Wednesday, November 29, 2023

"How Milei Could Make Argentina a Beacon of Freedom and Prosperity"

"How Milei Could Make Argentina 
a Beacon of Freedom and Prosperity"
by International Man

"International Man: Javier Milei made history by becoming the world’s first anarcho-capitalist president. What is the historical significance of his victory? Are you optimistic?

Doug Casey: Milei’s election is a big deal - potentially a very, very big deal. He’s the first declared anarcho-capitalist in history to head any country. And not by stealth. He, all the while, said that the State is the enemy and should be abolished. Anarcho-capitalists believe that society can run itself without a State, which is a formalized instrument of coercion. It’s unprecedented for somebody to be elected to run a State that he wants to abolish. And propose that if it continues to exist, it should only have the police, military, and the courts. And even those should be privatized.

Am I optimistic? Looking at it from a long-term point of view, for the last hundred years, individual freedom has been diminishing, and State power has grown hugely all over the world. What’s worse is that the trend is accelerating. Many countries are on the ragged edge of turning into socialist or fascist dictatorships. That includes the US. Since Reagan left office, all of our presidents have been disasters of various types, with the current regime being the worst yet. In Argentina, the Peronists have run the country completely into the ground over the last 75 years.

Of course, maybe Milei’s election is just an uptick in a continuing downtrend because you can’t change a country’s national philosophy overnight. But destroying a State apparatus infested by Peronists, socialists, fascists, and other horrible parasites is a good start. If he can pull the apparatus of the State out by its roots, not just trim it back, the result might last for quite a while. I’m encouraged by the fact that young people and poor people are among his biggest supporters. They recognize that they’re the ones who the State damages the most. Could Argentina be the start of a worldwide trend towards free minds and free markets?

Since I prefer to believe humans are basically decent, I can’t help being optimistic - even if cautiously. He’s going to get lots of resistance from the Deep State, unions, the media, welfare queens, and other "usual suspects."

International Man: Perhaps there is no issue more important in Argentina than money. Milei has promised to "burn down the central bank" and replace the peso with the US dollar. He has made statements favorable to eliminating all legal tender laws and allowing whatever commodity the free market would choose as money - though he hasn’t articulated his exact plans. What do you think Milei should do regarding the money issue? What are the risks of adopting the US dollar and not having any monetary alternatives?

Doug Casey: First of all, he totally understands the government shouldn’t be in the money business. I know that shocks most people to hear, but trusting the government with money is like trusting a teenager with a Corvette and a bottle of Jack Daniels.

Milei correctly believes the government should be basically just a night watchman. It should have nothing to do with the economy or money because they’ll inevitably use regulations and fiat currency to corrupt the society and steal from their subjects. The Argentine government is especially notorious for printing money. That’s the root cause of inflation. Inflation makes it much harder for poor people to save and elevate themselves.

And it’s not just inflation. They have multiple exchange rates, which make it very convenient for government officials to buy money at an artificially low exchange rate while everybody else pays perhaps twice as much. And who can risk paying 100% interest rates? And how can you conduct business when your currency is a laughing stock, worthless outside the country?

Americans don’t really understand the importance of a sound currency because they’re used to a relatively stable dollar. Not so long ago, we used to have expressions like "sound as a dollar" and "the dollar is as good as gold." A sound currency is a major reason why America has prospered. An unsound currency is a major reason Argentina is a basket case. So, yes, money is the number one issue in Argentina. Going from the peso to the dollar is a positive move, but regrettably, it only amounts to jumping out of a raging fire into a frying pan.

The ideal Argentine currency would be gold or silver coinage. Under Milei, Argentines can use any currency that they wish - gold, silver, Bitcoin, or US dollars. Initially, it will largely be dollars, if only because Argentines have hundreds of billions of them hidden abroad and under their mattresses.

Argentina also suffers from a perennial lack of capital, which is a huge problem since capital is critical to prosperity. Few people want to put serious capital into the country. Not just because of the insane currency problems we’ve just discussed but also because of onerous economic regulations and very high taxes. That’s why Argentinians hide their money out of the country. And why foreigners don’t want to invest there.

Milei is looking to freemarketize the country. With sound money, free banking, the abolition of most all regulations, and a very radical reduction in taxes, Argentina could become a gigantic version of Dubai or pre-takeover Hong Kong. It would draw capital in from anywhere and everywhere. It would be an investment magnet rather than a sinkhole for money.

International Man: Milei has vowed to privatize state-owned companies. How would you suggest he does this while ensuring it doesn’t create a new class of oligarchs as it did in Russia in the 1990s?

Doug Casey: For years, I have proposed to many governments that when they privatize, not to do so by selling State assets but by distributing them in the form of shares directly to the people. After all, the people theoretically own all State assets. Make it a reality with share ownership. That plan is pure capitalism but is also about "power to the people." How can you give people more power than giving them direct tradeable share ownership?

They tried something similar in Eastern Europe in the 1990s. But it was complicated; the people didn’t understand what they were getting and typically sold their ownership rights for pennies on the dollar to would-be oligarchs.

To avoid that problem, Argentina should distribute shares pro-rata to all citizens. The shares would be "lettered" and unsalable for a couple of years while prices stabilize, then saleable at perhaps 5% per year over 20 years. Many people would keep them because the dividends should be attractive, and the share prices should go up radically as the economy booms in an inflation-free, regulation-free, and largely tax-free environment.

This is the ideal way to privatize. If the industries are sold, they’d be bought cheaply (perhaps due to corrupt payoffs) by foreigners and the well-connected rich, creating antagonism. At some point in the future, they’d be subject to nationalization again for some reason. However, a future government won’t be easily able to re-nationalize these businesses if the people own all the shares. Ownership by the public would, in addition, help defang the unions, which are a major impediment to prosperity in Argentina.

International Man: Historically, Argentina has stayed out of large global conflicts and remained relatively neutral. In recent years, Argentina joined the BRICS+ countries and became more geopolitically aligned with Russia and China. Milei has said he will reorient Argentina towards the US and Europe geopolitically. What is your advice to Milei on how he should conduct Argentina’s foreign affairs?

Doug Casey: I hope Milei comes to recognize that America today is not what it once was. America, the ideal, is wonderful. But America, the current nation-state, is very different. Henry Kissinger once said something to the effect of: "It’s dangerous being America’s enemy, but it’s even more dangerous being America’s friend." He’s right.

Foreign policy-wise, Milei ought to emulate the example of Singapore, Switzerland, or Dubai and be completely neutral. As Jefferson said, a friend to all, but allied to none. An Argentine ambassador should do no more than make small talk and be friendly. Quite frankly, the country doesn’t need a foreign policy. It should be up to 45 million individual Argentinians to decide who they do or don’t want to deal with.

International Man: If Milei succeeds and his reforms stick, what are the investment or speculative implications for Argentine assets? What are the lifestyle and other international diversification implications?

Doug Casey: If Milei’s reforms stick, within a decade, Argentina could become the most prosperous country in the world. Look at what Pinochet’s limited reforms did for Chile. It changed from a backward mining province into the most advanced and prosperous country on the continent. Milei’s reforms could transform Argentina into both the freest and the most prosperous country on the planet.

Argentina has many advantages. It’s geographically isolated, away from the winds of war which might blow in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a giant country almost the size of Western Europe but with only 45 million people. It’s got absolutely everything in the way of resources, climate, and scenery. Argentina is the perfect country whose only real problem is its insane government. But that’s about to change.

If he succeeds, I think there will be a rush of millions of Europeans who will see that Argentina has got everything that Europe does - including the favorable aspects of its culture, but none of the disadvantages. It’ll draw the best kind of immigrants, people with capital and education that are anxious for freedom and are self-supporting. Very unlike the migrants currently overwhelming North America and Europe.

What’s just happened is something of world historic importance. I urge you to get on a plane and investigate firsthand. It’s summer there now, and the weather is beautiful. The prices of everything from steak dinners to estancias are at giveaway levels. They won’t be for much longer."

"How It Really Is"

 

Full screen recommended.
The Atlantis Report, 11/29/23
"Inflation Is Now Guaranteed, 
'Rate Cuts In 2024' Signals Major Warning"

"Central banks in major economies including the US and European Union have raised interest rates aggressively for more than a year to curb inflation that reached 8.7% globally in 2022, the highest level since the mid 1990s. The most recent insights from the International Monetary Fund depict a volatile economic landscape, characterized by persistent struggles for the world economy to regain stability. Escalating food prices have a widespread impact across diverse demographics, resulting in a surge in demand at food assistance centers. The United States, grappling with a 40-year high in inflation at 9.1%, witnesses an increasing number of first-time families seeking aid due to soaring grocery prices and rising fuel costs. Meanwhile, the 2024 outlook indicates a trajectory of sluggish growth, heightened inflation, and geopolitical tensions that keep the global economy on the edge of uncertainty. Moody's indicates that elevated interest rates will affect households in the coming year, urging vigilance as central banks navigate unpredictable climate conditions and geopolitical events that could introduce volatility to energy and food prices in 2024. Inflation is now guaranteed, and rate cuts in 2024 are signaling major warning."
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Joel Bowman, "Anarchy on the Pampas"

View video here.
"Anarchy on the Pampas"
More chaos and carnage as Argentina 
stares into the post-Peronist void...
by Joel Bowman

"I'm done with the race tracks,
I'm quitting all gambling,
a dead heat I don't want
to ever watch again,
but if a young filly
looks a sure bet on Sunday
I'll gamble all I have,
what can I do then?!"
~ Carlos Gardel Por una Cabeza 
(English translation)

"The gauchos have placed their bets… now we wait to see, along with the rest of the weary world, whether their long-shot outsider proves to be a sprinter…or a stayer. You’ll recall that the long-suffering Argentines recently elected to office the world’s first (self-described) libertarian president, in Sr. Javier Milei. Now we shall see, for better or worse, whether the people are ready for the freedom to which they lay claim. Here we recall Henry David Thoreau’s wonderful opener in his essay, "Civil Disobedience":

"I heartily accept the motto, “That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which I also believe – “That government is best which governs not at all”; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government they have."
~ Henry David Thoreau,"Civil Disobedience"

A New Paradigm: Adroit readers will notice Thoreau’s dangling qualifier… “when men are prepared for it.” For their part, the Argentines have been “preparing” for liberty for the past 75 years. That is, they’ve been running (and re-running… ad bloody nauseam) some version of state-sponsored utopia since before most people alive can remember. From paternalistic Peronism on the “left” to military dictatorship on the “right,” the porteƱos have lurched from one extreme of the political pendulum to the other.

What, then, can we expect from this newest foray…led, as his critics never tire of reminding us, by a “chainsaw-wielding tantric sex coach who names his canines after dead economists”?
Hopelessly sanguine, your man on the scene here reports a contagious optimism in the city’s buenos aires. Could it be that the people here sense an emerging distinction between political paradigms old and new? That the simple-minded delineation between so-called “Right” and “Left” no longer applies as it once did? That the choice between two candidates working for the same, elite establishment is really an illusion of choice?

Libertarian philosophy – cousin to what the great Leo Tolstoy called “spiritual anarchism” – proposes a distinct paradigm from these tired old textbook definitions. In place of Right vs. Left, it proposes Freedom vs Authoritarianism. In lieu of Progressive vs. Conservative, Democrat vs. Republican, Liberal vs. Labour – loose words and hack parties that change and morph from nation to nation, era to era, election to election – the libertarian sees only 

Freedom vs. Tyranny: He favors voluntarism over violence, in other words. Cooperation over coercion. Freedom over force. Rules over rulers. And when his fellow men are prepared for such a world, they shall finally stand up and deserve it. Stay tuned for more Notes from the End of the World…"

"Saludos!"

"Do You Believe..."

“Do you believe,’ said Candide, ‘that men have always massacred each other as they do today, that they have always been liars, cheats, traitors, ingrates, brigands, idiots, thieves, scoundrels, gluttons, drunkards, misers, envious, ambitious, bloody-minded, calumniators, debauchees, fanatics, hypocrites, and fools?”
“Do you believe,” said Martin, “that hawks have always eaten pigeons when they have found them?”
- Voltaire

Bill Bonner, "The Fate of Our Species"

"The Fate of Our Species"
The stamp of our lowly origins and the true face of mankind...
by Bill Bonner

"Out of the crooked timber of mankind, 
no straight thing has ever been made."
~ Immanuel Kant

Youghal, Ireland - "What a delight….what a stroke of luck…for the elite, that is. And for us. We beg Dear Readers to bear with us….as we peel back the layers of this prickly fruit…no doubt stabbing more than a few fingers as we go. We promise no ‘pay-off’…no takeaway…no call to action. Instead, like a condemned man looking in a mirror, maybe we can catch a glimpse of who we are. And here we see the future and the past…the face and fate of our whole species…of ourselves, who always were…and who we shall be forever.

We begin with ominous, but inevitable news. Barrons: "November’s last auction of Treasury notes ended with a whimper, rather than a bang. Nearly $40 billion of government debt that matures in seven years was up for sale on Tuesday. The highest yield accepted by investors was 4.399%, well above the average of 4.258% for the prior six such auctions. The government had to offer higher yields to entice investors to buy the debt. Treasury issuance through October this year is 32% higher than at this time in 2022."

Crooked Timber: How did we get in this situation – with $33.7 trillion of debt…annual interest payments of $1 trillion per year…and rising? Why did voters go along with so many crack-pot schemes and jackass programs?

We’ve seen that it’s not always easy for the ruling classes to get the square pegs of their subjects to go into the round holes they’ve prepared for them. Immigration, for example, may or may not be a good thing…but bring in too many immigrants and ‘The People’ won’t like it. Still, it is amazing what they will put up with. Yes, that is another characteristic of our kind: the crooked timber bends with the prevailing winds.

The masses are so gullible…so child-like; they are so ready to believe anything – even the evening news! Easily bamboozled, they can be formed into a lynch mob or convinced to heave a giant stone across the Egyptian desert. We saw Monday with what zest they went after protestants in France in the 16th century…and how they fought for 7 centuries to rid the Iberian peninsula of the moslems. But they often were held cowed and captive themselves….docile and dumb for generations.

Outnumbered, Outgunned: The rabble can be roused to heroic acts of sacrifice and absurdity. But they also make good slaves. Have you ever wondered why slaves remained slaves? Herodotus tells us there were 7 Helot slaves in Sparta for every Spartan soldier. They were treated worse than mere slaves…hunted and killed merely to keep their population down. Yes, the Spartans were armed and well trained. Still, why did the Helots never rise up? In the state of Mississippi, there were 450,000 slaves in 1860 – more than half the population. During the war almost all able bodied White men had left the state to fight against the Yankees. In Mississippi, slaves were valuable property, worth about as much as a new car today. Owners were eager to spare them, not to kill them. Why didn’t the slaves take advantage of the situation…while their masters were away at war?

The masses – Black or White…free or enslaved – can be convinced of almost anything. Easy to mislead, a piece of cake to embezzle or boss around…most play the roles given to them. But there are limits.

That is the ‘more to the story’ of the Dublin riots. The anger was not directed only at immigrants. There is rising anger (especially among the young) against the whole elite class…their wars…hypocrisy…double dealing…self-serving grifts...and a $308 trillion global debt pile that is to be loaded on the backs of the young.

A Greater Conspiracy: We’ve seen that immigration is a clear benefit to the elite. And here, we turn to Karl Marx for insight. Wrong about so many things, he was right about this: there is a difference between the people who work on assembly lines (the proletariat) and the people who own them (capitalists, bourgeois…investors). The former live on wages. The latter (grosso modo) live on the difference between wages paid and revenues received. The working class may rue the day the immigrants arrive; their wages will be held down by competition, while their housing costs go up. But asset owners rejoice; both sides of their ledgers improve. Their sales go up and their labor charges go down.

But it is not just immigration. Wars…trade barriers…sanctions…giveaways to favored groups…subsidies…regulations…fake money and fake interest rates – all benefit a subset of voters with political power. Rarely do they improve things for the majority of honest working stiffs.

In America, for the last 70 years, our revulsion at communism was so great, we missed the point. The interests of the sweating classes are not the same as those of the capitalists. Given an opportunity, the factory owners and politicians will conspire against the public, just as Adam Smith said they would. And then the public policies of the government twist towards the self-interest of the powerful few, at the cost of the powerless many.

Here at Bonner Private Research we are about as far from Marxism…or any sort of political activism…as you can get. But, culling the facts from the propaganda and noise, we can’t miss a kind of ‘class struggle’ going on right now. An arrogant and incompetent elite have rigged the system in their own favor. What’s surprising is that ‘The People’ have put up with it for so long."

"World War III Prelude, 11/29/23"

Full screen recommended.
Col. Douglas Macgregor, 11/29/23
"Turkey Sends An Ultimatum To Netanyahu, 
2M Soldiers Are Ready To Flatten Israel"
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Hindustan Times, 11/29/23
"Erdogan Brands Netanyahu 'Butcher Of Gaza'; 
Turkey Seethes At Israel Over Gaza"
"Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has branded Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu the 'Butcher Of Gaza.' He redoubled his attack on Israel while addressing the members of his party at the Turkish Parliament. "Netanyahu has already written his name in history as the butcher of Gaza. Netanyahu is endangering the security of all Jews in the world by supporting anti-Semitism with the murders he committed in Gaza," said Erdogan in televised statement. He has earlier called Israel a "terrorist state" and Hamas "a liberation group".
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Geopolitics TV, 11/29/23
"China & Iran Are Joining Forces To 
Stop Israel In Gaza, Palestine!"
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 11/29/23
"Prof. Jeffrey Sachs: Can Israel Restrain Itself?"
Comments here:

"The Financial System Has Reached The End" (Excerpt)

"The Financial System Has Reached The End"
by Egon von Greyerz

Excerpt: "The world is now witnessing the end of a currency and financial system which the Chinese already forecast in 1971 after Nixon closed the gold window. Again, remember von Mises words: “There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion.” History tells us that we have now reached the point of no return. So denying history at this point will not just be very costly but will lead to a total destruction of investors’ wealth.

Politicians Lie Without Fail: History never lies but politicians do without fail. In a fake system based on false values, lying is considered to be an essential part of political survival. Let’s just look at Nixons ignorant and irresponsible statements of August 15, 1971 when he took away the gold backing of the dollar and thus all currencies. Later on we will show how clearsighted the Chinese leaders were about the destiny of the US and its economy.
So there we have tricky Dick’s lies. The suspension of the convertibility of the dollar in 1971 is still in effect 52 years later. As the dollar has declined by almost 99% since 1971, the “strength of the economy” is also declining fast although using fiat money as the measure hides the truth. And now to the last lie: “Your dollar will be worth as much tomorrow”. Yes, you are almost right Dick! It is still worth today a whole 1% of the value when you closed the gold window.

The political system is clearly a farce. You have to lie to be elected and you have to lie to stay in power. That is what the gullible voters expect. The sad result is that they will always be cheated.

China Forecast The Consequences Already In 1971: So in 1971 after Nixon closed the gold window, China in its official news media the People’s Daily made the statements below:
Clearly the Chinese understood the consequences of the disastrous US decision which would destroy the Western currency system as they said: "Seriousness of the US economic crisis and decay and decline of the capitalist system. Mark the collapse of the monetary system with the US dollar as its prop. Nixon’s policy cannot extricate the US from financial and economic crisis."

I am quite certain that the US administration at the time ridiculed China’s official statement. As most Western governments, they showed their arrogance and complete ignorance of history. How right the Chinese were. But the road to perdition is not immediate and we have seen over 50 years the clear “decline of the capitalist system”. The end of the current system is unlikely to be far away. Interestingly it seems that a Communist non-democratic system is much more clairvoyant than a so called Western democracy. There is clearly an advantage not always having to buy votes."
Full, highly recommended article is here:

Greg Hunter, "Confetti Dollar End of Ponzi Scheme"

"Confetti Dollar End of Ponzi Scheme"
by Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"Precious metals expert and financial writer Bill Holter says the recent underreported announcement by the UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti in Switzerland that his bank might need a “rescue” is yet another sign on the short road to the end of the global Ponzi scheme backed by the US dollar reserve currency. Holter points out, “You’ve got a sick bank (Credit Suisse) that is being bailed out by another bank (UBS) that may turn out to be sick. My question is who is going to bail out these central banks? You have got the Fed with a $9 trillion balance sheet. The last time, the Fed went from $900 billion to $9 trillion. Can the Fed now go from $9 trillion to $90 trillion? Who is going to bail out the Fed? Who is going to bail out the US Treasury? Who is going to bail out the Bank of England, the ECB or the Bank of Japan? These central banks have completely blown up their balance sheet and have no ability to save anything. My question is who is going to save them?”

Can’t they cut interest rates again like they did in 2009? Holter says, “If they cut interest rates from here, you would see the dollar absolutely crash. The only reason the dollar has not crashed is interest rates have basically gone from 0% to 5%. They have done that in a year and a half which is the fastest increase in interest rates in all of history.”

So, rate cuts will devalue the dollar. Can you pay trillions of dollars borrowed in Treasury Bond back in confetti dollars? Holter says, “Yes, you absolutely can pay back your debt in confetti. It’s been done many, many times before as currencies get lost. The US Treasury can certainly pay back in dollars, confetti dollars that certainly will have no purchasing power. What that does is it shuts the credit spigot off to the biggest debtor in the world. The biggest debtor in the world is the US Treasury. They owe more than any other entity anywhere. I have long said this is going to be a credit event. People are not going to buy Treasuries and be paid back in monkey money. The world is going to shun dollars and shun US Treasuries. In short, confetti dollars are going to shut the credit markets down. Then, it’s game over because everything runs on credit. The financial markets run on credit, and the real economy runs on credit. If there is no credit, nothing works.”

Holter is not surprised by the recent rise in gold. He also says “watch silver, it is being suppressed because if silver rises uncontrollably, it will be like pulling the silver pin in the gold grenade.” There is much more in the 40-minute interview.

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he goes one-on-one 
with financial writer and precious metals expert Bill Holter. 

Gregory Mannarino, "Be Ready For The Biggest Bank Bailout Of All Time!"

Gregory Mannarino, 11/29/23
"Be Ready For The Biggest Bank Bailout Of All Time!"
Comments here:

Canadian Prepper, "Alert! Russia/Finland Border Closes In 48 Hours! Nuclear Carrier And Iran Stand Off; Korea On Brink!"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 11/28/23
"Alert! Russia/Finland Border Closes In 48 Hours! 
Nuclear Carrier And Iran Stand Off; Korea On Brink!"
Comments here:

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Jeremiah Babe, "Financial Insanity Will Destroy American Households"

Jeremiah Babe, 11/28/23
"Financial Insanity Will Destroy American Households,
 Consumers Keep Spending With Borrowed Money"
Comments here:

Gerald Celente, "Political D***heads In Charge, We C*** Say The Other Word"

Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, Trends Journal 11/28/23
"Political D***heads In Charge, 
We C*** Say The Other Word"
'The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present facts and truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for what’s next in these increasingly turbulent times.
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Musical Interlude: 2002, "Breathing Light"

Full screen recommended.
2002, "Breathing Light"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“What are those red clouds surrounding the Andromeda galaxy? This galaxy, M31, is often imaged by planet Earth-based astronomers. As the nearest large spiral galaxy, it is a familiar sight with dark dust lanes, bright yellowish core, and spiral arms traced by clouds of bright blue stars.
A mosaic of well-exposed broad and narrow-band image data, this colorful portrait of our neighboring island universe offers strikingly unfamiliar features though, faint reddish clouds of glowing ionized hydrogen gas in the same wide field of view. These ionized hydrogen clouds surely lie in the foreground of the scene, well within our Milky Way Galaxy. They are likely associated with the pervasive, dusty interstellar cirrus clouds scattered hundreds of light-years above our own galactic plane.”

Chet Raymo, “Retreat From Reason”

“Retreat From Reason”
by Chet Raymo

“Is there a flight from reason in the United States? Everywhere we look, science is under attack. In government. In the schools. In the churches. We are offered faith-based substitutes. The “Left Behind” series of apocalyptic novels outsells everything else on the shelves. People are more interested in astrology than astronomy. Intelligent design is championed at the highest levels of government. Alternative medicine - faith healing, homeopathy, energy therapies, New Age healing, and the like - is more popular than ever. Scripture and revelation are embraced as more reliable sources of knowledge than anything we might learn empirically.

We are entering, it seems, a new Dark Age. For a substantial number of our fellow citizens, it's as if the Enlightenment never happened.

Let me take you back to the Hellenistic city of Alexandria, at the mouth of the Nile River in Egypt, in the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. Alexandria was then the seat of a magnificent flowering of mathematical and scientific thought. The city welcomed all comers - Eratosthenes from Cyrene, Aristarchus from Samos, Archimedes from Sicily, Apollonius from Rhodes, Hipparchus from Nicaea, Galen from Pergamon, and so on - the only requirement being an inquisitive mind and a bent for explaining the world in terms that made no reference to the gods. Geography and astronomy became mathematical sciences. Eratosthenes measured the size of the Earth. Aristarchus deduced the sizes and distances of the Sun and Moon.

These spectacular achievements get no more than passing mention in textbooks of Western Civilization. We learn in school about the Golden Age of Greece and the glory that was Rome, Sophocles and Ovid, the Parthenon and the Pantheon, triremes and aqueducts, but very little of the invention of scientific thinking in the white city at the mouth of the Nile.

Alexandria was built on a ribbon of land between Lake Mareotis and the Mediterranean Sea. It was graced with forums, temples, marketplaces, palaces, a double harbor with a famous lighthouse, quays, warehouses, and, prominently, a museum ("place of the muses"), and the famous library over which Eratosthenes presided. The museum and library were together the equivalent of a great modern university. It was the dream of the first rulers of Alexandria - the Ptolemys - that the library would possess a copy of every book in the known world, and within a century hundreds of thousands of scrolls were collected within its walls. By the middle of the first century B.C. Diodorus of Sicily could say that Alexandria was "the first city of the civilized world, certainly far ahead of all the rest in elegance and extent and riches and luxury."

In his book "The Greeks and the Irrational", the scholar E. R. Dodds was thinking of the Greek culture of Alexandria when he wrote: "Despite its lack of political freedom, the society of the third century B.C. was in many ways the nearest approach to an 'open' society that the world had yet seen, and nearer than any that would be seen again until modern times." It was a society confident of its powers. Aristotle had asked his fellow citizens to recognize a divine spark within themselves: the intellect. Men and women who exercise reason can live like gods, he said. For Zeno, the human intellect was not merely akin to God, it is God, a portion of the divine substance. Temples are superfluous, he said; God's true temple is the human intellect.

Of this supreme confidence in rational thought, the Alexandrians created a new empirical, mathematical way of knowing. But the seeds of irrationality were also there, embedded in popular culture, or perhaps embedded in the human soul. Soon enough, supernaturalism returned. Astrology and magical healing replaced astronomy and medicine. Cults flourished, rationalists were scapegoated, and scientific culture began to decline.

The old dualisms - mind and matter, God and nature, soul and body - which the rationalists had striven to overcome, reasserted themselves with fresh vigor. Dodds calls it "the return of the irrational." He writes: "As the intellectuals withdrew further into a world of their own, the popular mind was left increasingly defenseless. . .and left without guidance, a growing number relapsed with a sigh of relief into the pleasures and comforts of the primitive. . . better the rigid determinism of the astrological Fate than the terrifying burden of daily responsibility."

Harvard historian of science Gerald Holton sees a similarity between Dodds' description of the decline of Greek culture and the resurgence of anti-science in our own time. Once again, astrology, magical healing, and other kinds of superstitious thinking are in ascendancy. Once again, cults flourish and rationalists are scapegoated.

The Greek experience shows that movements to delegitimize science are always present, says Holton, ready to bend civilization their way by the glorification of folk belief, violence, mystification, and the rabid ideologies of ethnic and nationalistic passions. Dodds calls it "the fear of freedom - the unconscious flight from the heavy burden of individual choice which an open society lays upon its members."

Science can only prosper in a free and open society, in an atmosphere of rational skepticism where traditional patterns of thought are challenged and subjected to critical scrutiny. Science will only flourish when a people have confidence in the power of the human intellect to make sense of the world."

"What Is The Joy About?"

“There are meaningful warnings which history gives a threatened or perishing society. Such are, for instance, the decadence of art, or a lack of great statesmen. There are open and evident warnings, too. The center of your democracy and of your culture is left without electric power for a few hours only, and all of a sudden crowds of American citizens start looting and creating havoc. The smooth surface film must be very thin, then, the social system quite unstable and unhealthy. But the fight for our planet, physical and spiritual, a fight of cosmic proportions, is not a vague matter of the future; it has already started. The forces of Evil have begun their offensive; you can feel their pressure, and yet your screens and publications are full of prescribed smiles and raised glasses. What is the joy about?”
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Epic Economist, "15 Secrets You Didn't Know About Walmart"

Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 11/28/23
"15 Secrets You Didn't Know About Walmart"

"Welcome to an eye-opening journey through the hidden world of Walmart! In this revealing video, we peel back the layers and uncover 15 secrets lurking behind the scenes of the world's retail giant. From fascinating company practices to surprising behind-the-scenes operations, get ready to explore the untold stories that Walmart has kept hidden for years.

Ever wondered what happens beyond the aisles? Curious about the mysteries behind Walmart’s success? Ready to discover the secrets they never wanted you to know? Join us as we delve deep into the unknown and shed light on the secrets that have remained under wraps. From their business strategies to intriguing anecdotes, each revelation will leave you astonished and more informed about the inner workings of this retail powerhouse."
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o
Adventures with Danno, 11/28/23
"Why Is Walmart Doing This? Is This Crazy, Or Genius!?"
"Many changes have happened recently with Walmarts all around the U.S. We are noticing that these changes seem to be hurting the shopping experience more than helping. We discuss why the main objective might not be what you think."
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The Daily "Near You?"

Harare, Zimbabwe. Thanks for stopping by!

"Fate. Luck. Chance."

“That is life, isn’t it? Fate. Luck. Chance. A long series of what-if’s that lead from one moment to the next, time never pausing for you to catch your breath, to make sense of the cards that have been handed to you. And all you can do is play your cards and hope for the best, because in the end, it all comes back to those three basics. Fate. Luck. Chance.”
- Kelseyleigh Reber

“Unless, of course, there’s no such thing as chance… in which case, we should either - optimistically - get up and cheer, because if everything is planned in advance, then we all have a meaning and are spared the terror of knowing ourselves to be random, without a why; or else, of course, we might - as pessimists - give up right here and now, understanding the futility of thought-decision-action, since nothing we think makes any difference anyway, things will be as they will. Where, then, is optimism? In fate or in chaos?”
- Salman Rushdie

"One Step Away From the Biggest Oil Shock in History"

"One Step Away From the Biggest Oil Shock in History"
by Nick Giambruno

"The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow strip of water that links the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world. It’s the world’s single-most important energy corridor, and there’s no alternative route. Five of the world’s top 10 oil-producing countries—Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait - border the Persian Gulf, as does Qatar, the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter. The Strait of Hormuz is their only sea route to the open ocean… and world markets. At its narrowest point, the space available for shipping lanes is just 3.2 kilometers wide.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, more than 40% of global oil exports (around 21 million barrels) transit the Strait daily. That’s more than $1.5 billion worth of oil every day. And that’s not considering the immense amount of LNG - about 33% of the world’s daily LNG exports - and other goods transiting the Strait.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the Strait of Hormuz to the global economy. If someone were to disrupt the Strait, it would cause immediate global economic chaos as energy prices skyrocket. Thanks to its commanding geography and expertise in unconventional and asymmetric warfare, Iran can shut down the Strait, and there’s not much anyone can do about it. It’s Iran’s geopolitical trump card.

Analysts believe it would take weeks for the US military to reopen it, but nobody really knows if it would ultimately be successful. The Millennium Challenge 2002 war game suggests it wouldn’t be. Military strategists have known about this situation for decades. But no one has found a realistic way to neutralize Iran’s power over the Strait. Iran has been crystal clear that it will close the Strait in the case Israel or the US attacks it. In other words, Iran holds a knife to the throat of the global economy.

The US has sought to overthrow the Iranian government since the 1979 Revolution - for over 40 years. Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz has always served as a big deterrent to US regime change ambitions and invasion plans. Now, Iran and the US are headed toward a confrontation that will almost certainly disrupt the Strait.

The potential outbreak of an enormous regional war in the Middle East, with the prospect of the destruction of Israel and the collapse of the petrodollar system, could force the US to act against Iran this time. If war breaks out between the US and Iran - an increasingly likely outcome - I have no doubt that Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz. To call that a severe oil supply disruption would be a major understatement.

Consider this…During the first oil shock in 1973, about 5 million barrels were removed from the global oil market. Daily global oil production was approximately 56 million barrels per day at the time, which means about 9% of the supply vanished.

Oil prices roughly quadrupled. During the second oil shock in 1979, about 4 million barrels were removed from the global oil market. Daily global oil production was approximately 67 million barrels per day at the time, which means about 6% of the supply vanished.

Oil prices nearly tripled. During the third oil shock in 1990, about 4.3 million barrels were removed from the global oil market. Daily global oil production was approximately 66 million barrels per day at the time, which means about 7% of the supply vanished. Oil prices more than doubled.

If Iran were to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, it would remove a whopping 21 million barrels of oil from the global market. Today, global oil production is approximately 94 million barrels per day, which means about 22% of the worldwide oil supply could disappear. As we can see in the chart below, it would be the largest oil supply shock the world has ever seen… by far.

If war with Iran proceeds and Tehran closes the Strait of Hormuz, I think the effect on the price of oil will be at least as severe as it was during the 1973 oil shock, which saw oil prices go up 4x. A similar move today could see oil prices above $300 a barrel. However, I consider that a conservative estimate because closing the Strait of Hormuz would cause a much larger supply shock than the 1973 OPEC oil embargo. I think the market doesn’t appreciate how close we are to a war with Iran and the implications of it. The oil price has barely moved despite the imminent danger to supplies.


We haven’t returned to pre-2014 levels yet, let alone the 2008 peak of over $140 per barrel. But this anomaly in the oil market is a blessing because it’s handing us a golden opportunity with oil stocks. I’m certainly not cheering for war. I despise war, which is the health of the State. Regardless, a big war is highly likely, with significant implications that would be foolish to ignore."

"How It Really Is"

 

Bill Bonner, "Revolt of the Masses II"

"Revolt of the Masses II"
The empire's edges tear and fray in
 a fiery clash of cultures and ideas...
by Bill Bonner

Youghal, Ireland - "A rhythmic chant…savages bedaubed with paint…feathers in their hair…and scalps at their waists…They dance wildly around a fire, as if under the spell of a demon…or a god. Perhaps they are celebrating the capture of new slaves…perhaps they are preparing their captives for a feast…at which, they are the main course…Or maybe they are just celebrating a change in the seasons….making a plea for rain…an appeal to the stars…the forces of nature over which they have no control…But wait…these savages are us…

We are looking at ourselves. Perhaps not as we would like to be. Certainly not as the elite would want us to be. But we are not clay…to be molded by 21st century policy makers and influencers. Instead, we were shaped by millions of years of trial and error…and fired in a white-hot oven of episodic disaster – famine, war, drought, flood, cold and pestilence. The results – the cracked pots – are all around us.

Hooligans and Miscreants: Last week, here in Ireland, we saw the mischief we humans get up to, from time to time. The Washington Examiner. "Irish police have arrested 34 people for participating in riots that broke out after an Algerian-born immigrant stabbed five people, including three children."

Prosecuting those who broke the law, including the Algerian immigrant who stabbed five people, should have been the end of the matter. But the Irish government is sensitive about the fact that their immigration policies, which have led to almost 20% of the country’s population being foreign-born, are unpopular. The pace of mass migration has been particularly dramatic in Ireland, with almost half of all migrants in the country entering in just the past five years.

The rioters are easily dismissed as hooligans and miscreants. But is that all there is to it? Is it just about immigration? Does anger increase, until the riff-raff erupts…or the ‘deplorables’ vote for Geert Wilders or Donald Trump? That’s what the press and the politicians tell us. In the simpleminded approach of the propaganda press, immigration = good; those who oppose it = bad.

Unmentionable Origins: The Financial Times, a reliable mouthpiece for the global elite, was quick to see the challenge. In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders won a solid victory by running for Prime Minister with an anti-immigrant message. His “victory is a warning for Europe,” says the FT. A warning of what? The FT: "…a political earthquake…[Wilders’] success will embolden other anti-immigration, Eurosceptic populists who are hoping for big gains in European parliamentary elections in June…" That is, politicians might begin to care what the masses really think!

The Prime Minister of Ireland (Taoiseach), however, hopes they don’t think at all. He intends to use the riot as an opportunity to crack down on ‘hate speech.’ Rather than address the problem, he proposes to make it unlawful to say anything about it.

Already, the press here in Ireland goes to great lengths to avoid mentioning that the person who set off the Dublin riots was an immigrant. Here, as in the US and most of Europe, the elites in the government as well as those in the media, regard it as unthinkable that immigrants could pose a problem. Giving his immigration status would be like reporting that he was overweight or liked chocolate pudding – totally irrelevant.

But immigration is a problem. And not the only one. The Western Elites have created a very uncomfortable and unsustainable world. Their governments spew out ‘printing press money’ and are almost all going broke – rapidly building up more debt than they can service, let alone pay. They are also setting much of the rest of the world against them – the “Global South,” the BRICS – with their financial sanctions and high-handed military policies. Their ‘green agenda’ too, along with immigration, debt and petty-fogging regulation, almost guarantee that younger generations of native-born citizens will not enjoy the same freedom and prosperity as their parents.

The Frayed Edges of Empire: We count on our civilized elite to guide us away from our primitive instincts to a more enlightened world. And we expect our democracies to enable the wisdom of the masses to (eventually) express itself. But what if politicians were beholden to big money lobbyists rather than the voters who elect them? And what if they were just rigging the system to suit themselves and their sponsors?

Since WWII, ‘The West’ led the world. The West was led by America. And America was led by its elites. While pretending to do good, these elites actually did very well for themselves. The rich got richer and richer. By contrast, since what the French call the “the 30 glorious years” – the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s – the working classes have made little material progress.

Insisting on obedience, the elites stirred up wars and caused misery at the edges of the empire. Nicaragua, Honduras, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Serbia, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Ukraine, Israel – the wars seemed endless and senseless. Millions of people died. While millions more refugees – immigrants – sought a better life in Europe and America.

Western elites – particularly in the US – profited by selling firepower to keep the wars going. Then, a tide of immigrants lowered wage costs…leading to higher profits for elite capitalists. They own the assembly lines; they don’t work on them. The new immigrants competed for jobs – but not with the elite, whose jobs at the top were generally safe from foreign competition.

New refugees needed housing too. But they didn’t put the rich out on the streets; they competed for housing mainly in the marginal neighborhoods, not the good ones. And finally, immigrants vote, as soon as they are able. And whom do they vote for? Do we have to ask? Yes, they vote for the elites who favor further immigration. But wait. This is not just about immigration. It’s about the Revolt of the Masses. Stay tuned…"

Dan, I Allegedly, "Wendies Out Of Business? Ransomware Attacks - No Water or Money Access?"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, AM 11/28/23
"Wendies Out Of Business? 
Ransomware Attacks - No Water or Money Access?"
"The financial world is reeling from ransomware attacks, with critical infrastructure and companies like Loan Care and Fidelity National falling victim. Plus, the looming threat of more businesses closing their doors by the end of 2023 With this economy, we are seeing businesses that have been around for decades closing. Insiders tell all."
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Jim Kunstler, "An Alt Christmas Carol"

"An Alt Christmas Carol"
by Jim Kunstler

“You can start being normal and stop being 
unhinged anytime you want. Try it. I dare you.” 
- Aimee Terese on X

"The White House, Christmas Eve, 2023. Imagine the painfully lugubrious scene…“Joe Biden” rattles around in the upstairs “residence” like a BB in a packing crate. Nobody is around besides a few secret service agents, so still at their posts they might as well be statuary. The Big Guy is all alone. His spouse, Dr. Jill, had enough of pretend caretaking quite a while ago, and flew off to Oprah’s place in Santa Barbara for counseling and commiseration. Hunter is Gawd-knows-where doing Gawd-knows-what.

“JB” shuffles out of the residence kitchen, where he just demolished a half gallon of Ben & Jerry’s Americone Dream® ice cream, against his doctor’s orders. His gall bladder writhes in revolt, sending a distress signal up the vagus nerve to the shriveled hypothalamus in his brain. A jumbled fugue of emotions - rage, fear, sexual arousal - quickens his step as he navigates by dead reckoning to the executive bedroom where he hurries to bed and falls into leaden slumber - only to be awakened by a cacophony of ringing bells. His eyelids roll open like shades in the windows of a skid row hotel room. Plangent moaning resounds as a mist emerges through the bedroom door and resolves into a mysterious figure garbed in the raiment of the Ku Klux Klan.

“Joe Biden” shrinks under the luxury Boll & Branch signature duvet - acquired when the agriculture minister of Ukraine slipped him an envelope stuffed with 100 hryvnia notes. The spirit wails something that resembles the old Confederate anthem Eatin’ Goober Peas.

“Who are you spirit?” the quaking president asks.

“Why, I am your old pard from the Senate,” the ghost of Robert Byrd declares, removing the pointed hood to reveal his leonine head of hair and scowling face. “Why have you thrown our sacred borders wide open, suh? I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels.”

“Y-y-you don’t uh-uh-understand,” “JB” says, his childhood stutter returning. “They are muh-muh-migrants from oppression and vuh-vuh-very fine people.”

“Fine people, my ass,” the former Senator from West Virginia cries and clears the dust of the sepulcher from his throat. “I will send three spirits to you this night as a review of what has been and what shall become, so beware….” And with that the spirit returns to mist and slips back out through the keyhole. . . .

“Joe Biden” is shocked from slumber again as an attractive blond female ghost floats through the bedroom window.

“Don’t I know you?” he asks.

“Cad! That is the very line you used to pick me up on spring break in Nassau, 1966,” says “JB’s” first wife, Neilia Hunter. “Shall I show you the meretricious spectacle you made of our family after that truck driver on Limestone Road ended my life and your little daughter’s too!”

“No-o-o-o-o,” the president moans, but is magically transported to the Wilmington Hospital room where his banged-up boys, Beau and Hunter, are recovering from their injuries. A TV crew is present as “JB” emotes for the camera, a cruel victim of fate, he blubbers, who will yet conquer his grief and go on to forty years of electoral victories and the sedulous gathering of tribute from “donors” far and wide to soften the blow of his loss. The room dims….

He wakes up startled to a thunderation of rap music. An African American giant sits on a gilded throne with a 40 oz bottle of Colt 45 in one huge hand and a little glass pipe smoldering at his lips. “JB” isn’t sure who this is.

“Is that you, Corn Pop?” he asks.

“Corn Pop, my ass. Don’t you remember me, George Floyd?”

“Oh, that boy who -”

“Boy…!” the ghost fumes. “Get yo’ cracker ass out da bed, right now, and put your limp little privileged paw in my hand!” Suddenly they are transported on a cold wind to the concrete apron of the colossal obelisk behind the White House.

“Didn’t you tell congressman Clyburn you was gonna rename this thing the George Floyd monument?

“Wuh-whu-well it was a suh-suh-suggestion, not a promise -”

“Suggestion, my ass,” the ghost snorts and cuffs “JB” upside his head. “I’m the baby-daddy of this country now. You best see that it get done!”

“Joe Biden” awakens yet again as more cold wind bearing the fetid odor of swamp blows through the still-opened window. He is yet muttering “yu-yuh-yuh-yessir, yessir,” when a shrouded, hooded figure materializes in the gloom.

“You are… Cuh-Cuh-Christmas Future,” “Joe Biden” says.

“You’re catching on,” says the ghost, holding out his fleshless, bony hand. “Come!”

They are transported to the hearing room of a House committee. Hunter Biden sits at the witness table, tears streaking his face, apparently in mid testimony. “And then my dad says to Mr. Zlochevsky, ‘one-million? C’mon man, I’ve got a beach house to renovate’...and Mister Z says, ‘okay I give you one-point-five-mil’...and my dad cracks up laughing...‘that won’t even cover the area rugs I ordered from Iran’ he says. . . .”

Suddenly the room vaporizes and “Joe Biden” stands next to the inaugural dais on the US Capitol’s west-facing front. Tucker Carlson has just stepped away after being sworn in as vice president and the massive, gold-headed, once-and-future president lumbers up to the Chief Justice, placing his hand on a Bible.

“Oh, n-n-n-no-o-o-o-o...” “JB” wails and wakes up in the presidential bed, panting and sweating.

“Are you all right sir?” A marine standing at his bedside says.

“I had a terrible dream. Trump got back in.”

“That was no dream, sir. You’ve been in a coma since just before Christmas last year when you stroked out on ice cream. It’s Wednesday, November 6, 2024. Welcome back to reality, sir.”

“Reality?” “Joe Biden” says. “We make our own reality.”

“Not anymore, sir,” the lance corporal says.

“Tell me, son, please! Did I manage to pardon my family? And myself?”

“Uh, well, sir, you were in a coma. Anyway, your attorneys wish to see you now...”
o
Freely download "A Christmas Carol", by Charles Dickens, here:

Adventures with Danno, "Stock Up On These Deals At Meijer!"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures with Danno, AM 11/28/23
"Stock Up On These Deals At Meijer!"
"My shopping vlog showing different grocery sale prices at Meijer, including hamburger, chicken, turkey, coffee, deli meats, and many other deals. Stock up on these deals before they're gone. Get your notepad ready as I take you shopping with me to find the best prices at Meijer!"
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