Preppper News, 8/20/25
"WW3 Rages On: 'It's All Theater',
Another Front Will Open Soon"
Brian Berletic of the New Atlas demystifies the peace negotiations.
Comments here:
So, we rise from the rubble...
StatCounter
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
"Inside California's Massive Real Estate Meltdown"
Full screen recommended.
Michael Bordenaro, 8/20/25
"Inside California's Massive Real Estate Meltdown"
Comments here:
Dan, I Allegedly, "Retail and Restaurants - Is It Time to Panic?"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, PM 8/20/25
"Retail and Restaurants - Is It Time to Panic?"
"Is Target doomed? Retail's big mistake might just have been revealed in today's video! From Target's leadership struggles and plummeting stock to the challenges facing retailers like Costco and fast food giants like McDonald's, we're diving into what this means for consumers and the future of shopping. Are we witnessing the death of retail as we know it? Target's new CEO announcement has sparked outrage among analysts and investors, while theft and failed partnerships like the Ulta deal continue to plague the company. Meanwhile, Costco's pricing strategy is raising eyebrows, and fast food chains are scrambling to regain customer loyalty with lower-priced value menus. What does this all mean for the middle class, holiday shopping, and the state of retail in 2023? Let me know your thoughts - who do you think won't make it to Black Friday this year?"
Comments here:
Gregory Mannarino, "Detonation Zone, And It's Going To Be Catastrophic!"
Gregory Mannarino, PM 8/20/25
"Detonation Zone, And It's Going To Be Catastrophic!"
Comments here:
"A Look to the Heavens"
“In one of the brightest parts of Milky Way lies a nebula where some of the oddest things occur. NGC 3372, known as the Great Nebula in Carina, is home to massive stars and changing nebulas. The Keyhole Nebula (NGC 3324), the bright structure just above the image center, houses several of these massive stars and has itself changed its appearance.
The entire Carina Nebula spans over 300 light years and lies about 7,500 light-years away in the constellation of Carina. Eta Carinae, the most energetic star in the nebula, was one of the brightest stars in the sky in the 1830s, but then faded dramatically. Eta Carinae is the brightest star near the image center, just left of the Keyhole Nebula. While Eta Carinae itself may be on the verge of a supernova explosion, X-ray images indicate that much of the Great Carina Nebula has been a veritable supernova factory.”
Chet Raymo, "On Saying 'I Don't Know'"
"On Saying 'I Don't Know'"
by Chet Raymo
“Johannes Kepler is best known for figuring out the laws of planetary motion. In 1610, he published a little book called “The Six-Cornered Snowflake” that asked an even more fundamental question: How do visible forms arise? He wrote: "There must be some definite reason why, whenever snow begins to fall, its initial formation is invariably in the shape of a six-pointed starlet. For if it happens by chance, why do they not fall just as well with five corners or with seven?"
All around him Kepler saw beautiful shapes in nature: six-pointed snowflakes, the elliptical orbits of the planets, the hexagonal honeycombs of bees, the twelve-sided shape of pomegranate seeds. Why? he asks. Why does the stuff of the universe arrange itself into five-petaled flowers, spiral galaxies, double-helix DNA, rhomboid crystals, the rainbow's arc? Why the five-fingered, five-toed, bilaterally symmetric beauty of the newborn child? Why?
Kepler struggles with the problem, and along the way he stumbles onto sphere-packing. Why do pomegranate seeds have twelve flat sides? Because in the growing pomegranate fruit the seeds are squeezed into the smallest possible space. Start with spherical seeds, pack them as efficiently as possible with each sphere touching twelve neighbors. Then squeeze. Voila! And so he goes, convincing us, for example, that the bee's honeycomb has six sides because that's the way to make honey cells with the least amount of wax. His book is a tour-de-force of playful mathematics.
In the end, Kepler admits defeat in understanding the snowflake's six points, but he thinks he knows what's behind all of the beautiful forms of nature: A universal spirit pervading and shaping everything that exists. He calls it nature's "formative capacity." We would be inclined to say that Kepler was just giving a fancy name to something he couldn't explain. To the modern mind, "formative capacity" sounds like empty words.
We can do somewhat better. For example, we explain the shape of snowflakes by the shape of water molecules, and we explain the shape of water molecules with the mathematical laws of quantum physics. Since Kepler's time, we have made impressive progress towards understanding the visible forms of snowflakes, crystals, rainbows, and newborn babes by probing ever deeper into the heart of matter. But we are probably no closer than Kepler to answering the ultimate questions: What is the reason for the curious connection between nature and mathematics? Why are the mathematical laws of nature one thing rather than another? Why does the universe exist at all? Like Kepler, we can give it a name, but the most forthright answer is simply: I don't know.”
"The World Rests In The Night..."
“The world rests in the night. Trees, mountains, fields, and faces are released from the prison of shape and the burden of exposure. Each thing creeps back into its own nature within the shelter of the dark. Darkness is the ancient womb. Nighttime is womb-time. Our souls come out to play. The darkness absolves everything; the struggle for identity and impression falls away. We rest in the night.”
- John O'Donohue,
"Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom"
○
“On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.
And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colors,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.”
○
John O'Donohue was an Irish author, poet, philosopher and former Catholic priest. He was born in County Clare on January 1, 1956. He died suddenly on January 4, 2008. He is best known for popularizing Celtic spirituality and is the author of a number of best-selling books on the subject.
Freely download "Anam Cara", by John O'Donohue, here:
"A Walk Through Moscow"
Full screen recommended.
Window To Moscow, 8/20/25
"A Walk Through Moscow"
"Join me on a breathtaking walk through Moscow – the city famous
for its beauty, history, and culture. Walk in hot summer in Moscow, Russia."
Comments here:
Comments?
"The One Spinoza Rule For Life I Try to Live By"
"The One Spinoza Rule For Life I Try to Live By"
by Thomas Oppong
"I’ll save you the suspense: You’re trying too hard. Many self-help books and productivity gurus argue a good life is a math problem: input effort, output glory. But that equation doesn’t work for everyone. The blasphemy no one tells you is that the grind is not noble. It drains your soul. The more you hustle your way through existence, the less you live.
17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza notes, “The more you struggle to live, the less you live. Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing. Instead, surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure….you are above everything distressing.” People have been gaslit into believing they need a 5-year plan. They don’t.
Spinoza could not be more right: “Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing.” Want to pivot careers at 45? Do it. Want to start something new without a one-year plan? Go ahead. Use what goes wrong as wisdom for your next action. Certainty is where dreams go to die. Even if you get it, it’s temporary. A job you thought was “it” suddenly isn’t. A relationship changes over. You evolve. People change. You’ll never be sure of anything.
When you’re always pursuing certainty, the perfect career plan, the 5-year roadmap, the “this-is-my-purpose” epiphany, you miss what’s right in front of you. You’re so busy building the life you think you’re supposed to have that you forget to actually live the one you’ve got. You don’t need to know how chapter ten ends before you write chapter one. Certainty is a comfort blanket for the scared parts of your brain. I’ve micromanaged plans until they died in my notebook. I won’t go to that life anymore. I stopped trying to prove I knew exactly what I was doing.
The uncertainty won’t kill you. But the endless need for certainty? That just might waste your life. Stumbling is the path. The only thing you must be sure of is that you’re listening to your soul. The one that says yes or no without a PowerPoint deck. Your need for control is the very thing stealing your joy. You keep waiting for a sign, a guarantee, a cosmic permission.
Clarity doesn’t precede action. Action precedes clarity. The most alive people you know are not the ones with the bulletproof plans. They’re the ones who said “screw it” and stepped into the fog. Hesitation is not wisdom. The artist who waits for inspiration dies with a blank canvas. The lover who needs proof they won’t get hurt ends up alone with a spreadsheet of pros and cons. “You are above everything distressing.”The moment you stop resisting the uncertainty of being human, you realise the weight was never yours to carry.
Surrender to your own self. Your chief task in life isn’t to wrestle life into submission. Your job is to stop arguing with what’s true for you. Hate your corporate job but terrified to freelance? That dread is real. Ignoring it is what’s fake. “Surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure,” notes Spinoza. Your gut isn’t just smarter than your brain. It’s faster. Stop asking for permission from the wrong people. And stop negotiating with yourself. When you stop holding onto outcomes, you’re no longer a hostage to hope. You’re free.
You are the antidote to your own misery. The minute you stop treating life like an opponent, it stops fighting back. Distress isn’t fate, it’s friction. You’ll be “above everything distressing” when you stop confusing pain with purpose. Remember the last time you felt truly alive. I bet it wasn’t when you were “hustling.” It was when you forgot to measure, judge, or optimize. When you were just in it. For the experience. That’s the secret. Stop trying to live “correctly.” Start letting life happen through you.
The minute you “arrive” is the minute you start dying inside. Remember that one vacation where you planned every minute? Color-coded itinerary, timed breaks from experiences? Yeah. By day two, you were cranky and Googling “fun things to do near me” like you hadn’t spent three weeks researching. Life works like that. The more you try to control it, the less time to have to actually live it.
“The more clearly you understand yourself and your emotions, the more you become a lover of what is.” ― Spinoza
Every time you start spiraling over a decision, get back to these questions. Am I forcing this, or flowing with it? Is this fear… or freedom in disguise? Then, do the wisest thing possible, first: Nothing. Let the answer rise like heat off pavement. Because the truth isn’t out there. It’s in the parts of you that already know how to live, if you’d just get out of the way.
Life is weirdly beautiful when you stop forcing answers and just let it flow. Spinoza’s genius wasn’t in his logic; it was in his freedom. He proved what you already sense but refuse to accept. The struggle isn’t inevitable. It’s optional. Cancel your imaginary deadlines. The universe doesn’t care about your 5-year plan. Follow the unreasonable joy. What makes you grin for no reason? Do it badly.
Trust your gut. It already knows the way. What should I be doing with my life? It’s the wrong question. “What feels true right now?” Live from that. The rest, distress, uncertainty, and other people’s expectations, will still be there. You’ll just be above it. And when you finally stop wrestling the river, you realize it’s been carrying you the whole damn time. Stop trying to “win” at life. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You never will. “Surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure….you are above everything distressing.”
"Epicurus: Do Not Spoil What You Have"
"Epicurus: Do Not Spoil What You Have"
by Thomas Oppong
"One word: insatiable. Economist Lionel Robbins observed our needs, wants, and desires can never be satisfied. Greek Philosopher Epicurus thought it was the reason for human misery. The pursuit of unnecessary desires, he thought, leads to unnecessary suffering. He observed an appreciation of life’s basic pleasures changes everything. Epicurus believed the art of living well is knowing when to be content. “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for,” he wrote.
He warned his followers about the danger of insatiable desires and urged a mindful approach to our desires. “He who does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world,” he stated. Epicurus believed the obsession with everything we don’t have makes it incredibly hard to enjoy life. “We must, therefore, pursue the things that make for happiness, seeing that when happiness is present, we have everything; but when it is absent, we do everything to possess it,” says Epicurus. Born in 341 BCE on the island of Samos, off the coast of modern Turkey, Epicurus was famous for his incredible focus on what makes people happy.
The Garden: Epicurus reached the pinnacle of his life as a philosopher and teacher in Athens. At 32, he established his school, the Garden, a haven for philosophical discourse and the pursuit of a fulfilling life. During this peak period, he attracted diverse followers to the Garden.
The Garden, Epicurus’ communal living space, served as a practical manifestation of his teachings. It was not merely a physical garden but a symbolic space where Epicureans could cultivate the seeds of wisdom, friendship, and contentment. The point of the Garden idea was to create a space where individuals could escape the tumult of everyday life, free from unnecessary desires and anxieties. It was a place where the pursuit of happiness, in the form of ataraxia (tranquillity), was central.
Epicurus surrounded himself with friends, engaging in philosophical discussions and embracing a simple lifestyle. He said it was vital to achieving a state of contentment and peace of mind. His emphasis on simple pleasures, moderation, the value of friendship and the pursuit of a peaceful mind is still relevant today. In the pursuit of pleasure, Epicurus distinguished between physical and mental pleasures. “It is not the drink that is at fault, but the excess,” he contended. Epicurus himself lived modestly, advocating for a life of simplicity and moderation. His lifestyle was based on finding contentment in basic pleasures rather than constantly pursuing more.
The anxieties of things we don’t need: “Plain fare gives as much pleasure as a costly diet, when once the pain of want has been removed,” he reflected. His quote exemplifies his belief in finding joy in life’s basic pleasures rather than extravagant indulgence. At the heart of Epicurus’ teachings was the pursuit of ataraxia, a state of tranquillity and freedom from unnecessary desires. His philosophical principles aimed to liberate people from the anxieties of pursuing things we don’t necessarily need for a good life. In Epicurean philosophy, happiness is found in simplicity: finding joy in daily life - a warm home, nourishing meals, and the company of loved ones. “He who is not satisfied with a little is satisfied with nothing,” Epicurus wisely noted. “Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little,” he added. Applying his teachings can lead to a more balanced and content existence - a life unspoiled by the relentless pursuit of things you don’t need.
Friendship: a fundamental human need: Epicurus also highlighted the significance of friendship in a fulfilling life. “Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship,” he asserted. Epicurus viewed friendship as an essential component of a fulfilling life. He believed solid and supportive relationships were crucial for achieving eudaimonia, the Greek concept of happiness or well-being.
In his view, true friendship provides a sense of belonging, shared values, emotional comfort and intellectual stimulation, all of which contributed to a meaningful and satisfying life. Invest in genuine and quality friendships. Appreciate the spirit of friendly company. According to Epicureans, genuine happiness lies in freeing oneself from the burdens of desire and finding contentment in the present. The uncertainty of the future can overshadow our happiness.
Epicurus’ admonition to “not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not” holds profound relevance for a simple life. We don’t appreciate what we have enough. Epicurus cautions against the trap of comparing your reality to idealised online portrayals. Or comparing yourself unnecessarily with people who may have what you don’t have. By all means, pursue your life goals. But learn to appreciate your unique circumstances.
Don’t obsess about wants. Focus on needs. Distinguish between genuine needs and unnecessary desires. When the pressure to accumulate consumes us, Epicurus’ wisdom suggests a mindset that values experiences more. In all your pursuits, learn to pause, reflect, and find joy in your present accomplishments. While ambition is commendable, find a balance - to not spoil the satisfaction of how far you’ve come by perpetually chasing the next best “want.” “If you can’t be happy with a coffee, you won’t be happy with a yacht.” – Naval
The idea is to avoid spoiling the satisfaction derived from current achievements by fixating solely on future ambitions. It’s a healthy way to safeguard ourselves from the corrosive effects of insatiable desires and, in turn, live a more content and fulfilling life."
"Yes, There Is A Meaning..."
"Yes, there is a meaning; at least for me, there is one thing that matters -
to set a chime of words tinkling in the minds of a few fastidious people."
- Logan Pearsall Smith
"The U.S. Government Is Waging Psychological War on Its Citizens: Inside the Deep State’s PsyOps Machine" (Excerpt)
"The U.S. Government Is Waging Psychological War on Its Citizens:
Inside the Deep State’s PsyOps Machine"
by John & Nisha Whitehead
Excerpt: “Have you ever wondered who’s pulling the strings? Anything we touch is a weapon. We can deceive, persuade, change, influence, inspire. We come in many forms. We are everywhere.” - U.S. Army Psychological Operations recruitment video.
From viral memes to military-grade influence operations, the government is waging a full-spectrum psychological war - not against foreign enemies but against its own citizens. The goal? Compliance. Control. Conformity. The battlefield is no longer physical - it is psychological - and the American people are the targets. From AI-manipulated narratives and National Guard psyops to loyalty scorecards for businesses, the Deep State’s war on truth and independent thought is no longer covert. It is coordinated, calculated, and by design.
Yet while both major parties—long in service to the Deep State—have weaponized mass communication to shape public opinion, the Trump administration is elevating it into a new art form that combines meme warfare, influencer psyops, and viral digital content to control narratives and manufacture consensus. In doing so, President Trump and his influencers are capitalizing on a propaganda system long cultivated by the security-industrial complex. What we’re witnessing is not just propaganda. It is psychological warfare.
Psychological warfare, as defined by the Rand Corporation, “involves the planned use of propaganda and other psychological operations to influence the opinions, emotions, attitudes, and behavior of opposition groups.” Today, those “opposition groups” include the American public. For years, the government has been bombarding the citizenry with propaganda and psychological operations aimed at conditioning us to be compliant, easily manipulated and supportive of the police state’s growing domestic and global power.
The government is so confident in its Orwellian powers of manipulation that it’s taken to bragging about them. For example, the U.S. Army’s 4th Psychological Operations Group, the branch of the military responsible for psychological warfare, released a recruiting video that touts its efforts to pull the strings, turn everything they touch into a weapon, be everywhere, deceive, persuade, change, influence, and inspire.
This is the danger that lurks in plain sight: a government so immersed in the art of mind manipulation that it no longer sees its citizens as individuals, but as targets. Of all the weapons in the government’s vast arsenal, psychological warfare may be the most insidious."
Full article here:
Bill Bonner, "Public Fraud"
"Public Fraud"
by Bill Bonner
Poitou, France - "The Trump Team seems to have the courage of its misconceptions. The missteps keep coming. On to Moscow! CNBC: "The Trump administration has quietly expanded its 50% steel and aluminum tariffs to include more than 400 additional product categories, vastly increasing the reach and impact of this arm of its trade agenda. The new tariffs, which took effect Monday, expand the scope of the levies that President Donald Trump previously announced on the valuable commodities. The tariff list now covers products such as fire extinguishers, machinery, construction materials and specialty chemicals that either contain, or are contained in, aluminum or steel."
The biggest misconception yet may be the ‘monetary reset’ signaled by the nomination of Stephen Miran to the Fed. Mr. Miran is the author of "A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System", the plan popularly known as the "Mar-a-Lago Accord."
So far, Trump’s attempts to pimp up the economy have seemed incoherent, even contradictory. For example, we were told that the foreigners were ‘ripping us off.’ Their tariffs and non-tariff barriers...were said to be too high, keeping American industries from being able to compete fairly.. The problem was that after coming down since WWII, actual tariffs were low - with a trade weighted average of only about 2-4%. And as the Trump team threatened and negotiated…with a combination of bluff, bluster, and bullying, we ended up with higher tariffs almost everywhere. It didn’t seem to make sense.
Then, there was the geopolitical component. China was supposed to be our arch-rival. But our ‘trade war’ attacks caused other countries to turn to China for stability. They made common cause — China, Russia, India, Japan and Southeast Asia -- creating the biggest trading bloc in the world...which we weren’t part of.
Nikkei.com: "India and Japan can go from quiet partners to Asia's power couple."
TIME: "India and China’s relationship is thawing as the U.S.’s ties with India chills under President Donald Trump."
France 24: "China's Xi heads to Moscow to beef up 'no limits' Putin partnership."
Bloomberg: "Trump Tariffs Seen Fostering New China-Global South Trade Order." China’s goods exports over the past decade have doubled to nations mostly across Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
But then, last week, the method of the madness was spelled out...and it was madder than ever. POTUS didn’t want lower tariffs, he wanted higher ones. And he didn’t want to zero-out America’s trade deficits. He apparently believes that these large trade deficits - topping $1 trillion per year - can be converted into a kind of Sovereign Wealth Fund...that - in exchange for the privilege of doing business with us - the foreigners would reinvest in the US, in investments ‘directed’ by POTUS himself. This would make the Big Man, not only the soon-to-be-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize...and not only the most powerful human being who ever lived...but also the manager of the world’s biggest hedge fund. Bessent says the ‘fund’ will go over $10 trillion!
If that weren’t enough, US trade negotiators will also insist that the profits from these investments be divvied up - 90% to us...10% to the folks whose money is invested. No ‘2 and 20’ for this fund! When we first heard of this plan, we regarded it as not worth thinking about. Unworkable. Based on a fallacy. Foreign nations will never go along with it. Forget it. But a lot of people are taking it seriously...and preparing to make money by front-running it (Anticipating where the money will go...and getting there first.) And when the architect of this monstrosity was nominated to the Fed, it was time to look more closely.
Behind the plan is the kind of econo-babble that makes people sound like they know what they are talking about. Miran: "The root of the economic imbalances lies in persistent dollar overvaluation that prevents the balancing of international trade, and this overvaluation is driven by inelastic demand for reserve assets. As global GDP grows, it becomes increasingly burdensome for the United States to finance the provision of reserve assets and the defense umbrella, as the manufacturing and tradeable sectors bear the brunt of the cost..."
Miran and his ilk argue that the US is doing the world a favor by running trade deficits. It is financing “the provision of reserve assets.” That is, it ‘prints’ the money used by the rest of the world like oil in a crankcase, to grease the financial system. It does so by spending more on goods and services from abroad than it earns from its exports - thus producing trade deficits. Miran sees these deficits as a kind of public service. They provide the world with ‘reserve assets.’
But this kind of monetary altruism (buying real goods and services with pieces of paper money) comes at a cost back in the homeland. It results in high debt, over-priced assets, and an impoverished manufacturing sector. The least the foreigners can do is a little ‘burden sharing’...by giving us back some of our money...says Bessent.
With Trump as the fund manager, it will be invested in the most promising, most critical industries. It will rebuild America’s industry...create good-paying jobs....and keep us from being an industrial backwater. We are told that the ‘agreements are in place.’ Supposedly the foreigners are willing to go along…perhaps even while the US feds take 90% of their profits. But the whole thing is based on a misunderstanding. Milton Friedman and Richard Nixon did the US no favor when they created the paper dollar in use since 1971. And the US did the world no favor by using it as the world’s reserve currency.
This was not a ‘public good,’ the US was providing. It was a fraud. And the wages of this monetary sin include today’s trade deficits.’ Had the US stuck with gold-backed currency, trade deficits would have had to be settled in gold. And since the US can’t ‘print’ gold, the imbalances would have been rectified a long time ago. So too, had we stuck with real money, we wouldn’t be saddled with a $37 trillion national debt. Nor with trillion-dollar interest payments…trillion-dollar deficits…inflation…and a looming bankruptcy.
There were no seriously lopsided trade deficits before 1971. It was the fake dollar that created them - not the Triffin Paradox nor other nations’ dastardly tariffs. The fake dollar - the ‘exorbitant privilege,’ as Giscard d’Estaing put it, of being able to ‘print’ money - twisted and corrupted the entire world financial system. And now, Miran et al, with more tomfoolery, will only make it worse."
What It Costs A Family Of 4 To Live 1 Month In America"
"What It Costs A Family Of 4 To Live 1 Month In America:
$996 For Groceries, $1,437 For Health Insurance,
A $745 Car Payment And A $2,259 Mortgage Payment"
by Michael Snyder
"You may be quite shocked by the numbers that I am going to reveal in this article. So many people are bitterly complaining about the rising cost of living, and so I decided to do some investigating. What does it really cost for a family of four to live the “American Dream” today? As I was doing my research, what I discovered deeply alarmed me.
Obviously a family of four is going to need to eat, and grocery prices have been going through the roof. According to the USDA, a realistic food budget for a family of four for one month ranges between $996 and $1,603…"The USDA estimates $297–558 for a monthly food budget for one person, $614–963 for a couple, and $996–1,603 for a family of four." For the purposes of this article, let’s assume that we are being frugal and so we will go with the lowest number in that spectrum.
Health insurance is another major expense that U.S. households face on a monthly basis. In 2023, an unsubsidized plan for a family of four through the ACA marketplace averaged $1,437 a month…Family plan premium rates will vary based on family size. But, a family of four paid an average of $1,437 a month for an unsubsidized plan. That figure is two years old, and premiums have continued to rise since that time, but for the purposes of this article we will go with it.
In order to pay the monthly bills, parents must go to work, and in order to go to work they will need at least one vehicle. According to Experian, the average monthly payment for a new vehicle during the first quarter of 2025 was $745…In Q1 2025, the average car payment for a new car was $745, and the average payment for a used car was $521. However, monthly payments can vary significantly based on many factors, including the loan amount, loan term, borrower credit history and more. Most households have more than one vehicle, but for the purposes of this article we will include just one vehicle payment in the monthly budget.
Needless to say, a family of four also needs a place to live, and the median monthly mortgage payment in the United States has now risen to $2,259… The median monthly mortgage payment for U.S. homebuyers is currently $2,259. This assumes a buyer making a 20 percent down payment on a $435,300 home - the median sale price for an existing home in June, according to the National Association of Realtors - at 6.75 percent interest, the current average for a 30-year loan based on Bankrate data.
Okay, now that we have our raw data let’s do some math. If you add all four of our monthly expenses together, you get a grand total of $5,437 a month. That is only for food, health insurance, one vehicle payment and a mortgage payment. Of course there are many other things that a family of four must pay for as well.
Are you starting to understand why it seems like most people are just barely scraping by these days? Most of us are stressed out about our bills, and the cost of living just keeps going up and up. Many Americans are trying to cut corners any way that they can. For example, it is being reported that 44 percent of U.S. adults admit that they have ordered a kiddie meal… Apparently, grown-ups love a good kiddie meal, too. That’s one of the takeaways from a new survey conducted by Lightspeed Commerce, a company that provides payment systems to the hospitality industry. The survey found that 44% of U.S. diners say they’ve ordered children’s meals for themselves at restaurants.
I suppose that is one way to save a little bit of money. We are being told that the number of kiddie meals being ordered by adults is up 28 percent compared to 2019… According to industry research firm Circana, the number of children’s meals placed by adults was up 28% in 2024 compared with 2019. Another data point, as the Wall Street Journal reports, is that Yelp reviews for kids’ meals were higher in December 2024 than any month since 2019. “It’s satisfying, cheaper, less calories, and sometimes there’s a little prize or treat,” C.J. Person, a retired teacher in North Carolina, told the Journal. Are adults technically allowed to order kids’ meals? Probably not. Most restaurants have an age limit policy, but they are rarely enforced.
This isn’t what “prosperity” looks like. In fact, this is the opposite of “prosperity”. And now mass layoffs are happening day after day. Earlier today, I was saddened to learn that John Deere has decided to conduct mass layoffs at three facilities in the Midwest…Legacy tractor maker John Deere has announced layoffs at three Midwestern facilities as the company grapples with declining sales and the effects of tariffs on its bottom line. “The struggling ag economy continues to impact orders for John Deere equipment,” the company said in a media statement regarding the layoffs. “This is a challenging time for many farmers, growers and producers, and directly impacts our business in the near term.” Farming is normally fairly recession-proof, and so the fact that demand for John Deere equipment is faltering is not a good sign at all.
The housing market is really struggling right now too. According to Redfin, the average time that a house is spending on the market has now reached the highest level in 10 years… The typical home that went under contract in July spent 43 days on the market - up from 35 days a year earlier and the longest span for any July since 2015, according to new Redfin data.
It’s another sign that buyers are gaining leverage after years of tight inventory, though the extent of that advantage varies by region. In Florida, homes are taking much longer to sell, over 90 days in some cities. West Palm Beach (95 days), Fort Lauderdale (92 days) and Miami (86 days) were the slowest major markets in the country last month.
This feels so much like 2008 all over again. And just like in 2008, the economy of Las Vegas is an early indicator of what is coming for the economy as a whole… A retail expert has warned Las Vegas is in freefall with consumer spending slumping, with one recent visitor raising concerns over an outrageous tip demand. The Nevada city, known for its lavish shows and around-the-clock gambling, has recorded a large drop in tourism and spending in recent months. According to the Nevada Department of Taxation, sales at food and beverage outlets, clothing, shoes and jewelry retailers have all fallen in the last 11 months.
A lot of people out there still don’t seem to get it. We really are moving into extremely difficult times. The vast majority of the population is living paycheck to paycheck right now. And so when a sudden job loss or some sort of an emergency happens, they have nothing to fall back on. We are far more vulnerable than most people realize, and the months ahead will demonstrate that fact very clearly."
Dan, I Allegedly, "Would You Eat Fish Grown in a Lab? The End of Real Food?"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, AM 8/20/25
"Would You Eat Fish Grown in a Lab?
The End of Real Food?"
"Lab-grown salmon is hitting the market, but is it really what they claim it to be? In this video, I’m breaking down the shocking truth about lab-grown salmon and why it’s raising eyebrows. From how it’s made to the high-end restaurants serving it, I share my unfiltered thoughts on this supposedly “innovative” food. Is it real fish, or just a science experiment? You decide. We also touch on the skyrocketing prices of vegetables, recalls on store-bought shrimp, and how restaurant chains are struggling to adapt to the changing times. Plus, I share some bizarre stories about fraud, theft, and the challenges people are facing today."
Comments here:
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)