Bankster Shills

The thing I love the most about this blog is that the contributors are a collection of very different individuals, with very diverse views. I think it's fair to say that we're all generally bullish on the PMs, and that we have declared positions in gold and silver, but apart from that our only unifying trait is that we love debate, getting to the heart of the matter, and seeking to dispel myths and shoddy thinking as often as we can. If we see something we disagree with, we probe and challenge - including our fellow contributors' views.

Unfortunately, this approach has done little to endear ourselves to certain quarters of the PM community. Although that's a shame, it's perhaps understandable given that we're often a bit cheeky and polemic (or just good old-fashioned devil's advocates). However, what is less understandable is how a brand new PM meme has started doing the rounds: i.e. that the Screwtape Files is a fully paid-up psyops front for bullion banks.

The abuse in some parts of the blogosphere has been predictably banal and depressing, spiked by Brian O'Flanagan's recent question about the relationship between ZeroHedge and Sprott's PSLV. Here are a few of my favourite recent comments about Screwtape, taken from a number of sites, including ours (the asterisks are my addition, for those of a nervous disposition):

Tyberious: Those little piss ant, SLV, GLD, c*ck suckers[...]What the f*ck! They shall have no quarter here![...]I know these guys a paid shills for JPM, or whatever banks' d*ck they suck! Look nothing against homos, but these guys are whores! For all those that are new, these guys (KID D*CKINMYASS [sic], and butt buddies) pray on the ignorant and pretend that all is well, like there is no manipulation in the PM markets, that SLV and GLD actually have the metal they report to have and they attempt to spread misinformation and worst of all they f*cking do it for money!

PaidInFiat: Jeanne, eat a d*ck. How's that for an explanation? [and, later] Jeanne darc, gobble a donkey d*ck, you elf.

Silver Stacker: I don't doubt what you say, but I don't believe it either. It equates to me stating that the contributors to this blog like to suck each others d*cks and blow loads in each others faces.

Bay of Pigs: They are useless tools on gold or silver, IMO. Better off to ignore them. They have deadpanning gold and silver and supporting the MSM status quo since I can remember. They don't acknowledge anything being wrong/corrupted in the markets (especially the COMEX).

Green Lantern: That must be where the trolls go after they have finished flaming Turd on the main blog. I guess they need a place to wet their whistle also. From simply a journalistic point of view, did you notice that his entire blog is dedicated to flaming individuals/sites and point of views and rarely puts forth his own world views?

Ledbedder: Looks like the boys and girls at the other blog are green with (fake gold) envy.They think because they write "articulately" that they can fool some folks. Go right ahead, try. I honestly do not know anyone that can make an argument against the PM's not going higher over the next few years. Yes, 2011 wasn't their best, but look at the 10 years before that. Guess a decade isn't enough data to go on. That was my roughly written 2 cents as I didn't get a degree from Brown or HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAvard. One last thing, look down your noses at us because we type swear words, who cares? Tell us you don't let out a good "F*CK" when you bang your shin on the coffee table. Liar.

SGS: Yeah. These morons, especially kid dynamite [sic] are part of a paid JP group to discredit us.

Anonymous: Screwtapefiles is just a front site run by the Bankers. Zero credibility there.

Anonymous: screwtape has zero credibility. The people authoring there have been exposed and countered many times before. It's a site of the banking shills, by the banking shills and for the gullible.

SGS: Dont come back here. You realize that I know who you are now. My tech seems shitty on the front end, no[t] so bad on the backend. You've been warned.

Lovely. What is very striking about such posts (and there are many more) is the level of visceral hatred for those who do not necessarily share their world view or - more importantly - the world view of their heroes. It is also hard not to pick up on a certain amount of deep-seated auto-erotic tension, which I imagine would be better released in a more amorous rather than aggressive way - but I'll leave that train of thought to the psychologists.

However, what is utterly conspicuous by its absence is any attempt to engage with the question at hand, to refute it through evidence, or to present a coherent counter-argument. Responses are limited to either "you're a c*ck sucker" or "you're a bankster shill".

Now that's a bizarre approach. Let's say for a moment (for the sake of argument) that they're right, and the only things we love in life are violent oral sex and getting fistfulls of dollars from JPM. How, exactly, does that refute the facts we have pointed out, or answered the questions we've posed? It's simply a diversionary tactic to avoid answering the difficult questions. So we are forced to ask: why would such diversionary tactics be used by certain elements of the PM blogosphere? If what they say is an open-and-shut case, why respond with abuse and allegations, rather than simply presenting their evidence and explaining their reasoning?

It is obvious to anyone who has ever read Screwtapes that we are not paid up Bankster Shills. We all give our time free to this site, despite us all having extremely busy day jobs and family lives. You will notice that there are no adverts on this site, and there is no donation button either. We make not one penny from this site by any means. We strive to hold the highest levels of integrity, and make full disclosures when necessary.

Sadly this cannot be said for other elements on the web. Some sites earn serious cash from their traffic, and others have direct links to those with a corporate interest in promoting precious metals. Not all sites - and I want to stress that. There are good guys out there. But suffice to say that the supposedly 'independent' content and advice peddled on certain PM sites is often as partisan and sponsored as that which emanates from certain parts of the MSM about which they scream foul on a daily basis. Corporate shills by any other name. I will expand on some of these themes in future posts.

Most of us are long the PMs, and most of us accept that there is a degree of manipulation in the PM markets. But we refuse to subscribe to the cartoon version of evil empires and wicked witches; a world of Zionist plots and farting bears. If a claim is made, such as Sprott's delivery problems or DSK's imprisonment at the hands of the Cartel, or a problematic gold bar in a vault, then we will investigate it. If we find it to be true, we say so. If we find it to be false, then we say that too.

This refusal to blindly accept all we're told, or to unthinkingly cheerlead the latest silver memes does not make us 'anti gold' or 'anti silver'. It does not make us 'perma bears'. And it certainly does not make us Bankster Shills. We value your comments, and we want you to challenge us (politely). If shown the evidence we will change our views on the spot.

We are beholden neither to the banks and Wall Street, nor to those with an interest in selling as many coins and bars as possible.

And it is that which makes us the most independent PM site on the web.

The Detail is in the Devil

[Post from Warren] I HAVE a compulsion of explaining how it came to be that I located the file presented here. For those who always suspected there was something devilish about the modern world of finance, it should come as no surprise to find that Screwtape is back and well entrenched in his nefarious schemes. I am generally surprised at the lack of computer literacy – i.e. how entities engaging to deceive an entire global population should be dumb as to leave a files directory open to the internet without password protection. I suppose it demonstrates the new pressures in modern spiritual warfare, the apparently new time-stresses which let things fall through the cracks.

---

From: Screwtape Srs. (SSDF);
Sent: Monday, 14 February 2011 9:02 AM
To: wormwood;
CC: Internal Recruitment (SSDF);
Subject: Welcome Aboard!

MY DEAR WORMWOOD,
The news of your promotion is mixed with feelings of intrepidation. On one hand the recognition of your recent achievements for Our Father is impressive yet at the same time my disgust is kindled by memories of the failure of your namesake. Should you fail in your mission as he did, you will undoubtedly suffer the same fate. Those fragments of the former wormwood I kept for my own amusement, should you ever need a reminder of the price of failure.

I must now divert your attention to the new ways in which matters are conducted here. Bringing these matters directly to hand, it can scarcely escape your attention the huge quantities of the human race. This is both a blessing and a curse to our kind, for at once the bountiful chorus of suffering and misery which we harvest, gives way to the massive task of administering this hapless rabble. There is now but one demon for every hundred souls, a fact hidden from you in your earlier duties. This deception was deliberate and necessary lest your focus stray from the task at hand but now is the time to step up to your new responsibilities.

The techniques by which we in our department manage the affairs of men must now be taught to you, a privilege which I Screwtape have been tasked with. You will know the very terms of any failure in stark relief. As I report directly to my superior, he reports directly to Our Father himself. For this instruction you must pay close attention. The human race have come to spend their energies pooling together their collective thought and as this intensifies so do we lose much ground. Quite simply, they must be kept in the shackles of their own ignorance, which for the most part is abundant.

I shall boast of our advances in the techniques of oppression through the means of tainting their very lifeblood; by this I mean the interference with what the humans use as money. We have – by means of various agreements – made much progress in this area. And how beautiful a thing it is; for a human may now spend his entire amphibian existence in ignorance, his productivity being bled without his knowledge, by his fellow man. How we thrive on the hopelessness this generates, while all the while collecting the avarice of those who do the exploiting. For if a man is kept busy to simply put food in his mouth, it becomes entirely possible for us to guide him from the cradle to the grave without so much as an afterthought into what may lie beyond that point. For an entire century we have tuned the efficiency of this system that we reach a very large percentage of the populace with very little effort. We have nearly perfected these methods in our orchestra of agony. Fear and greed grease the way for the hierarchy to exploit his fellow man and he may do so at a distance, not personally subject to the pain felt by another of his kind. The experience serves to numb his consciousness so that when he presented again with the same opportunity he can be easily led to continue the instincts of his primal nature above any other thought. From this foundation stems much constructive opportunity. At a hundred paces it is possible to destroy a wholesome and productive small business, tear a family to shreds, plant the seeds of depression, cause a woman to rent her body for no other reason than she feels she has no choice, and above all, to encourage all manner of malinvestments. This wasted capital snares the soul in its own perverted way and causes further delicious spiralling repercussions. The present system runs remarkably well — finely tuned to our benefit and we have no desire to see it lost.

This of course, brings us to your assignments, which you have been briefed on but possibly do not comprehend the gravity of. Put simply, these advocates and their ideas must be silenced, either through ridicule or direct attack. For humans to have possession of a true store of wealth will simply undo much of our work. Once a man feels secure and confident in his financial matters he naturally starts to explore his origins and nature and that is where so often the Enemy lies in wait, stoking the fires of his curiosity ready to divert him from the plan our Master would have for them (such is the despicable design by the Enemy and our only recourse is to pervert and distract).

So my dear wormwood, you see the stakes in this operation. Your failure would be as dear and delicious to me but you must not disappoint – to that end I look forward with grisly anticipation to your field updates. I will send to you as much information about our global operations as I am permitted to divulge and in the meantime I expect your initial instructions are already underway.

Your affectionate uncle
SCREWTAPE