"I'm starting to see news stories coming out that are designed to justify why "the job market is not as bad as it seems". But the problem of course, is this is not reality. Just ask anyone looking for a job right now if its not that bad. Twisting words and and making excuses doesn't make it any easier for someone who needs a job today to get one."
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. May your rivers flow without end, meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells, past temples and castles and poets' towers into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkeys howl, through miasmal and mysterious swamps and down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas, domes and pinnacles and grottos of endless stone, and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, where deer walk across the white sand beaches, where storms come and go as lightning clangs upon the high crags, where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you - beyond that next turning of the canyon walls.”
“We have not overcome our condition, and yet we know it better. We know that we live in contradiction, but we also know that we must refuse this contradiction and do what is needed to reduce it. Our task as humans is to find the few principles that will calm the infinite anguish of free souls. We must mend what has been torn apart, make justice imaginable again in a world so obviously unjust, give happiness a meaning once more to peoples poisoned by the misery of the century. Naturally, it is a superhuman task. But superhuman is the term for tasks we take a long time to accomplish, that’s all.
Let us know our aims then, holding fast to the mind, even if force puts on a thoughtful or a comfortable face in order to seduce us. The first thing is not to despair. Let us not listen too much to those who proclaim that the world is at an end. Civilizations do not die so easily, and even if our world were to collapse, it would not have been the first. It is indeed true that we live in tragic times. But too many people confuse tragedy with despair. “Tragedy,” D.H. Lawrence said, “ought to be a great kick at misery.” This is a healthy and immediately applicable thought. There are many things today deserving such a kick.”
"The great psychologist Viktor Frankl survived three concentration camps. He founded logotherapy, a form of therapy centered on finding meaning in life. Suffering stripped Frankl bare, leaving only the desperate search for meaning to stave off insanity. He concluded that enduring the ordeal hinged on forging a reason to live, a purpose beyond the loss and despair. Frankl doesn’t sell easy answers in his teachings. But rather practical questions to ponder.
For example, “What is life asking of me?” “It is we ourselves who must answer the questions that life asks of us, and to those questions we can respond only by being responsible for our existence,” he says. In his book, "Man’s Search for Meaning," he wrote a deeper explanation.
What life asks us to look beyond our immediate circumstances and personal desires. It prompts us to ponder the larger purpose and meaning in our lives. Frankl argued that responsibility is a key component of finding meaning in life. “Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible,” - Viktor E. Frankl
When you ask what life asks of you, you confront the idea that you are not merely a passive recipient of circumstances but an active participant in your life. It’s a shift from passive to active living. That means you take ownership of your actions, choices, and their consequences.
Frankl believed that focusing on the responsibilities and opportunities in life is how we find purpose, even in the face of suffering and adversity. When you ask yourself, “What is it that life is asking of me?” you are compelled to reflect on your values, goals and the bigger picture.
The reward? A shift from a self-centred perspective to a more outward-focused one - an invitation to actively participate in your own life. The questions below will force you to confront shadows you might prefer to ignore, to wrestle with your existential anxieties. Deep questions is how I confront my existential void and reframe suffering. Use these meaningful life questions to transcend the many curveballs in life. A life full of meaning and the unshakable conviction that even in the darkest times, you can choose your response in life.
Frankl inspired me to ask my own existential questions to gain clarity in life. I hope they help you answer concepts like responsibility in the face of suffering and the inherent freedom we possess even in the most dire circumstances. They’ve helped me rewrite my relationship with life.
Prepare to introspect. Beyond suffering: meaning and purpose. “Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.” - Frankl
1. Viktor Frankl believed that even the darkest experiences can hold seeds of potential growth. What lessons have you learned from your challenges that have made you stronger and more resilient?
2. How can you approach suffering not as a roadblock but as a teacher? What wisdom can you extract from difficult experiences that can enrich your life and the lives of others?
3. Imagine life without suffering. Would it be meaningful? Would it be truly human? How does the ability to overcome hardship shape who we are and what we value?
4. Imagine waking up each day with a clear sense of purpose, your own personal “why.” What would that purpose be? How would it change your approach to life’s challenges?
Finding freedom: “It is not freedom from conditions, but it is freedom to take a stand toward the conditions.” - Frankl
5. Even in the most confined circumstances, what freedoms can you still exercise? Freedom of thought, attitude, and how you respond to your situation?
6. Despite everything life throws your way, your ability to choose your response remains constant. What choices will you make that align with your values, even in difficult situations?
7. Can you identify personal values that transcend fleeting emotions or desires? What guiding principles or ideals do you want to anchor your life around, regardless of circumstance?
Viktor Frankl’s life questions and contemplations are transformative tools. It’s the secret to a profound understanding of your existence, values, and the meaningful contributions you can make. Use them to see the world through a new lens, one where you are not a passive observer but an active participant in the direction of your life. “What is the meaning of life?” is a big life question. It’s your job to answer with your mindset and actions.
"Moscow After Midnight, Walking Alone Far From Center"
"In a previous video I walked in the centre of after midnight. I had a lot or requests to walk in a normal suburb far away from the centre. So come with me as I walk through my Moscow neighborhood."
New Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) Is Becoming More Visible"
"Two massive interstellar objects - 3I/ATLAS and C/2025 R2 SWAN - are on a collision course with destiny, both approaching the Sun at nearly the same time. One is rumored to have a nuclear-like core, the other a plasma shield and precision drive. Ancient monuments may have warned us of their return, yet the world remains strangely silent. Are we witnessing the universe’s most spectacular natural event - or the arrival of something engineered, something watching us? When both vanish behind the Sun this October, we will be blind to their next move. What comes out the other side could rewrite human history."
They've discovered 4, possibly 6, larger objects coming in on the same exact vector as I3/Atlas, which may be a scout ship for a larger fleet arriving in strength. One, the enormous C/2025 R2 (SWAN) is 100 times the size of I3/ATLAS. As the astronomer/physicist Avi Loeb states, if I3/ATLAS is the "scout" ship SWAN is the "fortress." Their purpose unknown, all conjecture at this point, but data verified. What does all this mean for Humanity, for you and me? We shall see... - CP
"The morning of June 28, 1914 began like any other normal day. It was a Sunday, so a lot of people went to church. Others prepared large meals for family gatherings, played with their children, or thumbed through the Sunday papers.
At that point, tensions had been high in Europe for several years; the continent was bitterly divided by a series of complex diplomatic and military alliances, and small wars had recently broken out. Italy and the Ottoman Empire went to war in 1912 in a limited, 13-month conflict. And the First Balkan War was waged in early 1913. Overall, though, the continent clung to a delicate peace. And hardly anyone expected that most of the next three decades would be filled with chaos, poverty, and destruction. And then it happened.
That Sunday afternoon, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated during an official visit to Sarajevo. And the world changed forever. Five weeks later the entire continent was at war with itself. But even still, most of the ‘experts’ thought it would be a simple, speedy conflict. Germany’s emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, famously told his troops who were being shipped off to the front line in August 1914, “You will be home before the leaves fall from the trees...” It took four years and an estimated 68 million casualties to bring the war to a close. But that was only the prelude.
Following (and even during) World War I, a series of bloody revolutionary movements took hold in Europe, including in Russia, Greece, Spain, Turkey, and Ireland. Then came the Spanish flu, which claimed the lives of tens of millions of people. Later, Germany sunk into one of the worst episodes of hyperinflation in human history.
Communism began rapidly spreading across the world almost as quickly as the Spanish flu, often through violent fanatics who engaged in murder and arson in order to intimidate their opponents; this became known as the ‘Red Scare’ in the United States.
Of course there were some good years during the 1920s when people generally felt prosperous and happy; but it all came crashing down at the end of the decade when a severe economic depression strangled the entire world. It lasted for more than ten years, during which time the world was once again brought to an even more destructive war that didn’t end until atomic weapons obliterated the civilian populations of two Japanese cities.
Again – go back to June 1914. Who would have thought that the next 30+ years would play out so destructively? Even for the people who did predict that Europe would go to war in 1914, most leaders thought it would be over quickly. And almost no one expected it would spawn decades of chaos.
Today we’re obviously living in different times and under different circumstances. But we may be standing at a similar precipice as in 1914, staring at enormous trends that could shape our lives for years to come. Covid only scratched the surface.
We now know without a doubt, for example, how governments will respond the next time they feel there’s a threat to public health. They’ll say, “We’re listening to the scientists.” Really? The same scientists who told people they couldn’t go to work, school, or church, but it was perfectly fine for peaceful protesters to pack together like sardines without wearing masks because they’re apparently protected from the virus by their own righteousness? The same scientists who wanted to lock everyone down to prevent Covid, but were happy to accept skyrocketing rates of cancer, depression, suicide, heart disease, and domestic abuse as a result of those very lockdowns and so-called "vaccines'?
The public health consequences from this pandemic and "vaccine" will reverberate for years to come. And that doesn’t even begin to take the economic consequences into consideration. Western governments have taken on trillions of dollars in new debt this year and central banks have printed trillions more. Even with all that stimulus, however, there are still hundreds of millions of people worldwide who lost their jobs, and countless businesses that have closed.
Future generations who haven’t even been born yet will spend their entire working lives paying interest on the debts that are being accumulated today. The long-term consequences of all this are incalculable.
And then there are the social trends – the rise of neo-Marxism that’s sweeping the world so fast. It’s the Red Scare of the 21st century. They despise talented, successful people. They believe it’s greedy for you to keep a healthy portion of what you earn, but it’s not greedy for them to take it from you and spend it on themselves.
Many of the people in this movement, of course, are violent fanatics who routinely engage in arson, assault, and vandalism. Same for the social justice warriors who are just as quick to violence and intimidation; plus they’ve already commandeered the decision-making of some of the largest, most powerful companies in the world. You can’t even watch a football game or a TV commercial anymore without some commentary on oppression and victimization. And any intellectual dissent is met with intimidation or censorship.
In fact the largest consumer technology companies in the world have become our censors. We’re not allowed to share scientific information that doesn’t conform to the Chinese-controlled World Health Organization’s guidance. And news articles that don’t match their ideology are blocked.
Let’s not kid ourselves – these trends are not going away any time soon. It’s great to be optimistic, hope for the best, and enjoy the good years as they come. But it makes sense to at least be prepared for the possibility that we could be at the very beginning of a period of enormous instability that may last a very long time."
"In this landmark, Pulitzer Prize–winning account, renowned historian Barbara W. Tuchman re-creates the first month of World War I: thirty days in the summer of 1914 that determined the course of the conflict, the century, and ultimately our present world. Beginning with the funeral of Edward VII, Tuchman traces each step that led to the inevitable clash. And inevitable it was, with all sides plotting their war for a generation. Dizzyingly comprehensive and spectacularly portrayed with her famous talent for evoking the characters of the war’s key players."
and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1
Buenos Aires, Argentina - "Uh, oh... is the world on the road to all out war, again? Here’s the latest... From The Economic Times..."Poland is at its closest to open conflict since World War Two, PM Donald Tusk says." From DW... "Reports: China is quietly fueling Russia's Ukraine war." From the BBC... "Qatar hosts Arab-Islamic emergency summit over Israeli strike on Doha."
And now this, still developing, from The New York Times... "Israel launches ground offensive in Gaza City..." Continued the Old Gray Lady, amidst its “live updates”..."Fleeing Palestinians clogged the roads south from Gaza City on Tuesday, while many others remained in the ruined city, as the Israeli military said it had launched a much-anticipated ground offensive to take control of an urban center it calls a Hamas stronghold."
Meanwhile, Belarus and Russia are conducting “simulated nuclear strike” exercises during their joint Zapad-2025 military exercises, currently underway. This, after the United States vowed Friday to defend “every inch of NATO territory” following a number of suspected Russian drones entering Polish airspace during an attack on Ukraine. According to the BBC, Romania has since become the second NATO country to report Russian drones entering its airspace.
Naturally, Russia denies the incursions... just as the Ukraine denies supplying drones to Malian rebels... the UK denies Boris Johnson scuppered an early Russo-Ukrainian peace deal... China denies funding Russia’s war effort... the US denies taking out Nordstream (right after promising to “put an end to it”)...and on, and on, ad nauseam... Truth, as the old saying goes, is often the first casualty of war.
Thou Shalt Not… Of course, war itself is an old business, waged by power-mad elites and comfortable congressmen... and born on the shoulders of “expendable” soldiers, goaded into mortal conflict by that age-old lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. (It is sweet and honorable to die for one’s country, from Horace’s "Odes.")
But wait! Isn’t murder immoral, not to mention illegal... at least in the eyes of earthly law and divine sanction? “It is forbidden to kill,” observed Voltaire in his Dictonnaire philosophique (1764), “therefore all murderers are punished... unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”
The question, it seems, is not whether wars of aggression are ever just... but why it is that men are so easily swayed by the quest for glory and the sound of the brass. Voltaire, again... “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
Since the beginning of the 3rd millennium, the axis of global power has shifted, not only in terms of the flow of tradable goods... and the fiat dollars used to purchase them... but in the marching orders of its soldiers and the trajectory of its missiles. On the one hand, for almost a quarter of a century, the single largest military power on earth – perhaps the greatest the world has ever seen, at least in terms of firepower – has been in a constant state of war, often fought on more than one front at a time.
There was the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), the Iraq War (2003–2011), the campaigns against ISIS (multiple countries, 2014–present), and the conflict in Yemen (2015–present), plus bombings, airstrikes and drone strikes in Pakistan (2001-present), Syria (2014–present), Libya (2011), Somalia (2001–present) and across the Sahel region (Mali, Niger, etc., 2010s–present)... to say nothing of the hundreds of billions of dollars worth of US-made rockets, missiles and weaponry currently darkening the skies over Eastern Europe and the Levant.
The Barbarians Within: What threat, existential or otherwise, these far flung locales and tribal backwaters pose to “The Homeland” is anyone’s guess. Needless to say, when one’s livelihood depends on finding and fighting (and even, if it comes to it, funding) enemies, as is the case for those enmeshed in America’s vast and lethal Military Industrial Complex, every wispy specter begins to morph into a dollar sign.
Alas (in the eyes of the empire), warfare has hardly proven a lucrative pastime. The United States national debt has surged by an uncontrollable $31 trillion since 2000, from $5,675 trillion to $37,466 trillion today... a non-trivial 560% increase.
Measured against the real economy (at least as far as Gross Domestic Product is a serviceable proxy for such a thing... which it isn’t), the debt has more than doubled as a percentage of GDP, from 55.5% in 2000... to over 123% today. (At the peak of WWII, in 1945, it reached a record 119%.)
Meanwhile, as the sole remaining superpower of the 20th Century appears determined to bankrupt itself – at a current rate of $2 trillion per year, give or take – foreign powers, including sworn enemies and former allies, are beginning to look around the dance floor... and even form new alliances.
Two weeks ago, at a meeting in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin, leaders of countries representing 40% of the world’s population – including India, China, Russia and two dozen other nations – committed to stronger trade ties amidst a world roiled by tariffs and trade wars.
A 3 billion-some in Tianjin, China.
Naturally, President Trump responded in a measured and statesmanlike manner... by lobbying members of the G7 and the EU to levy 100% tariffs on China and India... and promising to “mirror” any such tariffs as these partners were willing to impose.
“Franz Ferdinand’s assassination is bad for Austria and the Serbs.”
– Nicholas and Alexandria
"As everyone knows, Charlie Kirk was assassinated last week. Now, a 22-year-old suspect, a GloboLeftist with a fetish problem is in custody. This has really illustrated the stark divide between the GloboLeft and the TradRight, as the GloboLeft foot soldiers openly celebrate the assassination.
The nation is teetering on the edge of chaos. This is not just a tragedy; it is a potential powder keg for the economy, especially since that political polarity is confronting financial fragility as the only thing that everyone in Washington agrees on is that we should spend more. Because one more credit card is what helps the guy on the edge of bankruptcy, right?
The reason that this matters is that the economy is crunching people. Costs are up. Wages? Not so much. The advice that Remus kept sharing, “Stay away from crowds” is still accurate. Especially now. Cities and crowds are tinderboxes with increasing levels of violence.
History loves a good rerun, and the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 is the template for an assassination that spins the world into the void. A lone gunman in Sarajevo pulls the trigger, and World War I erupts, dragging empires into a meat grinder that reshapes global trade, currencies, and economies. Oh, and it burned a continent.
The extreme political polarity here is the accelerant. America is a nation where a third of the population sees another third as an existential threat. The GloboLeft has already said that free and fair elections are a danger to “our” democracy. “Our”, in this case, doesn’t include you and me. It’s their democracy and they’ll shut anyone up to prove it, after trying to stop an overwhelmingly popular Trump from even running.
Will the violence end with Kirk? I doubt it. The TradRight has already been invigorated, and I’ve seen multiple videos of AntiFa getting slammed into the concrete or water fountains when, in previous years, they would have been ignored. And when violence escalates, the economy always pays the bill. Secondary impacts can easily overwhelm the primary impacts.
Cities are dangerous places on a good day. Gridlock, muggings, and overpriced coffee that tastes like regret. Throw in escalating violence from both political and racial tensions, and they become war zones. Again, the TradRight never seems to start these issues, but, rather, wakes up and finishes them. Remember the 2020 riots after George Floyd’s death? Those were tame in comparison to what the TradRight can do.
I’m not going to go deeper into these scenarios, for now, they need some additional thought and we need time to see if we reach a stable equilibrium. But our economy was already in a delicate place with our debt and falling dollar at the same time inflation and unemployment appear to be showing up.
Things are moving, perhaps quickly. Now is the time to review where you are. Are you in the right place, physically? Do you have a plan if you’re not? That’s the biggest one, in my mind. I keep saying that a year too early is better than a minute too late.
Second, is are you surrounded by people you trust? If you’re in a “safe” place, surrounded by people you trust, that’s a multiplier. Location equals time, and friends equal multiplied effort. That’s why I’ve been pushing so long to get out of cities – now. It’s better to be in the country, but it’s better to be in the country and not be the newcomer. In some places that takes years.
Third is security. Ammo still isn’t cheap. But it’s more expensive to need another round or another magazine and not have it in that moment.
Fourth is food. Thankfully, most Americans could live months without a Snickers™ and also live that long without any food at all.
You get the idea. It’s time to review preps, and make sure that the “two is one and one is none” wisdom comes back into your mind. Oh, sure, this isn’t 1914. And the world hardly ever spins out of control. I guess then, I was wrong. I’ve been wrong lots of times. I only have to be right one time, however, to make up for every time I was wrong. I expect I’ll be back to “more normal” posting on Friday, but keep your head on a swivel, and realize that we’re living in interesting times."
We The Politicians Are Supreme, And We Steal Your Money"
"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."
"The alarms first went off in the orbital modeling departments at NASA. The math, which is usually accurate enough to land a rover on a dime millions of miles away, was suddenly wrong. A colossal interstellar object, Comet 3I/ATLAS, was systematically veering off course. This wasn’t a small error; it was a glaring anomaly. Discovered streaking through our system at speeds that guarantee it will never return, this comet is forcing a crisis in astronomy. It carries with it a bizarre chemical signature and a mystery that echoes a similar, deeply unsettling event from just a few years ago."
"Astronomers have just discovered something far bigger and stranger than 3I/ATLAS. A new interstellar visitor - C/2025 R2 (SWAN) - is one hundred times larger and brighter, streaking toward the Sun with a colossal plasma tail five Moons wide. Unlike any natural comet, it carries a nickel–cobalt armored hull, a plasma-drive exhaust, and a core radiating more power than two colliding black holes.
Even more unsettling, its path overlaps with 3I/ATLAS. Both will swing behind the Sun in October 2025, disappearing from every telescope on Earth simultaneously. Avi Loeb calls ATLAS the “scout” and SWAN the “fortress” - a returning probe on a 22,000-year orbit, possibly here for refueling, data collection, or something far more dangerous.
Some believe these objects are part of a system, an ancient surveillance network triggered by our radio and TV signals. Others, like Graham Hancock, suggest ancient civilizations may have recorded SWAN’s last visit in the pyramids and megaliths. Is SWAN R2 a comet, a fortress, or the reply to a message humanity unknowingly sent?"
They've discovered 4, possibly 6, larger objects coming in on the same exact vector as I3/Atlas, which may be a scout ship for a larger fleet arriving in strength. One, the enormous C/2025 R2 (SWAN) is 100 times the size of I3/ATLAS. If I3/ATLAS is the "scout" ship SWAN is the "fortress." Their purpose unknown, all conjecture at this point, but data verified. What does all this mean for Humanity, for you and me? We shall see... - CP
"Is this what will become of our Milky Way Galaxy? Perhaps if we collide with the Andromeda Galaxy in a few billion years, it might. Pictured below is NGC 7252, a jumble of stars created by a huge collision between two large galaxies. The collision will take hundreds of millions of years and so is effectively caught frozen in time in the above image. The resulting pandemonium has been dubbed the Atoms-for-Peace galaxy because of its similarity to a cartoon of a large atom.
The above image was taken by the MPG/ESO 2.2 meter telescope in Chile. NGC 7252 spans about 600,000 light years and lies about 220 million light years away toward the constellation of the Water Bearer (Aquarius). Since the sideways velocity of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is presently unknown, no one really knows for sure if the Milky Way will ever collide with M31."
"The Chinese curse their enemies with the phrase “may you live in interesting times.” Or, rather, Americans think that Chinese curse their enemies like that; according to Infogalactic, “despite being widely attributed as a Chinese curse, there is no equivalent expression in Chinese.”
Fortunately, there’s an actual Chinese phrase that’s much more interesting. It’s found in a 1627 short story collection by Feng Menglong called "Stories to Awaken the World," and it states "better to be a dog in a peaceful time, than to be a human in a chaotic times.” And to be a dog in 17th China didn’t mean being a beloved fur baby with your own YouTube channel. It meant being a workbeast that got eaten when times were lean. The Chinese still have an annual dog meat festival.
Whichever adage you prefer, our times are both chaotic and interesting. In fact, they are monumentally interesting - they are so interesting as to beggar coherent description, to put to shame historical comparison, so remarkable that every single one of us would be justified in screaming from the rooftops in shock and awe. And yet we don’t. We keep calm and carry on, sturdily gripped by our bias for normalcy, by our human ability to adapt to even the most bizarre circumstances. It’ll be fine, we tell ourselves. This is fine.
But what if we put aside our normalcy bias for a moment and look at how just how “interesting” our times really are? What do we see then?
Once Every 80 Years…Once every 80 years, a country enters a crisis. That is, at least, the assertion of Strauss-Howe Generational Theory. According to Strauss and Howe, human history is organized into repeating patterns marked by four “turnings”: the High, the Awakening, the Unraveling, and the Crisis. Each turning is approximately 20 years long, and an entire cycle of four turnings is therefore about 80 years long. According to Strauss and Howe, American history looks something like this:
○ American Revolutionary Crisis, 1765 - 1785
○ American Civil War Crisis, 1855 - 1875
○ Great Depression and World War II Crisis, 1930 - 1950
○ You Are Here, 2010 - 2030
If we believe Strauss-Howe Generational Theory, we are in the midst of what they call a Fourth Turning - a moment of Crisis.
All right. That all sounds bad. But if Strauss-Howe Generational Theory is true, the Fourth Turning will be over in about 5-10 years and we’ll move into the next Turning, the High. And those are awesome! But what if we won’t be heading into another high?"
Full, fascinating, most highly recommended article is here:
"I’ve been working on collections of quotes lately, and I have one more that I’d like to present… this one on the thoughts of rulers. For a number of years I’ve been telling people that the incentives faced by productive people and the incentives facing rulers (of whatever stripe) are very, very different. This list, I believe, will make that point.
You’ll find quotes from ‘bad’ rulers on this list, of course, but also some from the ‘good’ rulers. And please note that the ‘bad’ ones are very often held in high regard in their times. Joseph Stalin, for example – the #2 most prolific killer in all of human history – was the ‘great ally’ of the US in World War II and was routinely presented to the American public as “Uncle Joe.” So, beginning with Uncle Joe, here are the things that rulers believe:
Joseph Stalin: "Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed."
"Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas?"
"Gratitude is a sickness suffered by dogs."
Mao Zedong: "The cult of xenophobia is the cheapest and surest method of obtaining from the masses the ignorant and savage patriotism, which puts the blame for every political folly or social misfortune upon the foreigner.
Adolf Hitler: "Terrorism is the best political weapon, for nothing drives people harder than a fear of sudden death."
"I have not come into this world to make men better, but to make use of their weaknesses."
"What good fortune for those in power that people do not think."
"I have sympathy for Mr. Roosevelt, because he marches straight toward his objectives over Congress, lobbies and bureaucracy."
"In the simplicity of their minds, people more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie… It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have such impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and continue to think that there may be some other explanation."
Hermann Göring: "Why, of course, the people don’t want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece… But… the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
Winston Churchill: "What a man! I have lost my heart!" (referring to Benito Mussolini in 1927)
"One may dislike Hitler’s system and yet admire his patriotic achievement. If our country were defeated, I hope we should find a champion as indomitable to restore our courage and lead us back to our place among the nations."
Franklin Roosevelt: "There seems to be no question that [Mussolini] is really interested in what we are doing and I am much interested and deeply impressed by what he has accomplished and by his evidenced honest purpose of restoring Italy."
"The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson." (To Colonel Edward House)
Vladimir Lenin: "Our power does not know liberty or justice. It is established on the destruction of the individual will."
"The best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves."
Leon Trotsky: "The real criminals hide under the cloak of the accusers."
Napoleon Bonaparte: "Of all our institutions public education is the most important… we must be able to cast a whole generation in the same mold."
"A man becomes a creature of his uniform."
"The life of a citizen is the property of his country."
Charles Maurice Talleyrand: "We were given speech to hide our thoughts."
"An important art of politicians is to find new names for institutions which under old names have become odious to the public."
Henry Kissinger: "The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer."
Cardinal Richelieu: "Give me six lines written by the most honorable of men, and I’ll find an excuse in them to hang him."
Joseph Goebbels: "Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play."
"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."
J. Edgar Hoover: "Justice is incidental to law and order."
William H. Woodin (US Treasury secretary): "The Federal Reserve Act lets us print all we’ll need. And it won’t frighten the people. It won’t look like stage money. It’ll be money that looks like real money." (1933)
Benito Mussolini: "The Truth Apparent, apparent to everyone’s eyes who are not blinded by dogmatism, is that men are perhaps weary of Liberty. They have a surfeit of it… we have buried the putrid corpse of liberty … the Italian people are a race of sheep."
Roman Emperor Caracalla: "As long as we have this [pointing to his sword], we shall not run short of money."
Prince Phillip, duke of Edinburgh: "I must confess that I am tempted to ask for reincarnation as a particularly deadly virus."
Charles de Gaulle: "In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant."
"QUESTION: "I believe you have said that the United States practices the law of tyrants, conspiracy, which only proves a thought crime, not that you committed a crime. Is this why you say we are doomed, because nobody will do real legal reform?" - Wes
ANSWER: Our legal system adopted the tyranny of the king and replaced him with the Department of JUST US. Its combination of the Pinkerton rule, broad federal statutes like RICO, and the strategic, frequent use by prosecutors makes American conspiracy law one of the most potent and expansive in the world. The United States has the most anti-human rights legal system on the planet. For example, under Canon Law used in France, they cannot compel any family member to testify against you. In the United States, they can imprison your children until they testify against you. The only privilege is granted to a spouse or a priest. Then they will use a divorce to get around the spouse rule. Under the Canon law of the Catholic Church, the sanctity of the family unit comes first. Under English Common Law, precedent takes precedent. We had a revolution against the king’s tyranny, replacing him with local tyranny.
They love to call Russia and China authoritarian and communist. But look at the stats. You have a 340% greater chance of going to jail in the United States compared to China. The United States has the highest percentage of its population in prison of any country in the world, so much for liberty. Suppose you lie to a government official; that is perjury, punishable by up to 5 years. If a government official lies to you, that is legal. Without the rule of law, civilization crumbles. Courts rule in favor of the government. Rarely will you find a judge who will truly defend the Constitution, and good luck in prosecuting a judge or a prosecutor.
"EV pickups are dead – here's why! Stellantis just announced the end of their Ram EV pickup truck, and it's all due to waning demand, the loss of the $7,500 tax credit, and the high costs of production. What does this mean for the future of the EV market, and are hybrids the next big thing? I break it all down in today's video, plus we dive into some wild industry news - like General Motors recalling 23,000 Corvettes, real estate challenges in the auto sector, and the rising costs of everything from Disney vacations to post office boxes. The economy is in a tough spot, and it's forcing people and businesses to rethink their decisions. Are EVs really the future, or are we looking at a massive shift back to hybrids and gas-powered vehicles? And what about those massive real estate spaces left behind by bankrupt auto dealerships - will they find new life, or is this another sign of economic strain?"
“How small a portion of our life it is that we really enjoy. In youth we are looking forward to things that are to come; in old age, we are looking backwards to things that are gone past; in manhood, although we appear indeed to be more occupied in things that are present, yet even that is too often absorbed in vague determinations to be vastly happy on some future day, when we have time.”
"We believe slavery ended long ago - but what if it only changed its form? Today, the chains are not made of iron, but of debt, bills, and endless work. Most people trade the best years of their lives not for freedom, but for survival."
