“5 Painfully Obvious Truths We Tend to Forget in Hard Times”

“5 Painfully Obvious Truths

We Tend to Forget in Hard Times”

by Angel Chernoff

“This is going to have a beginning, a middle, and an end.  

We are going to get through this, I promise, 

and we’re going to get through it together. “

- Dr. Jon LaPook

“You know how you can read or hear something dozens of times in dozens of different ways before it finally sinks in? The little truths listed below fall firmly into that category – timeless life lessons that many of us likely learned years ago, and have been reminded of ever since, yet for whatever reason we tend to forget in the heat of the moment. This, my friends, is my attempt at helping all of us, myself included, “get it” and “remember it” once and for all…

1. Life is short, and nothing is guaranteed. We know deep down that life is short, and that death will happen to all of us eventually, and yet we are infinitely surprised when it happens to someone we know. It’s like walking up a flight of stairs with a distracted mind, and misjudging the final step. You expected there to be one more stair than there is, and so you find yourself off balance for a moment, before your mind shifts back to the present moment and how the world really is.

LIVE your life TODAY! Don’t ignore death but don’t be afraid of life either. Be afraid of a life you never lived because you were too afraid to take positive action today. Death is not the greatest loss in life, neither is illness. The greatest loss is what dies inside you while you’re still alive and well. Even in these difficult times, be bold, be courageous, be scared to death, and then take the next step anyway. Just change the way you do it.

Invest your heart and soul into whatever you have right in front of you. Bring passion into otherwise ordinary moments. You don’t have to be surrounded by lots of people. You don’t have to be going anyplace new, passionately engage in each moment.

2. Everything will change again soon. Embrace change and realize in many ways it’s necessary. It won’t always be obvious at first, but in the end most forms of change are worthwhile because they force us to grow. So keep yourself in check right now.

What you have today may become what you had by tomorrow. You never know. Things change, often spontaneously. People and circumstances come and go. Life doesn’t stop for anybody. It moves rapidly and rushes from calm to chaos in a matter of seconds, and happens like this to people every day. It’s likely happening to someone nearby right now.

Sometimes the shortest split second in time changes the direction of our lives. A seemingly innocuous decision rattles our whole world like a meteorite striking Earth. Entire lives have been swiveled and flipped upside down, for better or worse, on the strength of an unpredictable event, and these events are always happening. 

So just remember, however good or bad a situation is now, it will change. That’s the one thing you can count on. Accept it. Breathe. Be where you are. You’re where you need to be right now. There’s a time and place for everything, and every hard step is necessary. Just keep doing your best, and don’t force what’s not yet supposed to fit into your life. When it’s meant to be, it will be.

3. Changing your response is what puts you back in control. Have patience with everything that remains unresolved in your head and heart. And realize that patience is not about waiting, but the ability to keep a good attitude while working hard to stay true to your intuition and values. This is your life, and it is governed by your choices. May your actions speak louder than your words. May your daily choices preach louder than your lips. May your inner sense of satisfaction be your noise in the end.

And if your present life only teaches you one thing, let it be that taking a passionate leap is always worth it. Even if you have no idea where you’re going to land – even when there are so many unknowns – be brave enough to stand up and listen to your heart. Remember that the most powerful moments in life happen when you find the courage to let go of what can’t be changed. Because when you are no longer able to change a situation, you are challenged to change yourself – to grow beyond the unchangeable. And that changes everything! (Marc and I discuss this in more detail in the “Passion and Growth” chapter of “1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.“)

4. Life’s storms can be a great source of strength. Hard times are like strong storms that blow against you. And it’s not just that these storms hold you back from places you might otherwise go. They also tear away from you all but the essential parts of your ego that cannot be torn, so that afterward you see yourself as you really are, and not merely as you might like to be.

Ultimately, you realize you are here to endure these storms, to sacrifice your time and risk your heart. You are here to be bruised by life. And when it happens that you are hurt, or betrayed, or rejected, let yourself sit quietly with your eyes closed and remember all the good times you had, and all the sweetness you tasted, and everything you learned. Tell yourself how amazing it was to live, and then open your eyes and live some more.

Because to never struggle would be to never grow. You must let go of who you were so you can become who you are. Again, it is within the depths of the strongest and darkest storms that you discover within you an inextinguishable light, and it is this light that illuminates the path forward.

5. You don’t need all the answers right now. Accept the feeling of not knowing exactly where you are going, and train yourself to love and appreciate this sensation of freedom. Because it is only when you are suspended in the air, with no destination in sight, that you force your wings to open fully so you can fly. And as you soar around you still may not know where you’re traveling to. But that’s not what’s important. What’s important is the opening of your wings. You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as your wings are spread, the winds will carry you forward.

Truth be told, some of the greatest outcomes that transpire in your life will be the ones you never even knew you wanted. As long as you keep your mind open to new perspectives and yourself moving forward, there really are no wrong turns in life, only paths you didn’t know you were meant to travel. And you never can be certain what’s around the corner.  It could be everything, or it could be nothing. You keep gliding steadily forward, and then one day you realize you’ve come a long way from where you started.

All details aside, someday all the pieces will come together. Unimaginably good outcomes will likely transpire in your life, even if everything doesn’t turn out exactly the way you had anticipated. And you will look back at the hard times that have passed, smile, and ask yourself… “How in the world did I get through all of that?”

- https://www.marcandangel.com/

"How It Really Is"

 

"Modern Monetary Quackery (MMQ)"

"Modern Monetary Quackery (MMQ)"

What you get when you expect something for nothing...

by Bill Bonner and Joel Bowman

"Politicians need to reject the urge to ask “How are we going to pay for it?” We must give up our obsession with trying to “pay for” everything with new revenue or spending cuts. Once we understand that money is a legal and social tool, no longer beholden to the false scarcity of the gold standard, we can focus on what matters most: the best use of natural and human resources to meet current social needs and to sustainably increase our productive capacity to improve living standards for future generations…"

~ “Three prominent MMT adherents,” Kelton, Bernal, and Carlock

Normandy, France - "What a delight it must be to wake up each morning with no memory. No past. Nothing to regret. Nothing to hide. No hangover. No ‘baby daddy’ worries. Economists are usually a little cynical…a tad suspicious…even skeptical. They know there’s always a price…and that for every entry on the credit side of the ledger, there’s a debit too. So, it must be a treat to meet Stephanie Kelton (one of the economists noted above.) The woman seems to have been born yesterday. She probably doesn’t realize it, but there’s nothing very ‘modern’ about Modern Monetary Theory. To call it ‘monetary’ is a bit of a stretch too, since it is really a notion of how to use fiscal policy. As for theory…don’t make us laugh.

No Free Lunch: Thinking you can get something for nothing is not exactly new. Nor is the idea that the state (the government) can create real ‘money’ by cutting down trees and printing up pieces of paper with dead presidents on them. Nor is the idea that the feds can use this ‘money’ to ‘Build Back Better’…by ‘investing’ it in worthy projects. These are not new ideas. They are simply old crackpot delusions. Someone should tell her.

The Argentine government has been practicing a kind of MMT fiscal policy for decades. It prints money, lots of it. It uses the money – as all politicians claim – on ‘what matters most.’ But boo hoo…by the end of the year, about half the value of every new peso it prints will disappear. Another couple of years and it will be all gone. What kind of money is that? Can you really use it to make investments that will pay off for future generations? Apparently not. There used to be an expression: ‘as rich as an Argentine.’ No one has heard that for years.

And just look at America’s big public ‘investments’ of the last half century. Campaigns against drugs, poverty, terrorists…money printing extravaganzas that left people poorer than they were before. The feds were ready to “invest” someone else’s money – in safer streets…in stronger GDP growth…in healthier citizens…in better schools and smarter kids…in fighting racism…in promoting equality…but are the streets safer? Are the schools better? Are the kids smarter? Are we healthier? Happier?

Fatter, Sadder, Less Productive: The whole idea of investing is to give up something – current consumption – in order to get a payoff later. A profit. An advantage. You should be richer after making the investment, not poorer. Between 1999 and 2023, the US feds made net ‘investments’ (beyond current income from taxation) of $27 trillion. That’s how much federal debt increased during that period. If those investments had been remotely profitable, they’d be paying a dividend. Where is it? Instead, we’re adding to US debt at the rate of $5 billion per day over the next 10 years.

The latest ‘investment’ scam comes to us from the Biden bunch – the Inflation Reduction Act. With a straight face, The Economist reports: "Big investments have begun. Most of the money spent under the IRA goes towards combating climate change. The earliest data show that companies that make clean-energy kit (like wind turbines and solar panels) are ramping up production. The American Clean Power Association, a trade group, says that 83 manufacturing plants have been announced since the bill’s passage. More than 50 will produce solar-power equipment. The rest will make wind-turbine parts or batteries. Together the projects represent $270bn of investment - equal to the previous seven years of clean-energy investment combined, according to the trade group. Firms have also announced $53bn of investment in factories making electric vehicles (EVs) and components they use, like batteries and chargers, according to a tracker run by Jay Turner of Wellesley College."

Many clean-energy projects will go to red states, be it to wind farms in the plains or hydrogen hubs in Texas or Utah (consortia in both states are bidding for the latter). Mr Turner’s tracker finds that $47.5bn of EV investments are heading to Republican districts, compared with $6.7bn destined for Democratic ones. That means - at least with Mr Biden in the White House - that the IRA is probably safe from serious Republican opposition.

Bipartisan Swindles: Yes, the Republicans are in on it too. Another bi-partisan fraud. A classic rip-off. The benefits go to the few; the costs are borne by the many. MMT suggests that 1) there is an infinite amount of capital (so you don’t have to give up anything to make an investment) and, 2) the feds can do a better job of investing it than its rightful owners.

Are the investment geniuses behind the scenes at the Biden administration such better investors? Do they see opportunities that the sharp eyes on Wall Street have missed? Only someone who was born yesterday could think so. But the deeper naïveté…bordering on insanity…is MMT’s view of money itself. Kelton et al imagine that ‘money’ is no longer scarce. In theory, the feds can print as much as they want. But in practice, the more they print, the less their money is worth. Real money represents real resources – time, energy, skills, brainpower. These real resources are always scarce. If they weren’t scarce there would be no reason to invest to get more of them…and no reason for MMT’s magical thinking.

We all want to believe that if we close our eyes tightly enough…and wish hard enough…our dreams can come true. More reliably, we ‘invest’ to bring forth more good things because the good things we have aren’t good enough for us. If we really had an infinite amount of money, we wouldn’t have to wish…or invest. We could buy an infinite amount of goods and services…and there would be no need for Ms. Kelton’s advice on how to get more."

o

Joel’s Note: "Alas, despite Ms. Kelton & Co.’s wishful thinking, there is no deus ex machina in this modern monetary movie… no escaping the harsh reality imposed by the foundational laws of economics… and certainly, without a doubt, no free lunch.

Satisfying infinite needs with finite resources (including money itself)… that is the task of economics. Were resources infinite – that is, if they took no time or effort to procure, and if doing so did in no way deplete their boundless reserves – then there would be no need for such quaint anachronisms as, say, “private property.”

In such a fantasyland…Who would go to the trouble of robbing Peter to pay Paul… when one could simply wish money into existence? Why smash and grab at the local CVS… when you could simply pay for whatever you wanted with newly printed bills? Why bother with budgets – household, local, state, federal – if money was not a store of value…but something to be conjured, ex nihilo, for ever and ever, amen?

But wait, we hear you say. What about… inflation? Wasn’t that supposed to be a kind of check on irrational exuberance at the printing press level? “Remember the MMTers said the only real constraint on spending money into existence was inflation,” recalled Dan Denning in an email to the BPR team this very morning. “And if inflation got out of hand, the government could always tax it out of existence… or reduce spending. You would have thought the last three years were a giant rebuke to the MMT crowd, with inflation at 40-year highs.”

As most non-central bankers and non-econ. professors comprehend, the more currency you ink, the less each and every preceding currency unit is worth. Just ask the Argentines, Zimbabweans, Venezuelans, etc. If constrain-free printing were a path to riches, these nations’ streets would be paved with gold. And yet… the situation in Argentina is so bad, voters there are even considering electing for president a (wait for it)… libertarian!

Moreover, as Dan explains, the MMT problem is not simply one of innumeracy… it’s also bound up in basic illiteracy, too...“Capital is not credit and credit is not currency,” he observed. “A government can issue as much currency as it likes. It can't print capital.” The idea is simple enough even artificial intelligence can grasp it. Dan had Google’s AI produce this neat little table. Feel free to share it with any MMTers lurking in your midst."

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com

"Gerald Celente, Gregory Mannarino, 8/24/23"

Full screen recommended.

Gerald Celente, 8/24/23

"Bank Downgrades and the Start of the Crash"

"In this video, renowned economist Gerald Celente addresses the alarming issue of bank downgrades and their implications on the global economy. Join us as we delve deep into Celente's comprehensive analysis of the current financial climate, unveiling the imminent crash that may be lurking around the corner. With his decades of expertise and foresight, Celente offers invaluable insights into the precarious state of the banking sector, shedding light on the potential domino effect it may have on markets worldwide. Don’t miss this eye-opening conversation that probes into the heart of economic risks and explores the actions we can take to safeguard our financial well-being."

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Gregory Mannarino, AM 8/24/23

"The BLS Admits 'Job Numbers Are Fake!' 

Banks Cut Off Credit To US Small Businesses"

- https://traderschoice.net/

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Dan, I Allegedly, "You Can Steal What You Want"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, 8/24/23

"You Can Steal What You Want"

"We are hearing about problems with retail establishments. Not only are sales down, but here in California, they want to legalize theft. They want to make it a crime for you to stop a shoplifter."

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"Adventures With Danno, Massive Price Increases At Kroger!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures With Danno, AM 8/24/23

"Massive Price Increases At Kroger! 

This Is Ridiculous! What Now!?"

"In today's vlog, we are at Kroger and are noticing some massive price increases on groceries! It is getting rough as many families are struggling to put food on the table!"

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"Things Can Only Get Worse From Here - Housing Market About To Feel The Pain As Buyers Vanish"

Jeremiah Babe, 8/23/23

"Things Can Only Get Worse From Here -

 Housing Market About To Feel The Pain As Buyers Vanish"

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"Adventures With Danno, PM 8/23/23"

Adventures With Danno, PM 8/23/23

"3 World Events That Are Going To Cause

More Food Shortages & Rising Prices"

"We are discussing 3 world events going on right now that are most 

certainly going to cause food shortages, and price increases all around the world!"

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"15 Big Box Stores That Are Being Destroyed In 2023"

Full screen recommended.

Epic Economist, 8/23/23

"15 Big Box Stores That Are Being Destroyed In 2023"

"As Forbes analysts once put it: "Retailers that have no business still being in business will go out of business." And that's the scenario we're looking into in the later half of the year. Unfortunately, for many dying companies, it's about time. 2023 is on track to be the worst year for retail bankruptcies since 2020. Many strip-mall mainstays are exiting the market right now as foot traffic continues to collapse in many cities. Major brands like Amazon and Target are already conducting the second or third round of store closings this year as they prepare to fight the downturn that is now unfolding all around us. Several big-box stores that have been in trouble for a while are finally saying "so long" and completely disappearing from the US retail scene.

For example, Buy Buy Baby is now saying its final goodbyes as parent company Bed Bath & Beyond concludes its bankruptcy liquidation process. The chain that sold products for infants and young children is now closing down all of its locations after debtors canceled an auction of the company's entire business, including its online operations, after failing to secure a more attractive offer. Buy Buy Baby's stores, which Bed Bath & Beyond had purchased for $67 million in 2007, were seen as one of the retailers more valuable assets, and many industry watchers expected a buyer to save the chain. In a letter released by former Bed Bath & Beyond activist investor Ryan Cohen he said he believed Buybuy Baby was “much more valuable than the Bed Bath & Beyond ’s entire market capitalization.” Unfortunately, the two retailers are riding into the sunset together in 2023.

According to Neil Saunders, the managing director at research firm GlobalData, “It was almost a matter of when, rather than if, these companies would go under.” The pandemic bought many retailers a little more time. Consumers spent freely, flush with cash from stimulus checks, while retailers were also able to borrow money on the cheap. “Covid masked some of the weak players,” said Steve Dennis, founder of SageBerry Consulting. “It staved off the reckoning.”

Now that the pandemic ended, it’s back to reality and retailers are confronting the problems of the past: too many stores, too much debt, and too few customers. Those who loaded up on debt are having a harder time making payments as they watch sales and profits deteriorate. “A lot of these companies were essentially zombie companies pre-Covid,” said Craig Ganz, an attorney at Ballard Spahr who has handled retail bankruptcies for several decades. “They were primarily surviving on debt, and now the debt has become simply too expensive for them to afford.” For that reason, many brands are dying out so rapidly right now, and many more will face the same fate as we enter another difficult period for our economy.

The spike in the number of bankruptcies comes at a time when Americans are cutting back on discretionary spending and directing more of their budgets to afford the rising gas, groceries, and other staple. Recession talks are intensifying in the past couple of months, and major companies are already conducting mass layoffs. A lot more could go wrong before the year is over. That's why today, we decided to list some brands that are being destroyed in 2023."

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o

The Economic Ninja, 8 /23/23

"Huge Warning From Macy's, Lowe's, And Dick's"

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"Gerald Celente, Trends Journal 8/23/23"

Gerald Celente, Trends Journal 8/23/23

"Judge Andrew Napolitano, America: 

Morally Challenged And Ethically Obtuse"

"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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"Morally challenged?" Impossible. 

There is NO morality in this country to challenge...

Musical Interlude: 2002, "Cycle of Time"; "Challenge From Heaven

Full screen recommended.

2002, "Cycle of Time"

Full screen recommended.

2002, "Challenge From Heaven"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud by chance has assumed this recognizable shape. Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is some 1,500 light-years distant, embedded in the vast Orion cloud complex.

About five light-years "tall", the dark cloud is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is visible only because its obscuring dust is silhouetted against the glowing red emission nebula IC 434. Stars are forming within the dark cloud. Contrasting blue reflection nebula NGC 2023, surrounding a hot, young star, is at the lower left. The gorgeous color image combines both narrowband and broadband images recorded using three different telescopes.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100513.html

Chet Raymo, “A Sense Of Place”

“A Sense Of Place”

by Chet Raymo

“It would be hard to find two writers more different than Eudora Welty and Edward Abbey. Welty was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of stories and novels who lived all her life in Jackson, Mississippi, in the house in which she was born, the beloved spinster aunt of American letters. Abbey was a hard-drinking, butt-kicking nature writer and conservationist best known for his books on the American Southwest. Both writers are favorites of mine. Both were great champions of place. I always wondered what it would have been like if they got together. As far as I know, that never happened. But let’s imagine a conversation. I have taken extracts from Welty’s essay “Some Notes on River Country” (1944) and from Abbey’s essay “The Great American Desert (1977) and interleaved them.

“This little chain of lost towns between Vicksburg and Natchez.”

“This desert, all deserts, any deserts.”

“On the shady stream banks hang lady’s eardrops, fruits and flowers dangling pale jade. The passionflower puts its tendrils where it can, its strange flowers of lilac rays with their little white towers shining out, or its fruit, the maypop, hanging.”

“Oily growths like the poison ivy – oh yes, indeed – that flourish in sinister profusion on the dank walls above the quicksand down those corridors of gloom and labyrinthine monotony that men call canyons.”

“All creepers with trumpets and panicles of scarlet and yellow cling to the treetops. There is a vine that grows to great heights, with heart-shaped leaves as big and soft as summer hats.”

“Everything in the desert either stings, stabs, stinks, or sticks. You will find the flora here as venomous, hooked, barbed, thorny, prickly, needled, saw-toothed, hairy, stickered, mean, bitter, sharp, wiry and fierce as the animals.”

“Too pretty for any harsh fate, with its great mossy trees and old camellias.”

“Something about the desert inclines all living things to harshness and acerbity.”

“The clatter of hoofs and the bellow of boats have gone. The Old Natchez Trace has sunk out of use. The river has gone away and left the landings. But life does not forsake any place.”

“In the Sonoran Desert, Phoenix will get you if the sun, snakes, bugs, and arthropods don’t. In the Mojave Desert, it’s Las Vegas. Up north in the Great Basin Desert, your heart will break, seeing the strip mines open up and the power plants rise…”

“The Negro Baptist church, weathered black with a snow-white door, has red hens in the yard. The old galleried stores are boarded up. The missing houses were burned – they were empty, and the little row of Negro inhabitants have carried them off for firewood.”

“…the highway builders, land developers, weapons testers, power producers, clear cutters, oil drillers, dam beavers, subdividers.”

“Eventually you see people, of course. Women have little errands, and the old men play checkers at a table in the front of the one open store. And the people’s faces are good.”

“Californicating.”

“To go there, you start west from Port Gibson. Postmen would arrive here blowing their horns like Gabriel, after riding three hundred wilderness miles from Tennessee.”

“Why go into the desert? Really, why do it? That sun, roaring at you all day long. The fetid, tepid, vapid little water holes full of cannibal beetles, spotted toads, horsehair worms, liver flukes. Why go there?”

“I have felt many times there is a sense of place as powerful as if it were visible and walking and could touch me. A place that ever was lived in is like a fire that never goes out. Sometimes it gives out glory, sometimes its little light must be sought out to be seen.”

“Why the desert, when you could be camping by a stream of pure Rocky Mountain spring water. We have centipedes, millipedes, tarantulas, black widows, brown recluses, Gila monsters, the deadly poisonous coral snakes, and the giant hairy desert scorpions. Plus an immense variety of near-infinite number of ants, midges, gnats, bloodsucking flies, and blood-guzzling mosquitoes.”

“Much beauty has gone, many little things of life. To light up the night there are no mansions, no celebrations. Wild birds fly now at the level where people on boat deck once were strolling and talking.”

“In the American Southwest, only the wilderness is worth saving.”

“There is a sense of place there, to keep life from being extinguished, like a cup of the hands to hold a flame.”

“A friend and I took a walk up beyond Coconino County, Arizona. I found an arrow sign, pointed to the north. Nothing of any unusual interest that I could see – only the familiar sun-blasted sandstone, a few scrubby clumps of blackbush and prickly pear, a few acres of nothing where only a lizard could graze. I studied the scene with care. But there was nothing out there. Nothing at all. Nothing but the desert. Nothing but the silent world.”

“Perhaps it is the sense of place that gives us the belief that passionate things, in some essence, endure.”

“In my case, it was love at first sight. The kind of love that makes a man selfish, possessive, irritable…”

“New life will be built upon these things.”

“…an unrequited and excessive love.”

“It is this.”

“That’s why.”

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

The Poet: Stephen Levine, "Half Life"

"Half Life"

 "We walk through half our life

as if it were a fever dream,

barely touching the ground,

our eyes half open,

our heart half closed.

Not half knowing who we are,

we watch the ghost of us drift

from room to room,

through friends and lovers

never quite as real as advertised.

Not saying half we mean

or meaning half we say,

we dream ourselves

from birth to birth

seeking some true self.

Until the fever breaks

and the heart can not abide

a moment longer

as the rest of us awakens,

summoned from the dream,

not half caring for anything but love."

~ Stephen Levine

The Daily "Near You?"

Arkansas City, Kansas, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Judge Napolitano, Judging Freedom 8/23/23"

Judge Napolitano, Judging Freedom 8/23/23

"Wagner Boss Prigozhin Presumed 

Killed in Plane Crash w/Scott Ritter"

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o

Canadian Prepper, 8/23/23

"Assassination Of Top Russian Elite;

 WW3 Spiralling; Aug. 24th Ukraine Predicted This!"

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o

Full screen recommended.

Hindustan Times 8/23/23

"Russia Confirms Wagner Chief's Death In Plane 

Crash With No Survivors | 'Prighozhin Was On Board'"

"Russian Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was aboard a plane that crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday, killing all 10 people on board, according to Russia’s civil aviation agency. The crash also comes after Russian media reported that a top general linked to Prigozhin was dismissed from his position as commander of the air force. Russia’s civilian aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, quickly reported that he was on the manifest and later said that, according to the airline, he was indeed on board."

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The Poet: e.e. cummings, "Humanity I Love You"

"Humanity i love you because when you’re hard 

up you pawn your intelligence to buy a drink..."

"Humanity I Love You"

"Humanity i love you

because you would rather black the boots of

success than enquire whose soul dangles from his

watch-chain which would be embarrassing for both

parties and because you

unflinchingly applaud all

songs containing the words country home and

mother when sung at the old howard

Humanity i love you because

when you’re hard up you pawn your

intelligence to buy a drink and when

you’re flush pride keeps

you from the pawn shop and

because you are continually committing

nuisances but more

especially in your own house

Humanity i love you because you

are perpetually putting the secret of

life in your pants and forgetting

it’s there and sitting down on it

and because you are

forever making poems in the lap

of death 

Humanity, i hate you"

- e. e. cummings

"As Humans..."

“It is easy to overlook this thought that life just is. As humans we are inclined to feel that life must have a point. We have plans and aspirations and desires. We want to take constant advantage of the intoxicating existence we’ve been endowed with. But what’s life to a lichen? Yet its impulse to exist, to be, is every bit as strong as ours - arguably even stronger. If I were told that I had to spend decades being a furry growth on a rock in the woods, I believe I would lose the will to go on. Lichens don’t. Like virtually all living things, they will suffer any hardship, endure any insult, for a moment’s additional existence. Life, in short just wants to be.”

- Bill Bryson

Bill Bonner, "Pareto's Foxes"

"Pareto's Foxes"

From millions of private triumphs to trillions in public folly...

By Bill Bonner

"There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. It is in vain to say that democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious, or less avaricious than aristocracy or monarchy. It is not true, in fact, and nowhere appears in history. Those passions are the same in all men, under all forms of simple government, and when unchecked, produce the same effects of fraud, violence, and cruelty. When clear prospects are opened before vanity, pride, avarice, or ambition, for their easy gratification, it is hard for the most considerate philosophers and the most conscientious moralists to resist the temptation. Individuals have conquered themselves. Nations and large bodies of men, never." ~ John Adams

"We are biding our time…waiting for the heat wave to pass in the South. It was 100 degrees there yesterday. We’ll wait it out in Normandy – temperature 82 degrees. In the meantime, the reckoning hour approaches. Charlie Bilello: "The Leading Economic Index has now declined for 16 consecutive months, the longest down streak since 2007-08. The Conference Board is now forecasting a US recession to begin in Q4, pushed back from its previous forecast of Q3"

What are some signs pointing to economic weakness?

a) Industrial Production, which declined on a YoY basis for the 2nd straight month.

b) Retail Sales, which after adjusting for inflation have fallen for 9 straight months.

Both Target ($TGT) and Home Depot ($HD) reported lower revenue than a year ago, a sign that the US consumer may be pulling back.

Foxes and Clucks: Market timers wait for the sell-off. Economists wait for the recession. Here at Bonner Private Research, we are on suicide watch. In the rich muck beneath the news is the story of the rise of America’s elite – the rich men north of Richmond. It’s the real story of America…a story of power and how it is abused by those whom the famous Italian economist, Wilfredo Pareto, called ‘the foxes.’ They are the clever ones. They are at the top of the heap. Whatever you call your government – they are the ones in charge.

Why bother to look at it like that? Because there are still chapters to be written…and, most likely, it won’t end well. What’s good for the foxes isn’t necessarily good for the clucks in the henhouse.

What we’ve seen, in the story of the USA, is a tale of millions of triumphs – from Powerglide steering to Post-it notes to cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. But we’ve seen failures too – and a particular kind of flop (described by Adams, above): the foxes are corrupted by power…and their desire to dominate sucks up more and more of the nation’s wealth. Pointless foreign wars…unproductive ‘investments’…bureaucracy…taxes…inflation…and futile ‘programs’ whose only real consequence is to make the rich richer and the powerful even more obnoxious – democracy cuts its own wrists…and bleeds out its vital capital.

The major political parties squabble over bathroom rights…and can’t be bothered to balance the budget. The geniuses at the Fed bring disaster after disaster by pretending to improve a $25 trillion, global economy. America’s military/industrial complex has become a $1.5 trillion/year colossus that can’t win a war. Its pharma/medical complex shuts down the whole economy… delivering drugs that don’t work…and life expectancies fall.

The Vainglory of the Elites: For while the Democrats were on TV howling furiously at the Republicans…and the conservatives were making obscene gestures at liberals in Congress…while the rights of the unborn were debated…the rights of the gender-affirming millennials were assured…. ‘hate’ speech was condemned…women were trained for combat roles.. .TV talk show hosts are ‘called out’ for saying the wrong thing…

while pasteurization, vaccinations, and standardization were undertaken by armies of regulators…while the habits of the halibut were studied…while the fat, the lame, smokers and drug abusers were cared for…the idle were subsidized…reckless bankers were excused from bankruptcy…imprudent investors were rescued… incompetent generals were promoted, along with insufferable jackasses, such as Victoria Nuland and Anthony Blinken... US troops dispatched to nearly every woebegone sh*thole country in the world…lobbyists rewarded…bribes offered and taken…reputations built…the stock market pumped…sinecures secured…connivers connived…ill-gotten gains gotten…and trillions in tax money, loans, and printed money handed out to unworthy causes and shady characters…while all this was going on…the rich men north of Richmond grew richer and more powerful than ever.

Little by little…then by huge bounds…energy drained away, out of things that really matter – work, saving, investment, innovation, generosity, courtesy, humility – and into the precincts of the rich, so as to enhance the vainglory of the elites. Yes, America could dominate the world. But she was never mistress of herself; never could she control her elites’ drive for dominion."

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

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"Pareto’s Foxes”

by Bill Bonner

"Let’s start with the government, which controls – directly or indirectly – about half the U.S. economy. It was not intended to be so big, so powerful, and so intrusive. But then, it hardly resembles the blueprint described in the Constitution. Elections matter a whole lot less than you think.

As the great Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto explained, no matter what you call your government, over time, it will be taken over by the cunning insiders and hustlers he called “foxes.” There are always some smart people able to manipulate, control, and subvert the government and use its police power (governments claim a monopoly on the use of violence) to get what they want. What do these foxes want? Money. Power. Status. The usual.

There is nothing underhanded about it. Nothing sinister or surprising. And you don’t need to believe in conspiracies to understand it. The subversion takes place right out in the open. But because it is so different from what we are looking for, we don’t even see it. But it’s really very simple: You spend your time earning money. The foxes spend their time figuring out how to get it from you – by taxation, legislation, regulation, or an ingenious phony-money system."

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- https://www.rogueeconomics.com/

"How It Really Is"

 

"Being Poor Ain't Cheap"

"Being Poor Ain't Cheap"

by Joshua Wilkey

"Poor people are cash cows. It makes no sense, really. One would think that poor people, by virtue of being poor, would not be profitable customers. However, for many large corporations that target the poor and working poor, there's big money to be made on the backs of those who have no money.

At Dollar General Store locations, customers can get cash back on their purchases. This is not novel. In fact, most all retailers these days offer this option. Soccer moms get cash back so they can have lunch money for their children. Restaurant patrons can get money back to leave a cash tip for their servers. I sometimes get cash back at the grocery store so I can buy Girl Scouts cookies on the way out. It's a simple process. Click "yes" when the little screen asks for cash back, tap the $20 icon, and the cashier hands you some bucks along with your receipt. We've all done it. For those who are poor and those of us who are not but who have limited retail options, however, there's often a sinister catch.

I noticed this a few years ago, first at Dollar Tree, then at Dollar General. There's a little asterisk after the standard "would you like cash back?" prompt. The footnote indicates that "a transaction fee may apply." The transaction fee is usually $1 no matter the amount of cash back. If one opts to get $10 cash back, one is charged a dollar. That's a ten percent fee, for a service that costs the retailer nothing. It's just another way for retailers like Dollar General to make a profit off of their customers, many of whom are very often living below the poverty line.

If an organic grocer or movie theater were charging a fee of this sort, I would likely be annoyed by it, but I wouldn't be so annoyed that I would write about it. However, the poorest members of our communities do not shop at Whole Foods, and they do not often get a chance to go see the latest blockbuster at the theater. They can afford neither. In fact, they likely do not have either organic grocers or first-run theaters in their neighborhoods. Instead, they have Dollar General. Dollar General's stores grow like kudzo in rural America. Even if there isn't a real grocery store in most tiny communities, there's probably a DG.

These ridiculous transaction fees are but one example of how corporations make billions of dollars by taking advantage of socioeconomically disadvantaged customers with few options. There are many other examples, though, and politicians continue to allow it at the expense of their poorest and most marginalized constituents.

Payday lending is one of the most sinister ways that large corporations exploit poor people. For those who are not familiar, payday lending goes something like this: People who are running short on money but who have a verified record of regular income (whether it be Social Security, SSI, payroll, etc.) are able to go to payday lenders and receive a cash loan to be repaid on payday. Often, borrowers are unable to repay their full loan balances and simply “roll over” their loan until a future payday, accruing all sorts of fees and additional interest. The annualized interest rate on these loans is often in the triple digits. Yes, that’s right. Sometimes the annual interest rate is over one hundred percent.

In defense of this practice, many payday lenders and their high-dollar lobbyists argue that they are simply offering a service to poor borrowers that said borrowers cannot obtain anywhere else. This is partially true. The poorest members of society have no access to traditional forms of credit. Some even lack access to checking accounts because of low credit scores or a history of financial missteps.

I know some people who make occasional use of payday lending because they genuinely have emergencies arise that they could not address without a short-term infusion of cash. I also know people, including members of my own family, who have been riding the high-interest payday loan merry-go-round for years, and who have paid thousands more back than they have borrowed yet still owe more. In debating the role of payday lending in our communities, it is essential that we take a nuanced approach. Some form of short-term credit is necessary for those mired in poverty. However, it is flat-out immoral that we regulate payday lending so loosely in many places that people end up feeling crushed under the weight of small high-interest loans that they have no hope of ever repaying. Taking out a $1,000 payday loan should not mean a person becomes tied to tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

Another egregious example of corporations exploiting the poor is rent-to-own retailing. Companies like Aaron’s and Rent-a-Center purport to offer a valuable service for the poor. Because those at the bottom of the socioeconomic spectrum are seldom able to save for big-ticket items like appliances or furniture, these retailers offer a pay-by-the-month scheme that often requires no credit check and no money down. The result is that customers pay as much as three times the retail price of the item, assuming they are able to make payments until the item is paid for. When they are not able to maintain the payments, the retailers simply show up to repossess the items.

Like payday lenders, rent-to-own retailers argue that they provide a valuable service to poor consumers. However, many observers, myself included, conclude that some rent-to-own practices are ethically questionable and tend to target vulnerable consumers who need immediate access to essentials like appliances and bedding. In many states, companies are not required to disclose the final price of the items. Instead, they simply tell customers the amount of the monthly or weekly payments. Because companies call the arrangement "rent-to-own," in many places they are not required to disclose the amount of "interest" customers will pay because it technically isn't interest. When consumers can no longer afford the payments and have to return the item, they often get no credit for payments they have made even if they have paid substantially more than the item is worth. Many customers never realize that they are paying as much as three times the retail price for their items. Those who do realize it likely have no choice apart from going without a bed or refrigerator.

In some instances, state attorneys general have successfully sued major rent-to-own retailers for violating usury and consumer protection laws. However, because these retailers are covered generally by state laws rather than by federal laws, there exists a hit-and-miss patchwork of regulations. Some consumers enjoy greater protections than others. The only determining factor is their location. Those states with more corporation-friendly attorneys general are unlikely to see any activity that might force retailers to behave more ethically toward their customers, because such enforcements will result in a drop in profitability for the retailers. Many major corporations spend good money to be sure that politicians protect their interests rather than the interests of consumers. Rent-to-own retailers and payday lenders are no exception. The poor, of course, can’t afford lobbyists or political contributions.

There are some who will argue that the free market, not the federal government, is the best solution to corporations that exploit the poor. However, those at the bottom of the socioeconomic spectrum, especially the rural poor, do not live in anything resembling a free market. Also, it is important that we label the behavior of rent-to-own companies and payday lenders as what it is: exploitation.

In the hills of Appalachia, poverty is often the rule rather than the exception. One of the most poverty-stricken ZIP codes in the United States is Manchester, Kentucky. Manchester is located in Clay County, which has a population of just over 20,000 people. According to the most recent US Census data available, the per-capita income average between 2011 and 2015 was just $13,802 (less than half the national average) and 46% of the population lives below the poverty line. In Manchester, Rent-a-Center is often the go-to option for poor people looking to buy appliances or furniture. The county has a Walmart, but the nearest discount appliance and furniture dealers are miles away, too far for many to drive. There are some locally-owned options, but few in Clay County are able to pay cash for major purchases given the high rate of poverty and the low rate of employment.

In addition to the rent-to-own retailers, Clay County also has no less than five payday lenders, but only two traditional banks. Conveniently, the primary shopping center in Manchester currently houses a Dollar General, a Rent-a-Center, and two payday lending branches, all within feet of one another.

In places like Manchester, rent-to-own and payday lending outfits thrive. They do so often to the detriment of the poor folks who frequent their businesses. Those promoting the so-called free market approach might argue that customers are not forced to do business with these types of companies. However, given their dire financial circumstances and lack of available options, poor people in Manchester have little choice. They are excluded from participating in the wider world of commerce, often because of forces beyond their own control.

Manchester is not a rare exception. Particularly in central Appalachia, rent-to-own retailers are often the only option for poor people, and payday lenders outnumber banks by large measure. In addition to being food deserts, many poverty-stricken communities are retail deserts. In the most isolated rural areas in Appalachia, Dollar General is one of the only available retail options. Within ten miles of our house in rural Jackson County, NC, there are four Dollar General stores, and our community isn't even particularly isolated. Dollar General is the closest store to our home, and my wife and I tend to shop there by default because it is either that or a ten minute drive to the closest grocery store, or worse, a twenty minute drive into town. While we have the resources to go to town any time we want, many of our neighbors do not. The folks in the trailer park down the road often walk to Dollar General because they have few other options. This does not seem much like a free market driven by competition. Therefore, "free market" solutions simply do not work here.

Dollar General is, I believe, fully aware of the demographics of their shoppers. They know that there are often few ATMs near their locations, and their customers often lack access to traditional banking anyway and end up paying fees of three or four dollars to access their money at ATMs. Especially for people who depend on Social Security or SSI for their income, access to money is an important issue. Dollar General and similar retailers, it seems, understand this. Their solution is not to offer a resource for their customers but to profit from their customers’ limited access to funds. It's cheaper than an ATM, but it's a fee more affluent shoppers never have to think about. While there is nothing illegal about this, it is certainly morally questionable.

That’s the thing about the so-called free market. It makes no accounting for moral right or wrong. That, free market proponents allege, is up to the consumers. Poor consumers, however, still need to eat. They still need ovens and beds. Consumer choice and self-advocacy is often, like so many forms of social or political action, a full-stomach endeavor. When one is hungry, one’s ability to be an activist is diminished. When poor people have no choice but to do business with the greedy companies who reap a hefty profit from their customers' lack of options, those drawing the short straw simply do what they must to survive. Surviving is what poor people do best, and it makes for a miserable life. I know, because I have been there.

When poor people have little option but to do business with discount retailers who charge cash-back fees, rent-to-own retailers who charge inflated prices, and payday lenders who mire their customers neck-deep in impossible-to-pay-back high-interest loans, they are even less likely to ever escape poverty. The stark reality is that poor people often pay substantially more for essentials – bedding, appliances, housing – than would those of us with means. If my wife and I needed a new washer, we'd shop around for the best deal and go buy it. In fact, we might even buy it from Amazon Prime and get free two-day shipping. When my mother, who lived her entire life in poverty, needed a new washer, she was forced to buy one from a rent-to-own outfit that charged her an outrageous delivery fee and hassled her every time she was even a few hours late on a payment. She probably ended up paying $2,000 for a $450 washer. The poor do not have access to Amazon Prime like the rest of us because they can't afford a hundred bucks a year to subscribe. They do not get free delivery and obscenely low prices. They get fleeced.

The limited options available to those in poverty are rarely considered by the political ideologues who are so prone to victim-blaming. These retailers, who are all too often protected by state and federal lawmakers from both parties, package their predatory tactics as opportunities. What they are really selling are tickets on yet another segment of the poverty train. The politicians who protect them should be deprived of options and see just how much more expensive it is to survive. They should be ashamed for protecting those who profit from poverty, and those of us who know about it and have the resources to fight back should be ashamed for letting it happen to our neighbors."

- https://www.thisappalachialife.com/

Dan, I Allegedly, "Did You Really Sign That?"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly 8/23/23

"Did You Really Sign That?"

"We’ve all heard of payday loans. Now there is something much worse and that is that the scammers are now trying to take people's homes away from them. You can’t sell it without their approval."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Col. Douglas Macgregor, Straight Calls 8/23/23"

Full screen recommended.

Col. Douglas Macgregor, Straight Calls 8/23/23

"The War In Ukraine Must End Now 

Or The West Is Totally Doomed"

"Analysis of breaking news and in-depth discussion of current 

geopolitical events in the United States of America and the world."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Gregory Mannarino, 8/23/23"

"It's a Big Club, and you ain't in it. 

You and I are not in the Big Club."

- George Carlin

Only the consequences are - to you!

Gregory Mannarino, AM 8/23/23

"Alert! The Global Economy Situation Is Rapidly Deteriorating"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

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Gregory Mannarino, PM 8/23/23

"US Manufacturing Falls Again; 

Massive Housing Bubble; Retail Sales Drop"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/