Damon Vrabel stopped being a public

activist in early 2011.

Here is the last post he made on his blog:
Several people have asked why I stopped publishing. To answer the question, this will be my
last post:
1. As Bill Clinton basically said when asked why his administration had been so favorable
toward China after beating up Bush in the campaign about it, sometimes we dont know what
we think we know until weve jumped into the ring.
2. One reason I did jump into the ring was to run my own direct test to determine (a) whether
change is possible, and (b) what people really want. I planned a 1-year test from the point I
initially started publishing, but it took less than 9 months to conclude:
a. Change is not possible through journalism, the media, or online debates. Plus, as Chris
Hedges says in Empire of Illusion, at this point it is impossible to bridge the divide between
a literate, marginalized minority and those who have been consumed by an illiterate mass
culture.
b. As I said in previous articles, IF we participate in the system, Im not opposed to it at all.
How could I be? Id be a tyrant if I wanted to force hundreds of millions of people to change
their behavior. And the fact is, that IF was answered long ago. We Americans have chosen
the material benefits of being managed by the financial system for generations. We like
demand-side freedom, i.e. choosing between Coke and Pepsi, but dont want supply-side
freedom. We like the supply-side to be taken care of for us. We love the benefits that come
from it being imperially runthe credit card always works, the gas station is always open,
our water faucets and light switches do what theyre supposed to do, the markets keep going
up (oopsmaybe not). All of our economic needs are outsourced to others, so we have the
luxury of spending our time pursuing wants. And if these types of benefits are good for us,
theyre good for the rest of the world. We have no moral authority to stand opposed just
because were now going to lose our privileged positiona rather childlike perspective.
3. Given #2, my only wish is that the system would be transparent. Like Carroll Quigley, I see
no rational reason not to inform people so there are fewer caught on the wrong side of the
tragedy and hope dialectic. That was the purpose of my last videoto simply explain whats
happening with a slightly different twist than the others who have described the same basic
system.

4. Putting all blame on the top of the system is biased and psychologically immature. Labeling
a group all bad is an example of splittinga primitive defense mechanism we tend to use
to maintain an illusion of all good for ourselves, our country, our political party, etc. Some
of my articles and videos intentionally played the splitting game because the media is
designed to exacerbate splits, so if I wanted to pursue media work, I needed to play the game.
But splitting is very harmful to society, so I will no longer do it. Moreover, as stated in #2,
almost everyone contributes to the system so blaming only the top would be disingenuous.

5. Given human nature and the inherent requirement for empires to grow (or die in defeat
to another empire), we will have one type of imperial system or another as long as humans
are in charge. All such systems are narcissistic in form, so its futile in my view to argue
between different forms of narcissism.
So I will not be publishing anymore, at least with the narrow focus on the financial system.
Its an illusion to think arguing about finance, economics, and markets will fix anything. But
for those who want to continue learning about the system, I recommend Catherine Austin
Fitts. Ive said nothing more than her. In fact, I learned it from hershe was an insider, I was
not. I borrowed the phrases multi-generational wealth and huge pools of capital at the
top of the system from her. Noam Chomskys phrase is coalitions of investors. Same
thingIve revealed nothing new.
I also recommend Hedges Empire of Illusion for those who want to dig more into the
spiritual and psychological dimensions of the situation in which we find ourselves. I agree
with him, The world that awaits us will be painful and difficult. Its useful to accept and
adjust to this inevitability rather than wishing it away or being angry about it. There is no
way around it because the ruleset weve lived within for decades was not sustainable. It
depended upon exponential growth, exponential debt, exponential resource consumption,
and exponential environmental impact.
As the world goes through a necessary reset of the rules, we will experience significant
upheaval. I recommend Chris Martensons material at http://www.chrismartenson.com to
understand the exponential ruleset and to dialogue with an enlightened community taking
steps to minimize the upheaval for their local communities. That is the only prudent option
at this point.