I thought the initial presentation was acceptably well done, however the editing brought the fear factor way up scale in order to sell the product. The last portion left me with the feeling that I've been had and all that went before was information not to be trusted.In my case, I've been studying the crash course and associated materials for several years now so I know the Martensen portion of the presentation was accurate, however if I were not familiar with the story, I would completely discount the whole with the feeling that I had been scammed yet again.
Chris, this is not a criticism of your work and facts or the way you personally presented, but when combined with the shallow sales pitch, I don't think the overall was benficial to your/our cause.
Keep up the good work you otherwise have been doing !
Jim
We already have.The 'unpublished chapter' the MMP video refers to is based on this Insider issued to enrolled members back in April.
Thanks Adam
This topic came up when the "endorsed financial advisor" relationship was announced. It pissed me off then, and I am pissed off even more now:What drama! How horrible it must be to have to exist inside the bubble of intellectual righteousness that you apparently inhabit! How will you cope?
For crying out loud! Chris is using multiple channels to get the message out while the opportunities exist. Chris's participation in this video doesn't do anything other than spread the awareness a little further. The quality of the ideas and concepts, as well as the purity of his motives, remain the same. If he was selling cases of MRE's after a dramatic presentation of the "Social Collapse and Martial Law: The End is Nigh!", then I could see your point. But he's not. Did you read the introduction he posted?
The people who gather, orgainze, and bring us this material must also make a living. Quit with the leftist canard that "commerce" and "filthy lucre" will taint the message.
- I noted no particular hyperbole or drama in the presentation that wasn't merited.
- The man is making no money from this presentation. (Perhaps he could if he didn't have to worry about the unwarranted criticism from the Pharisees. I think he SHOULD MAKE A PROFIT!)
- The mission of the website is not communist piety, but to spread the message that big change is coming. It's his mission, his message, and his website! Cancel your membership!
- The product isn't a scam. It's information. The Crash Course book isn't any different in this setting than if you bought it from Amazon. The information is TRUE. How has the TRUTH of the message changed by being included in this offer?
"You must really think we are idiouts, and I'm ashamed to say. . ."
What an insulting and unnecessarily combative response to Chris and the people who work at PP.com. There is no reason to attack the integrity and insult a man who has worked so hard to get this message out into the public sphere. PP.com is his business to run the way he sees fit, without the choir whining that the preacher is meeting with sinners.
Your callous disrespect and lack of civility, and hurtful accusations are offensive and demonstrate your low character. Why don't you start your own website? I'm sure the righteous out there would rally around your pure and unsoiled recitation of the "facts". Judging be the volume of your posts, you seem to have plenty of time to opine.
You have the right to disagree, but you don't have the right to insult and accuse Dr. M without just cause because of your own arrogant cynicism (implied by referring to your fellow citizens as "sheeple"; how lucky you are to be so much smarter!)
I look forward to your caustic response.
Rector
Be sure not to purchase anything until the "new economy" kicks in. The one where the profit motive is socialized. . .
I am a big supporter of Chris and his work, and I know he is not necessarily selling anything, but I don't think the message the video is sending out is right. In 2006' when I was really waking up, I was lured into the same nonsense of things are going to be bad, but if you just follow me and buy the "good" stocks everything will be great, and you will be wealthy. I really do believe in the main thesis of Chris' work, but I don't think anyone gets out of pain by buying certain investments.
After years of research and anguish, I eventually came to the conclusion that the only sane thing to do is opt out of as much as possible. So…
*Get out of debt
*Grow and provide for yourself as much as possible
*Cash out of the bank
*Physical gold and silver
*Get rid of the TV
*Get out of the consumer mindset as much as you can, you don't need things to be happy
*Worry only about your sphere of influence, you will be happier and more successful if you do.
Kevin, you nailed it. Those of us who TRUST understand the motivation.
The crash course (I was hooked after 16 chapters, the last 4 were a bonus) in addition to helping all of us understand what is happening in the economy, can plan for a financial push (at least and even make money), and the crash course ( with the message ) will save lives in the (how to prepare for the coming crisis) preparations to a crisis too.
This site and message WILL save someones life. I say get the message out and save two lives then.
I can say with absolute certainty it has changed every members lives who follow Peak Prosperity (including mine I believe), and perhaps it may have saved our lives (yet to be determined) by giving us an understanding. On top of this we get all points of view like Mish's Podcast, Gregor and Smith. Valuable information and a whole host of other important and relevent points of view. This is a priceless site backed by someone I trust and THAT is a commodity so rare these days.
Yes, anyone having a feeling that this is an infomercial can just shut it down, no harm, but all three MEN have spoken the absolute truth, and I'm a truth seeker. I didn't apply for the materials at the end because I was already satisfied with the message times three!
I have complaints too, like betting some fool who disagrees with Chris with silver, or being flip with a paid member or any person here just being honest about his take on things, and this is healthy so long as we challenge ourselves with a different perspective so that as grown ups we can make up our own minds… So this too is healthy but lets not lose sight of what may be accomplished, and that's to prepare as many good folks out there who come to PP for the truth. I found chrismartensen.com from just such places as the video came from. I'm hooked and learning every day, and I didn't know shiaattt. It could be argued perhaps that I still don't but Chris is a character Man, Adam too so I'm solid with my way forward are my thoughts.
Bottom line: Chris's CHARACTER stays intact, no question about this, Adams too, and ours too, and we get the added bonus!, now get this!!, of perhaps helping to save lives (!!!) all for the price of stretching our message out to some infomercial type format!!!. Please wait until the end of this message to get a FREE thank you from me for finding this incredible site, and all you fine folks, my blessing.
THANK YOU!!!
Respectfully Given
BOB
I really did not like the tone of the presentation. One reason The Crash Course was an instant success for me is that it offered information and expected me to think for myself. It felt rigorous and honest. So does most of what happens on this website.
Normally I would dismiss something like "Your Future…" with disappointment: important information mixed with emotional manipulation and marketing. Yuk.
However, Chris has recently been making it clear he intends to inform people en masse of our situation. Wow. Without consciously realizing, I had given up on enough of us being able to understand to make much of a difference. It is heartening that Chris and Co. have not. I will continue to have one-to-one conversations with those who seem open and more persistantly with those I love, and I will remain encouraging of PeakProsperity's moves in the direction of mass awareness.
What kind of feedback is coming from non-PP viewers of "Your Future: the Ultimate Pyramid Scheme"?
Susan
Please provide the unpublished chapter[Adam: already provided in my earlier response to Oliveoilguy]
I couldn't have said it better (No, really, I'm not that good with words and my feelings get wrapped around my legs and I stumble over my thoughts. I really couldn't have said it better. Thank you ronpoitras)
My first impression within the first 5 seconds was that this seems like Y2K. Remember year 2000 and the supposed computer glitch that would change our world? The video content is credible unlike Y2K which obviously wasn't credible. I'm only referring to the style, graphics, heavily scripted presentation and the infommercial type interruptions with the "But wait ! there's more ;)" . I just kept thinking this is a step above Saul Goodman (google it 
) only with a Three E twist. In other words, beyond cheesy. I'm just shaking my head at CM. The only redeaming aspect IMO are the folks who are still new to The Three E's and the fact that they will still benefit from the free content on this site. The rest of us who have followed CM and his team, have seen the undeniable evolution of CM and some will still approve but the rest of us (myself included) are wondering what the hell just happened.
I worked for a humanitarian organiation (non-profit) for 1.5 yrs. I eventually realized that I was being taken advantage of by the organizations structure and corporate type policies but because I believed in it's fundamentals I stuck with it. I stayed even at the expense of what was best for my health and my family because this organization is very much needed in our world. I get the same feeling here at CM. Escpecially with the folks who comment about how important CM's work is to humanity and how they are willing to over look some of the things that don't sit well with them or that they know are wrong. I then think to myself " I used to be that way and in time they too will see that they never should have tolerated what they knew wasn't right. No matter how much good was being done."
I remember when I posted a comment about how I used to read the enrolled member posts to get a gist of what some of the paid content was. Soon after my comment the CM site started blocking enrolled member posts!!! I guess the farmer doesn't want the potatoes gleaned from the field, you need to pay like everyone else !! I eventually became an enrolled member when I could afford to but then I stopped subscribing after Chris put out little content for several months and thanked everyone for their patience as he had been writing his book and traveling with speaking engagements. I should have asked for a refund but like so many here, I was a supporter in something I believed in and I was so thankful to Chris.
There are people who need this site so I am glad it's here. I just hope they don't spend money that they can't afford to because they are being sold a product.
I wonder if the day will come that I won't be allowed to post on this site because I respectfully disagree with what I'm seeing here. It's sad that I would even wonder that.
Good Luck All
(The harder you work the luckier you get)
RG2
While the 3 Es message is the same excellent quality of work I've come to know from Chris and the team, I find that this infomercial is just above a Kevin Trudeau spiel in terms of sensationalism - which is a real shame.
2 FYIs for you based on your comments:
-
A Mandarin-Chinese subtitled version of the Crash Course was produced by volunteers earlier this year. It can be accessed by launching any of YouTube's Crash Course videos, clicking the "CC" button at bottom right of the video player, and selecting the "Chinese (Simplified)" option. We're working on surfacing this and the other subtitled versions more visibly on PP.com.
-
We've also begun work on giving the core Crash Course series a makeover – with higher production quality & updated data and insights. Those will be rolling out here on the site over the second half of 2012.
cheers,
A
Chris has reached most of the audience he can reach with The Crash Course video. (Maybe he can get a Chinese translation in, since the Chinese ARE 1/5th of the planet's population, they believe in gold, they don't believe in their government, and they KNOW what an exponential population growth means to them.) He's reached the audience he can reach with The Crash Course book. (Again, maybe he can get some translations out.) He's moved on to speeches and presentations around the country and around the world. Yahoo! Finance interviews are great, but he needs more exposure.
He needs to build that critical mass and time is of the essense. Yes, obviously there's a profit motive as well: his family has to eat, his kids need an education, he's got a staff and they have families to provide for. But the message is what is important and time is running out. More money is needed to obtain more exposure.
I thought the video was very professionally done. If only the Crash Course videos could be updated nicely and professionally like that, so that Chris can get his message out in a more unadulterated fashion, with more details to counter other alternative energy arguments, more details on the environmental problems, more details on the economic (debt) arguments, and especially more details on the things one should be doing now for themselves BEFORE even thinking about investing.
However, Chris did what he could with the resources at hand, and this video was nicely done. Yes, it's an infomercial, yes it's a little overwhelming and fast-paced, and yes there's something to buy. But no one can doubt the truths in the presentation, no one has to buy anything, and if they buy, they have 90 days to return, and if they don't return, they are only out what, $49? I don't see some anonymous benefactors willing to band together to raise $250,000 for an IDEAL free production, and I bet we have a few millionaires in this community.
Overall, I think this was an acceptable venture. Chris hasn't lost his integrity, the 3E message gets put out there, and if they buy, then the unadulterated message - Crash Course book, and especially the so-called "Controversial Unpublished Chapter" - will be out there in people's hands.
Remember folks: The REAL pyramid scheme is our current unsustainable system.
Poet
When listening to the investing advice with regard to energy companies (specificly nat gas) and food co. ahead of a national crisis, my first thought was wouldn't these industries become nationalized? Couldn't energy and food become a government controlled entity over night? If so, then wouldn't investors be in a tough position? What would taxes be on investing leading up to this national/global crisis? The investing advice (without the additional material for the low, low price of $49.00) seems like the ole BAU. Anyone else seeing this? Honestly curious.
What happened is that to keep a website running and to produce content cost money. While it's free to you I can guarantee Chris has put a ton of money into the website, content, seminiar development, etc.
Are you a paying member for CM.com? If not then you have no right to complain at all. You are being given a gift, you can either accept it or ignore it, but complaining about it is just plain rude and disrespectful. This is like someone inviting you over to their house for dinner and complaining about the way the food was cooked or the quality.
I assuming this means we won't be seeing any further comments from you on this site since clearly it's a waste of your time and you certainly wouldn't want to associate with us non-thinking individuals.
I used to be part of a group of “white hackers”: people with IT knowledge but high integrity who may use their IT skills to find and expose corruption, abuse and scams.
We had a dilemma that was never solved: if we happened to discover that a huge meteor was heading the Earth, and was scheduled to crash it in say, six months, what would we do? Tell everybody based on the “right to know” so each family/person would make a decision on how they would live their last six months, or whether they would create a bunker and try to survive? Or hide the truth as it may also cause chaos, pain and kill more than what the crash could?
Nobody had an answer. It was a real dilemma.
However, I used this same dilemma to analyse this video strategy: if I have the knowledge that the world as we know will end, and I also know some probable good copying strategies (no solutions, as they aren’t), what would I do? Would I charge people for the “right” to know or would I share all what I know for free? Would I sell my integrity and values and what has been my “brand” and credibility trying to spread the word or would I try to continue using credible, honest and coherent ways to spread that word, even if that means that the word would reach less people?
These are my opinions and my choices, and I may be wrong:
- I would charge, but a very small amount of money, only for a portion of what know, and would try that that portion is NOT the most important one. Why? Because if I keep vital information from people who can’t or won’t pay, I am also discriminating about who may and may not survive. I agree here that Chris and his team share here the most vital info. The crash course is free and has been translated to many languages. It is good enough to be shared with family and friends, and should remain so, as people out there are already sceptical of anything that may try to sell them anything.
- I would ensure that my values and the principles behind this necessary change in paradigm of our society remain clean and pure. No end justifies here messing with these values. Why? Because can and in fact has already backfired: I tried to talk about all these things with my husband, using serious books (the Crash Course included). It was my husband who found this Money Map video and sent it to me. At the beginning, I was excited to see Chris in it. But couldn’t help to feel horrible after the first 5 or 10 minutes. I was embarrassed and disillusioned. And my husband is the type of person who couldn’t watch that type of video for more than two minutes. I wonder, then, how many serious “followers” Chris may lose with this, and how many “potential” may stay away from this great website because they associate Chris with that horrid video.
I agree on that all make mistakes. From y point of view, this was a huge one. I hope Chris and his team will think about other associations that may help them to spread the word while keeping true to their core values.
What is coming won’t be solved by more “free” packages (hiding the selling of a newsletter nobody needs), and I think all of us who follow this and similar websites know this. What is coming will be better faced if we become more true to ourselves and our values, if we build resiliency and fight to have a better community around us.
I like what Carolyn Baker says in her book “Sacred Demise”: collapse is an initiation and will force each one of us to face our true self. Who are we? Are we “investors”, “doctors”, “lawyers”, “educators”? Are we the ones who possess more gold or more weapons or the biggest pantry or the better vegetable garden on the block?
No, collapse will show our real face: either we are leaders and have real compassion, and develop the strength to cope with death, illness, misery, homelessness, unemployment, scarcity and still help others to cope as well, or we are cowards an selfish people who hide behind our bunker or fortified gates, grabbing our dry tomatoes and defending our last piece of gold by shooting hungry children.
Collapse will show us and others who we really are.
Chris: I know your motivations were good; however, the result was really bad. Keep your good work and think on the white hacker’s dilemma. Your followers are enough to spread the world. Believe me. Keep them strong.
That's an easy one - there are only two choices - Tell or don't tell because it may give you a survival advantage. If you choose the third option, to hide the knowledge because others might panic, then you are simply being arrogant. You are assuming that all those other "dumber" people can't handle the truth. You are essentially taking a decision away from them. Perhaps they will panic or perhaps they will pull together and surprise you.
We see this all the time in politics. Politicians and bureaucrats believe they are better (smarter, wiser, more worldly, better people, etc) than others and need to protect the lesser citizens. I personally find that attitude incredibly repugnant. In our current situation we really need leaders that will step up and tell the world what they need to hear, not what they want to hear or what the politician believes is best.
For me it would be an easy choice. I would tell everyone because you need community to survive a disaster.
If you are breaking into systems that are not yours, then you are a criminal. It doesn't matter the reason. Telling yourself otherwise is just another lie. Just like taking money involuntarily from others is theft, even if you call it taxes.
Hi Chris,
I bought your book and am reading it over constantly. Thank you so much for being innovative enough to actually take the time out of your life to do it.
I am heavily invested into dairy farm land,in New Zealand so am feeling reasonably confident although I am heavily dependent on phosphate reserves.
What I need to know is: What will happen to the banks after the collapse? Banks in New Zealand are over exposed with loans to the dairy sector. Farm land prices are falling at present, and public commentary says 20% of farmers will have to exit farming due to debt. With this number of farms coming onto the market soon bank securities will be at risk. Value will simply vanish. Domino loans will unravel backwards; banks will collapse. What happens then?
I watched the video presentation from Money Map Press and was excited about the Three E's message getting out to a larger audience, but disappointed with the conclusions. I was disappointed because I believe investors should have integrity. The film suggested buying stocks in fracking, natural gas companies - even though the film stated we would be seeing water wars in 2015. Well the fracking, natural gas industry destroys water tables. So why would an ethical investor invest in a product that destroys water when fresh, clean water availability is at risk?
Another ominous suggestion in the film was to discourage small farming and Chris' line in the film that blew me away was "We will have to embrace factory farming." There is a great documentary on how Cuba survived Peak Oil… and Cuba DID NOT embrace factory farming. Just the opposite. Cuba embraced small organic farming and not only survived but thrived. Food security is a huge issue. I believe the best way to obtain food security is by dumping the big ag model in favor of small farmers. It would create many more jobs and improve the quality of food being offered for sale.
So. personally I felt the film used the credentials of these three very impressive, intelligent men to lead people to the wrong conclusions.
I'm still a fan, Chris, I understand the importance of getting the message out, but if the message leads people in the wrong direction…?
After skimming these comments, I played the video expecting to see something akin to a used car salesman's pitch. While the style of this video doesn't appeal to me personally, I found no basis for objection. As Chris said, it's just a different style that appeals to some people.
JAG, I'm dumbfounded by your comments, but since you feel that way, I CAN offer you a solution. Simply ante up the $50 - $100k it would take to do video like this in a more tasteful style, and then you can call the shots and make the style decisions yourself. If you're not equipped to pay up, perhaps the option of shutting up would be an appropriate alternative.
Chris, thanks for all your continuing efforts. I look forward to the day that you have enough financial support to do these projects in your own style, but until that day comes, please keep seizing opportunities like this one to spread your message.
Erik