The Crash Course by Chris Martenson
The Crash Course is an online video course about the financial situation the US currently finds itself in. Chris Martenson explains how the money system in the US works, what role the federal bank plays, what inflation is, what the finity of resources means, and how all this together means we are headed for a disaster. He believes that the way we handle our money now, or more like the way the government and the banks treat money, is wrong and not sustainable.
To promote his beliefs and to create awareness of a situation Chris Martenson believes to be dire, he created a series of Youtube videos detailing the problems. The Crash Course makes for some very informative watching. The videos are numbered 1 through to 20, but 17 consists of 17a, 17b, and 17c, making it a total of 22 videos. Every video is between 5 and 20 minutes, most average about 10 minutes, all of them together are three hours and 23 minutes long. You can watch the course online (for free), or purchase the Crash Course DVD.
Buy the Crash Course on DVD
Chris Martenson is in his late 40s, and worked in the financial sector for over 10 years. So he knows a thing or two about it. He used to live in a big house with his family and maintain an expensive lifestyle. But then he realised the economy was based on a system that could collapse anytime. He sold his house and downsized. He now grows a lot of his own food, and tries to live more eco-friendly and more independently of the money system.
In the crash course Martenson explains the way the money system works in the US, and what its flaws are. He then explains the concept of inflation and what problems it causes for the big picture. Then he moves on to how we are all using up the natural resources a lot faster than nature can replace them. This cannot go on forever, so he addresses the need to slow down and look for alternatives.
The last video in the Crash Course is a good 20 minutes long, and goes into detail about what you could do. What strikes me is that it is more about what you can do to save yourself, than actions to prevent this catastrophe, or at least try to slow down the process. You would think after he is trying to stop a disaster, he would not focus just on individuals, but more on the collective as well. Like some tips on how to get your bank to take action as well. He does call on you to send his Crash Course out to everyone you know, and to educate other people on the situation as well. He would also like you to donate some money to him and his course.
Some of the tips are quite useful though. Like doing an assessment of your situation, and prioritizing certain aspects of your life. I think you should take some key points from this course, like be aware of the financial situation in general, and your own financial situation specifically.
Another point of criticism on my part is that the video mostly focuses on the US. Of course the resource depletion is a problem that applies to every country in the world, and inflation is quite a general term as well. But he only explains the US money system. I would have liked a bit more information on the rest of the world, or maybe even just the five biggest economies in the world. Is the way the US Federal Bank handles money unique to the US or is it the sae or similar in many other countries.
There are some good economic lessons in here, but I’m not comfortable enough with finance issues to give a solid opinion on the subject and whether Chris Martenson is right or not. Everything he says in the Crash Course sounds plausible enough, but if you want to go and watch it for yourself, and judge for yourself, here is a link to the course:
The Chris Martenson site also contains a lot more information, about the Crash Course, and about what you can do to help. There are references to a lot of interesting articles and some books. If you go over and half a look, please come back here and tell me what you think in the comments section!
