Glenn Beck, psycho huckster

[marmar]

from Grist:



As end times near, Glenn Beck peddles ‘food insurance’ kits
by Tom Philpott

11 Nov 2010 1:16 PM


In spring 2008, Wall Street was mired in crisis, food prices were rising briskly, and gas was selling near all-time highs. I noted that a bit of Chuck Norris-style "The end is nigh!"-ism seemed to be creeping into popular culture, which prompted me to write a blog post called, "More than peak oil or financial crash, I fear angry men armed to the teeth."

My point was that in hard times, the real path to survival isn't private caches of guns, ammo, and canned food. It's robust public institutions, diverse and plentiful food sources, and vibrant communities.

Predictably, my musings inspired some backlash. After carefully mulling my arguments, a writer on a blog called Notes from the Bunker concluded, "Still and all, the article makes me wanna go over there and kick the guy in the ‘nads." Back in the comments section of Grist, a reader cheerfully predicted that "Tom will die, and probably be eaten by all the people in his commune that don't know how to provide for themselves outside of going down to the local store that 'magically' restocks itself every day."

Well, so far I have survived, and even avoided physical attacks from angry survivalists. I innocently assumed that the doomer strain in pop culture subsided with Wall Street's revival and the easing of gas prices. But now I find that survivalism is more mainstream than ever -- Glenn Beck is evidently flogging it on his Fox News show, which commands some 2 million viewers. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.grist.org/article/food-2010-11-11-as-end-times-near-glenn-beck-peddles-food-insurance

[lpbk2713]

1. Lonesome Rhodes.

Just like what KO calls him.



:rofl:

[Initech]

2. Glenn Beck is a snake-oil salesman, nothing more.

[spin]

3. Glenn Beck is a member of the Mormon Church.

Reasons for Mormon Food Storage

LDS leaders have historically been careful to signify that the emphasis on emergency preparedness and food storage should not be interpreted as the prediction of a specific impending disaster. Rather, president Hinckley compared it to fire insurance on a home: "We hope and pray that there will never be a fire. Nevertheless, we pay for insurance to cover such a catastrophe, should it occur."

Food storage can be helpful not only during natural disasters, but during times of unemployment or personal financial crisis or even when a necessary ingredient for dinner goes missing in the cupboard. Stored foods can also be shared with others in need if catastrophe strikes.

As part of the LDS push for self-reliance and preparedness in spiritual and temporal matters, Mormons are taught to store three months of common food items and one year of life-sustaining staple foods. Though Mormons are free to ignore this advice if they wish, the prophetic advice to store food at home is believed to be divinely inspired.
http://www.suite101.com/content/why-do-mormons-store-food-a284336

As far as Beck's advise to buy gold, buying gold is an excellent hedge against inflation. There is some truth in that statement. I wish that I would have bought some gold back in 2000 as it would have helped to prevent some of the losses from my 401k.

Super-rich investors buy gold by ton
GENEVA | Mon Oct 4, 2010 1:13pm ED

(Reuters) - The world's wealthiest people have responded to economic worries by buying gold by the bar -- and sometimes by the ton -- and by moving assets out of the financial system, bankers catering to the very rich said on Monday.

Fears of a double-dip downturn have boosted the appetite for physical bullion as well as for mining company shares and exchange-traded funds, UBS executive Josef Stadler told the Reuters Global Private Banking Summit.

"They don't only buy ETFs or futures; they buy physical gold," said Stadler, who runs the Swiss bank's services for clients with assets of at least $50 million to invest.

UBS is recommending top-tier clients hold 7-10 percent of their assets in precious metals like gold, which is on course for its tenth consecutive yearly gain and traded at around $1,314.50 an ounce on Monday, near the record level reached last week.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6932NR20101004

I'm not really trying to defend Beck but to point out that it isn't surprising that a Mormon has a stock of food and thinks it's a great idea. My step dad and my mother converted to the Mormon faith and they had several freezers filled with food and many shelves loaded with canned goods. I never could understand the reason for the freezers as they lived in Florida and could have suffered a strike from a hurricane with the possibility of a lengthy power outage. They would have suffered a considerable loss of money when the food in the freezer thawed. Surprisingly they never lost power for any length of time.

But my personal experience has shown me that it is wise to have some food, water and supplies stored for emergencies. Also firearms can serve a purpose in the aftermath of a hurricane when the police can't make it to your home and you are on your own. In general most people help each other in such situations, but there are always those who take advantage of an emergency to commit crime.

I do agree that "robust public institutions, diverse and plentiful food sources, and vibrant communities" are important to a smoothly functioning society. To that you could add honest institutions that are tightly regulated to prevent the greed we recently witnessed from Wall Street and our banking system. It would also help if the people we elected to Congress represented us and not the big multinational corporations.

I have no crystal ball or ability to predict the future. I do know that there have always been survivalists in my lifetime. So far none of their "end of the world as we know it" predictions have come true. While it's always wise to be prepared, you can carry it to an extreme.