"The 'Titanic' Analogy You Haven't Heard: Passively Accepting Oblivion"

"The 'Titanic' Analogy You Haven't Heard: 

Passively Accepting Oblivion"

by Charles Hugh Smith

You've undoubtedly heard rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic as an analogy for the futility of approving policy tweaks to address systemic crises. I've used the Titanic as an anology to explain the fragility of our financial system and the "glancing blow" of the pandemic:

"Why Our Financial System Is Like the Titanic" (March 15, 2015)

"Coronavirus and the "Unsinkable" Titanic Analogy" (January 29, 2020)

But there's a powerful analogy you haven't heard before. To understand the analogy, we first need to recap the tragedy's basic set-up.

On April 14, 1912, the liner Titanic, considered unsinkable due to its watertight compartments, struck a glancing blow against a massive iceberg on that moonless, weirdly calm night. In the early hours of April 15, the great ship broke in half and sank, ending the lives of the majority of its passengers and crew. Of the 2,208 passengers and crew onboard, 1,503 perished and 705 survived. The lifeboats had a maximum capacity of 1,178, so some 475 people died unnecessarily. Passengers of the Titanic (Wikipedia)

The initial complacency of the passengers and crew after the collision is another source of analogies relating to humanity's near-infinite capacity for denial. The class structure of the era was enforced by the authorities - the ship's officers. As the situation grew visibly threatening, the First Class passengers were herded into the remaining lifeboats while the steerage/Third Class passengers - many of them immigrants - were mostly kept below decks. Officers were instructed to enforce this class hierarchy with their revolvers.

Two-thirds of all passengers died, but the losses were not evenly distributed: 39% of First Class passengers perished, 58% of Second Class passengers lost their lives and 76% of Third Class passengers did not survive.

Rudimentary calculations by the ship's designer, who was on board to oversee the maiden voyage, revealed the truth to the officers: the ship would sink and there was no way to stop it. The ship was designed to survive four watertight compartments being compromised, and could likely stay afloat if five were opened to the sea, but not if six compartments were flooded. Water would inevitably spill over into adjacent compartments in a domino-like fashion until the ship sank.

What did the authorities do with this knowledge? Stripped of niceties, they passively accepted oblivion as the outcome and devoted their resources to enforcing the class hierarchy and the era's gender chivalry: 80% of male passengers perished, 25% of female passengers lost their lives. The loading of passengers into lifeboats was so poorly managed that only 60% of the lifeboat capacity was filled.

What if the officers had boldly accepted the inevitability of the ship sinking early on and devised a plan to minimize the loss of life? It would not have takes any extraordinary leap of creativity to organize the crew and passenger volunteers to strip the ship of everything that floated - wooden deck chairs, etc. - and lash them together into rafts. Given the calm seas that night and the freezing water, just keeping people above water would have been enough.

Rather than promote the absurd charade that the ship was fine, just fine, when time was of the essence, the authorities could have rounded up the women and children and filled every seat on lifeboats. Of the 1,030 people who could not be placed in a lifeboat, 890 were crew members, including about 25 women. The crew members were almost all in the prime of life. If anyone could survive several hours on a partially-submerged raft, it would have been the crew. (The first rescue ship arrived about two hours after the Titanic sank.)

Would this hurried effort to save everyone on board have succeeded? At a minimum, it would have saved an additional 475 souls via a careful loading of the lifeboats to capacity, and if the makeshift rafts had offered any meaningful flotation at all, many more lives would have been saved. Rather than devote resources to maintaining the pretense of safety and order, what if the ship's leaders had focused their response around answering a simple question: what was needed for people to survive a freezing night once the lifeboats were filled and the ship sank?

I think you see the analogy to the present. Our leadership, such as it is, is devoting resources to maintaining the absurd pretense that everything will magically re-set to September 2019 if we just print enough money and bail out the financial Aristocracy.

Whether we realize it or not, we're responding with passive acceptance of oblivion. The economy and social order were precariously fragile before the pandemic, and now the fragilities are unraveling. We need to start thinking beyond pretense and PR."

- http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com

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Full screen recommended.

The Daily "Near You?"

Alexander City, Alabama, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Inflation Is Coming Back, So Are Food Shortages, Here's What Comes Next"

Full screen recommended.

The Atlantis Report, 9/1/23

"Inflation Is Coming Back, So Are Food Shortages,

 Here's What Comes Next"

The economy last year was severe for food shortages, with products like eggs and infant formula particularly heavily impacted. Unfortunately, 2023 could see some food shortages of its own. Here we are commemorating the failure of the inflation reduction Act one year ago"

Comments here:

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Must View! "Dr. David Martin: Don't Fear the Coming New Covid Lockdowns"

London Real, 9/1/23

"Dr. David Martin: Don't Fear 

the Coming New Covid Lockdowns"

Comments here:

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"1930s USA - Fascinating Street Scenes of Vintage America [Colorized]"

Full screen recommended.

"1930s USA - 

Fascinating Street Scenes of Vintage America [Colorized]"

"Step back in time with us as we unveil a mesmerizing journey through 1930s America like you've never seen before! While the Dustbowl was heating up in the southwest, the country as a whole was fighting through the Great Depression. All the while, Americans were living their day-to-day lives, and getting on as best as they could.

In this captivating video, we've meticulously colorized a collection of stunning photographs that capture the essence of a tumultuous yet resilient period in American history. From bustling cityscapes to serene countryside vistas, witness the contrast between hardship and hope that defined an entire generation.

Discover the intricate details of everyday life as we explore the highways and byways of the past, complete with corner gas stations, storefronts, and bustling city streets. Journey through snapshots of the stunning architecture that emerged during this era, from Art Deco skyscrapers to quaint suburban homes. Each frame is a window into a world where innovation and creativity thrived despite adversity.

Join us on this mesmerizing visual journey, as we honor the legacy of the past and celebrate the indomitable spirit of the American people. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to experience the 1930s in an entirely new light. Whether you are a history enthusiast, a lover of vintage aesthetics, or simply curious about the past, this video offers an immersive visual experience that will evoke a sense of nostalgia and leave you with a renewed appreciation for the beauty of the human experience."

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"Here's Why the Collapse of Rome is Foretelling the Decline of the US Empire"

"Here's Why the Collapse of Rome is 

Foretelling the Decline of the US Empire"

by Chris MacIntosh

"Ancient Rome was the world’s most powerful empire for 500 years. At its height, Rome boasted of roads, public baths, and much else that was close to miraculous for the rest of the planet. Then came the Great Fall, and what happened has lessons for the world today.

In his book "The City In History" (1961), Lewis Mumford explains how Rome went from "Megalopolis to Necropolis."

This great city set up its own demise in two ways: Panem et circenses (or "bread and circuses"). Mumford says, "Success underwrote a sickening parasitic failure."

As ancient Rome became prosperous, it became an unsustainable welfare state. Mumford writes that "indiscriminate public largesse" became common. A large portion of the population "took on the parasitic role for a whole lifetime." More than 200,000 citizens of Rome regularly received handouts of bread from "public storehouses."

Lewis Mumford also wrote the desire to lead an industrious productive life had severely "weakened." So what did people spend their time on? Distractions, which meant circuses.

The Roman people, not working for their livelihood but living off of the prosperity of their city, became numb.Mumford writes, "To recover the bare sensation of being alive, the Roman populace, high and low, governors, and governed, flocked to the great arenas" for games and distractions.

The entertainment in Rome included "chariot races, spectacular naval battles set in an artificial lake, theatrical pantomimes in which lewder sexual acts were performed." Today it is social media and porn. Out of 365 days, more than 200 were public holidays and 93 were "devoted to games at the public expense."

Consuming entertainment became the primary priority of Roman citizens in Rome’s decadent phase. As Lewis Mumford writes, "Not to be present at the show was to be deprived of life, liberty, and happiness." Consuming entertainment became the primary priority of Roman citizens in Rome’s decadent phase. As Lewis Mumford writes, "Not to be present at the show was to be deprived of life, liberty, and happiness." Concrete concerns of life became "subordinate, accessory, almost meaningless."

Ancient Rome could put half of its total population "in its circuses and theatres" at the same time. A new public holiday was declared to celebrate every military victory. But the number of holidays kept rising even when Rome’s military prowess began to fail…

Mumford writes that no empire had such an "abundance of idle time to fill with idiotic occupations." Even the Roman emperors who privately despised the games had to pretend they enjoyed them for "fear of hostile public response." Bottom line: The very power and prosperity of ancient Rome set the stage for its collapse.

As welfare states expand around the world today and entertainment options get ever more immersive, we are forced to ask a question: Is this Post-Industrial Civilization Rome, Part II?

Edward Gibbon, the author of "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", says: "The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with conquest; and, as soon as time or accident had removed the artificial supports, the fabric yielded."

All advanced civilizations become "complex systems," and then rot sets in."

- https://internationalman.com/

Hat tip to International Man for this material.

"It's Human Nature..."

“We’ve all heard the warnings and we’ve ignored them. We push our luck. We roll the dice. It’s human nature. When we’re told not to touch something we usually do even if we know better. Maybe because deep down, we’re just asking for trouble.”

- “Meredith Grey”, “Gray’s Anatomy”

If so, we've certainly gotten all we want...

Bill Bonner, "Who's Sorry Now?"

"Who's Sorry Now?"

With $50 trillion bound for monetary heaven,

 who's shedding a tear at this funeral?

by Bill Bonner

"Who's sorry now?

Who's sorry now?

Whose heart is aching for breaking each vow?

Who's sad and blue? Who's crying too?"

~ Snyder, Kalmar, Ruby

Poitou, France - "News flash: Inflation ain’t licked yet. Breitbart: "Bidenflation Keeps Going: Inflation Edged Higher in July." "The personal consumption price expenditures (PCE) price index rose 3.3 percent in July compared with 12 months earlier, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday. This was the first acceleration in PCE inflation since April and follows the three percent reading in June."

And the Daily Mail: "Inflation gauge preferred by the Fed rises to 4.2% as housing and healthcare costs increase. The key question for us all is: what next? Will inflation pick up? Will it decline? There is $95 trillion in outstanding debt in the US, of which about $50 trillion is ‘excess’ – debt that probably can’t survive a complete interest rate cycle. One way or another, much of that $50 trillion will die – either from inflation or deflation."

In anticipation, today, we look ahead…that is, we put on a dark suit and gather at the gravesite. We want to see who’s there...and who’s heart is breaking.

Weeping at the Grave: We’ve already seen that excess debt is a mistake from the past. (The Fed left its key rate too low for too long…resulting in way too much debt.) But trying to fix it with inflation undermines the future. Unstable prices damage the whole economy. Real wages can’t keep up. Investment in long-term wealth-building industries disappears. Growth rates go down. The middle class shrinks. People get poorer. But we also know that letting the debt bubble die (deflation) hits the rich and powerful especially hard. They’re the ones who own financial assets. When prices go down, they lose wealth.

One way or another, there’s about $50 trillion that is headed for money heaven. It can go quickly, in a bust. Or it can go slowly…in an inflationary frazzle. So, who will be there, mourning…a handkerchief quietly mopping the tears…with the smell of lilies wafting through the air? Is that an Italian suit…a Chanel handbag? Or an outfit from Target, a get-up last worn 20 years ago…when mother died?

Who are these people weeping at the grave? Who’s sorry now? If we had our druthers, they’d be the rich men north of Richmond. They were the ones who gained the most from the Fed’s ‘mistake.’ Those to whom much has been given can damned well give it back.

According to Statista, the two richest areas in the US, by household income, are…wouldn’t you know it…just north of Richmond. Maryland – home of so many federal employees – has household income of $97,000. Washington, DC, is just behind with $90,000 per household.

In 1971, taken altogether, household, business and government debt toted to less than $2 trillion. And they were red-blooded, reliable, gold-backed, cigarette-smoking bucks back then. But then, the feds ‘transitioned’ the dollar. The next we knew it was a strange, unnatural thing; we hardly knew what to make of it.

The Great Divide: Soon, there were more and more of these funny-money dollars than ever before. And you can guess where they went. Here are the remarkable figures, from former White House budget director, David Stockman:

In 1989 the collective net worth of the top 1% of households weighed in at $4.8 trillion, which was 6.2X the $775 billion net worth of the bottom 50% of households. By Q1 2022, however, those figures were $45 trillion versus $3.7 trillion, meaning that the wealth differential was now 12.2X.

In round numbers, therefore, the top 1% gained $40 trillion of wealth over that 33-year period compared to the mere $3 trillion gain of the bottom 50%. Stated differently, there are currently 65 million households in the bottom 50%, which have an average net worth of just $56,000. This compares to the 1.2 million households in the top 1% which currently sport an average net worth of $38,000,000."

If the Fed were to let the credit bubble ‘die’…much of this $38 million per rich guy would go away. Write downs, defaults, bear markets and bankruptcies…the rich would take the losses they deserve.

They measured their wealth not in the real output of the Mainstreet economy, but in the inflated currency of Wall Street. If Paul Volcker were still at the helm of the Fed, he might have something to say about it. In the early ‘80s, he took the air out of the whole system – with a 20% Fed Funds rate – and restored faith in the dollar. Before he was finished, inflation was beaten and stocks were at their lowest prices ever. A similar move today would separate the rich from much of their ill-gotten gains. Each of the 1% might end up with only $20 million or so. Sniff. Sniff.

“At least they (dead asset values) didn’t suffer for too long,” the grieving relatives would say to each other. “When the end came…it came quickly.” By 1983, the inflation rate in the US had dropped to 3.2% – lower than it is today. It was quick work. And successful. The US economy boomed for the next two decades. But we are dreaming, aren’t we?

Death by Policy: Inflation? Deflation? These are largely (though not completely) policy decisions. And policy decisions are made by the rich men north of Richmond. And our guess is that it won’t be they whom we will find gathered in the cemetery. It won’t be their money that dies. Instead, they will choose the first option…the tried and true panacea of mismanaged governments through the ages – inflation. And then, try to picture the mourners.

No Italian suits. No Chanel handbags. No Mercedes in the parking lot. No fulsome stock portfolios…no huge capital gains. We are talking about Middle America, not the 1%. They will pay more for milk and cheese…and houses…and autos. They, the people whose savings got ripped off by the Fed’s low interest rates…whose wages went nowhere for half a century…whose jobs were shipped to China…whose bedrock values were mocked by the elites…their heads hung low…their wallets empty…they will pay higher consumer prices to keep the elites’ asset bubble inflated."

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

"How It Really Is"

"Most Americans Now Living Paycheck To Paycheck

As Biden's Economy Crashes And Burns"

Jim Kunstler, "Happenings Await"

"Happenings Await"

By Jim Kunstler

“Even Americans who have no particular interest in freedom and 

independence in democracies worldwide, should be satisfied that 

we’re getting our money’s worth on our Ukraine investment.”  

- Sen. Richard Blumenthal

"The Labor Day weekend looms like a gateway into an autumn hell-scape of political psychodrama, so enjoy those last clam rolls of the season before the zeitgeist darkens and events pound the shore like so many waves of hurricane surf. Further inland, where the Swamp lies, unseen hands work overtime to falsify reality in a leaderless nation. Everybody feels the unbearable tension of things as yet unhappened.

“Joe Biden” has LARPed his way to the final act of his performance. The evidence of his high crimes, and the covering-up of those high crimes by our lawless law officialdom, is piled high enough to eject him into the swales of infamy. We know exactly how the Ukraine grift went down — the documentation is stark and florid - as is the rest of family’s bribery operations in other lands not necessarily friendly to our own land. So, add treason to bribery and there you have the complete kit of perfidious treachery against the nation.

“Joe Biden” will be removed most likely by his own party before an impeachment inquiry can be launched in Congress. Not even The New York Times and CNN would able to ignore the horrific spectacle and the party’s own minions might be shamed into learning how they were hosed for so many years. The unseen hands that jammed “JB” into the White House can then figure out what to do about the hapless Kamala Harris while Congress turns its attention to impeaching Merrick Garland, Christopher Wray, Alejandro Mayorkas, and Xavier Bacerra. At least that’s how it might work if the USA was a sane polity.

Otherwise, the people of this land will have to choose between being rolled-over by a globalist coup or find other routes of resistance. One would be for the governors of several so-called Red states to end mail-in voting, get rid of computerized ballot-counting machines, bring back paper ballots, and declare that all voting and hand ballot-counting take place on one election day. Don’t believe those who say it can’t be done. If it’s not done, we’ll never see anything close to an un-rigged election in this country ever again.

In what might be one of his last official acts, “Joe Biden” announced last week that Americans would be “encouraged” to get a new-and-improved mRNA vaccine booster against the new Covid virus strain EG.5 “Eris” (named after the Greek goddess of strife and discord). The “president,” said he asked Congress for funding “for a new vaccine that is necessary, that works…. It will likely be recommended that everybody get it no matter whether they’ve gotten it before or not.”

Say, what…? Did the earlier vaccines not work, Joe? Most assuredly they did not. The shots injured, disabled, and killed a great many people, and it staggers the rational mind that the CDC is still pushing these shots. You might conclude that they’re pretending this didn’t happen to evade responsibility. After all, what would be the consequences if these officials admitted that all the previous Covid vaccines were ineffective and harmful? And what would be the reaction of the 81.3 percent of the population who got at least one dose of the previous vaccines and the 65.6 percent who are “fully vaccinated” with two or more shots? (Note, statistics from the CDC.)

I’ll tell you what would happen: the CDC officials and a great many other persons on the public payroll would be in court on criminal charges. And doctors and hospitals would be subject to so many lawsuits they would never again have time to actually practice medicine, while millions of people with damaged immune systems and wrecked organs take flight like so many black swans flapping into the setting sun of their own prematurely attenuated lives. If you care to be astounded, listen to this talk that Dr. Peter McCullough gave to an audience in New Hampshire a few days ago, calling out all the principals who devised the Covid-19 fiasco by name: Ralph Baric, Anthony Fauci, Peter Daszek, and Francis Collins, and then describing exactly how the dastardly act and the cover-up went down.

Speaking of happenings this autumn, expect the war in Ukraine to come to an end. The news media might omit to inform you about this, but it awaits. Russia will not trumpet its victory, so as to avoid inflaming America’s crazed neo-cons. Rather it will just quietly take charge of its successfully neutralized neighbor, make provision for some sort of administration over what remains of the rump state - in a way that affords Russia a sense of permanent security - at the same time that Russia commences new negotiations separately with several European nations to reestablish realistic relations.

The US will be delicately hung out to dry on this. Short of resorting to nuclear World War Three, there is nothing the US can do about it - except for the Democratic Party to blame the whole sorry thing on “Joe Biden” as he is forced to resign from office pending that aforesaid impeachment threat. No other explanation for the end of our Ukraine project will be required. The party of chaos will flounder a while in the very chaos that it induced, trying laughably to switch out Kamala Harris for Gavin Newsom - or some other ploy to stay in business. But the party will be so badly damaged by then that it will have no other option except to let Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in to drive out the remaining demons and save the venerable old org from suicide.

If you think that these various momentous happenings won’t affect the financial markets and the banking system in the coming season, prepare to be amazed. This is how America truly gets to feel the pain, and this might be how the pitchforks finally come out for the people who wrecked our country."

- https://kunstler.com/

"Gregory Mannarino, AM/PM 9/1/23"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 9/1/23

"Alert! Expect War Between The US And 

The BRICS Much Sooner Than Later, Here's Why"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

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o

Gregory Mannarino, PM 9/1/23

"Fake Job Report Numbers Cut In Half! 

Economic Nightmare Unfolding Even Faster!"

- https://traderschoice.net/

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Dan, I Allegedly 9/1/23, "This Is Coming In Hot! Inflation"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly 9/1/23

"This Is Coming In Hot! Inflation"

We are seeing inflation for services at the highest rate since 1985.

 Month over month. Inflation is not going down it’s climbing.

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"Adventures With Danno, 9/1/23"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures With Danno, 9/1/23

"Aldi Super Deals Everyone Should Be Buying!"

In today's vlog, we are at Aldi and are finding all kinds of their Aldi Saver Deals! As grocery prices continue to rise in most of our main supermarkets, Aldi has put together some pretty amazing sales that we should definitely take advantage of! We show you all of the savings, so get your notepad ready!

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Canadian Prepper, "Get Ready For What's About To Happen..."

Canadian Prepper, 8/31/23

"Get Ready For What's About To Happen..."

The pace of escalation is incredible, the system is collapsing.

Comments here:

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"Ukraine - Russia War Update 8/31/23"

London Real, 8/31/23

"Into The Abyss: Col. Douglas Macgregor

 Tells Us Why The Ukraine War Must End Now"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Stephen Gardner, 8/31/23

"Col. Macgregor: ‘Ukraine Is Being Annihilated'"

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- https://www.youtube.com/

400,000 dead Ukrainian soldiers...

o

Redacted, 8/31/23

'Captured Ukrainian Soldiers Speak Out, 

Forced to Take Drugs To Fight"

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"How Long Can The Consumer Last? Poor Americans Starve"

Jeremiah Babe, 8/31/23

"How Long Can The Consumer Last?

Poor Americans Starve"

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Gerald Celente, "Plantation Workers Of Slavelandia: Happy Labor Day!"

Very strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, Trends Journal 8/31/23

"Plantation Workers Of Slavelandia: Happy Labor Day!"

In today's broadcast, Gerald Celente, calls out the dinosaurs running the show. Mitch McConnell, Diane not-so-Feinstein and the rest of them. 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.

- https://trendsjournal.com/

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Oh, Gerald's in fine form today... lol

"Supply Chain Crisis Threatens To Spark Thousands Of Empty Shelves At Retail Stores This Fall"

Full screen recommended.

"Supply Chain Crisis Threatens To Spark Thousands

 Of Empty Shelves At Retail Stores This Fall"

by Epic Economist

"The supply chain crisis should be gone by now. But instead, businesses are having trouble sourcing products and consumers are seeing more empty shelves right as we approach the all-important holiday shopping season. Fresh data released by software provider Retail Insight reveals that more than four-fifths, or about 82%, of shoppers say they have struggled with items being ‘out of stock’ at brick-and-mortar stores this year. Researchers note that this marks an increase of 11 percentage points compared to the same time a year ago, and say supply chain disruptions are threatening customer loyalty and seriously hurting businesses’ bottom lines.

Meanwhile, the research also exposed that U.S. companies are pointing to an array of supply chain problems in the third quarter. About three in five, or 57%, cited the increased cost of food production as one of the main reasons for empty shelves, while a further 56% pointed to rising operational costs, including manufacturing, energy, labor, and transportation, as the biggest factors impacting stock availability.

Product shortages were found to pose a greater threat to grocery stores. The data highlights that more than a quarter, or 27%, of shoppers said they would question their loyalty to a grocer if out-of-stocks became a regular occurrence.

To make things even more complicated, the U.S. trucking industry is now in dire straits. Since global shipping peaked during the pandemic, the transportation sector has been facing a protracted slump. Many trucking companies have gone out of business since the last year, a phenomenon the Federal Reserve is calling “freight recession”. In the past year alone, the downturn in the freight market has affected financial companies with exposure to the industry and resulted in losses to the tune of $780 million.

Every freight recession pushes already teetering trucking companies to the brink of bankruptcy, and this time, it wasn’t any different. The biggest collapse so far this year led to the liquidation of truckload carrier Yellow, the largest trucking company to ever file for bankruptcy. In July, the shutdown of the Yellow Corporation led to one of the largest mass layoffs in recent history, and Rachel Premack, from FreightWaves, says that the job cuts left the market with 22,000 fewer truck drivers right ahead of the peak shopping season, which is expected to result in shipping cost increases. As a consequence of Yellow’s bankruptcy and closure, it's likely that the average rate for customers in the less-than-truckload space will jump by up to 50%, and those increased costs are predicted to be passed down to consumers.

For their part, U.S. consumers are starting to freak out. A new CNBC and Morning Consult survey just reported that virtually all Americans are cutting back on their spending in some way right now. Over the last six months, increased costs have caused 80% of consumers to cut spending on nonessential goods, like entertainment, home decor, clothing, appliances, and more. Concerningly, two-thirds of respondents reported spending less on essential items, like groceries, utilities, and gas.

No matter how hard we work, and what official inflation numbers say, our buying power isn’t keeping pace with the price increases we’re facing on a constant basis. Unfortunately, the latest supply chain disruptions will only aggravate matters in the next few months. If you haven’t started to prepare for the shortages a price hikes yet, we advise you to do so while you can, because nearly every aspect of life is going to be far more expensive in the year ahead."

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Dan, I Allegedly, "You Can’t Afford This"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly PM 8/31/23

"You Can’t Afford This"

People are starting to get the renewals for their auto insurance. Prices are skyrocketing. People are also getting their homeowners insurance and it is going through the roof. Some people have to go to different platforms in their state just to get coverage.

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Musical Interlude: "Beautiful Relaxing Music - Calming Piano & Guitar Music"

Full screen recommended.

Soothing Relaxation,

"Beautiful Relaxing Music - Calming Piano & Guitar Music"

"Beautiful relaxing music by Soothing Relaxation. Enjoy calming piano and guitar music composed by Peder B. Helland, set to stunning nature videos."

"I Cannot Believe..."

"I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be “happy.” I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all, to matter and to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.”

- Leo C. Rosten

The Poet: Rainer Maria Rilke, "Book of Hours II, 16"

"Book of Hours II, 16"

"How surely gravity's law,

strong as an ocean current,

takes hold of even the strongest thing

and pulls it toward the heart of the world.

Each thing-

each stone, blossom, child-

is held in place.

Only we, in our arrogance,

push out beyond what we belong to

for some empty freedom.

If we surrendered

to earth's intelligence

we could rise up rooted, like trees.

Instead we entangle ourselves

in knots of our own making

and struggle, lonely and confused.

So, like children, we begin again

to learn from the things,

because they are in God's heart;

they have never left him.

This is what the things can teach us:

to fall,

patiently to trust our heaviness.

Even a bird has to do that

before he can fly."

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

"For Nothing Is Fixed..."

"For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out."

- James Baldwin

The Daily "Near You?"

Jackson, Tennessee, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"You Can Be Sure..."

 

"I Can Feel It in My Bones…" (Excerpt)

"I Can Feel It in My Bones…"

By Dennis Miller

Excerpt: "This is one of the most difficult articles I’ve ever written. It’s from the heart, and I’m worried. Premonition is defined as, A strong feeling that something (generally unpleasant) is about to happen, “He had a premonition of imminent disaster.” If an intuitive, imminent, gut-wrenching premonition (fear) grips your mind and body comes true, you will never forget it.

I was 23 when John Kennedy was assassinated. I was upset, couldn’t sleep and visibly shaken. Suspect Lee Harvey Oswald was being transferred to a different jail. The minute the live news came on, my stomach got tight, I felt it in my bones, real fear; something awful was about to happen. Oswald appeared in handcuffs. I shouted, “NOOOO!” Within seconds all hell broke loose, Jack Ruby jumped into the picture and shot him. I saw the picture play out before my eyes, powerless to do anything about it. I feel those fears whenever I think about it.

While the government explanation seemed reasonable, 60 years later they still keep much of the information from the public, citing “security reasons.” So much for transparency and trust in the government… I don’t trust any of them, regardless of their political affiliation!

Today’s concern: Chuck Butler recently told us: “Congress must stop deficit spending; just STOP! A Balanced Budget would do wonders for this mess we’re in, not just today, a responsible Balanced Budget from now till the end of time! That means adult, hard choices; what real leaders do. Dennis, our elected representatives need to be working together. I’ve never seen our government so polarized….”

This week’s reading stack rattled me. Bill Bonner tells us: "The federales have lost their minds. The Trump Team went bonkers…with a deficit of $4.2 trillion in 2020…then the Biden Bunch followed up with another $1.4 trillion deficit in 2021. It’s still ‘inflate or die.’ The federal government is running the biggest budget deficits in history. The US government has been throwing the biggest shindig in history – spending about $130 billion per week – or nearly 14% more than the year before…and 40% more than before the Covid era blowout. Government spending is headed toward 39% of the US economy. Not since WWII has so much of US output been squandered by the government.”

Full, most highly recommended article is here:

- https://milleronthemoney.com/

"I See No Reason..."

"Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told- and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.' The reason is that beliefs guide behavior, which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion."

- Michael Crichton, "The Lost World"

"How It Really Is"

"What caused the deaths of all these innocent people?" You did, we all did, by supporting this horror with at least $150 billion while our own country is going straight to hell. 400,000 dead Ukrainian soldiers, 30,000 dead Russians, in something that was absolutely none of our business. Are you proud, Good Citizen?

"Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 8/31/23"

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 8/31/23

"U.S. Seeking Perpetual War in Ukraine? 

w/ Alastair Crooke fmr Brit Ambassador"

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Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 8/31/23

"Putin's Necessary Paranoia"

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Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 8/31/23

"America Holds the Keys to Peace in Ukraine? 

w/Scott Horton News.AntiWar.com"

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"The Daily Missive: 'Outboard Motors & Broken Pipes'"

"Outboard Motors & Broken Pipes"

by Addison Wiggin

“People who bite the hand that feeds them

 usually lick the boot that kicks them.”

- Eric Hoffer

"Last night, by lamp light, we took a breather from thinking about the stock market, Fed policy, Chinese growth domestic product, and the proxy war in the Ukraine to revisit one of America’s working-class thinkers. We were reading '12 Angry Men,' the great hardboiled legal drama that inspired the 1957 film starring Henry Fonda. When something else grabbed our attention. The daring playwright David Mamet wrote the Preface to our copy of '12 Angry Men.' In his opening ruminations, Mamet referenced Eric Hoffer.

“Our greatest American Philosopher, to my mind, was Eric Hoffer,” Mamet writes. “He was an immigrant kid. He never spent a day in school. He roamed the country during the Depression as a hobo and migrant worker.” We took the inch and ran the mile. We followed Mamet’s line of thought, putting down '12 Angry Men' for a more worn copy of Hoffer’s 'True Believer.'

Hoffer wrote for people who didn’t have schooling. He doesn’t reference his thoughts. He doesn’t provide backup. When you read him, you feel like you have a hobo’s stick and knapsack on your back. The man provides both a form of escapism and a keen insight into what made America what it was in the 20th Century.

Hopper claimed there was enough talent and know-how on a single WPA truck to have built not only one road, but to have built America itself. For that, he said, was quite exactly how America was built - “a group of reasonably intelligent workers took a simple plan, formed an ad-hoc group, and used their common sense and group spirit to execute it well.”

In our own knapsack at The Wiggin Sessions we’ve got some good workers. Recently, however, artificial intelligence has entered the scene, turning our group of “reasonably intelligent workers” into 12 angry men (and women). “By the way,” says our arts director. “I’ve been using MidJourney to generate images for thewigginsessions.com lately. Kind of a game changer…Graphic arts: illustration, photography, painting, drawing... are dead.” Sigh.

“Hey man, get in line. ChatGPT is stealing my job,” one of our writers retorts. He must have read that McDonald’s is replacing human drive-thru attendants with AI. The pilot project is in 10 stores and is 85% accurate.

“Certainly is…” the artist responds. “I use it daily. We’re all screwed! Far more disrupting than anything we’ve ever created. I’ll teach my kids how to fix outboard motors and broken pipes…” "I’m not,” I responded at the time. “AI should make all our work product better. I’m looking forward to it.” “Picking grapes is picking grapes,” the writer resigns. Oy.

Nobody knows what AI is going to do. But like all innovations it creates flights of fear and fancy. All innovations throughout history inspire the same response: joy, anxiety and fear. “Irrational exuberance,” to quote the great googly-eyed Greenspan from 1996.

It occurs to me it doesn’t matter whether AI is good or bad. Es lo que es. It is what it is. And in the workplace these are changes happening to real people. How do you trade it? We recorded with Chris Johnson for next week’s Session. He’s a quant trader, so we’ll dig into what that means…He’s also convinced that AI is a classic bubble in the vein of all bubbles going back to the Tulip Bubble in the mid-1600s. As such, he give some very explicit ideas on how to trade Nvidia, the chipmaker providing the ‘picks and shovels’ for this latest speculative mania.

Automation is challenging the way we work every day. It is also changing how people make decisions, in real time. What’s “building America” going to look like when we get the robots involved? The jury is still out. Your thoughts?"

"Trade the winds,"

- https://thewigginsessions.com/

Freely download "The True Believer", by Eric Hoffer, here:

- https://ia801906.us.archive.org/

Bill Bonner, "Fire and Ice"

"Fire and Ice"

The Fed has but two weapons in its arsenal... 

both deadly for American investors.

by Bill Bonner and Joel Bowman

“Although inflation has moved down from its peak - a welcome development - it remains too high. We are prepared to raise rates further if appropriate, and intend to hold policy at a restrictive level until we are confident that inflation is moving sustainably down toward our objective.” ~ Jerome Powell in Jackson Hole

Poitou, France - "First, a news flash from Argentina. Bloomberg: "Argentina Central Bank Sees Monthly Inflation Going Over 10%." Argentina’s Central Bank expects monthly inflation in August to have accelerated to almost double the pace of July after the government devalued the peso, two officials said in another sign the economy is quickly deteriorating.

The August data, to be released by the country’s statistics agency on September 14, would dwarf the 6.3 percent monthly inflation that Argentina posted in July, confirming the significant impact on prices from an 18 percent peso devaluation announced by the government earlier in August. That’s 10% per month. Not annually. And, as we’ll discover below, 10% inflation costs a lot more than 10%.

The “Dame Dos” Years: Carlos Menem had a winning smile, a warm personality and some of the most impressive sideburns we’ve ever seen. It’s now hard to imagine, but in the 1990s, when he was president, Argentina had nearly zero debt and zero inflation. There was a simple reason for this sudden and unexpected bout of solvency. Inflation has worked its magic. The country had recently been through a hellfire of hyper-inflation that reduced its peso debts to cinders…and caused Menem to introduce a “peg,” one peso to the dollar…neither more nor less.

The economy boomed. And in a few years, creditors had forgotten what harm they had so recently suffered, and the gauchos were able to borrow again – and stiff their creditors, again, about 10 years later. And now, 2023, out of credit again, they have turned back to the printing presses.

Our daughter, Maria, is now living down there. She and her husband are taking care of our farms, trying to do business in a country where the financial ground shifts under your feet…with small tremors and catastrophic quakes as daily occurrences. How can you invest in such an economy? How can you plan for the future? You have no idea what anything will cost…tomorrow. As for sales, ‘down the road,’ forget about it. Even the road may give way.

As an aside…Maria reports that the grape harvest from last year was a disaster. A late frost killed half the crop. That’s the trouble with high altitude vineyards; you get an extraordinary flavor…but you pay for it. Early frost…late frost…hail…drought – the extreme weather creates extremely-rich grapes. But not many of them. This year we only have enough grapes for, maybe, a few hundred cases. (Readers who want to be sure to get some of our Tacana Malbec should reserve now…before it is all gone:

 - https://bonnerprivatewines.com/tacana-offer-bpr/) Meanwhile…

The $50 Trillion Debt Overhang: Inflation is always and everywhere a political phenomenon. In the US as well as Argentina, it is a policy decision. Governments either go with it…or refrain from it. But once they begin inflating, it is a hard habit to break. It’s ‘inflate or die.’ They must keep inflating in order to prevent bankruptcies and defaults. Or, they stop the music and end the party right away.

Either way, the final result is much the same…sooner or later hearts are broken and dreams wrecked. The Fed’s ultra-low interest rates enticed people to borrow. One man borrowed to start a business. Another borrowed to gamble on stocks. One borrowed for a house. Others borrow for vacations and big screen TVs.

All have their hopes, dreams, aspirations and fiddles. And all of them are now embedded in $95 trillion of debt. But keeping interest rates too low for too long, the Fed falsified the real costs. And now, as interest rates rise, it becomes harder and harder to keep those dreams alive. Eventually, many must fail.

Right now, based on the historical relationship between output (GDP) and debt, Americans owe about $50 trillion too much. That extra debt is a threat and a burden. It can ruin debtors and creditors alike, taking resources from the present to pay for hamburgers already eaten…investments already gone bad…and vacation sunburn that has already disappeared. With more and more time and money directed towards the past, less is available for the future; growth slows.

As our Argentine friends have shown us, you can borrow for a long time, but not forever. Eventually, the debt can’t be supported. It must go away. That can happen by fire (inflation) or ice (deflation). From the standpoint of the central bank, it’s either ‘inflate or die.’ But while both will eliminate the excess debt, they are far from equal.

Tango and Hard Drugs: If the party ends suddenly, as Paul Volcker ended the US inflation of the ‘70s, many people will be annoyed. They’ll grumble as they fumble for their car keys. Many are already in no condition to drive. They’ve borrowed too much, speculated too recklessly and spent too lavishly. They’ll have to call an Uber. Some will take their chances and end up in a ditch…or in jail. No, it won’t be fun. But at least most will make it home safely…and be able to get to work on time the next day; the real economy will be relatively unharmed.

But if the Fed chooses, it could put on a little tango music…and even bring out the hard drugs. This would keep things going for a while longer…people would go further into debt. They would make even more reckless investments. They would be able to spend more. And the eventual reckoning would be more severe…simply because there would be more bad debt to reckon with.

But there’s more to it. Just look at the economies that have tried to inflate their way out of debt – Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Argentina; inflation has not just wiped out debt…it has wrecked their economies too. Long term investment goes down. Businesses are not started. Those that exist already struggle to stay alive. Households cut back on spending…the ‘rich’ put their money in Miami…or squander it on high living before it gets inflated away.

In other words, inflation does not just reduce asset prices…bringing the rich down a notch. Like a bad drinking habit, it makes it hard to earn a living. People get poorer. Their lives become shabby and sordid. Argentines used to swagger down the boulevards of Paris, proud to be richer than the French. Now, they scurry down dark alleyways of Buenos Aires, looking in the trash for discarded, half-eaten sandwiches.

More to come. Who pays for inflation? Who pays for deflation? Rich people north of Richmond? Or poor people south of Portland?"

o

Joel’s Note: As alluded to above, the “dame dos” years of Argentina in the 1990s refers to the time the gauchos were on top of the (bottom of the) world. Our friends in Buenos Aires explained…“We would go to Brazil and, whatever was offered… dinner, tickets to a show, hotels, caipirinhas, boat rides… our answer would be the same: Dame dos! (gimme two!)

Our Brazilian brothers and sisters hated it, of course, because we were rich. But then, they were beating us at football [soccer]. Now, we have Messi…and no money. The World Cup is here in Argentina… but we are broke. And the Brazilians come to our cities, eat at our parrillas, stay at our hotels and they say to us, ‘me dê dois, me dê dois’”.

Fortunes can turn quickly. Both for individuals…as well as for entire economies. Here in Georgia, where your editor-at-large is presently enjoying his last couple of days in the nation’s splendid capital, the country’s GDP is growing at a 10% annual clip. The math is surprising. At this rate, the economy DOUBLES in size every 7.3 years.

And you see it. Everywhere we look, there’s construction. New hotels… office buildings… restaurants and upscale housing developments. It’s also exceedingly easy to set up a business here as well as to open a bank account. We spoke with a junior conservative politician last week who told us her country aims to be a friend to all neighbors, the preferred place of business in the region.

Of course, there are cycles to these things… from the early years of go-go growth and optimism, to the late, degenerate stages of rot and decay. Right now, “The West,” (loosely defined as the US, UK, and NATO powers) are taking on debt and making Faustian pacts with the monetary gods. The BRICS nations, by contrast, are bringing new countries into the fold, adding letters to their nifty acronym at a pace that would the LGBTQIA2S+ coalition blush."

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

Buddy Brown, "Scary Message About The 1930's Going Viral Now"

Full screen recommended.

Buddy Brown, 8/31/23

"Scary Message About The 1930's Going Viral Now"

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Isabel Brown