is actually telling us. The prediction will first be decomposed and analyzed, part by part. The second type of analysis and validation will be conducted on the potential relevance of what Nostradamus is telling us vis-à-vis current evolving socio-economic events in the United States. This will be done for the purpose of assessing the relevance of what Nostradamus is predicting as related to current evolving events.
Decomposition of Century X, Quatrain 81:
a. He tells us that the “treasure” will be placed in a temple and therein to a hidden place by Western citizens. The word “treasure” probably refers to private equity funds/assets, belonging to the super-rich.
b. The word “temple”, most probably, refers to banks/financial instruments. Nostradamus may have used this synonym because he may have felt that the super-billionaires cherish their money to such a high degree, money is their God. The use of the word “temple” as a synonym to “bank/financial instrument” is indeed relevant to the current time-period. It is descriptive of the current prevailing mentality. Banks/financial instruments are perceived as temples where God is worshipped. Money has become the ultimate goal of the ruling class. The pursuit of money has become the soul’s sole purpose. Isn’t his description befitting of the continuous growth of multibillion-dollar private equity funds?
c. The words “secret place” imply that when the “capital holders” realize what is about to happen, they will try to convert their assets into gold or probably into some type of currency for the purpose of hiding it. Nostradamus is telling us their action will not be successful.
d. The word “bonds” in Webster’s dictionary is described as “an attractive force that holds together the atoms, ions, or groups of atoms in a molecule or crystal”. Nostradamus’ use of the word “bonds” insinuates that these “hungry groups of people” will be bonded by a common cause. This is extremely important information he is giving us. He is basically telling us that the aggrieved groups will not be the usual “street gangs” that have been involved in previous street violence incidents. Street gangs don’t have a common cause. Their cause is usually an instantaneous opportunistic desire to loot, harass, and vandalize. Their actions are initiated by a police incident or perceived injustice that serves as a flash-point to widespread street violence. For this particular prediction Nostradamus’ choice of words infers an event, something like class warfare – identical to what happened in the French revolution of 1789 or the October 1917 Bolshevik revolution. Both of these revolutions were started by common socio-economic and political factors, such as extreme poverty and human suffering, grim living conditions, the depravity of class distinction, oppressive governmental control of the working class, and festering antipathy and anger against the political establishment and ruling class. In the case of the Bolshevik revolution, another critical factor was the extreme human suffering, misery, and loss of life that resulted from Russia’s war against Germany – a social condition similar to what our present society is experiencing from the many years of invading other countries.
e. He refers to “bonds” and describes them as “hungry”. These bonds are not the usual street gangs, but a hungry population motivated by utter desperation and hunger. The word “hungry” qualifies the context of this entire prediction. Isn’t Nostradamus here describing our deteriorating economic situation and disintegrating middle class? Could he be describing a population losing their jobs and their health insurance coverage, a population evicted from their homes, sustained by food stamps, and with no hope in sight? Could he be describing parents unable to feed and educate their children? Is he describing the plight of our brave men and women returning from the wars that were started for the sole benefit of the Defense Industrial Complex? Isn’t he describing an utterly dysfunctional and dispassionate government that has been the sole cause of America’s economic demise because Congress chose to coddle to the super-rich billionaires instead of looking after the true interests of their country? When Nostradamus refers to the “hungry”, is he alluding to the misery of those that had their houses foreclosed, those in tent cities and the homeless, or could he be alluding that economic conditions could actually deteriorate even more, to the point that the wrath of the public will explode into a public outcry for justice and rectitude? This is precisely the point I will examine in the second validation. Is his prediction doable? We definitely need to validate the probability that such a situation could actually materialize.
f. In his prediction Nostradamus refers to the treasure as “recaptured”. This insinuates that this treasure, assets, or property, did not rightfully belong to the “capital holders” to start with.
g. The expression “… a terrible prey in the midst” describes the ensuing bloodshed of the uprising. If economic conditions were to deteriorate, what is the expected reaction of a very-well armed and desperate population? Think about it? You be the judge.
Validation of the prediction vis-à-vis the current ongoing events:
I am fully aware that anyone who dares to predict a Bolshevik-type uprising and widespread bloodshed in the United States, a country which for many decades has been viewed as the bastion of democracy and the champion of human rights throughout the world, would, rightfully so, be considered delusional. But, could there be any merits to these predictions? I regret to say that, indeed, all current ongoing economic conditions point to what Nostradamus has predicted.
First, the validity of Nostradamus’ two predictions can be determined on the basis of current evolving, economic, political, and social, events. History tells us, time after time, that social upheavals are preceded by socio-economic and political discontent, insatiable demand for justice and rectitude, and pent-up anger against the ruling class. All of these ingredients are currently present and they are quietly but surely fomenting, ready to implode at the opportune time. What is missing is the catalyst.
The recent riots that took place in Great Britain in early August, 2011 started totally unexpectedly as a result of a purportedly unjustified homicide of a perceived under-class citizen by the London police. The riots, burning of property, vandalism, and looting, have been deeply disturbing to the British, especially so because they spread rapidly to multiple locations within London – as well as to other big cities such as Birmingham and Liverpool. In most cases the police was unable to cope with the multitude and abrupt violence that erupted as a result of gangs of youths roaming the streets, looting shops, harassing innocent pedestrians, and starting fires. Of course, similar violent episodes erupted numerous times in the past, both in our country, as well as elsewhere. Nostradamus’ predictions, however, describe a much more serious social uprising – one verging on total anarchy and a complete break-down of social order – identical to what took place in Russia during the October 1917 uprising against the Czar and the ruling aristocracy.
If such violence as the one in Great Britain could be provoked by a Rodney King-style episode, let us imagine the unintended consequences that could be provoked in the U.S. from a perceived prolonged social injustice perpetrated by our good-Samaritans on Capitol Hill, who persistently coddle to the whims of millionaires and billionaires. Regrettably, the persistent one-sided support of the capital-holders has ravaged the integrity of our economic system, to the point that the system has lost its intrinsic checks and balances and its elastic properties, which, under normal conditions, would periodically enable it to reach equilibrium between supply and demand. I will now address the pertinent issues that give validity to Nostradamus’ prediction.
a. First and foremost, contrary to what several well-known economists have consistently maintained, joblessness and the protracted recession in this country have the same roots as the economic problems Japan has experienced in the last twenty plus years. The causes are identical.
b. Both problems started with the migration of domestic manufacturing to foreign countries. Before the migration of factories to other countries both countries maintained an acceptable level of economic prosperity. Their debt deficit was manageable. As factories migrated, domestic labor incrementally kept losing jobs. This observation can be validated by the fact that as long as Japan produced its exports in mainland Japan, their domestic workforce prospered, and domestic demand was high. In fact, demand was so high, to the point their real estate prices skyrocketed, until the bubble burst. The bursting of their real estate bubble coincided with the starting point of their declining domestic demand. The same thing took place in this country with the exception that domestic demand was artificially maintained high for a few more years by skyrocketing real estate prices and home equity mortgages, until the balloon burst by the credit crunch in 2008.
c. Contrary to the fairy tales some economists expound, as long as jobs are allowed to migrate elsewhere, domestic joblessness in the U.S. will not only persist, but will gradually rise to totally unacceptable levels. Monetary liquidity and artificial stimuli cannot, and will not, create sustainable jobs, or provide long-lasting benefits to the domestic economy. In our current economic environment, government-induced jobs are temporary and inconsequential. They don’t produce lasting prosperity because the economic multiplier effect does not stay in this country. Government economic stimuli make other countries prosperous, but definitely not us. President Obama cannot create meaningful jobs. The government cannot create jobs by pumping borrowed money into the market. Such policies not only increase the national debt, but they also increase the trade deficit. It wouldn’t have been as bad if the debt were held by American investors, but this is not the case. The economic system is broken. It does not work. A workable economic system requires “supply” and “demand” to co-exist within its own confines of the system. A country needs its own manufacturing base. This idea of a free world-trade is a gimmick of the super-rich and of their profligate friends on Capitol Hill to enrich them. Congress has enabled the continuous transfer of wealth from the working class to capital holders, but this is eventually a self-destructive process. The current markets don’t work.
d. An economic system is fundamentally similar to an ecological system. In the case of an ecological system, if one introduces an alien fauna or flora species, it could destroy the natural checks and balances of the system that helps it maintain the required equilibrium. The introduction of the Asian Carp into the Great Lakes is a good example. An economic system has the same innate requirements. First, it must be a relatively closed/controlled system. The principle of laissez-faire, although it allows for a free capitalistic enterprise, nevertheless it requires certain checks and balances that would help it maintain the requisite balance between supply and demand within its defined working environment. Once we introduced other countries into our economic system, the economy was bound to suffer due to economic nationalism, currency manipulation, and/or low wage levels – factors which are beyond our national fiscal control. This is precisely what has been happening. This is the reason why job creation is beyond the government’s ability.
e. Joblessness and demand-destruction in this country will continue unabated, until we reach a level of total economic depression. None of the governmental interventions will amount to anything. This is because our economic system is fundamentally broken. Demand is primarily in this country, but the supply portion of the economic equation is in other countries. Therefore, federal stimuli are ineffective because the economic multiplier effect, which is so critical to the natural maintenance of economic elasticity and equilibrium, has been relocated to other countries. Every time the government goes into debt to create domestic jobs, the economic multiplier goes to the countries where the shoes, clothes, furniture, etc. are produced. This unintended consequence can be validated by the perpetual monthly trade deficit we have. This monthly trade deficit, in it-self, should tell us that there is something seriously wrong with the economic system. The monthly trade deficit is our thermometer. It constantly tells us that the health of our system is not good and needs our attention.
f. Contrary to what many well-known Wall Street financial managers maintain, American creativity, ingenuity, and technical innovations cannot, and will not, by themselves, resolve the growing domestic joblessness. Not a chance! The manufacturing process for new technological innovations will, once again, migrate overseas. Take a look around you and see all these gadgets that were invented in this country, but which are being produced elsewhere. The only potential beneficiaries in this country will be the top-level managements and the Boards of Directors of corporations. Nobody else. Not even the stock holders will see any worthwhile dividend increases. The majority of corporate profits will be divided among the capital holders as stock options, exorbitant salary increases, retirement benefits, bonuses, etc.
g. Several members of Congress have persistently maintained that higher taxes for the rich would reduce domestic demand and increase the level of joblessness. They claim that lower taxation would result in more domestic investments and more job-creation. Their argument is not supported by actual facts. The super-rich don’t necessarily start new companies. They buy-up weak companies, break them up, lay off personnel and reduce costs to the bone to increase profitability, and then resell the companies as “lean and mean”. Look at what private equity funds have done during the last twenty-plus years! This practice doesn’t create jobs; it increases joblessness. Furthermore, no logical American investor who wants to increase his personal wealth would necessarily invest money in this country. They would invest overseas. I mention the tax issue because higher taxes would have enabled the federal government to reduce its national debt, thus increase its potential safety margin for any future catastrophic emergencies, when the government may need to spend more money. Those Congressmen that have supported low taxation for the rich have, indeed, inflicted immeasurable damage to our country. They won’t realize the degree of the damage they have inflicted until Nostradamus’ predictions have materialized. The unintended consequences of their self-serving actions could indeed prove catastrophic.
h. The pertinent question at this time is “How did we let the economic system go broke?” The answer to this question was stated long ago by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, who purportedly said “The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.” This is precisely what has happened. So, what is the relevance of Lenin’s quote versus what Nostradamus predicted? Let’s examine the facts.
i. The economic situation in our country was doing quite well until Congress, corporate managements, and Boards of Directors came up with the idea of building overseas factories to reduce production cost and raise profit. Production costs for sure came down, and profits rose, but ironically, the main beneficiaries have been the capital holders and the good-Samaritans on Capitol Hill. We can attest to their growing enrichment by the very fact that some private equity funds have a greater capitalization than sovereign funds. To the best of my knowledge this condition did not exist anytime in previous times.
j. In turn, the above condition has gradually expanded the divide between the have and the have-nots, and income disparity is assuming critical and destructive characteristics. The influence of the rich has grown to such a high degree to the point politicians behave like their defense lawyers, resulting in a totally dysfunctional government. As a result, our economy is deteriorating because politicians refuse to take legislative action which may be contrary to the interests of their billionaire contributors.
k. This political affiliation with the capital holders resulted in an increased risk taking and “anything-goes-mentality to make more and more money”. Under proper risk management, risk and debt may be okay, provided they allow for an adequate margin of safety in case of unexpected events.
l. Recently, the Federal Reserve with other Federal Agencies has taken steps to increase the capitalization of banks. This is commendable. However, no matter how well banks are capitalized, and how well risk management is maintained, the fact remains that our overall economic system is broken. Therefore, our margin of safety for a catastrophic, man-made or natural event, is non-existent. And this is where Nostradamus comes in.
m. In several of his other predictions which I have already posted on my Website, www.CurrentPredictions.org, he tells us that around the end of 2012 the planet will experience serious tectonic incidents. These tectonic incidents could serve as the catalyst of the economic holocaust and bloodshed that Nostradamus is predicting.
n. Under the above circumstances many banks would become insolvent and close their doors. The FDIC would not be in a position to assist, simply because it is already broke. Depositors would not be able to withdraw their respective deposits. Borrowers would be unable to pay off their debts because many of them would have lost their jobs. Banks that have made questionable investments would surely suffer the most. Credit default swaps, like any other insurance, would be only as reliable as long as the promising company or bank would be able to pay. They serve as promissory notes based on current, but not future, credit-worthiness. In the case of a major catastrophe, the loss would undoubtedly have a serious ripple effect. The damage would be widespread and it could affect the entire social structure.
Under the above conditions, Nostradamus’ predictions could indeed be very relevant, and God forbid, doable. All those automatic weapons that Congress indiscriminately allowed to be sold like confetti, could come back to haunt them. We may hope that this day will not come, but if that day comes, hell could break loose. We now know why Arnold Toynbee, the famous historian, said “History repeats itself”. Revolutions will continue to occur, no matter what, because people repeatedly fail to learn from past mistakes. We have recently seen it in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. We see it in Syria, and some day we could see it in Iran. Let us hope we don’t see one in our country.
