"Contrary to first impressions, I am not a doom-and-gloomer; I'm a systems-cycles-er, meaning I'm interested in where systems and cycles are heading. Cycles work because we're still running Wetware 1.0 which entered beta testing around 200,000 years ago and was released, bugs and all, around 50,000 years ago. Since the processes and inputs haven't changed, neither do the outputs.
Nature is a mix of dynamic, semi-chaotic systems (fractals, etc.) and cyclical patterns which tend to operate within predictable parameters. Why should human nature and human constructs (societies, economies and political realms) be any different?
So longterm success breeds complacency, hubris, economic and intellectual sclerosis, draining political infighting and the overproduction of parasitic elites, to use Peter Turchin's apt description. Consumption of resources expands to soak up every last bit of what's available and then the supply of goodies plummets for a multitude of completely natural and predictable reasons (sunspot/solar activity, El Nino, etc.) and a host of unpredictable but equally natural semi-chaotic extremes (100-year droughts, floods, etc.).
Wetware 1.0's go-to solutions to all such difficulties are rather limited:
1. Ramp up magical thinking. If a couple of human sacrifices ensured good harvests in the good old days, let's slaughter a couple hundred now - and if that doesn't work, then...
2. Do more of what's failed spectacularly and slaughter a couple thousand fellow humans, because darn it, maybe everything will turn around if we just kill another couple dozen. This requires ignoring the novelty of the current challenges and clinging to what worked so well in the past even as whatever worked in the past can't possibly work now because circumstances are fundamentally different.
3. Seek scapegoats. It's those darn witches. Burn a bunch of them and our troubles will magically disappear.
4. Go take what we need from some other tribe. What's our oil doing under their sand?
5. Consolidate power and wealth in the hands of elites whose failures exacerbated the crisis. Because the obvious solution (to the elites with cushy offices around the palaces and temples) to repeated failures of a leadership that only excels in one thing, squandering rapidly depleting resources on infighting and self-aggrandizement, is to give us all the remaining wealth and power. Hey, this makes perfect sense once you understand #2 above.
6. Demand sacrifices of the many to protect the privileges of the few. The Empire needs some warm bodies to fend off the Barbarians, because it would be a real shame if the Barbarians reached our palatial estates and disrupted the flow of wine and festivities. No worries when you come back on your shield; the bureaucracy will give you a decent burial and your spouse and kids can join the multitude of half-starved beggars waiting for the dwindling distributions of bread and circuses. But never mind that, did you hear about the upcoming games in the Coliseum? Good seats are going fast.
7. Eat your seed corn to keep the party going awhile longer. Not every human group had the luxury of borrowing "money" to keep the fast-unraveling party going awhile longer, so they consumed their seed corn and drained the last of their reserves--which is the same thing as borrowing "money" from a future with diminishing resources and productivity.
8. Maintain supreme confidence that "it will all work out fine because it's always worked out fine" without any sacrifice required of "those who count." What's forgotten is that the luxe greatness that is now teetering on the precipice of ruin was won by the sacrifices of the elites far exceeding the sacrifices of the many.
Back in the day, joining the elite and maintaining one's position required constant sacrifices on behalf of the common good, and strict adherence to public virtue. Now that's all forgotten, and all that remains are elites possessed by the demons of shameless greed and self-interest.
The idea that debt, leverage, speculation, greed, exploitation and parasitic elites can expand exponentially forever is magical thinking. Yet that is precisely what America and the rest of the global economic order insists is true and will always be true, forever and ever.
By all means, reject those horrid, awful doom-and-gloomers who look at systems and cycles. Everything will be fine as long as you secure seats for the next games at the Coliseum - they should be spectacular - but not in the way you expect."
"In a surprising move, YouTube is telling its users that it will “...remove videos questioning the Biden election victory.” This to me seems like a panicked reaction to the mounting evidence of voter irregularities and problems coming out of the 2020 Election.
Texas is suing four battleground states (Penn, AZ, MI and WI) for willfully not following their own election laws established by their respective state legislatures. Therefore, Texas contends the election results in those states were not constitutional and invalid. Pennsylvania responded and called the Texas lawsuit “bogus” and “seditious.” This is a first ever lawsuit with many states on both sides lining up against one another. The Supreme Court is sure to hear this case.
Just when you think the economy was getting better and unemployment was going down, a fresh weekly number comes out showing more than 850,000 Americans filed new claims last week. It was an increase of 140,000 from the week before. No doubt new CV19 lockdown orders are causing this spike."
110,000 Already Gone, Many More On The Brink Of Extinction"
by Epic Economist
"Recent studies alert that 48% of all small businesses still operating are about to close for good. These businesses account for over half of the U.S. labor force and amid a second round of lockdowns, these jobs are bound to disappear very soon. This year, over one hundred thousand small companies have permanently shut down their activities. According to the latest estimates, every day 800 medium-size and micro-enterprises are being forced to close due to the economic fallout of the health crisis. Moreover, with new strict regulations and unfavorable policies, what once was the core of our economy now has been left to die.
It seems that America's small businesses are being attacked by several different fronts and large corporations have been largely benefiting from it. In this video, we provide tangible evidence that there's indeed an insidious plot against small businesses and policymakers have been expressly enabling their downfall to favor big conglomerates.
We have been experiencing the effects of the multiple rounds of lockdowns for almost a year, and every time a new policy comes into place it primarily affects the existence of smaller companies, while the largest retailers, tech giants, and pharmaceutical manufacturers continue to register record-high profits. Almost every piece of legislation designed to control the spread of the virus and protect workers has jeopardized the survival of small businesses. The devastation caused so far has put 110,000 small enterprises out of business. A recent study has shown that this accounts for 800 closures a day.
Just a couple of days ago, the attorney and economy analyst Ash Staub has published an insightful assessment which gives us proof that America’s small businesses are currently facing an attack on all fronts. His sharp argumentation elucidates how lockdowns, social distancing regulations, and mask mandates directly impact the functioning of small business, while on the other hand, major chains and corporations do not have their operations compromised.
Since restaurants and small retailers do not dispose of the same amount of space as big companies, nor have the same financial structure to launch online platforms or pickups and take-away services, following social distancing measures usually becomes a much harder task to comply. Additionally, when these companies do not obey the mandates, the fines tend to be a lot more detrimental to their finances.
Over the past three months, over 10,000 more restaurants closed across the country. The National Restaurant Association informed that up until now, 17 percent of all U.S. restaurants, which account for more than 110,000, have been closed permanently or long-term. But Congress didn't seem to bother to help saving these businesses. Instead, they have been increasingly issuing employment regulations that unfairly expose small businesses to lawsuits and the consequent legal expenses and damages that may arise.
Regardless of the clear evidence that these policies disproportionally harm small businesses, they can rely on the excuse that their enaction is necessary to ensure the health of the public amid a ravaging sanitary outbreak, in that way, they're shielded from any sort of criticism.
That's the case of programs such as FFCRA, the program is exclusive for businesses with less than 500 employees and determines that employers must provide weeks of paid sick leave in several circumstances. That is to say, the FFCRA has explicitly enforced financial obligations on small businesses while exempting big corporations.
A recent poll has signaled that 48% of all small businesses still operating fear they won’t make enough revenue during the rest of Q4 to stay afloat, and now they are about to be wiped out from our economic landscape. On the same note, the NYPost has informed that the conditions of small businesses in New York and New Jersey is increasingly deteriorating. As of now, 27.8% of small businesses in New York remain closed. The same goes for New Jersey, where 31.2% of small businesses had not reopened. At the very least, this portrays an intentional lack of concern on the part of lawmakers to the struggles of small businesses.
Ultimately, what that means is that the elites have found the perfect loophole to swallow up smaller companies while also smashing their competition. Policymakers have been expressively facilitating this upward transfer of wealth to Big conglomerates at the expense of small businesses and millions of jobs. If their real intention was ever to protect workers they wouldn't let hundreds of thousands of companies that are placed at the very basis of the American economy to tragically collapse. This winter will be marked by a dramatic wave of lay-offs and bankruptcies, and this whole calamity is happening by design."
"Sound Vibration: The most elemental state of vibration is that of sound. Everything has an optimum range of vibration (frequency), and that rate is called resonance. When we are in resonance, we are balanced. Every organ and every cell in our precious body absorbs and emits sound with particular optimum resonate frequency. 432hz and 528hz tuned music creates resonance in our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual body.
All our music (self-composed and licensed from other composers) is tuned to 432Hz and 528Hz, and contains Solfeggio Frequencies; Miracle Tones that Heal, Change and Transform low vibrational energy (negative energy). Letting go of negative thoughts and emotions. Recharging the LIGHT within you. Refueling mind, body, heart and soul with Powerful Positive Energy that aligns you with your Innate Power, Potential and Resources.
When you RAISE YOUR VIBRATION you also help to raise the collective vibration of our beautiful planet and all life on it. You are important. You are important to this planet. You are valuable. You are a beautiful expression of Life. Powerful BEYOND words."
“What makes this spiral galaxy so long? Measuring over 700,000 light years across from top to bottom, NGC 6872, also known as the Condor galaxy, is one of the most elongated barred spiral galaxies known.
The galaxy's protracted shape likely results from its continuing collision with the smaller galaxy IC 4970, visible just above center. Of particular interest is NGC 6872's spiral arm on the upper left, as pictured here, which exhibits an unusually high amount of blue star forming regions. The light we see today left these colliding giants before the days of the dinosaurs, about 300 million years ago. NGC 6872 is visible with a small telescope toward the constellation of the Peacock (Pavo).”
"One aspect of narcopaths (narcissistic sociopaths) that is important to remember is that they live in their own little world in which their desires and bizarre dysfunctions are normalized. They believe themselves superior to most people because they are predatory, and don’t suffer from annoying hang-ups like empathy and conscience. They generally tend to believe they have pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes the majority of the time. They think that you are a submissive idiot, and that when they bark an order, you will simply jump to attention because you “believe”.
Almost every aspect of the globalists and their behavior indicates they are a club or cult of narcopaths. Their obsessive need to control as well as to corrupt and destroy in order to get what they want is not an extension of mere greed, it is a deep-seated aspect of who they are as beings. It is a defining mechanism at the core of their character. They are real world monsters, like vampires attempting to blend into an unsuspecting population.
In their arrogance, then tend to expect they can drain the public dry at will without being resisted or exposed. The problem is, as soon as they start to feed and destroy they draw attention to themselves. Eventually, they will attract the suspicions of the public, along with some vampire hunters. Unless they find a way to hide a stake through the heart is inevitable.
I have been writing about the threats of globalism and the “reset” for many years now, and I have noted for some time two separate quandaries; one affecting the liberty movement and the other affecting the globalists:
1) First, criminals tend to brag about their crimes when they think that it’s too late for anyone to do anything about them. I predicted the globalists would be very open in revealing their agenda the moment they believed themselves “untouchable”. For the freedom loving public this suggests that in 2020 going into 2021 that the elites must think there is nothing that can be done to stop the machine; they are so blatant in their calls for the global “reset”, a cashless society, totalitarian lockdowns and a surveillance state that no one in their right mind can claim these notions are “conspiracy theory” anymore. The fact is, the “conspiracy theorists” were RIGHT ALL ALONG, and now there is nothing anyone can say about it.
2) Second, I have also argued in the past that the globalist push for a “new world order” is a double edged sword that could very well end up annihilating them. As they attempt to initiate their reset agenda, they become more and more exposed; they can no longer lurk in the safety of the shadows and there is no going back once the process is started. Once the globalists become widely known, they must either swiftly take control through engineered chaos and collapse, or face retribution that could eliminate a cabal that took them centuries to build. Vampires must make the rest of the world a dark place before leaving the shadows, or they risk dying in the light of day.
There are two schools of thought in the liberty movement; one suggesting that the globalist agenda is fixed and unstoppable and that the best anyone can do is survive. The second suggests that the reset can be stopped and the globalists can be brought to justice. I stand in both camps.
There are aspects of the reset that are indeed fixed and that cannot be undone. For example, numerous national economies including the US are in the midst of a stagflationary collapse and there is nothing that can be done to reverse it. Perhaps a decade ago we could have changed course, but now it is too late. The pain can be reduced if people quickly end their dependency on the system and create localized trade networks of their own, but the economy as we know it right now is dead and it is not coming back anytime soon.
I do not see this, though, as a win for the elites. Crashing the economy is one thing, rebuilding it into the collectivist dystopia they desperately want is another. Everything depends on who rebuilds; maybe it will be them, maybe it will be us.
I am seeing some encouraging signs these days that the globalist reset is NOT a sure thing, and those that know my work know I have never been one for misplaced optimism. Specifically, the exploitation of the pandemic response as a means to ram through numerous draconian restrictions does not seem to be going exactly as the elites planned.
In the year since the outbreak, the globalists have attempted to enforce nearly every plan that was outlined during Event 201, including using social media to censor or restrict any news or information outside of the establishment approved narrative (Yes, narrative control was discussed at the event in great detail). Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum has consistently and excitedly applauded the pandemic crisis as a “perfect opportunity” to institute the “reset” that the globalists have been talking about for years.
Unfortunately for them, the virus has not been anywhere near as deadly as they appear to have hoped. With a death rate of well below 1% for anyone outside of a nursing home with preexisting conditions, the establishment has now been forced to pump up infection numbers as a means to terrorize the populace because the death numbers are not enough to convince people to willingly hand over their freedoms. The Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) for Covid 19 not counting nursing home deaths with preexisting conditions is only 0.26% of those infected.
There is a propaganda meme being passed around these days that tries to exaggerate the danger of death from Covid, and it goes a little something like this: “Covid has killed more people that the Vietnam War and the Gulf Wars combined in a single year, therefore your freedoms are forfeit…” This is an idiotic talking point but luckily no one is buying it.
Over 40% of Covid deaths are people that are already sick and on the verge of dying anyway (And no, refusing to wear masks is not the same as endorsing “death panels”, because a death panel is about socialists refusing treatment to people at risk because of their age. No one is suggesting that old people be refused treatment, and they always have the option of staying under quarantine if they fear they will become infected. They are already retired and receiving social security, perhaps if we are going to stimulate then the bailout money should go to those most at risk so that the rest of us can continue on with normal life?)
Hundreds of thousands of people die every year from diseases and illnesses including the flu, common colds and pneumonia, yet, the prospect of abandoning the Bill of Rights, submitting to economic shutdowns and wearing a muzzle on our faces wherever we go was never brought up before.
Why should we ask 99.7% of Americans or the world to accept medical tyranny just to make .26% of the population feel safe? People who question the mandates are called “selfish”, but even if I was one of the people susceptible to the virus, I would NEVER demand that 99% of the population bow to totalitarianism at the off chance that I might live a little while longer. Now THAT would be selfish.
As more and more studies and data are released, the mask mandates are also coming into question. Though Big Tech has sought to suppress or censor studies that run contrary to the mainstream narrative, this has only led more people to question the motivations of governments pushing the mandates. After all, the mainstream media keeps saying that we should “listen to the science”, but they ignore or censor the science. So, if the pandemic response is not based in science, then it must only be about control.
Many Americans are not as stupid as the elites think. They see the inconsistencies in the rhetoric and the data and they are increasingly prone to refuse to comply. This might be why the establishment is suddenly rushing out at least two Covid vaccines in the span of half a year; they have to get the vaccine phase of the Reset underway before too many people jump from the panic bandwagon.
The vaccine rush and the claims of effectiveness of 94% to 95% from Pfizer and Moderna are suspect. The average effectiveness of most vaccines is around 50% or less, and these are vaccines with hundreds of trials and years of usage. Somehow, Pfizer and Moderna were both able to produce a vaccine for a SARS type virus when multiple governments tried for over a decade to produce vaccines for SARS in China and were unsuccessful, and they were able to achieve 95% effectiveness?
Many people are not buying the vaccine story, and this is perhaps why the elites are jumping headlong into vaccination so fast. Consider this fact: Numerous polls indicate that at least 1 in 3 Americans plan to refuse the Covid vaccine when it is released to the general public. 60% of Americans have stated in polls that they will not take the vaccine unless it is proven to be at least 75% effective.
Here I think we have our explanation for the vaccination bonanza. The elites know that a third of Americans (and probably Europeans) will not take the vaccine regardless of any propaganda they dish out. They also know that 60% of Americans are unlikely to take the vaccine unless they can show an effectiveness rate of at least 75%. Neither Moderna nor Pfizer have actually produced any evidence that their vaccines are capable of prevented severe illness or death from Covid, so, their effectiveness rate is based on “projections” of success according to their minimal trials. Meaning, the effectiveness rate of 95% is completely arbitrary.
Why did they go with such a high number instead of a more realistic 50% to 60%? Because the polls say they need an epic effectiveness rate in order to convince Americans to take the vaccine. I think it is really as simple as that.
Americans are skeptical of the vaccines for a number of reasons. The reality that they are minimally tested and rushed out in less than a year is one reason. The fact that the government and the media have been caught censoring or lying about Covid data is another reason. People just don’t trust the elites, and who can blame them? Who would trust a cabal of psychopaths to inject them with an unknown viral cocktail? Maybe their intentions are not so pure?
Maybe this is what Bill Gates meant when he stated in his Ted Talk that “vaccines and reproductive services” could help contribute to a reduction of the Earth’s population of 10% to 15% as a means to “stop global warming.
Why would Bill Gates mention vaccines in the same breath as “reproductive services” in reference to population reduction? Aren’t vaccines supposed to help people live longer? Well, the Pfizer VP’s warning about the Covid vaccine is ringing bells for me. Maybe the Covid vaccine won’t make you sick, or kill you. Maybe you will live a long life free of coronavirus, but you’ll find out a few years after taking the vaccine that you won’t ever be able to have kids. Watch the movie ‘Children Of Men’ to get a sense of what the future might be like if the globalists get their way.
In the meantime, the elites are trying with everything they have to convince the public that they must abandon notions of civil liberties in the name of survival and “the greater good”. They are already talking about how things will never go back to normal, and the changes being made today will stay in place for many years to come.
Governments are in the media right now claiming the vaccines “will not be mandatory”. This is a lie. At the same time they are putting mandates in place to require you to prove you are vaccinated in order to go to public places and even to go to work. Basically, you take the vaccine or you die from poverty. This is not a choice. But, I see millions of Americans standing in opposition to this agenda. I see sheriffs and police across the country refusing to enforce the agenda, even in hard-left states like California. I see protests in lockdown states like Michigan, California and New York. I see mass protests in Europe. I see the Reset scheme being exposed and the truth breaking into the mainstream.
I see something rising to the surface, and I smell that gunpowder scent of rebellion, and I like it. I’m not pessimistic about the future. I know a crash is coming. I know a fight is coming. But right now what I see is a fight that can and will be won by those that respect the principles of freedom. The globalists may have overplayed their hand."
"All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves."
“I remember several years back I heard something that changed my life forever. Up until that point I had been struggling through life – doing everything the hard way. I couldn’t figure out why my life wasn’t going the way I felt it should be. I saw some people going through life effortlessly and seemingly with less tension and frustration while I was wondering if I could ever straighten out the mess my life had turned out to be. I was behind on my dreams, my promises, and my bills. Then one day I was listening to a tape and the lady was talking about the power of having dreams and goals and all of the other stuff that those motivational speakers talk about. By that point I had listened to hundreds of such tapes, but it seemed as if nothing worked for me.
Probably the only reason I was listening to that one was because I had developed a habit of listening to cassette tapes while driving my car. The statement the lady said was simple and I think I had even heard it somewhere before but this time a light bulb went on in my head. I remember stopping the tape and rewinding it over and over again to hear the 17 words she said. I couldn’t believe it was so basic and simple. I was looking for something sophisticated and complicated. I thought I had to attend a $10,000 seminar. I didn’t know I could find it on a $10 tape program.
I’m taking the time to tell you all of this preliminary information because when I tell you the 17 words, I really want you to get it and get it NOW! Because if you get it NOW, your life will never be the same. You will be using the same principle that all who have became wealthy before you have used. Even those who became wealthy and can’t tell you how they did use this same principle without even being aware of what they are doing. Well, are you ready for the 17 words that made a powerful and positive impact on my life and on the life of tens of thousands of individuals who have achieved unimaginable success? Of course you are… Well, here they are…
For things to change, you must get a
picture of what you want them to change to.
Yes, it’s as simple as it sounds and as easy as it seems… Don’t try to make it any complicated than this because it will only frustrate you.
You must know exactly what you want and the more specific and clear you can get, the better. This is important because Human Beings are Teleological in nature… In other words, we move towards the pictures we constantly hold in our minds. Let me give you an example… Suppose you went to the store and bought a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle but it didn’t have a picture on the box of what the end result should look like.
Would you have a much harder time putting the picture together? Of course. You may eventually figure it out; however, the person who has a clear picture of what the end result should look like will be more than 100 times ahead of you. The question is are they 100 times ahead of you because their IQ is 100 times greater? Is it because they are 100 times better looking than you? Maybe it’s because they live 100 times closer to the person who created the puzzle? Ohh, I know – they were one of the first students to take the Evelyn Woods mind-expanding speed-reading and comprehension course right? If none of this is true then what is?
Yes, the person who had the clear and specific picture of what the outcome was supposed to be was simply operating in accordance to how our brain works. It moves towards the pictures we hold in our mind. It’s interesting because once you know exactly what it is you are moving towards, you seem to automatically know the steps to take or the necessary steps will soon become noticeable.
Your brain's subconscious mind, operating similar to a magnet, will start to attract in your direction the conditions, people, and circumstances that will help you move closer to the mental picture you maintain in your mind and it will repel all of those things that do not correlate to the picture you have in your mind. Therefore, the people who are clear and specific about what they want are using the powers of the Universe to assist them. This is, indeed, an awesome power. A person who knows how and uses this awesome power of the Universe to his or her advantage is a person who is working smart. A person who struggles every day trying to move closer to the success that they have no idea how it’s supposed to look is a person who is working hard.
Based on your observations over the years, do you think that most people are working hard or working smart? People who just work hard day in and day out without a clear picture of what they are moving towards are about as exciting as a tulip. Even though they may seem to be willing to work hard and put in the hours, they don’t seem to have much life in them. And people want to follow people who seem to have some life in them. If they want to find people who don’t seem to have much life in them, all they have to do is go to their job. People will follow people who look like they know where they are going and look like they are excited about the journey.
You must understand that your strength comes from knowing what you want. This will ignite the fire inside of you and enable you to borrow from the promise of the future so you can engage in the activities today that will move you closer and closer to what you want. It will enable you to go through the trials and tribulations that may be necessary so you can arrive at your destination. But remember the journey will be more important than the destination because in the journey you will become the person you require to become to finally arrive at your destination. So when you reach your destination, look at the person you have become and set a new destination so you can continue to grow and develop.
Whatever you do, just always remember that for things to change, you must get a picture of what you want them to change to. These are the "17 Words that Changed My Life Forever"… why not allow them to change yours too?”
“A few lines from Mary Oliver's poem "Wild Geese":
"You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves."
"I've quoted these lines before, if not here, then elsewhere. When I first read them back in the late 80s, they resonated with what I felt at the time. I had spent part of my earliest adulthood walking on my knees, both literally and metaphorically, seeking to tame what I took to be the animal within. Saint Augustine was whispering in my ear, and Bernanos' gloomy country priest walked at my side. I was ready to follow Thomas Merton into the desert; indeed, I once took myself briefly to the monastery at Gethsemane, Kentucky, where Merton was in residence.
That was a journey of more than a hundred miles, and I was busy repenting, although of what I don't know.
As I read those lines from Mary Oliver in middle age, I had long been cultivating the "soft animal" within, immersing myself in the is-ness of things, the flesh and blood, the gorgeously sensual. No more walking on my knees, repenting. I walked proudly upright, with my sketchbook and my watercolors, my binoculars and my magnifier, sniffing the world like an animal on the prowl. I was letting my body learn to "love what it loves." Those were the years I wrote "The Soul of the Night" and "Honey From Stone" - the most intensely creative years of my life. The world offered itself to my imagination, if I may borrow another line from "Wild Geese."
And now, another half-lifetime has passed. The soft animal dozes, the body seeks repose. And I think of the first line quoted above: "You do not have to be good." What could the poet have possibly meant by that? Of course one has to be good. In a cell at Gethsemane or on the bridge over Queset Brook, one has to be good. And so one tries, one tries. The soft animal of the body that nature has contrived for us is not fine-tuned for goodness.”
"You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting over and over announcing your place in the family of things."
WEST RIVER, MARYLAND – "Yesterday, the bipartisan boondoggle – the proposed $908 billion bailout led by Mitt Romney – got stuck in the Swamp. Nancy Pelosi said it was too little. Mitch McConnell said it was too much. So, the pols put their heads together and came up with a short-term fix. Here’s The Washington Post: "House Approves One-week Spending Bill As Stimulus Talks Drag On": "The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a one-week extension in funding for the federal government, a move aimed at giving lawmakers more time to hammer out agreements on spending bills and emergency economic relief."
But wait… The government is broke… already headed to a $2 trillion deficit for fiscal year 2021. Its pockets are empty. Its bank account is overdrawn. It has already looked under the seat cushions; there is nothing there. How, then, could it possibly help people in need?
Play Dead: That’s just one question…“And why should it?” is another. Why does anyone think giving out fake money to offset a real downturn is a good idea? Or even giving out real money, for that matter? If the economy needs a reset… a recession to reprice assets and clean out bad investments and bad businesses… why stop it? Why should the unemployment rate be below 5% and not above 10%? Why should the Dow be near 30,000… rather than closer to 15,000? Why not just let the chips fall where they may, in other words? Where’s the science behind that?
In 1919-1920, the Spanish Flu killed 675,000 Americans. Far worse than the coronavirus; that would be the equivalent to about 1.8 million deaths today. Then, the economy went into a depression. Did the government leap to its feet? Nope, it played dead. No big deficits. No quantitative easing (QE). No bailouts. No checks to nobody.
Unemployment rose to 8.7% in 1921, according to economist Christina Romer. But the Harding administration did, by today’s standards, almost nothing. Or worse than nothing. Instead of stimulating the economy, arguably, it suppressed it… by cutting spending and running a surplus. Oh, what heartless swine!
Creative Destruction: But how did the economists of 1921 know what the unemployment rate should be? How do today’s economists know better? After all, capitalism works by relentlessly destroying some jobs… thus making workers available for new skills, new enterprises, and new industries. If the unemployment rate were zero, progress would stop. But progress is exactly what happened after 1921 – with little help (or hindrance) from the feds. Christina Romer says that by 1923, the unemployment rate was back below 5%.
According to today’s economic scientists, when an economy goes limp, the authorities must have “the courage to act” (in Ben Bernanke’s hagiographic words). They need to supply the starch that the markets lack. Otherwise… well… Otherwise what? We don’t know, either.
Terrible Mistake: Economics is no real science. It is mostly quackery mixed with flimflam. But its practitioners nevertheless have Ph.Ds. And in the 20th century, they tried to upgrade their discipline from a subset of moral philosophy – don’t spend more than you earn! – to a pseudo-science, with numbers… formulae… sigmas… alphas… and deltas, too.
We saw yesterday that the foundational science of today’s money system – monetarism – was a terrible mistake. It failed to appreciate the importance of the traditional gold standard. It thought it could do better with the Federal Reserve standard. But while the U.S. dollar of 1913 (when the Fed was created) was just as good as the dollar of 1791 (when the dollar was created), the dollar of 2020 is worth, relatively, only about 3 cents!
Why? Because in a crisis, the temptation to “print” more money is always irresistible. The Fed’s balance sheet – a measure of how much printing is going on – was only 6% of U.S. GDP in 2008. By the end of 2021, it will likely be near 50%. Where’s the science behind that?
The Fed says we should have a 2% inflation target. Not 1%. Not 10%. What does science say about that? It says that interest rates need to be around zero… or less. Where did that come from? The feds believe they have to fight a downturn with more cash and credit – even giving out $1,200 checks to millions of Americans, the vast majority of whom were still working and collecting salaries. Huh? What science tells them to do that?
Ultimate Test: Note that when we talk about “science,” we’re not talking about engineering. Applied, practical engineering absorbs the lessons of the past… and, while innovating and experimenting, it always returns to what works.
Roman bridge-builders, for example, put up bridges that are still in use 2,000 years later – like the Pons Fabricius in Rome. To show his confidence, the architect stood beneath its arches as the scaffold was removed. This served two very useful purposes: It focused the architect’s attention on what would be, for him, a matter of life and death… and it removed incompetents from the professional pool… as well as the gene pool.
If we only had a Pons Fabricius for the financial engineers! What a delight it would be to see them all crowded under an enormous arch. Ms. Yellen, who just three years ago, promised no more financial crises in “our lifetimes” – surely, she would be there. And Mr. Bernanke. And there, too, we would find the complete quack, Steven Mnuchin… along with Paul Krugman… Joseph Stiglitz… Jeffrey Sachs… and many others. What a wonderful opportunity! Quick… Take down the scaffold!
"Welcome to the U.S.S.A.'s Banquet of Consequences"
by Charles Hugh Smith
"When I mention that the U.S.A. feels increasingly like the U.S.S.R., a surprising number of people tell me they feel the same way. Welcome to the U.S.S.A.: United Simulacra States of America where everything is an absurdly transparent simulation with little connection to reality and dissent is crushed by an ever-present, ubiquitous narrative police state enforced by the union of Big Tech social media, search and other monopolies and the Savior State: do what we tell you and you'll get a piece of our endlessly spewed trillions.
My colleague Mark Jeftovic recommended an insightful book on the unraveling of the USSR, "Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation." It's an academic book so there are the required servings of jargon and references to suitably opaque academic tropes, but beneath the conceptual clutter lies a profound analysis of how humans adapt to and navigate a system that has lost all authenticity and survives entirely on the ceaseless marketing of artifice: in other words, the USA today.
Of particular interest are the book's personal accounts of dutiful Party members going through the motions of obedience as a means of enjoying their private friendships and lives. Joining the Party's machinery was a way to meet friends who you recruited for your committee work. Everyone went through the motions but nobody actually believed any of it: you did homework while "listening" to the endless canned speeches, you went out for coffee while telling the Party functionary that you were on Party business, and you worked on parades and activities that were a bit of fun despite the dreary official purpose which everyone ignored.
Despite the enormous effort put into placing propaganda everywhere, nobody actually saw any of it: it was all background noise. When it changed, nobody noticed. "Regular" party members avoided the True Believers and the Dissenters as both could get you in trouble - and who wanted trouble? It wasn't worth it. And so a carefully cloaked language of phrases and signs emerged to separate the safe "regular" members from the dangerous True Believers and Dissenters.
Documentarian Adam Curtis called this artifice as reality hyper-normalization, a concept also referred to as super-normalization: "normal life" is stripped of authenticity in favor of a simulacrum "normal" that supports those at the top of the status quo. This "new normal" reaches extremes of artifice, hence hyper-normalization.
As long as everyone thinks there are no alternatives to this hyper-normalized simulacrum, this artificial construct appears to be immutable - everything is forever. But once the power structure admits, however minimally, that it no longer has the answers to the decay of the social-economic order, then the entire artificial construct collapses in a heap. This is the sociology of collapse: people accept a facade of artifice and propaganda without actually believing any of it, though they do have a limbic loyalty to the founding ideals of the State.
The ideologues (True Believers) are avoided as dangerous brown-nosers, and the Dissenters are avoided because it's not worth being sent to digital Siberia (shadow-banned, deleted, marginalized) just to publicly call attention to the abject failure of status quo institutions and organs of propaganda.
What's real is denial, repression of dissent, group-think, virtue-signaling and a profound loss of competence. What's hyper-normalized artifice is all the media spew about how great everything is going to be once we print and squander another couple trillion dollars to prop up the zombie corporations, institutions and government agencies until the magical vaccine time machine returns us to the glorious debt-dependent overconsumption of 2019.
The USSA has not yet admitted that the decay of its socio-economic order is unstoppable, and so the internal gulag has yet to be breached. But artifice is not a substitute for reality, and what's unsustainable (hyper-normalized artifice) unravels very quickly once the first thread is pulled.
The USSR took 20 years to unravel, but 19 years of the decay were hidden by an increasingly disconnected-from-reality simulacra of "success" and competence: the USSR lost the race to the moon in 1969 and 20 years later two decades of decay led to collapse.
The USSA responded to the dot-com crash of 2000 with artifice and propaganda, an absurdly transparent simulacra of "success" and competence. Twenty years of decay has brought us to the precipice of collapse, and the internal gulag of TINA - there is no alternative - is fraying. The incontestable incompetence of the USSA's monopolies, institutions and agencies is about to take center stage in 2021. The sociology of collapse will be followed by a not-be-missed banquet of consequences."
• Canada approved Pfizer’s vaccine and could begin administering shots next week. The F.D.A. has not yet approved use in the U.S.
• Two British people with existing allergies apparently had reactions to the Pfizer vaccine. Officials asked others prone to severe allergic reactions to delay getting the vaccine until researchers had learned more.
• The pandemic has kept a generation of toddlers isolated from one another, leading parents to worry about their social development. But childhood experts say that kids that age are resilient and that most would be just fine.
"Bracing For A Very Painful Year: 38% Of Americans
Say That They Will Spend 2021 In 'Survival Mode'”
by Epic Economist
"A very painful year is right at the corner, and about 38% of Americans have affirmed they will be spending 2021 in survival mode. Traditionally, the turn of the year was a moment when people used to set their new goals and resolutions, but this time around millions have been feeling the impacts of the worst economic downturn the country has undergone in almost a century, so their outlook for what lies ahead is far from hopeful or optimistic. In fact, another wave of business bankruptcies is prompting the lay-off of hundreds of thousands of workers days before Christmas, and now 1 out of 3 Americans have revealed in a recent poll they cannot afford any holiday gifts this year.
In face of the enormous financial pain mass unemployment has brought, in addition to the growing food and housing insecurity, many have engaged in disruptive behaviors that can be seen in the spike of social agitation in the cities and increased levels of addiction and substance abuse. In this video, we are going to analyze why the future remains bleak in the eyes of millions of our citizens and discuss the rising economic devastation employers and employees have been going through during the last chapters of 2020.
Over two-thirds of Americans have experienced acute financial difficulties throughout this year due to job loss, the reduction or the removal of their household incomes, or the decline of their emergency savings, according to a new Fidelity study. For that reason, a large share of the country is anticipating that many more setbacks are likely to come over the next few months. Of the 3,011 surveyed adults, more than 38% stated they will spend next year in “survival mode,” which means they will try to only focus on the day-to-day activities instead of establishing long-term goals in order to get themselves and their families through 2021.
The main reason why so many can anticipate being in “survival mode” next year is because the financial problems they had to deal with this year are probably going to extend until 2021 as well. According to the same survey, a staggering 68 percent of Americans say to have experienced a substantial financial setback. The study informed that of those, "23% lost a job or household income; 20% had an unexpected non-health emergency; 18% had to provide unexpected financial aid to family or friends; and 16% had a health emergency in their family."
Several households disclosed to still be concerned that financial stresses may worsen next year. Forty-six percent are worried about the sanitary outbreak's impact on the economy, while 35% are fearing for unexpected expenses, and 34% are anxious about the rising cost of food and other day-to-day essentials. Even those who remained employed throughout the recession have been coping with financial problems. A new research by MagnifyMoney found that roughly 1 in 3 full-time workers have experienced a pay cut due to the economic fallout of the health crisis.
Needless to say that all of these financial hardships are having a dramatic impact on holiday spending. After seeing their comfortable lifestyles removed from their reach, the "new normal" is leading millions of Americans to forgo holiday gifts this year. According to a WalletHub study, 1 in 3 Americans can't afford to offer gifts to their loved ones this Christmas.
The past 12 months have been exceedingly painful for most Americans, and the prospect of more turbulence over the next 12 months is leading many to engage in damaging behavior patterns. The strains of living in social isolation can have a destructive effect on millions of lives. A recent study of approximately 2,000 American adults is the first to outline the connection between alcohol use and stress triggered by health-crisis-related shutdowns.
The study uncovered that overall, one in three Americans have reported binge drinking during the current crisis. But with all things considered, it's understandable why Americans have been so overwhelmed, and trying to find an escape since everything continues to collapse around them. And on top of all of the tragic events witnessed so far, the day after Christmas, the extended unemployment benefits that have helped 12 million people and their families to stay afloat are going to expire.
Then, a few days after that shock, on New Year’s Day, the CDC's eviction moratorium is scheduled to lapse, and all of the delinquent renters that kept housed during the recession just because of the moratorium, are about to get swallowed by a historic tsunami of evictions. As the end of the year approaches much more anxiety will take over the lives of millions of Americans, and as things continue to unravel all around us, the road ahead is certainly not going to get any easier.
