Customer Reviews

Crash Course by Chris Martenson

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Please don't buy this DVD if you wish to continue blithely on in your current way of doing things, without regard to how the future is likely to be radically different from the present. This documentary, a 3-hour information download of immense proportions, will eviscerate your conceptions of reality, growth, money, and energy. This is probably the most important film you could watch this year, or next, or the next... and if you wait any longer than that, you might be in trouble.

The Crash Course opens with an in-depth discussion of our monetary system, as well as important concepts like the exponential function, debt, and growth. What really brought it home for me was the chapter on US government statistical manipulation. As a practicing urban planner, I hadn't realized till then how much faith I'd placed in the honesty of those statistics (like GDP, CPI [inflation], the unemployment rate, etc.). For example, despite the fact that the "official" unemployment rate, circa November 2009, is reported at just over 10% in the US, there's good reason to believe the actual unemployment rate to be north of 20%. Oh, and did you know that our economy has been in a prolonged recession/depression for the past 10 years, of which the current "recession" is but the second dip? I've watched this chapter several times since that first viewing, and double-checked his information elsewhere. Very disturbing.

Go to [...] to see the chapter listing and to read more about the Crash Course and its creator, Chris Martenson. (I wasn't paid for this, I just think the Crash Course is really important! To prove it: you can go to that link and watch the entire DVD online for FREE, as well as the much-shortened 45-minute version, although it obviously won't be as convenient or comfortable as in front of a TV.)

If you agree with Peter Schiff, Gerald Celente, and others concerning the cliff our economy has just driven over, then you really need to watch this video.

I've watched this twice now. I can't say I've "enjoyed" it (after all, consider the subject matter) - but I've never seen anything as clear and well explained as this video.

It is a bit long, but that's because it's absolutely packed with information. And from start to finish, the information is presented clearly and with lots of easy-to-understand examples - it's easy (and not boring) to follow it all the way through. He speaks to the average person - not over your head like so many other financial experts. He actually makes financial information interesting.

One thing that I appreciated is the un-emotional way he presented the information. Also appreciated that he's very clear to notify you when something is his opinion - and I think he only states his "opinion" 3 times throughout the whole video.

Highly, highly recommended. I've already written to all my friends telling them to watch this, and thought I'd post here as a follow-up.

As the other reviews state, this is a must-see video presentation that will blow your mind. However, if you don't want to spend the money on a physical copy, you can always watch the Crash Course for free from Dr. Martenson's website / YouTube channel.

Although aware of most of the topics covered I was really impressed at how well they are weaved together. It is not a documentary. It is a course.
It is without a doubt the most important work I have seen. It is real, now, relevant and personal.

This is a truly exceptional video. It does an amazing job of explaining our economic problems in a clear, concise, easy to understand, and interesting way. Most importantly, you will learn why, with our debt based monetary system, hyperinflation is inevitable.

The Narrator and author of The Crash Course has also recently published a book with the same title. It, too, is excellent and is goes into much greater detail than the video. (By the way, you can view this DVD for free on the author's website, ChrisMartenson.com .)

Basically, The Crash Course (book or DVD), in a very compelling way, makes two fundamental points. First, that our present rate of consumption of oil, when correlated against an increasing world population and increasing demand from the industrialization of third world countries, is simply not sustainable. In fact, it appears that we are currently at the precipice of there not being enough oil to meet the demand. And, when we go over the cliff, our standard of living will be diminished overnight. (Imagine having to spend 50 to 70% of your income food and gasoline.)

The second fundamental point made by the Crash Course is that our debt based monetary system must inevitably end with hyperinflation. The reason is that each year, enough new currency must be created to pay the interest on all of the previously created debt. As a result, there is an exponential increase in the money supply. It is like putting money in a savings account and letting the interest continue to compound year after year. For many years, your bank balance grows very slowly. But, you ultimately come to a point where even though the rate of interest is small, it is increasing your bank balance by amazingly large amounts each year. The author illustrates this with a graph shaped like a hockey stick. Well, it turns out that on this front, we are again at a precipice. In 2010, our government created more debt than the TOTAL of all the debt created in our history. In other words, we are on the verge of a financial Armageddon.

The author makes a compelling case for why the above outcomes are inevitable. And, based on the shortsightedness of our leaders, he is probably right. We've known about our problem of dependence on foreign oil for forty years and we haven't done anything significant to deal with it. However, I believe that there are technological solutions already in existence that would solve this problem. Unfortunately, it's not likely that we will employ any of them until AFTER the proverbial crap hits the fan.

With respect to the problem of having a debt based monetary system; the solution is not only simple, but proven. Change the system to a non-debt based monetary system and use non-debt created money to pay off the debt. Andrew Jackson did this and he not only balanced the budget, he also paid off 100% of the national debt. So, what do I mean by changing to a non-debt based monetary system? I'm talking about abolishing the Federal Reserve System and returning the power to create money to the Treasury Department where it belongs.

A complete understanding of the Federal Reserve System and why it is at the root of our economic problems is essential to a complete understanding of our economic problems. In this regard, The Crash Course falls a little short. This is not a criticism because, to fully explain this subject matter, an entire book or video is required. In this regard, I can recommend some excellent sources.

There are two very good videos on this subject. They are "The Money Masters" and "The Secret of Oz". Both of these are available from Amazon or you can view them on YouTube.com by entering the title in the search bar. As for books, I recommend "The Creature from Jyklell Island" by G. Edward Griffin which is the most comprehensive book I've found on this subject. I can also recommend "End The Fed" by Congressman Ron Paul. This book does an excellent job of summarizing all of the moral, ethical, legal, and practical reasons for ending the Federal Reserve System.

Excellent presentation of the converging trends our our time. Should be mandatory viewing for every college freshman, every person running for public office.

This is definitely an interesting entry in the doomsday genre of documentary. It's greatest virtue, and value, is in tying together everything most likely to lead to worldwide catastrophe. Chris Martenson reduces every major danger facing humanity to three categories that inevitably co-insect: 1) economics; 2) energy; and 3) environment. He's in good company here, because each of these three categories, individually and linked together, have been dealt with by some of the most remarkable purveyors of fact-based prophecy in recent memory. In fact, virtually everything he says has basically been said better by these other prophets of doom already - such as Dr. Albert Bartlett, whom Martenson cites; Mike Ruppert; Derek Jensen; Peter Joseph (of the "Zeitgeist" trilogy); and even Alex Jones. And while Martenson's ideas are presented in a manner that does lend itself to visual depiction, this depiction is literally in the form of a course of instruction, complete with chapter headings, bullet points, charts and graphs, and conclusions. The charts and graphs are mostly "hockey stick" renderings of time lines, resource usage, monetary anomalies and demographics. All presented with a minimum of supporting data in the very best Libertarian sleight of hand tradition. Admittedly, I'm assuming Martenson is essentially a Libertarian; he may not be, but his mention of the Austrian economist, Ludwig von Mises - one of the great icons of the Ayn Rand/Libertarian school - does tend to place him in that group.

One of Martenson's illustrative tactics for making his point, as I've noted, is the use of charts and graphs. In explaining the essential folly of an economy explicitly based on exponential growth, he also uses a stack of $1000 bills. A stack over 6 miles high represents the elusive Trillion Dollar figure - and, as he suggests, is unsustainable. One has to wonder, though, if perhaps a stack only 5 miles high would retain its solvency; and a stack 8 miles high? OMG! It's almost as if the height of the stack representing the amount is what determines its viability.

His most curious, and perhaps least compelling, example of unsustainability is Social Security. He notes that there had once been 7 workers for each retiree. From that fact he seems to extrapolate that somehow there must always be 7 workers for each retiree in order for the system to remain viable; but he makes this prognostication entirely without benefit of actuarial data. Therefore, what he's actually doing is presenting the pure coincidence of there having been at the time Social Security was begun 7 workers for each retiree as if this were somehow a necessary condition of solvency; this, I'm sorry to say, is just about the most specious type of argument one can put forth. It's a little like me saying I had two dogs during the period of my greatest prosperity; therefore I must endeavor to always have two dogs in my household to insure my continued prosperity. Unless one ascribes magical properties to dogs, this would clearly be utter nonsense. He goes on to note that the rate of worker to retiree has steadily declined over the years, first to 5, then to 3 - again offering no actuarial data to support his implication that this decline renders the entire retirement paradigm unsustainable. However, in theory, and on paper, only 1 worker per retiree would be needed to keep the system solvent - though I suspect a 1-to-1 ratio may very well be unsustainable over time. Offering statistics without a context is, at best, a meaningless gesture; and, at worst, a deliberate attempt to manipulate results. For instance, since we can clearly see that food prices are rising, suppose I say "Bread's going to be $185." The normal response would be "Oh my God, $185 for a loaf of bread - we'll all starve!" But notice, I didn't specify a "loaf" of bread; I merely said "bread." That $185 could represent my estimate of how much I'll need to spend on bread in the next five years - quite a bit different from my implication that bread would be $185 a loaf. You simply can't ignore or overstate the important difference between total cost and unit cost.

Martenson does make the point that the cost of energy - specifically, oil - has to be calculated by comparing how much energy is needed to extract a single unit of energy (e.g., a barrel of oil). His point is well taken - but is only taken vis-a-vis energy. When it comes to something like Social Security, aside from noting that the rate of workers to retirees has declined from 7-to-1 to 3-to-1, he never really addresses each retiree as a single unit the way he does with energy; thus leaving the impression that the amount to be paid out is monumentally staggering, without ever converting that amount into a cost per unit ratio. If he's going to add such an enormity of grist to the mills of Pete Peterson and those whose goal is the complete destruction of the social safety net, then he could at least break his doomsday figure down into a cost per retiree. The fact that he doesn't suggests that, perhaps, the doomsday he conjures up exists primarily in his own mind and on his cleverly designed power point presentation. Besides, if, as he posits, the eventual and fairly sudden loss of sustainable energy results in a breakdown of our complex society as well as a virtual loss of electricity and electrical based products, then we could reasonably expect a correspondingly rapid culling of our population. And, as we're constantly being told, it's the most vulnerable members of society who will perish first - namely, the very young and the very old. Which means that by the time the Social Security shortfall Martenson predicts arrives, there will be far fewer retirees per worker than there are at the present. Problem solved.

Martenson, who evidently had a very high paying job before chucking it all to live a more "sustainable" life, notes that he has converted much of his assets to gold, silver and other precious metals - which, presumably, will still retain their value even after the monetary system collapses. Although, even in this, he may be quite mistaken. If, as he demonstrates, the economy is inextricably linked to energy and will necessarily fail once abundant energy sources fail, then these precious metals may also lose their value - simply because, without the energy to enable their industrial and technological use, their only remaining value would be purely decorative, as in the days of yore.

His final chapter (Chapter 20, titled What Should I Do?) invites the viewer to his website for the answers. Since I'm reviewing Martenson's documentary, I felt compelled to take that final step. And what did I discover? Two things primarily: 1) it's up to me to evaluate my activities and take whatever steps are needed to avert, or at least avoid, the coming catastrophe; and 2) could I please make a donation? My responses would be, in order: 1) I don't need someone else's help if only I can do what needs to be done; and 2) No I won't make a donation. I need every penny I have to help survive the coming catastrophe (and feed my two dogs); I don't have anything to spare so that someone else can stock up on precious metals. Thanks all the same; but no thanks.

I first watched this video with my partner 18 months ago, and found it fascinating, shocking, and inspiring. The new 45-minute version for the UK is also an excellent and very accessible introduction - perfect for getting a discussion going with your friends and neighbours.

Human nature is such that we'd all rather carry on doing what we do, living life as we imagined we'd live it, with ever-more sophisticated gadgets that guzzle energy, but the facts presented in The Crash Course make it very clear that we must change what we do.

Every major financial and purchasing decision I've made since first watching this has been with reference to the information in this video. If we heed the excellent advice provided on Chris's website (look for "What to do"), the quality of our lives can improve. If we don't, the prognosis is not good.

Don't wait for Governments to act. Watch the video, discuss it with friends and family, start a Transition initiative (google 'transition towns') and build your communities.

The alternative 'carry on as if nothing is happening' is not going to work.

The vast majority of our elected officials are happy to throw our money toward shoring up an unsustainable status quo. The confluence of a teetering economy, peak energy and the environment ensure that a shift is afoot. The Crash Course clearly explains the historical context of our current situation and what we can do as individuals and as communities.

Very interesting video. Presented like a narrated PowerPoint presentation. For the last part of the presentation, however, one must access the author's website. No charges are involved, so it isn't a scam to get more payment, but the website does have other products/services for purchase. The facts are compelling and scary, but something everyone should be thinking about and preparing for.