So, we rise from the rubble...
Saturday, April 3, 2021
Chet Raymo, “At Home In An Infinite Universe”
“At Home In An Infinite Universe”
by Chet Raymo
“They are questions that bedeviled thinkers for thousands of years: Is the universe infinite or finite, eternal or of a finite age? It is certainly hard to imagine a universe that extends without limit in every direction, or a universe without a beginning or end. It is equally difficult to imagine a finite universe; what is beyond the edge? Or a beginning or end in time; how can something come from nothing? how can what is cease to be?
The problems are so intractable philosophically that their resolution has generally been left to the theologians, which from a philosophical (or scientific) perspective offers no solution at all. Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for proposing a philosophical resolution (an infinite universe) that offended theology.
An escape from befuddlement is provided by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which - for example - can describe a finite universe without a boundary, as the “two-dimensional” surface of a sphere is finite and without an edge. Unfortunately, multi-dimensional curved space-time is so counterintuitive that it is difficult to get one’s head around it without mastery of the mathematics. Given a choice between the ancient myths of your local preacher and the obtuse mathematics of the physics professor, it’s not hard to guess what most folks will opt for.
I have reviewed a book by physics professor Chad Orzel called “How To Teach Relativity To Your Dog.” It’s a fun romp, and clever pedagogy, but I can’t imagine it making the best seller list, much less displacing “Heaven Is For Real.”
Meanwhile, I’m reading a meditation on infinity by physics professor Anthony Aguirre, in a collection of essays called “Future Science.” He discusses contemporary cosmological theories based on general relativity, and in particular the rehabilitation of the idea of an infinite and eternal universe, or, more precisely, that our universe might be just one of an infinity of infinite universes. He writes in conclusion: “What seems clear, however, is that infinity can no longer be safely ignored; beautifully constructed, empirically supported, self-consistent theories have brought infinity from idle curiosity to central player in contemporary cosmology. And if correct, the worldview these theories represent constitutes a perspective shift unlike any other: in comparison to the universe, we would be not just small but strictly zero. Well, I can’t imagine many folks racing to embrace that conclusion."
Oh, but wait. Aguirre adds one final sentence: “Yet here we are, contemplating – if not quite understanding – it all.”
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Full screen recommended.
Vangelis, “Cosmos: A Tour of the Universe”
The Poet: Robert Frost, “Acceptance”
“Acceptance”
“When the spent sun throws up its rays on cloud
And goes down burning into the gulf below,
No voice in nature is heard to cry aloud
At what has happened.
Birds, at least must know
It is the change to darkness in the sky.
Murmuring something quiet in her breast,
One bird begins to close a faded eye;
Or overtaken too far from his nest,
Hurrying low above the grove, some waif
Swoops just in time to his remembered tree.
At most he thinks or twitters softly, ‘safe!’
Now let the night be dark for all of me.
Let the night be too dark for me to see
Into the future. Let what will be, be.”
- Robert Frost
MUST WATCH! "Homeless Man Talks Reality; Nightmare Coming To America; Homelessness Out Of Control; Tent Cities"
Full screen!
Jeremiah Babe,
"Homeless Man Talks Reality; Nightmare Coming To America;
Homelessness Out Of Control; Tent Cities"
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"America The Beautiful"
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There but for the grace of God... yet.
"On Not Needling"
"On Not Needling"
by Eric Peters
"Rational people are defined by their refusal to do irrational things. They ask why – as opposed to saying, ok. A fine example of this would be a healthy person’s decision to not wear a “mask” – or permit himself to be “vaccinated” for an illness that poses next-to-nil threat of serious illness to a healthy person. It would be like someone in their 20s going coffin-shopping. Or giving up driving because there is a small chance they might die in a car wreck.
But granny might die! Well, then granny should wear a “mask” – or stay home. Just as granny shouldn’t drive if she can’t see. Mean spirited? No more so than a blind person insisting no one else can drive because they can’t see.
Why wear a “mask” when you aren’t sick? It makes as much sense as wearing a raincoat when it isn’t raining. It makes even less sense to partially wear it, as many perfectly healthy people who wear these “masks” regularly do, as for example when entering a restaurant – and then not wearing it when they sit down to eat. This is as preposterous as taking a raincoat off and on in a thunderstorm. It’s either “raining” – or it isn’t.
The truth is these people are pathetic Kabuki performers who believe in the theater of obedience. If they really believed it was “raining” the ‘Rona, they’d never lower their “masks.” That would be like taking off one’s raincoat in the middle of a thunderstorm.
It would be worse, actually. Would you ever take off your “mask” in a closed room full of people exhaling hantavirus Or for that matter any virus you actually believed might kill you? That they do take off their “masks” – which are often just old bandanas or disposable dust masks anyhow – after performing the required Kabuki – in order to be allowed to engage in what used to be considered normal everyday interactions – is as much a measure of their slavish poltroonery as it is of their hypocrisy.
Why get a “vaccine” – as this unknown substance they are trying to cajole and even force us all to take is styled – when you aren’t sick? One that might very well make you sick? The facts about the risk of the “vaccine” are not known. We don’t even know what’s actually in the “vaccine.” But they want us to put this in our bodies.
What rational person allows himself to be injected with a “vaccine” that contains who-knows-what and which might cause who-knows-what manufactured by legally immunized pharmaceutical cartels with a massive monetary motive to establish a regime of forced mass “vaccinations”?
Meanwhile, it is known that the ‘Rona does not kill 99.8-something percent of the healthy population. What rational person willingly assumes an unknown risk – that of taking a “vaccine” of who-knows-what that might do who-knows-what – which the manufacturers of have eliminated their risk of being held accountable for in the event you do get sick?
Would you buy a car on this basis? Would a company be allowed to sell a car on this basis? Rational people ask such questions – and expect answers. They get pressured, instead. They are characterized as “anti” vaccines. Which is the same as saying rational people are “anti” wearing of raincoats in the sunshine.
It is true – but not in a derogatory sense. It is true in a rational sense. The problem is that the rational – who ask rational questions and demand rational answers – are being pathologized by the pathological.
There is an assertion about the “vaccine” that bears examination. It is claimed to be “95 percent” effective. That 5 percent not-effective is a much higher number – several whole numbers higher – than the fractional number representing the known risk of “the virus” to healthy people. Why is it being characterized as unhealthy to point out such incongruities? To ask rational questions based upon such factual considerations? There is also the very real risk of normalizing this pathologically dangerous business of insisting that healthy people submit to “vaccinations” of who-knows-what, with all the risk of the taking thereof on the person being injected with who-knows-what as a general principle.
Not just this “vaccine.” Future “vaccines” – which the pushers of this “vaccine” are already openly saying there will be more of. Given that The Variants! The Variants! – the ululation which is replacing The Cases! The Cases! – are potentially innumerable, it is likely there will be innumerable “vaccines” pushed upon the population, there being quite a lot of money to be made when you can force the entire population – or almost all of it – to take your product. Especially when you’re not liable for whatever harm your product ends up inflicting on the people who are forced to take it.
How much is your health – which is fine right now and probably has been since before this mess began – worth to you? How about your future fertility? How about the risk that your joints might ache for the rest of your life? These are some of the known risks – the admitted risks – of the “vaccine.” The liability for which is all yours, baby.
How much unknown risk are you willing to assume – for the sake of avoiding the well-known nearly nil risk of more than maybe feeling not-so-good for a few days? If you even get sick at all. If – as asserted – the “vaccine” is so very safe, then why are the manufacturers legally immunized from any harms it may cause? Perhaps if the same liability were in force that is in force for the manufacturers of cars, there would be less skepticism about these “vaccines.”
Rational people weigh such considerations. Irrational people are carried away by their fears – and by their pathetic willingness to assume the risk of god-knows-what and the absolute certainty of some very unpleasant future things to come for the sake of being allowed to resume a degree of their formerly “normal” lives. They agreed to this a priori – when they submitted to the Kabuki of “mask” wearing, the whole point of which was to suborn not just their but everyone else’s submission to the “vaccine.” One follows the other as logically as accepting a hand on the thigh often leads to hands placed elsewhere. Can you feel it making its next move?
The whole point of the “masking” was – and remains – to get 100 percent of the population to demonstrate publicly that they are terrified of a “virus” that doesn’t kill 99.8-something percent of the population. In order to force 100 percent of them to accept a “vaccine” 99.8-something percent of them need like they need a raincoat in a thunderstorm – only with consequences that are far worse than merely looking like an idiot."
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The Poet: James Kavanaugh, “Searchers”
“Searchers”
“Some people do not have to search -
they find their niche early in life and rest there,
seemingly contented and resigned.
They do not seem to ask much of life,
sometimes they do not seem to take it seriously.
At times I envy them,
but usually I do not understand them -
seldom do they understand me.
I am one of the searchers.
There are, I believe, millions of us.
We are not unhappy, but neither are we really content.
We continue to explore life,
hoping to uncover its ultimate secret.
We continue to explore ourselves,
hoping to understand.
We like to walk along the beach -
we are drawn by the ocean,
taken by its power, its unceasing motion,
its mystery and unspeakable beauty.
We like forests and mountains, deserts and hidden rivers,
and the lonely cities as well.
Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as is our laughter.
To share our sadness with the one we love is
perhaps as great a joy as we can know -
unless it is to share our laughter.
We searchers are ambitious only for life itself,
for everything beautiful it can provide.
Most of all we want to love and be loved.
We want to live in a relationship that will not impede
our wandering, nor prevent our search, nor lock us in prison walls.
We do not want to prove ourselves to another or compete for love.
We are wanderers, dreamers and lovers,
lonely souls who dare ask of life everything good and beautiful.”
- James Kavanaugh
"Poof!"
“Some people center the universe around themselves; while making other people nothing but decorations to their existence. “I will do this and then I will do that and then people will think this about me and then people will think that about me, and then I will add that person to my life when the convenient time arrives, and this person over here would make a very convenient addition as well…” They build their own thrones for themselves, and add decorations all around their thrones. The problem with that is: it does not bring happiness. A throne must be built for you; it must not be you who builds your own throne. If so, everything that you think you are is only an illusion! And illusions dissolve one day. Poof!”
- C. JoyBell C.
"Addicted"
"Addicted"
by Charles Hugh Smith
"I realize nobody wants to hear that most of their "wealth" was conjured out of thin air, but there it is: and that which was conjured out of thin air will return to thin air. Something for nothing is a powerful attractor, but it doesn't offer a narrative that the delusionally self-important demand: I earned this by working hard and being smart. Oh, right, yeah, sure. It had nothing to do with currency being created out of thin air and made available to insiders, financiers, banks, etc., or being able to leverage this new money into ever-larger bets, all guaranteed to be winning trades by the Federal Reserve. Nope, you're all stone-cold geniuses.
Back in reality, tangible assets - real as opposed to financial conjuring - are at historic lows relative to financial-bubble assets. Tangible assets represent such a meager proportion of total assets that we might assume they could slip to zero without affecting our "wealth" much at all.
The Fed Is the “Greater Fool”: If we compare financial-bubble assets to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a (flawed) measure of real-world activity, we find they’re worth over six times the nation's real-world economy. This reflects what happens to valuations when "money" is created out of thin air and then leveraged into fantastic, monstrous illusions of "wealth." Assets are chasing their own tails higher, completely disconnected from the real world.
Here’s the sole dynamic driving assets higher: the Fed is the “greater fool.” What do I mean? Everyone knows the Fed will always save the day. Should valuations falter, buyers know there will always be a greater fool willing to pay more for an overvalued asset because the Fed has promised us it will always be the greater fool. This obviously isn’t just plain old normal healthy "capitalism" at work.
So by all means, lavish yourself with praise for your hard work and genius, and keep chasing your own tail because the Fed has promised us it will always be the greater fool. What a pretty fantasy. But aren’t we on "the road to recovery?” The "recovery" has an unfortunate but all-too accurate connotation: recovery from addiction.
No Recovery From Addiction to the Fed’s Free Money: The "recovery" we've been told is already accelerating at a wondrous pace does not include any treatment of the market's addiction to Federal Reserve free money for financiers. Rather, the "recovery" is entirely dependent on a never-ending speedball of Fed smack and crack and a booster of Fed financial meth.
The addiction to Fed speedballs had already turned the entire financial sector into a casino of lunatic junkies who delusionally believe they're all geniuses. Beneath the illusory stability of the god-like Fed has our back, the addiction to free money has completely destabilized America's social, political and economic orders by boosting wealth and income inequality to unprecedented extremes.
While it's convenient to blame the carnage on the response to the Covid pandemic, the damage to the speedball-addicted financial system had already reached extremes before the pandemic. The addiction began decades ago, but like all addictions, the amount of stimulus needed to maintain the high keeps expanding, and eventually the need can't be met without toxic doses: then the junkie addicted system collapses.
Both Smack and Crack: The ever-greater doses of Fed speedballs have unleashed both deflation (smack) and inflation (crack). Real returns on ordinary savings have been crushed to zero (deflation of ordinary income), and as the cost of capital/credit have been dropped to near-zero, then the purchasing power of wages has deflated while the speculative gains of those who own assets have soared (asset inflation).
By lowering the cost of capital to zero, the Fed has generated fatally perverse incentives. With the cost of capital at zero, it makes sense to buy labor-saving technologies to replace costly labor - labor that is costly to employers because of America's perverse sickcare system, which burdens employers with ever-higher costs.
Not only have the Fed's free-money speedballs made it essentially free for financiers to speculate in the stock market casino, the Fed has rigged the game and bailed out its cronies whenever their bets soured. This has fueled infinite moral hazard: Go ahead and gamble with free money from the Fed, and go ahead and leverage it up 10-to-1 because the Fed will bail you out if you lose, but if you win, the stupendous gains are yours to keep.
The problem with addiction is you're dependent on the high, no matter what the eventual consequences may be. Long-term consequences are ignored because all that matters to the addict is to get the next Fed speedball and throw it on the gambling table to keep the high going.
Our entire economy is now dependent on ever-expanding speculative gains. Should the casino winnings falter, our economy will crash. And given the primacy of money and consumption in our society and political system, the financial collapse of the Fed's casino lunacy will sweep those systems over the falls.
The Fatal Consequences of Addiction: As the level of Fed smack and crack needed to maintain the high increases, system fragility increases geometrically. The irony of addiction is that when the crack/meth kicks in, the addict feels god-like, in control, invulnerable. This artificial confidence is entirely illusory, a deadly combination of delusion and hubris. In this delusional state of supreme confidence, the addict loses touch with reality, i.e. the fatal consequences of the addiction. That's the detour we've taken in becoming addicted to the Fed's free-money speedballs.
Now the road to recovery has ended in a trackless wilderness. There is no way back and no way forward. The addict's addled confidence will push them into the ice-cold river. And as they're swept over the falls, the realization that it was all a drug-induced delusion will come too late to make a difference."
Friday, April 2, 2021
"Bank Meltdown Is Here! Commercial & Household Debt Lead To Worst Bank Apocalypse In All U.S. History"
Full screen recommended.
"Bank Meltdown Is Here! Commercial & Household
Debt Lead To Worst Bank Apocalypse In All U.S. History"
by Epic Economist
"A silent crisis is rapidly growing while most of the United States remains focused on the looming bust of asset bubbles, with politicians and policymakers artificially fueling an economic boom to hide the cracks that are threatening to break our entire system. As our businesses go bankrupt and our workers continue to be pushed out of the labor market, the foundations of our economy have started to crumble due to the overwhelming amount of debt accumulated up until this point. Corporate debt, housing and commercial real estate debt, and of course, our debt-fueled growth are all weighing upon U.S. banks like never before. "But this time is different," they say, while trying to persuade us that everything is under control.
The truth is that America's debt load, including households and businesses, is setting the stage not only for a brutal bank meltdown but also putting us at risk of experiencing the worst financial crisis in all of our history. As insolvency risks mount, and delinquency rates soar, banks will have to face a fatal blow. That is to say, all evidences are pointing U.S. banks and other financial institutions will be forced to absorb a staggering amount of non-performing loans, which will lead to billions in losses and result in a credit crunch that will impair the growth of our country for decades. Even though the health crisis did not start as a financial meltdown, several economists are warning it is quickly morphing into one. And that's what we're going to expose in this video.
A quieter crisis is now gaining momentum, as the financial fallout of the health crisis generated a monumental mountain of debt, and non-performing loans are threatening to collapse U.S. banks and several other financial institutions and jeopardize economic recovery prospects for years to come. And when balance-sheet problems begin undermining confidence, runs on banks and financial institutions rapidly turn the crisis into a fully-fledged panic.
The run-up to the credit crunch expected to occur in 2021 transcends the historical "boom-bust" narrative we have seen before. First, because we haven't experienced a lengthy economic expansion as it happened in the periods that preceded previous credit crunches. Second, because we don't have one but several overly-inflated asset bubbles. Third, because the imminent balance-sheet crisis and the credit crunch will likely extend longer than in other historic periods due to the potential persistence of the slump in economic activity. And last, but not least, now we have a profoundly regressive crisis, disproportionally impacting low-income households and smaller firms that have fewer assets to pay their debt and avert insolvency.
Crises like these worsens the overall economic conditions, as those who rely the most on credit are small and medium-sized businesses and lower-income households, and with limited to no access to credit they cannot fund new expenses and, therefore, they cannot help to boost the economy. Different from most previous crises, after the sanitary outbreak exploded, the government's expansionary monetary and fiscal policies were supported by banks through macroeconomic stimulus with a variety of temporary loan moratoria.
The commercial real estate collapse is other source of concern for banks. Since the burst of the outbreak, the rapid deterioration of the commercial real estate sector was sparked by a major change of habits, as employees started to mostly work from home, and online shopping accelerated the decay of brick-and-mortar retailers, that has caused an enormous impact on rents, with late payments marking the range of hundreds of billions of dollars.
Even the Congressional Budget Office released a report alerting that America's huge corporate and household debt load, in addition to our skyrocketing national debt are heightening the risk of a dramatic financial crisis in the U.S. If the pace of debt creation doesn't ease up shortly enough, our federal debt will hit 102% of GDP by the end of this year. "Such high debt levels could increase borrowing costs, slow economic output, and increase the danger of a financial crisis," the CBO said.
Keeping in mind that households and corporations in the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China, are highly indebted and include many high-risk borrowers, a banking crisis on both sides of the world will undoubtedly trigger the worst financial meltdown we have ever seen. This silent crisis will evolve into a roaring explosion, and while banks meltdown (and insurance companies and pension funds - CP), the financial system breaks down and our economic growth remains stalled for years and years. Dark clouds are ahead and we should brace for an era of widespread decay. And you should stay turned with the next unfoldings of this ravaging crisis, here, on Epic Economist."
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"It Got Serious In A Hurry"
"It Got Serious In A Hurry"
by Robert Gore
"Trump’s five years were fun. He said things that provoked outrage among all the right people, often because they were true. You could laugh at their hypocritical idiocies, hysterical posturing, and sputtering anger. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, anyone who can watch Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow without laughing has a heart of stone. Frothing anger fueled effort after effort to depose Trump until success was realized with overblown pandemic panic, riots, and a clearly rigged election. If nothing else, Trump exposed the mendacity, arrogance, incompetence, venality, and criminality of the Corruptocracy.
Reality doesn’t invert. A corollary is that the severity of consequences from an inversion is the square of the distance between the inversion and reality. Consider the US military. It has disregarded the realities of the wars it has fought - the relative difficulty of invasion versus defense, the deadly effectiveness of guerrilla warfare and insurgency, the corruption, tyranny, and lack of domestic support for our puppets, and so on - losing every conflict since WWII, often after lengthy and in some cases ongoing engagements.
The current crop of corruptocrats have introduced yet another inversion in the military, the woke inversion. The military will now be graded on its commitment to combat-irrelevant factors: the racial, ethnic, gender, sexual preferences and political creeds of its forces, and their professed fealty to regnant political dogma. In other words, “diversity” in everything but thought.
This inversion is huge and given the distance squared corollary, it will soon render the armed forces incapable of fighting even a war for the protection of the United States proper. Given its ineptitude fighting offensive wars, the military will be completely useless. The defense budget, however, will grow ever more bloated.
Joe Biden aspired to mediocrity in his prime and it’s been downhill ever since. As for Kamala Harris: some are born hacks, some achieve hackness, and some have hackness thrust upon them. She’s all three. They and their string-pullers have taken things from fun to serious - deadly serious - in a little over two months.
Biden’s first executive order, shutting down the Keystone pipeline, set the tone. In the beautiful illusion that constitutes woke energy policy, renewable but intermittent solar and wind will soon replace fossil fuels, so why do we need fossil fuels and their pipelines (the cheapest and most environmentally friendly way to transport oil and gas). Everything will be electric - like those cool Teslas! - because electricity just comes from a plug.
Never mind the fossil fuels, minerals and metals that must be extracted or mined (nothing environmentally destructive there) to manufacture and transport solar panels, windmills blades, and batteries. Never mind the costly environmental challenges of disposing of them. Never mind the fossil fuels that are burned to provide the electricity for those plugs. Never mind the back-up power that must be supplied by fossil fuels for those times when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow.
There’s blame enough to go around and lessons to be learned from the recent Texas weather and energy fiasco. One lesson that hasn’t been learned in woke energy circles is that it’s going to be a long time and many technological developments before fossil fuels are replaced by renewables. Until that day arrives, fossil fuels will remain an essential part of the mix and the ultimate back-up.
For political inverts who are fully woke but don’t know the difference between kilowatts and megawatts, it’s always just a matter of passing a law, promulgating a regulation, or signing an executive order. In their world, waving those wands makes it so. You want to get rid of fossil fuels? Decree them banished. Who cares about the consequences? Consequences will only matter to those employed by, invested in, supplying to, or buying power from the fossil fuel industry. They number in the millions and their dollars in the trillions, but many of them are ideologically retrograde, running-dog deplorables. Let ‘em freeze or swelter in the dark.
It’s a good thing the government has unlimited riches, it can just buy its way out of energy shortfalls or any other difficulties. The federal government produces unlimited fiat debt instruments (FDIs) - Treasury debt - and the central bank buys them with its unlimited FDIs -Federal Reserve Notes, aka dollars.
This exchange of imaginary money supposedly creates wealth effects that have replaced boring old savings, capital investment, and entrepreneurial activity as drivers of the economy. Asset prices elevate, the government’s GDP statistics hum while its inflation statistics slumber, and the rest of the world accepts FDIs for real goods and services. There’s even snake oil peddled by PhDs that blesses all this: Modern Monetary Theory. Wealth for all - without boring old work and deferred gratification - is just around the corner.
From the dwindling ranks of the reality-bound come those inevitable objections. The key word in fiat debt instruments is debt, which carries an obligation to pay it back sometime in the future. They can’t honestly pay back the debt they have now, why are they adding to it? The key word is honestly. The plan is to issue so many FDIs that they depreciate the value of existing ones, making them easier to pay back. None dare call it a swindle.
That millions of people and institutions stand on the other side of trades with a government that can, has, and will continue to swindle them through FDI debasement is one of the great mysteries of our time. That they do so while accepting only 1.7 percent interest for ten years as inflation runs well above that denotes not just inversion, but outright insanity.
Insanity chases its own tail: issuing more FDIs to pay off interest and principle on old FDIs simply adds to the mountain of unpayable FDIs. For those tethered to boring old common sense - yes, that will drive the FDIs’ value to zero, a process already 99 percent complete since institution of the FDI system in 1913.
When it requires a pickup truck to carry the paper FDIs necessary to buy a tank of gas for it (if gas-powered vehicles and paper FDIs are still allowed), won’t that hurt a lot of ordinary people, even many who are not ideologically retrograde, running-dog deplorables? Why, yes it will, but that’s just another reason to institute privacy-and liberty-obliterating electronic currency - it’s not paper and it’s easier to add more zeros - and outlaw its competition, privacy-and-liberty-protective precious metals and cryptocurrencies. Regardless of the form of currency in which it occurs, hyperinflation will be the penultimate act before collapse and its attendant hyperdeflation.
When you’re drowning the world in FDIs, boring old common sense suggests that you try to keep the real economy’s head above water, just so there are some goods and services for sale, even if their prices are relentlessly rising. However, raising taxes, new regulations, and maintaining the panoply of Covid-19 restrictions means less production and consequently, fewer goods and services being chased by an ever-increasing number of FDIs, boosting prices. Unfortunately, those are high priority action items on Washington’s agenda.
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are two reality-bound, common sense-tethered gentlemen who have taken their measure of the US government and concluded it’s stacked with idiots and led by an imbecile (Biden or Harris, take your pick). They may be ruthless autocrats, as they’re often portrayed, but they also know where they are and what they’re doing. One should probably take their avowals that they seek multipolar Kumbaya with a shaker of salt. However, subordination to a US-dominant unipolar world order is completely unacceptable.
Biden calls Putin a killer and his idiots read Chinese officials the riot act, thus confirming Putin and Xi’s assessment of Biden. After decades of feckless regime changes, failed invasions, never-ending sanctions, subterfuge, espionage, corrupt client governments and the like, Washington’s pet think tanks profess mystification as to why the Belt and Road Initiative plays better in Eurasia than bullets, bombs, banking bans, bribes, bullshit, and belligerent bombast. Yet, the dramatic new Biden foreign policy is... more of the same, with a special twist - amp up the pressure, sanctions, and propaganda against Russia and China.
It’s the school-yard bully taunting the kid with a black belt (Putin has a black belt in judo, by the way). Biden speaks loudly and has thrown the big stick into the political correctness rubbish heap. Only countries upon which the US has showered its FDIs pretend to go along. They have their own FDI and impending collapse problems, and they’ll play both ends against the middle when it suits their interests. From their own hard experience with wind and solar power, Germany recognizes that the future of energy isn’t going to be entirely “green.” Bet on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline getting finished.
Teasing black belts who can respond with hypersonic flying kicks is moronic. Russia and China both claim weapons of mass destruction to which the US military has no defenses. Maybe they’re bluffing, but why are Biden and company running the risk of learning the hard way they’re not?
Most of the critics of US policy argue we have to make Kumbaya with them to address pressing problems like varying temperatures and flu viruses. Because such problems happen globally, they supposedly require global solutions. (Corruption happens globally, too, but you don’t see any calls for a global effort against that.) You don’t have to buy into the globaloney, but live and let live is a far better policy than pointless confrontation and brinksmanship that could lead to war and possible species annihilation. That would be a global problem, at least for our species.
Putin and Xi have also taken a look at the US currency and decided they’ll let someone else play the greater fool. They are leading a drive away from dollar-based trade and capital flows, divesting US FDI’s, and buying gold. They’re not paying heed to every western politicians’ favorite economist, John Maynard Keynes (a statist through and through), who called gold a “barbarous relic.”
Next thing you know Biden will be calling the Russians and Chinese Neanderthals, a favorite pejorative. If a fondness for gold, a tried and true store of value, makes one a Neanderthal, what does a fondness for FDIs - conjured by fiat and secured only by promises from politicians not to produce too many of them - put you in the evolutionary line? Homo habilis? Homo erectus? Ape?
Keynes also said, “In the long run we are all dead.” True enough, but a government that undermines its country’s energy base, economy, currency, debt, and military, and antagonizes not one but two powerful rivals could be pulling that long run way forward.
These aren’t mere political issues, they’re survival issues. Lights don’t come on, economies crash, hyperinflation happens, wars are lost, people die. Biden, Harris, and cohorts are making and amplifying mistakes their predecessors have made for decades. It’s long odds betting that potentates will admit their mistakes, even privately to themselves, and longer odds that they’ll learn anything from them. The difference between Biden, Harris, and company and their predecessors is that they - and we - might not survive theirs."
"A Look to the Heavens"
“Point your telescope toward the high flying constellation Pegasus and you can find this expanse of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies. Centered on NGC 7814, the pretty field of view would almost be covered by a full moon. NGC 7814 is sometimes called the Little Sombrero for its resemblance to the brighter more famous M104, the Sombrero Galaxy.
Both Sombrero and Little Sombrero are spiral galaxies seen edge-on, and both have extensive central bulges cut by a thinner disk with dust lanes in silhouette. In fact, NGC 7814 is some 40 million light-years away and an estimated 60,000 light-years across. That actually makes the Little Sombrero about the same physical size as its better known namesake, appearing to be smaller and fainter only because it is farther away. A very faint dwarf galaxy, potentially a satellite of NGC 7814, is revealed in the deep exposure just below the Little Sombrero.”
"One By One..."
"The life of Man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may tarry long. One by one, as they march, our comrades vanish from our sight, seized by the silent orders of omnipotent Death. Very brief is the time in which we can help them, in which their happiness or misery is decided. Be it ours to shed sunshine on their path, to lighten their sorrows by the balm of sympathy, to give them the pure joy of a never-tiring affection, to strengthen failing courage, to instill faith in times of despair."
- Bertrand Russell
Paulo Coelho, "Killing Our Dreams"
"Killing Our Dreams"
by Paulo Coelho
"The first symptom of the process of our killing our dreams is the lack of time. The busiest people I have known in my life always have time enough to do everything. Those who do nothing are always tired and pay no attention to the little amount of work they are required to do. They complain constantly that the day is too short. The truth is, they are afraid to fight the Good Fight.
The second symptom of the death of our dreams lies in our certainties. Because we don’t want to see life as a grand adventure, we begin to think of ourselves as wise and fair and correct in asking so little of life. We look beyond the walls of our day-to-day existence, and we hear the sound of lances breaking, we smell the dust and the sweat, and we see the great defeats and the fire in the eyes of the warriors. But we never see the delight, the immense delight in the hearts of those who are engaged in the battle. For them, neither victory nor defeat is important; what’s important is only that they are fighting the Good Fight.
And, finally, the third symptom of the passing of our dreams is peace. Life becomes a Sunday afternoon; we ask for nothing grand, and we cease to demand anything more than we are willing to give. In that state, we think of ourselves as being mature; we put aside the fantasies of our youth, and we seek personal and professional achievement. We are surprised when people our age say that they still want this or that out of life. But really, deep in our hearts, we know that what has happened is that we have renounced the battle for our dreams – we have refused to fight the Good Fight.
When we renounce our dreams and find peace, we go through a short period of tranquility. But the dead dreams begin to rot within us and to infect our entire being. We become cruel to those around us, and then we begin to direct this cruelty against ourselves. That’s when illnesses and psychoses arise. What we sought to avoid in combat – disappointment and defeat – come upon us because of our cowardice. And one day, the dead, spoiled dreams make it difficult to breathe, and we actually seek death. It’s death that frees us from our certainties, from our work, and from that terrible peace of our Sunday afternoons."
"Maybe..."
“Maybe we’re not supposed to be happy. Maybe gratitude has nothing to do with joy. Maybe being grateful means recognizing what you have for what it is. Appreciating small victories. Admiring the struggle it takes to simply be a human. Maybe, we’re thankful for the familiar things we know. And maybe, we’re thankful for the things we’ll never know. At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing is reason enough to celebrate.”
- “Grey’s Anatomy”
The Joke’s On Us"
"The Joke’s On Us"
By Bill Bonner
YOUGHAL, IRELAND – "The BBC reports this morning that stocks are rising all over the world… Stock markets hit new records on Biden spending plan Asian markets rose on Friday following a record-breaking session on Wall Street. The S&P 500 broke the 4000-point barrier for the first time, while the Nasdaq and Dow Jones also made gains.
Investors were buoyed by President Joe Biden’s new $2.3tn (£1.7tn) infrastructure spending plan and growing optimism about the economy. Markets in Tokyo and Seoul were up more than 1%, while Shanghai was also in positive territory.
Joe Biden explained his latest plan in historical terms: "This is not a plan that tinkers around the edges. It is a once-in-a-generation investment in America, unlike anything we’ve done since we built the Interstate Highway System and the Space Race, in the 1950s and ’60s. We have to move now. I’m convinced that if we act now, in 50 years people will look back and say, “This was the moment America won the future.”
No Joke: What do you think, Dear Reader? Will spending money we don’t have on “investments” made by beltway insiders really win the future for us? Yesterday, writing our Aprils Fools’ Day Diary, we explained to our wife Elizabeth our bold, new program – supposedly proposed by Team Biden – to correct both the errors of God and those for which man must take the blame. We thought the plan was silly enough to clearly be a joke. But no. “I thought this was a real news item,” said she…
So we made it crazier and crazier to avoid a “fake news” label. Finally, we had to put on an “April Fools’” headline to be sure it was not mistaken for a real news item. Then, a dear reader wrote to say that the real joke was on those who thought it was a joke.
Loopyland: But that’s the trouble with this stage of a Katastrophenhausse. It’s hard to mock. Nothing is so crazy that it can’t be made into a government policy. And while mockery has to stick more-or-less to what is remotely plausible… real life can go far beyond. That is where we are with the latest White House initiative – way out in Loopyland… where 2 plus 2 equals 7… or 5… or whatever you want.
Adding up the numbers using the old math, what we discover about the “infrastructure” program is that it’s as phony as the “union guy” who proposed it. You may wonder why $2.3 trillion would be needed. After all, roads are supported by gasoline and road taxes… And except for the Interstate highway system, they’re a local matter.
Bridges, too, are paid for by users – either via tolls or taxes. Ports? Same story, paid for by the shippers who use them. And airports, by ticket sales. Railroads? Except for the money-losing Amtrak, they are privately owned. If they need more track or rolling stock, they can apply their profits or raise more money honestly. If a new airport is needed, it is easily funded by the people who use the airport. And if it can’t be paid for in such a reasonable and obvious way, why is it being built?
If the Port of Long Beach, for example, needs more capacity, wouldn’t it make sense to charge the ships that come into port with their containers… and the railroads and trucks that haul it away? Of course, it would. They know what is needed and how much it is worth. The feds do not.
Riot of Boondoggles: Which leaves us with the question “Why $2.3 trillion?” Asiatimes.com has the details: "Most of the $2.3 trillion will buy votes rather than infrastructure, including $400 billion for “elder and disability care,” $213 billion for “green and affordable homes,” $174 billion for electric vehicles, $137 billion for “school and childcare infrastructure,” $100 billion for “job training” and so forth. It’s a smorgasbord for Democratic Party urban constituencies that leaves $180 billion for “R&D in tech of the future” and $300 billion in manufacturing subsidies as an afterthought."
Well, that’s the joke. And it’s on you. There is very little real infrastructure spending going on. It’s just a riot of boondoggles and payoffs… a confederation of dunce-like scams…
The additional spending is supposed to stimulate the economy. But that is a scam, too. It will be paid for, says the president, with a hike in corporate taxes. If that were so, it would be merely taking money from people who earned it… and who at least might invest it fruitfully… and giving it to politicians and lobbyists to blow on their pet projects and cronies.
What kind of return do you get on these government “investments?” This from Dan Ferris at The Stansberry Digest: "…in a recent interview with financial TV outlet Real Vision, Hoisington’s Lacy Hunt pointed out that, early in his career – back in the 1960s and 1970s – $1 of government spending might have generated as much as $4 or $5 of GDP within a few years. But today, according to Hunt, that multiplier is negative... It’s about -0.2, resulting in -$1.20 roughly three years after $1 of new fiscal spending." In other words, at this point in the cycle, the more the feds “invest,” the poorer we get.
New Phase of Capitalism: But Biden says we have to “step up”… or the Chinese are going to “eat our lunch.” We need to “invest” money, he says, so we don’t get left behind. He likens this program to the New Deal or the Great Society.
A better comparison is with Amtrak. That was a bold infrastructure initiative, too. With an initial “investment” of just $40 million in 1970, Amtrak was supposed to promptly begin paying its own way. Politicians claimed the public-private structure marked a magnificent new phase of capitalism. They said Americans would soon be flying down the tracks – like Europeans – from city center to city center, with none of the traffic congestion or pollution then plaguing U.S. metropolises. And they expected the new system to be profitable… and to expand its services from sea to shining sea.
Taken for a Ride: And what happened? Joe Biden must have watched carefully from his house, located only a few minutes from the Wilmington, Delaware, Amtrak station. Did Amtrak “win the future”? Nope. The project worked just like all government boondoggles, transferring money from the many taxpayers to the few “union guys” working the rail lines, along with the suppliers, subsidized riders, and others who directly benefited. Most people never set foot on an Amtrak train. But they got taken for a ride, nevertheless. Half a century later, they are still covering Amtrak’s losses. Compared to reality, mockery is limp and wan."
"Rand Paul 'Pages' Fauci With CDC Confirmation That Vaccinated And Recovered Cannot Pass On COVID"
"Rand Paul 'Pages' Fauci With CDC Confirmation
That Vaccinated And Recovered Cannot Pass On COVID"
by Steve Watson
"Senator Rand Paul shared video Wednesday of CDC Director Rochelle Walensky announcing that new data suggests vaccinated and recovered people do not carry Covid-19. Paul directed his comments at White House chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci, writing “Paging Dr Fauci: please end the mask theater now that cdc admits evidence that the vaccinated do not carry the virus.”
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky: “Our data from the CDC today suggest that vaccinated people do not carry the virus.”
In a further post, Paul also shared a study examining T-cell responses in people who have recovered from Covid-19. “T-cell immunity after natural infection shown to include variants,” Paul, who is also a physician, noted.
He again addressed Fauci, asking “Do we still need to wear multiple masks after we’ve recovered or been vaccinated?” Dr. Fauci, great news! T-cell immunity after natural infection shown to include variants. Do we still need to wear multiple masks after we’ve recovered or been vaccinated?
The Senator clashed with Fauci a fortnight ago, telling him “You’ve been vaccinated and you parade around in two masks for show. You can’t get it again.”
“There’s virtually zero percent chance you’re going to get it and you’re telling people that have had the vaccine who have immunity - you’re defying everything we know about immunity by telling people to wear masks who have been vaccinated,” Paul charged during the hearing.
Fauci has repeatedly flip flopped on the efficacy of masks, and has admitted that there is little science behind lockdown restrictions. In March 2020 Dr. Fauci said, "There's no reason to be walking around with a mask. When you're in the middle of an outbreak wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better, and it might even block a droplet, but it's not providing the perfect protection people think that it is."
Nevertheless, Fauci still will not drop the mask charade, even suggesting that the world needs to carry on wearing them into 2022, and that children should be wearing them in order to play together, until they are all vaccinated from the age of 6 months old."
○
Related:
Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up 4/2/21"
"Weekly News Wrap-Up 4/2/21"
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
"Close to 100 million people reportedly have fallen for the CV-19 vaccination scam based on fear, lies and lies of omission. Nobody wants to inform the public the so-called “vaccines” are totally experimental, and the doctors have no idea what the side effects will be. They also do not want to tell the public of non-vaccine remedies such as the miracle drug Ivermectin and its profound effect on stopping CV-19 if taken long before you need to go to the hospital. Yet, the extreme push to “vaccinate” the masses continues, even though it’s reported 100 people got infected with CV-19 after being fully “vaccinated” in Washington State alone. There are many more that got CV-19 after being fully “vaccinated” all across the country.
The former Chief Science Officer and a VP at Pfizer is saying “it’s entirely possible vaccine campaigns will be used for massive-scale depopulation.” Dr. Mike Yeadon says CV-19 “did not have to become a public health crisis” because we could have used things such as “hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and Ivermectin.” Yeadon also calls the push for worldwide vaccination of CV-19 “global crimes against humanity.”
Is the U.S. dollar going to remain the global reserve currency? Many central banks are worried about the massive money printing and the massive budget deficits in the United States. VP Biden wants to sign even more multi-trillion dollar spending bills in the coming months. Meanwhile, the dollars used in global trade have now sunk to 59%. It was 66% just 7 years ago. If the dollar is dumped, will inflation soar? You bet."
Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he talks about these
stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 4/2/2021.
Thursday, April 1, 2021
"The System Is Going Down- Get Out; Coming Foreclosure Crisis; Hyperinflation; Payoff Debt"
Jeremiah Babe,
"The System Is Going Down- Get Out; Coming Foreclosure Crisis;
Hyperinflation; Payoff Debt"
"Panic Buying Sweep Across US As Catastrophic Shortages Are Collapsing Supply Chains"
Full screen recommended.
"Panic Buying Sweep Across US As Catastrophic
Shortages Are Collapsing Supply Chains"
by Epic Economist
"A new wave of widespread shortages is ravaging the United States due to a catastrophic global supply chain breakdown, which has disrupted the manufacture and transportation of several products and threatens to send prices to unprecedented highs. Chip shortages are halting the production of phones, home appliances, video games, and even forcing entire auto plants to shut down, leading to billions in losses for numerous companies. Moreover, a shortage of building materials is not only crippling the construction of new homes but also adding thousands of dollars to the cost of new housing units. And even though the Suez Canal has finally been cleared, the recent blockage triggered shortages of a wide range of essentials, and those are likely to persist for months.
From oil to natural gas, coffee to canned goods, shelf-stable food to frozen vegetables and other staples; aluminum, furniture, and even toilet paper - there's a dramatic lack of supply, but consumers are still frantically seeking such items. For that reason, experts are worried that soon we might witness another panic-buying frenzy, as Americans run to the stores to stock up on goods they saw being wiped out from grocery shelves during previous rounds of supply shocks, while stores remain woefully unprepared to deal with the growing demand. And that's what we're going to investigate in this video.
A global shortage of semiconductors is provoking a lag in the production of TVs, mobile phones, game consoles, and even cars. Consumers are facing sharp price rises and shortages of multiple electronics, and industry specialists are warning that the enormous surge in demand is making this situation reach a crisis point. More alarmingly, the auto industry, which is still struggling to bounce back from last year's government-mandated shutdowns, is now being forced to cut production and some automakers are closing entire plants due to the shortage of chips. The biggest problem is that such chips are used to control everything from powertrains to digital safety systems. Modern cars typically use 100 or more microprocessors, which makes the industry particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions.
Furthermore, if you were planning to build or repair a house, you probably won't find the materials you need in the stores, especially lumber, considering that many producing plants and manufacturers aren’t up to full capacity, and a lot of material isn’t making to store supplies anymore. Lumber shortages have driven prices up by 70% and added roughly 25,000 dollars to the cost of a new housing unit. Additionally, flat steel form ties, a small piece of metal that ties together aluminum panels that make the walls, allowing builders to pour concrete in between, is experiencing a drastic decline in supply due to a number of determinants. Such supplies could drop to zero over the next few weeks.
On top of that, shortages of cabinets, appliances and vinyl to extrude windows are also being registered as copper prices skyrocketed 80% this year. The blockage of the Suez Canal will also add to the list of problems builders have been experiencing in 2021. Although the immense cargo ship has finally been refloated, the disruptions caused are forecasted to exacerbate months-long problems in the global supply chain, also triggering shortages of products such as toilet paper, coffee, and furniture all over the country.
American consumers should brace for radical price increases in the pumps, as the accident caused shipments of oil and natural gas from the Mideast to Europe to spark higher prices of nudge crude and gasoline. By the way, do you remember how last year's panic-buying frenzy caused a disastrous shortage of toilet paper, cleaning products, food staples, and a wide range of essentials? Well, prepare yourself, because another wave of shortages is coming up, and it might get incredibly hard to find toilet paper again.
Experts are worried that all of the mentioned international shipping issues could bring a return of hoarding, especially amongst items that have already been scarce throughout the past year. Shortages of shelf-stable items, such as canned foods, dried pasta, beans, as well as food staples, such as eggs, bread and milk, and a variety of frozen vegetables are very likely to occur again this year, since manufacturers are still trying to catch up from the massive and unexpected demand in 2020 and stores' stockpiles have been running dangerously low.
When we think things can't get more chaotic, all odds conspire to an even greater chaos. So get ready for another catastrophic wave of shortages and don't forget to turn on the notification bell to stay current to the next developments of this calamitous crisis, here, on Epic Economist."
Musical Interlude: The Eagles, "The Last Resort"
Full screen recommended.
The Eagles, "The Last Resort"
"A Look to the Heavens"
"Colorful NGC 1579 resembles the better known Trifid Nebula, but lies much farther north in planet Earth's sky, in the heroic constellation Perseus. About 2,100 light-years away and 3 light-years across, NGC 1579 is, like the Trifid, a study in contrasting blue and red colors, with dark dust lanes prominent in the nebula's central regions.
In both, dust reflects starlight to produce beautiful blue reflection nebulae. But unlike the Trifid, in NGC 1579 the reddish glow is not emission from clouds of glowing hydrogen gas excited by ultraviolet light from a nearby hot star. Instead, the dust in NGC 1579 drastically diminishes, reddens, and scatters the light from an embedded, extremely young, massive star, itself a strong emitter of the characteristic red hydrogen alpha light."
"Remember..."
“Remember, we all stumble, every one of us.
That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand.”
- Emily Kimbrough
Gregory Mannarino, "U.S. To Give The IMF $650 BILLION. Stocks Hit New Record High, Crude Surges"
"Down the rabbit hole of psychopathic greed and insanity...
Only the consequences are real - to you!
Your guide:
Gregory Mannarino,
"U.S. To Give The IMF $650 BILLION.
Stocks Hit New Record High, Crude Surges"
Gerald Celente, "S&P Hits New High; Crash Coming"
Gerald Celente,
"S&P Hits New High; Crash Coming"
"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over hype and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What’s Next in the increasingly turbulent times ahead."
"The Great Economic Equalizer"
"The Great Economic Equalizer"
by Nomi Prins
"In an interview with CNBC in February 2021, after being confirmed as the first female Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen stressed the crucial need for both a Covid-19 stimulus relief bill and a sustainable infrastructure bill. When commenting on the Biden administration’s “Build Back Better” agenda, she underscored the “long-term structural problems in the U.S. economy that have resulted in inequality [and] slow productivity growth.” She also highlighted how a major new focus on clean-energy investments could make the economy more competitive globally.
When it comes to infrastructure and sustainable development efforts, the U.S. is being left in the dust by its primary economic rivals. Following his first phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Biden noted to a group of senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee that “if we don’t get moving, they are going to eat our lunch.” He went on to say, “They’re investing billions of dollars dealing with a whole range of issues that relate to transportation, the environment, and a whole range of other things. We just have to step up.”
China Races Ahead: While this country, deep in partisan gridlock, stalls on infrastructure measures of any sort, its global competitors are proceeding full speed ahead. Having helped to jumpstart its economy with projects like high-speed railways and massive new bridges, China is now accelerating its efforts to further develop its technological infrastructure.
As Bloomberg reported, the Chinese are focused on supporting the build-up of “everything from wireless networks to artificial intelligence. In the master plan backed by President Jinping himself, China will invest an estimated $1.4 trillion over six years” in such projects. And it’s not just China leaving the U.S. behind. Major trading partners like Australia, India, and Japan are projected to significantly out-invest the United States.
The World Economic Forum’s 2019 Global Competitiveness Report typically lists the U.S. as 13th among the world’s nations for its infrastructure quality. (It had been ranked 5th in 2002). In 2020, that organization ranked the U.S. 32nd out of 115 countries on its Energy Transition Index. Despite the multiple stimulus packages that Congress has passed in the Covid-19 era, no funding - not a cent - has been designated for capital-building projects. In contrast, China, Japan, and the European Union have all crafted stimulus programs in which infrastructure spending was a core component.
A Water Main Breaks Every Two Minutes: Here’s a simple reality: a strong American economy is dependent on infrastructure. That means more than just a “big umbrella” effort focused on transportation and electricity. Yes, airports, railroads, electrical grids, and roadways are all-important economic drivers, but in this twenty-first-century world, high-capacity communications systems are also essential to economic prosperity, as are distribution channels of various sorts.
At the moment, there’s a water main break every two minutes in the U.S. Nearly six billion gallons of treated water are lost daily thanks to such breaks. Situations like the one in Flint, Michigan, in which economic pressure and bankruptcy eventually led a city to expose thousands of its children to poisonous drinking water, will become increasingly unavoidable in a country with an ever-deteriorating infrastructure.
The great economic equalizer is this: the more efficient our infrastructure systems become, the less they cost, and the more they can be readily used by those across the income spectrum. What American history has shown since the time of Abraham Lincoln is that in periods of economic turmoil, major infrastructure building or rebuilding will not only pay for itself but also support the economy for generations to come.
The Greening of the Economy? Moving forward, it’s already clear that clean and sustainable energy will be crucial to achieving a more equal, economically prosperous, and environmentally friendly future. Building a renewables-based economy and creating jobs to go with it would be much more than a niche set of activities in the usual infrastructure spectrum ... It would be the future.
High-paying jobs within the sustainable energy sector are already booming. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that "green" work would be among the occupations projected to have the fastest employment growth from 2016 to 2026. Wall Street and big tech companies are also paying attention. Amazon, Google, and Facebook have become the world’s biggest corporate purchasers of clean energy and are now planning for some of the world’s most transformational environmental targets. That means smaller companies will also be able to enter that workspace as innovation and infrastructure drive economic incentives.
The Next Generation: It may be ambitious to assume that we’ve moved on from the Groundhog Day vortex of “infrastructure week," but the critical demand for a new Infrastructure Age confronts us now. From Main Street to Wall Street, the need and the growing market for a sustainable, efficient, and clean future couldn’t be more real. An abundance of avenues to finance such a future are available, and it makes logical business sense to pursue them.
It’s obvious enough what should be done. The only question, given American politics in 2021, is: Can it be done? Joe Biden has said that infrastructure investments "are among the highest value investments we can make." He added, "I'm convinced that if we act now, in 50 years people will look back and say: This was the moment that America won the future."
The economy of tomorrow will be built upon the infrastructure measures of today. You can’t see the value of stocks from space, nor can you see the physical value of what you’ve left to the next generation from stat sheets. But from the International Space Station, you can see the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge. What will future generations see that we’ve left behind? If the answer is nothing, that will be a tragedy of our age."