"68 Percent Of Americans Consider The Condition Of The Economy To Be “Poor” As Millions Of U.S. Consumers Reach Their Breaking Points"

"68 Percent Of Americans Consider The Condition Of The Economy

 To Be “Poor” As Millions Of U.S. Consumers Reach Their Breaking Points"

by Michael Snyder

"Millions of Americans are discovering that at some point the money runs out and the party is over. Vehicles are being repossessed at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis, foreclosure filings are up 18 percent compared to last year, and student loan delinquencies have soared into unprecedented territory. Nobody can deny that economic conditions are deteriorating rapidly, and this has pushed vast numbers of U.S. consumers past their breaking points. So what is going to happen if economic conditions continue to deteriorate rapidly in the months ahead?

The American people are not stupid. They clearly understand what is taking place, and they are not happy about it. According to a brand new AP-NORC survey that was just released, a staggering 68 percent of U.S. adults consider the condition of the economy to be “poor”…Some 68% of U.S. adults describe the U.S. economy these days as “poor,” while 32% say it’s “good.” That’s largely consistent with assessments of the economy over the past year.

For many years economic conditions in this country have been collapsing. Now we have finally reached a point where it cannot be denied any longer. Many Americans attempted to keep living a middle class lifestyle by going very deep into debt, but for millions of them a day of reckoning has finally arrived. If you doubt this, just consider the facts.

It is being projected that the number of vehicle repossessions in the U.S. this year will be the highest that we have seen since the global financial crisis…"Car repossessions are surging across the US, as an increasing number of Americans fall behind on their auto loans. According to data from the Recovery Database Network (RDN), analyzed by CURepossession, it is projected that over 3 million cars could be repossessed in 2025."

This would be the highest number since the financial crisis. Consumers will often keep making their vehicle payments even when they have gotten behind on everything else. So the fact that we are witnessing so many repossessions in 2025 is a very troubling sign. And a lot more repossessions are on the way, because subprime borrowers are falling behind on their payments at a rate that we have never seen before…"The percentage of subprime borrowers – those with poor or no credit – who are at least 60 days late on their loans was at 6.43 percent in August, according to Fitch Ratings. This figure has doubled since 2021, and is worse than during the dot-com recession, the Covid-19 pandemic and the financial crisis."

Economists are warning that this consumer weakness could be a warning sign about serious cracks in the US economy which could lead to financial meltdown. Meanwhile, millions of Americans are also getting behind on their mortgages, and foreclosure filings are 18 percent higher than they were last year…"As of August, foreclosure filings had risen six straights months year-over-year and were up 18% from the same period in 2024, according to property data firm ATTOM." If all of this is starting to sound a lot like 2008 to many of you, that is because it really is a lot like 2008.

Americans are rapidly getting behind on their student loans too. In fact, nearly 10 million Americans are either in default or “late-stage delinquency” at this point…"For months, experts have warned that student loan borrowers who are behind on their payments may trigger a “default cliff.” Recent reports show that cliff is now looming. The resumption of federal student loan delinquency reporting on consumers’ credit earlier this year caused a spike in the rate of severe delinquencies, which now near a record high, according to September’s Credit Insights report from credit score developer FICO.

Roughly 5.3 million borrowers are in default and another 4.3 million borrowers are in “late-stage delinquency,” or between 181 and 270 days late on their payments, according to a separate analysis last month by the Congressional Research Service based on data from the Education Department. Payments 270 days past due are considered in default."

What a colossal mess. Sadly, a lot more Americans will be reaching their breaking points in the months ahead because mass layoffs are occurring all over the nation. Earlier today, we learned that Meta will be laying off hundreds of very well paid employees that were working in its artificial intelligence unit…"Meta will lay off roughly 600 employees within its artificial intelligence unit as the company looks to reduce layers and operate more nimbly, a spokesperson confirmed to CNBC on Wednesday. The company announced the cuts in a memo from its chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, who was hired in June as part of Meta’s $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI. Workers across Meta’s AI infrastructure units, Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research unit and other product-related positions will be impacted." AI was supposed to be the future. But it appears that bubble is starting to burst too.

These days, it seems like almost everyone is struggling. One recent survey found that 67 percent of U.S. adults that are actually employed are living paycheck to paycheck. Most Americans are just barely scraping by in 2025, and now the current government shutdown threatens to take food stamp benefits away from 42 million Americans next month.

Needless to say, that has the potential to cause widespread chaos… A classic saying among preparedness experts in the US is that America is capable of weathering many crises, but when the food stamps shut down all bets are off. In other words, when the free stuff army loses their handouts, that’s when all hell breaks loose. The US government spends over $100 billion on SNAP programs every year; the largest single food welfare project in the world. It’s difficult to predict what an end to SNAP might look like.

One can assume the worst and be ready for a “Walking Dead” disaster in which angry mobs run rampant. Or, tensions might continue to simmer. Many people might be forced to simply get a job, and the welfare subset could decide to adapt. But they probably won’t. All of this lines up perfectly with the nightmare scenarios that so many of the experts have been warning us about.

Those at the top of the economic pyramid are still thriving for the moment, but those at the bottom of the economic pyramid are suffering very deeply and are becoming increasingly desperate. And desperate people do desperate things. The U.S. economy has been moving in a very clear direction for more than five years now, and at this stage what is in front of us should be quite obvious to everyone."

- https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Peterborough, New Hampshire, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"The Great Replacement Is Underway, And It's Not The One You're Thinking About"

"The Great Replacement Is Underway, 

And It's Not The One You're Thinking About"

by Leo Hohmann

"A new report is out this week that shows Amazon is on a path to ramp up automation and drastically reduce its reliance on human beings, allowing it to avoid filling more than 160,000 jobs with actual human employees by 2027. That’s less than two years away. But if you take the numbers out to the year 2033, they are actually much worse, with Amazon slashing 600,000 jobs that would otherwise need to be filled. This is according to internal documents cited by the New York Times.

Using AI robots to replace human labor is part of a strategy that aims to double the company’s sales while reducing labor costs significantly. In short, AI robots are the key to padding Amazon’ bottom line like never before. The company aims to automate 75% of its operations while rebranding its robotics efforts as “advanced technology” and “cobots.” Sounds nice, eh?

If it were just Amazon doing this it would be concerning. Amazon is the nation’s third largest employer behind the federal government and Walmart. But what if all or most of America’s largest corporate employers were working on similar strategies on similar timelines? What if, in the age of AI and robots, they’re all planning to use this technology to its maximum potential over the next three to seven years? We’re talking about a job-killing juggernaut with massive implications for American society. Not only America but the entire world. What to do with tens of millions of human workers displaced by machines and AI-powered algorithms?

It’s a dilemma very few of our elected leaders wish to talk about. They would rather tout the wonders of AI and live in denial about the dark side of this tech. But lying about the true motives behind corporations adopting AI and shunning the conversation won’t solve the problem, now will it?

Where will all of the replaced and displaced workers go to earn a living? Everyone can’t be a carpenter, plumber or electrician, the type of skilled trades that still seem relatively safe from the great AI replacement strategy. Everyone can’t go into business for themselves, as that also requires some unique talents. This is why Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Larry Ellison and many other Tech Bros speak so often about Universal Basic Income, or UBI, where people rendered part of a new useless class are paid to sit home and do nothing.

Israeli historian and futurist Yuval Harari writes: “The most important question in 21st-century economics may well be: What should we do with all the superfluous people, once we have highly intelligent non-conscious algorithms that can do almost everything better than humans?” Harari adds that, “Most of what kids currently learn at school will probably be irrelevant by the time they are 40.” And he said this in 2017. Technology has sped up considerably since then.

Harari says the best scenario we can hope for with regard to these displaced and “useless” workers may be that they stay entertained with video games and made comfortably numb with some type of modern Soma. He admits that, for the human psyche, the only thing worse than feeling oppressed is to feel utterly useless and unneeded.

So, we have a moral dilemma being created by AI and advanced robotics, one that politicians refuse to talk about. All we hear from them is how wonderful AI is and how it must be mastered and exploited to its fullest or we will get left behind in the race to replace. After all, if we don’t do it, the Chinese will, they say, hoping to shut down the conversation with the mere mention of the Chinese boogyman. That’s not going to cut it when millions of Americans are thrown out of work and taking to the streets because they have no way to feed their families and no hope of a future.

Perhaps that explains why the globalists and technocrats are so eager to get everyone tagged and marked with a biometric digital ID, so they can ramp up their surveillance in a department of pre-crime scenario that helps them keep everyone in line. Or perhaps the globalist power elites plan to address society’s AI job-crushing dilemma through their long-held and highly developed depopulation schemes. It would certainly explain why these same power elites seem so eager to start World War III with Russia.

In the meantime, the corporate media will try to keep us distracted from what’s really happening for as long as possible. There will be bread and circuses aplenty. With a strong dose of political drama mixed in from the Entertainer in Chief. Hey, did you check out his latest AI video showing him dropping poop on his political opponents from an F-16 fighter jet? That was so cool wasn’t it? LOL.

It’s time to prepare ourselves mentally, physically and spiritually for great changes in our society that are taking shape in warp speed. The Great Replacement backed up with an AI-powered digital marking system is being erected before our very eyes. Those handing out the keys to entry will describe it as safe and secure, more convenient and inclusive, a veritable digital wonderland designed to make your life easier and happier. But once inside you will find it more resembles a prison. Will you walk inside voluntarily? Will you allow yourself to be bought off or incentivized to join? Coerced? Forced? All of these options are on the table."

- https://leohohmann.substack.com/

"Ten Commandments For Living From Philosopher Bertrand Russell"

"Ten Commandments For Living From

Philosopher Bertrand Russell"

"The Ten Commandments that, as a teacher, I should wish to promulgate, might be set forth as follows:

1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.

2. Do not think it worthwhile to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.

3. Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.

4. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.

5. Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.

6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.

7. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.

8. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.

9. Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.

10. Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness."

"Three Passions" 

 "Three passions have governed my life:

The longings for love, the search for knowledge,

And unbearable pity for the suffering of humankind.

Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.

In the union of love I have seen

In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision

Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge.

I have wished to understand the hearts of people.

I have wished to know why the stars shine.

Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,

But always pity brought me back to earth;

Cries of pain reverberated in my heart,

Of children in famine, of victims tortured,

And of old people left helpless.

I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot,

And I too suffer.

This has been my life; I found it worth living." 

- Bertrand Russell

"If You Don't..."

 

Bill Bonner, "Paranormal Activity"

"Paranormal Activity"

by Bill Bonner

Baltimore, Maryland - "First, we need to tell you about an almost ‘para-normal’ experience we had last night. We had just arrived in Baltimore from New York. It was 11 p.m. when we headed to bed. And then, we looked out our front window...and there we saw the most remarkable display.

In two trees facing us, one directly in front of the window and the other in the park across the street, tiny blue lights danced, darted, and swirled. They looked like the tiny lights on a Christmas tree. But they were in motion. Too fast and bright to be animal. Too light and unattached to be mineral. Too intense and quick to be vegetable. What were they? We thought, at first, that our eyes must be playing tricks on us. But as we studied the lights, they became more real. They seemed to be moving about randomly, but there was a pattern...a whirling gyre in one tree...a sparkler of lights, as if the tree were on fire, in the other.

This was no random motion. In the smaller tree, three tiny blue lights, at the very top of the tree, lit up regularly, about once a second. And in the bigger tree, there were several fixed rows of blue light - unmoving - along with a few lights in red. There was no variation in the colors. They were either bright red...or light blue.

Could they have been some projection from across the street? Yes, that’s what we think they were. But no natural cause or source was visible. An alien invasion? Maybe. By 7 a.m. they had vanished, leaving no trace - no wires, no dust, no scorched leaves. Here’s a little of what we saw, video here: https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

But let us return to business. The burthen of the last few days was merely that ‘mistakes’ have their place. As a society matures, its elites seek to get more and more of its surplus output for themselves. They ‘milk the system,’ becoming more corrupt over time. They get richer. But their mistakes - policy creep, debt, inflation, war, sanctions, tariffs, imperial over-reach - slow the economy. The poor get poorer. But the ‘mistakes’ turn out not to be mistakes at all; by comparison, the rich get even richer!

Self-dealing has always been a temptation in government. But it rose to a new level in the 21st century. Back in the 1960s, Dwight Eisenhower warned the nation that the ‘military-industrial complex’ was getting out of control. Then, he and Mamie retired to his family farm in Pennsylvania, where he lived on his federal pension. “Every other president since the civil war has avoided any significant financial conflicts of interest with their official duties,” says Richard Painter, former White House ethics lawyer.

But when the Obamas left Washington, they walked away with a $65 million book contract, the highest amount ever paid for a presidential memoir. And then, ‘Biden, Inc.’ went even further. Hunter Biden peddled access to the White House. His shameless hustling might have earned him a jail sentence, but for his father’s final act as president. With only 15 minutes to go, he gave a blanket pardon to all the members of his family who might be called to account.

Alas, with its typical bravado, the Trump Team builds on Biden’s tawdry legacy. Gone are the concerns about ‘cashing in’ on the presidency. Gone are worries about down-market advertising or cheap profiteering. Gone too are the old soucis about ‘conflicts of interest.’

The Financial Times is on the story: "After making millions of dollars selling branded bibles, cologne, sneakers and autographed guitars, the president has extracted tens of millions of dollars from social media and news companies who settled lawsuits brought by Trump that few legal experts believed had merit."

This is an entirely new and unexpected way to buy influence. Get sued by Trump. Then, ‘settle’ by giving him money. The FT continues: "But the heart of Trump’s newfound wealth is a rapidly growing cryptocurrency empire built by the president and his family. According to the Financial Times investigation, this business has already reaped more than $1 billion in pre-tax profits over the past year, in part thanks to a crypto boom fueled by the administration’s own industry-friendly policies."

A cryptocurrency empire? Trump told a crypto conference that “the rules will be written by people who love your industry.” He went on to say he intended to make the US the “crypto capital of the world.” But what ‘industry’ is it? What is its product? What is its service? What wealth does it create? We don’t know, but the Trump family has gotten a lot of it.

Whatever else it is, crypto is a great way to channel money to POTUS and his family...and perhaps gain ‘access’ to the White House. The Financial Times implies that ‘a Chinese born crypto billionaire’ may have dodged a fraud charge by putting $75 million into one of Trump’s crypto ventures. Then, he dined with the president in May and pledged to put in another $100 million.

Trump’s ‘super pac’ got at least $41 million from the crypto bros in the first six months of this year. The Abu Dhabi investment firm MGX bought $2 billion worth of a Trump stable coin. A Chinese company said it had raised $300 million for Trump-related crypto. And a fund from the UAE said it bought $100 million in tokens from a Trump-backed crypto investment group. And who can complain? Steve Witkoff’s family now is said to have more than half a billion dollars’ worth of crypto. And Eric Trump says bitcoin will eventually be worth as much as $1 billion each.

Let’s see, rather than bail out the farmers or try to bring back $25-an-hour factory jobs...why not just give everyone a single Trump crypto coin, now? They cost nothing to produce. And then, when they are worth $1 billion each, we’ll be a nation of billionaires. And with a billion-dollar Trump coin, maybe you’ll be able to buy a cup of coffee.

But wait. Is the ‘crypto’ industry just another ‘mistake’ - ‘creating wealth’ while producing nothing…gobbling up huge amounts of time and money, and ultimately reducing the amount of capital available for producing real wealth? Will it actually make most people poorer, not richer? We’ll see."

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

"A Musical How It Really Is, And It Is"

Full screen recommended.

The Temptations, "Ball of Confusion" (1970)

Prophetic...

"WW3 Update: Peace Proposal Designed To Fail, Prepare For Escalation"

Prepper News, 10/22/25

"WW3 Update: Peace Proposal Designed 

To Fail, Prepare For Escalation"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Social Security and Medicare: Will Shutdown End Programs?"

Full screen recommended.

Snyder Reports, 10/22/25

"Social Security and Medicare:

 Will Shutdown End Programs?"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Snyder Reports, 10/21/25

"Warning: 46 States Ready To Cut SNAP Benefits"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Finance Economist, 10/21/25

"Americans Can't Afford Food and Are Getting Desperate - 

It’s Worse Than Anyone Realizes"

"Millions of Americans are struggling to afford basic groceries as prices skyrocket across the country. From food shortages to record-high inflation, the reality is far worse than anyone’s admitting. This video breaks down the truth behind the numbers and why survival is becoming harder by the day."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

If people will do this over a TV, what happens when there's no food?

"What's New At Sam's Club!? New Arrivals & Some Amazing Deals!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures with Danno, 10/22/25

"What's New At Sam's Club!? 

New Arrivals & Some Amazing Deals!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Dan, I Allegedly, "Experts Predict a Massive Crash!"

Dan, I Allegedly, 10/22/25

"Experts Predict a Massive Crash!"

"Gold just hit $4,200 an ounce - what’s next? Could gold actually soar to $10K like some experts are predicting? In today’s video, I sit down with Jack Hanney, CEO of Patriot Gold, to dig into the booming gold and silver markets and what the future might hold. With forecasts from major players like JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America pointing to gold reaching $5,000 by 2026, we’re talking big opportunities in precious metals. Plus, we discuss the potential for silver to follow suit with skyrocketing gains - this is your PSA to start preparing before it’s too late! We explore how central banks are stockpiling gold, the possibility of the U.S. revaluing its gold reserves to tackle the deficit, and what that could mean for prices. If you've ever wondered how inflation, rate cuts, or even global tensions impact gold and silver, this is the conversation for you. And for anyone looking to protect their purchasing power, Jack shares insights on why now is the time to invest in precious metals."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Jim Kunstler, "Enserfification, It’s No Accident"

"Enserfification, It’s No Accident"

by Jim Kunstler

“Oh my God! Movable printed type! We must keep this from

the serfs lest they gain literacy and threaten the landed gentry!”

– "Family Guy"

“The moral and Constitutional obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy to our people.” – Ron Paul. Okay, maybe Ron was a bit of a downer, but if he could see the average millennial staring at blankly at their TikTok® feed while wondering if ramen counts as a vegetable, he’d probably nod and say: “Told ya so.”

America isn’t only circling the drain, it’s installing a fancy gold-plated one, imported from China, because why not add insult to bankruptcy? Let’s talk about “Enserfification.” While I cannot find any reference to this word (I did find “enserfify”) on the Internet, A.I. claims that it’s okay, so that’s good enough for me even though Word™ draws an angry, squiggly line under it.

Enserfification is not quite feudalism, where the lord hands you a pitchfork and a plot of mud and some ugly facial moles in exchange for your firstborn. Nope, it’s sneakier. It’s the slow, corporate/bureaucratic boil where the middle class gets squeezed until the middle class plops, slowly mind you, into the ranks of a serf. Let’s face it, the middle class is shrinking, and those that are in it are not building dreams anymore. They’re just trying not to default on the electric bill for their bread and circuses Netflix™ indoctrination videos. And the statistics? They are brutal.

Those under 40 with a STEM degree and a car payment, life is hitting them like a tax audit from the IRS’s agent that they hired directly from the DMV because she regularly made Marine Drill Instructors cry. Let’s start with jobs.

Remember when Mom and Dad said, “Get a degree in engineering or computers, kid, and you’ll be set for life”? Yeah, that was before the H-1B visa tsunami turned Silicon Valley into a global import mall with accents thicker than a deaf Russian that learned English in South Carolina. In 2024 alone, the U.S. approved a whopping 399,395 H-1B petitions - basically a free-for-all green light for companies to hire cheaper talent from abroad instead of the fresh-faced Americans they just saddled with $100k in student debt. Oh, and did anyone mention that these invaders can bring their spouses, and that they can work, too? That 400,000 number is up 3% from the year before, because nothing says “meritocracy” like importing coders who mainly lie about their degree and qualifications.

Recent American college grads with physics degrees are sitting at a 7.8% unemployment rate, second-worst among majors. Computer engineering? 7.5%. Computer science? 6.1%.

These aren’t lazy trust-funders: these are they (mainly) guys who aced calculus while discovering new an unique ways to self-administer caffeine, only to hit the job market and find a “park’s closed, moose out front should have told you” meme. Why hire Johnny from Boston when you can snag Judgish from Bangalore for 30% less, besides, he’s the nephew of the HR lady?

Enserfification Step One: Lock the gates on opportunity, import infinity Indians, then blame the peasants for not climbing the walls.

Let’s move to step two... Cars are the great American symbol of freedom in the postwar era: cruising the open road with the wind in your hair and AC/DC® describing how to Shoot to Thrill. Me? Back then when I listened to AC/DC™, the neighbors did, too. Except now, that freedom costs more than a down payment on a small ranch would have in the 1980s, and I’m not exaggerating: the average new car price in 2025 is now solidly over $50,000. I have no idea who is buying cars at these prices, outside of federal governments, state governments, local governments and corporations.

Back in 2000, you could snag a reliable sedan for under $20,000. Oh, and that number is adjusted for inflation. But now, most people don’t buy cars with any view towards the price, they look at the monthly payment, so adding leather seats on a... pickup... becomes the norm.

Today? Forget it. Folks are hanging onto their rustbuckets like they’re family heirlooms, because the average age of vehicles on U.S. roads hit a record 12.8 years in 2025. The newest Wilder family vehicle is nearly a decade old. Why the delay? First, value. Most of the new cars are loaded with crap that I don’t value. Heated seats? A.I.-enabled cup holders? Sound systems that have monthly fees.?

The idea is to turn a “here, you bought a car, it’s yours” to “here, you bought a limited-term license to have title to a car that will require $47.50 monthly so it will report your driving habits and destinations to your insurance company without your consent”. Me? I’d much rather own a 2012 Civic™ with rubber floormats and a passenger-side electric mirror that doesn’t work.

This is Enserfification Step Two: Make mobility a luxury, so you’re stuck in your 30-minute commute hell, pondering if that cheap Prius® with just one dead owner from Craigslist© is haunted. (Spoiler alert: it is.) Just like the meme says: in 2030 you’ll own nothing, but you will represent a reliable monthly income stream because to the corporations and governmental entities, that’s what you are. Which is? A serf.

I could go on and on, but I’ve been wordy recently, and you get the picture. I detail housing and our lack of choices there (killed by legal and illegal immigration), federal, state, and local laws that never seem to get rolled back but keep moving in the direction where everything that isn’t mandatory will be prohibited and the other aspects of the subscription economy where a million companies want.

The middle class isn’t shrinking naturally. It is being pulverized into gig-economy paste on purpose on the twin altars of multiculturalism and corporate profits. Their solution: bread and circuses, updated for the smartphone age. How do they make the middle class go quietly onto that good night?

Cell phones that ping into dopamine oblivion,

YouTube® rabbit holes that make three hours vanish like your savings, and

Netflix queues longer than the line at the DMV.

It’s genius, really. Why allow the serfs to revolt when they can be made to doomscroll through cat videos and true crime docs that make their problems seem quaint? Distract the serfs and they’ll never notice the chains.

Enserfification isn’t inevitable. It’s engineered, and requires our consent to win. Don’t patronize businesses that use H-1B employees. Don’t patronize businesses that are owned by foreigners. And, yes, ramen is a vegetable."

- https://wilderwealthywise.com/

"Gigantic CME Was Just Blasted Straight To 3I/ATLAS, The Activation Has Begun"

Full screen recommended.

Stefan Burns, 10/21/25

"Gigantic CME Was Just Blasted Straight To 3I/ATLAS,

 The Activation Has Begun"

"As forecasted months in advance by geophysicist Stefan Burns, solar activity has increased in a massive way with a gigantic coronal mass ejection just launching from the farside of the Sun straight towards 3I/ATLAS! This could be the first of MANY intense solar storms launched to 3I/ATLAS during it's perihelion (closest approached to the Sun), and perhaps a larger solar system wide increase of solar activity is to follow. A powerful radiation storm is likely to begin on Earth imminently as well. Full report by space weather man Stefan Burns"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Jeremiah Babe, "Prepare For The Purge, This Could Get Bad"

Jeremiah Babe, 10/21/25

"Prepare For The Purge, This Could Get Bad"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Mass Layoffs Of Older Workers Are Getting Worse As They Can’t Retire"

Full screen recommended.

Epic Economist, 10/21/25

"Mass Layoffs Of Older Workers

 Are Getting Worse As They Can’t Retire"

"So the job market in 2025 is an absolute mess, and the layoffs just aren't slowing down at all. But there's one angle I really want to dig into today, and that's what's happening to older workers specifically. Now look, I'm not saying younger people have it easy right now—everybody's struggling in this climate. But what I'm seeing is that companies are looking for any excuse to trim costs, and the easiest targets are the people who've been there the longest, making the highest salaries. Then once they're out, trying to get back in becomes this nightmare because you're competing against everyone, algorithms are screening you out, and on top of that, most of these folks can't just retire early. They need to work for another decade or more. The whole thing is honestly a disaster. I've got a ton of examples to show you today, so if you've experienced this yourself and want to share your story, drop it in the comments below. But let's just get right into it."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gerald Celente, "No King Trump? OK! But We Love Genocide Joe Who Stole Billions For Ukraine; We Are Hypocrites"

Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, 10/21/25

"No King Trump? OK! But We Love Genocide Joe 

Who Stole Billions For Ukraine; We Are Hypocrites"

"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/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: 2002, "Realms Of Splendor"

Full screen recommended.

2002, "Realms Of Splendor"

"This song is from our album "Land of Forever." The Tuatha Dé Danann (people of the goddess Danu), were one of the ancient, mythical races of Ireland. They were skilled in architecture, art, science, poetry and magic. The Milesians (ancestors of the Gaels) arrived from the Iberian Peninsula and defeated them in battle around 600 BC, sending the Tuatha Dé Danann to live underground. They were each assigned a sidhe, or hillock. Each sidhe was a door to an underground realm of splendor."  

"A Look to the Heavens"

"What's happening at the center of the Trifid Nebula? Three prominent dust lanes that give the Trifid its name all come together. Mountains of opaque dust appear near the bottom, while other dark filaments of dust are visible threaded throughout the nebula. A single massive star visible near the center causes much of the Trifid's glow. The Trifid, cataloged as M20, is only about 300,000 years old, making it among the youngest emission nebulas known. 

The star forming nebula lies about 9,000 light years away toward the constellation of the Archer (Sagittarius). The region pictured here spans about 10 light years. The featured image is a composite with luminance taken from an image by the 8.2-m ground-based Subaru Telescope, detail provided by the 2.4-m orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, color data provided by Martin Pugh and image assembly and processing provided by Robert Gendler."

- https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

The Poet: Robert Service, "Prelude"

"Prelude"

"In youth I gnawed life's bitter rind

And shared the rugged lot

Of fellows rude and unrefined,

Frustrated and forgot;

And now alas! it is too late

My sorry ways to mend,

So sadly I accept my fate,

A Roughneck to the end.

Profanity is in my voice

And slag is in my rhyme,

For I have mucked with men who curse

And grovel in the grime;

My fingers were not formed, I fear,

To frame a pretty pen,

So please forgive me if I veer

From Virtue now and then.

For I would be the living voice,

Though raucous is its tone,

Of men who rarely may rejoice,

Yet barely ever moan:

The rovers of the raw-ribbed lands,

The lads of lowly worth,

The scallywags with scaley hands

Who weld the ends of earth."

- Robert Service

"It's Official: SNAP Benefits Delayed For Millions"

Full screen recommended.

Snyder Reports, 10/21/25

"It's Official: SNAP Benefits Delayed For Millions"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"People Are Panicking: Millions Could Lose SNAP Benefits This November"

Full screen recommended.

A Homestead Journey, 10/21/25

"People Are Panicking: 

Millions Could Lose SNAP Benefits This November"

"Millions of Americans are facing a crisis they didn’t see coming - the safety net is unraveling. In this video, we expose how food stamp (SNAP) benefits could be cut off or delayed next month and what that means for families already struggling with skyrocketing inflation and the cost of living crisis. As prices rise and paychecks stretch thinner than ever, the loss of SNAP benefits could push millions over the edge.

With the American economy in decline and grocery prices at historic highs, losing access to food assistance isn’t just about missing a meal - it’s about the moral and social collapse of a nation. This is a warning sign of something much deeper: the unraveling of America’s middle class, the breaking of public safety nets, and a growing sense of hopelessness spreading across the country.

We’ll talk about how inflation, debt, and economic instability are converging to create a perfect storm. As more people depend on government aid just to survive, any disruption in that system has devastating ripple effects on households, jobs, and entire communities. And when a society begins to abandon its most vulnerable, the moral foundation starts to crumble too. If you’ve been feeling uneasy about your finances, grocery bills, or what’s next for this country - this video is a must-watch. Because when millions of people start to panic, you’ll want to know why… and how to prepare before it’s too late."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Tommybites Homestead, 10/21/25

"Officials Warn, Prepare Now! 

Millions Will Go Without Food And Pay Checks"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"America's Sixth Default Is Coming"

"America's Sixth Default Is Coming"

by Nick Giambruno

"Every time the US government has faced an existential financial crisis in its history, it has chosen to change the rules rather than honor its promises in full - usually by replacing gold or silver with paper. From the War of 1812 when interest payments were missed, to the Lincoln’s Greenbacks, to Roosevelt voiding gold clauses in 1933, the end of silver redemption in 1968, and Nixon closing the gold window in 1971, Washington has defaulted five times before - often by shifting the terms of payment rather than admitting outright failure.

There’s no doubt these episodes were defaults. To claim otherwise would be like trying to unilaterally change the terms of your dollar-denominated mortgage or credit card bill so that you could pay your liabilities with Argentine pesos or Zimbabwe dollars - and then pretending that somehow it wasn’t a default.

The US government is essentially telling its creditors the same thing Darth Vader once said: "I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further." Just like in Star Wars, the message is clear - Washington will change the rules whenever it needs to. Creditors may get paid, but not in the way they were promised, and certainly not in the way they expected.

Today, the US government is once again in an existential financial bind. The national debt is unmanageable, federal spending is locked on an upward path, and interest on that debt has already surged past $1 trillion a year. At this pace, interest could soon overtake Social Security as the single largest item in the federal budget.

The largest expenditures are entitlements like Social Security and Medicare. No politician will cut them - in fact, they’ll keep growing. Tens of millions of Baby Boomers, nearly a quarter of the population, are moving into retirement. Cutting benefits is political suicide. Defense spending, already massive, is also off-limits. With the most precarious geopolitical environment since World War 2, military spending isn’t going down - it’s going up. Welfare programs are similarly untouchable.

The only way to meaningfully reduce spending would be to slash entitlements, dismantle the welfare state, shut down hundreds of foreign military bases, and repay a large portion of the national debt to lower the interest cost. That would require a leader willing to restore a limited Constitutional Republic. However, that’s a completely unrealistic fantasy. It would be foolish to bet on that happening.

Here’s the bottom line: Washington cannot even slow the spending growth rate, let alone cut it. Expenditures have nowhere to go but up - way up. Tax revenue won’t save the day either. Even if tax rates went to 100%, it would not be enough to stop the debt from growing. According to Forbes, there are around 806 billionaires in the US with a combined net worth of about $5.8 trillion. Even if Washington confiscated 100% of billionaire wealth, it would barely fund a single year of spending - and it wouldn’t do a thing to stop the unstoppable trajectory of debt and deficits.

That means interest expense will keep exploding. It has already surpassed the defense budget and is on track to exceed Social Security soon. At that point, interest could consume most federal tax revenue. The old accounting tricks and fiat games won’t hide the reality for much longer.

In short, the skyrocketing interest bill is now an urgent threat to the US government’s solvency. I have no doubt Washington will soon find itself unable to meet its obligations once again. So the question now is: what will the sixth default look like? I don’t think the sixth default will be a dramatic, one-day event like in 1933 or 1971. It will be a slow-motion process: steady debasement of the dollar to cover a debt burden that cannot be serviced honestly. And just like in the past, Washington and its lackeys in the media will never admit it’s a default.

Unlike the past, the US no longer has obligations tied to gold or silver. Everything is denominated in fiat currency that the Federal Reserve can create without limit. The mechanics are different, but the outcome will be the same: creditors will get stiffed with money worth far less than what was promised.

After the 1971 default, which cut the dollar’s last tie to gold, the unspoken promise was that Washington would be a responsible steward of its fiat currency. At the core of that promise was the illusion that the Federal Reserve would act independently of political pressures. The idea was simple: without at least the appearance of independence, investors would see the Fed for what it is - a funding arm for spendthrift politicians - and confidence in the dollar would collapse. That illusion is now shattering.

The government must issue ever-growing amounts of debt while keeping rates low to contain exploding interest costs. That’s where the Federal Reserve comes in. Backed into a corner, Washington will force the Fed to slash rates, buy Treasuries, and launch wave after wave of monetary easing. These measures will debase the dollar while destroying the illusion of Fed independence. That’s why I believe the collapse of the Fed’s credibility as an independent institution will define the sixth default.

One of the clearest signs is Trump’s push to consolidate power over the Fed. Let’s be clear: central banks were never "independent." They exist to siphon wealth from the public through inflation and funnel it to the politically connected. The Fed’s independence was always a mirage - and now it’s disappearing fast. Trump is simply doing what any leader in his position would do. No one believes China’s central bank is independent of Xi. If any nation faced a similar crisis, its central bank would fall in line with government demands.

I expect Trump will get his way with the Fed. The Fed will bend to his demands, debasing the dollar to keep the debt burden from spiraling out of control. He will either force Powell to get in line or replace him outright, stacking the Fed with loyalists. The result will be money printing on a scale we’ve never seen before.

Trump's efforts are already starting to work. At Jackson Hole, Powell admitted that "the shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting our policy stance," signaling that rate cuts could come soon. And that’s exactly what happened. On September 17, the Fed cut rates by 25bps and indicated more to come. Further, Stephen Miran, Trump’s most recent successful nominee to the Federal Reserve Board, has been pushing the idea of what he calls the Fed’s "third mandate."

Traditionally, the Fed has two mandates: price stability and maximum employment. Miran’s proposed third mandate would be for the Fed to "moderate long-term interest rates." What that really means is that the Fed would openly finance the federal government by creating new dollars to buy long-term debt, keeping yields artificially low. In other words, the so-called third mandate is an explicit admission that the Fed is no longer independent. It would become a political tool used to fund government spending.

Without this support, massive federal spending would flood the market with Treasuries, pushing interest rates much higher. But with the Fed stepping in, Washington can keep borrowing while holding rates down - at least for a while. The catch is that this comes at the cost of debasing the dollar. Eventually, that debasement will force investors to demand higher yields anyway, which only worsens the problem.

I believe it’s only a matter of time before the Fed fully capitulates, shattering the illusion of independence once and for all. Mike Wilson, CIO at Morgan Stanley, recently made it explicit: "The Fed does have an obligation to help the government fund itself. I’d be nervous if the Fed was totally independent. The Fed needs to help us get out of this deficit problem."

This is the essence of the sixth default. It won’t come through missed payments or rewritten contracts. It will come through the collapse of the myth that the Fed is independent. Once monetary policy is fully political, the fallout will be enormous - for the dollar, for Treasuries, and for gold.

And it’s not happening in isolation. As Washington sinks deeper into debt, the rest of the world sees exactly what’s coming. Central banks are moving to protect themselves. I believe they know debasement is inevitable, and they don’t intend to be left holding the bag. Their response has been clear: abandon paper promises and move back toward gold.

In short, the sixth default won’t be a headline - it will be a bleed-out. When the dollar is quietly debased and the Fed’s "independence" finally cracks, it will be too late to reposition. If you’ve read this far, you already sense the window is closing. Do not wait for confirmation from the evening news. The question now is not if but how this crisis will unfold, and whether you’ll be on the losing end of it."

- https://internationalman.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Lehigh Acres, Florida, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

And Of Course..."

And, of course, the universal and inevitable excuse…

“A person who is going to commit an inhuman act invariably 

excuses himself to himself by saying, “I’m only human, after all.”

- Sydney J. Harris

I've always wondered...

Everyone says “Only human…” compared to what?

Full screen recommended.

Billy Joel, "You're Only Human (Second Wind)"

"Doug Casey on the End of Western Civilization"

"Doug Casey on the End of Western Civilization"

by International Man

"International Man: The decline of Western Civilization is on a lot of people’s minds. Let’s talk about this trend.

Doug Casey: Western Civilization has its origins in ancient Greece. It’s unique among the world’s civilizations in putting the individual - as opposed to the collective - in a central position. It enshrined logic and rational thought - as opposed to mysticism and superstition - as the way to deal with the world. It’s because of this that we have science, technology, great literature and art, capitalism, personal freedom, the concept of progress, and much, much more. In fact, almost everything worth having in the material world is due to Western Civilization.

Ayn Rand once said "East minus West equals zero." I think she went a bit too far, as a rhetorical device, but she was essentially right. When you look at what the world’s other civilizations have brought to the party, at least over the last 2,500 years, it’s trivial. I lived in the Orient for years. There are many things I love about it - martial arts, yoga, and the cuisine among them. But all the progress they’ve made is due to adopting the fruits of the West.

International Man: There are so many things degrading Western Civilization. Where do we begin?

Doug Casey: It’s been said, correctly, that a civilization always collapses from within. World War 1, in 1914, signaled the start of the long collapse of Western Civilization. Of course, termites were already eating away at the foundations, with the writings of people like Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marx. It’s been on an accelerating downward path ever since, even though technology and science have been improving at a quantum pace. They are, however, like delayed action flywheels, operating on stored energy and accumulated capital. Without capital, intellectual freedom, and entrepreneurialism, science and technology will slow down. I’m optimistic we’ll make it to Kurzweil’s Singularity, but there are no guarantees.

Things also changed with the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. Before that, the US used gold coinage for money. "The dollar" was just a name for 1/20th of an ounce of gold. That is what the dollar was. Paper dollars were just receipts for gold on deposit in the Treasury. The income tax, enacted the same year, threw more sand in the gears of civilization. The world was much freer before the events of 1913 and 1914, which acted to put the State at the center of everything.

The Fed and the income tax are both disastrous and unnecessary things, enemies of the common man in every way. Unfortunately, people have come to believe they’re fixtures in the cosmic firmament. They’re the main reasons - there are many other reasons, though, unfortunately - why the average American’s standard of living has been dropping since the early 1970s. In fact, were it not for these things, and the immense amount of capital destroyed during the numerous wars of the last 100 years, I expect we’d have already colonized the moon and Mars. Among many other things.

But I want to re-emphasize that the science, the technology, and all the wonderful toys we have are not the essence of Western Civilization. They’re consequences of individualism, capitalism, rational thought, and personal freedom. It’s critical not to confuse cause and effect.

International Man: You mentioned that the average American’s standard of living has dropped since the early 1970s. This is directly related to the US government abandoning the dollar’s last link to gold in 1971. Since then, the Federal Reserve has been able to debase the US dollar without limit. I think the dollar’s transformation into a purely fiat currency has eroded the rule of law and morality in the US. It’s similar to what happened in the Roman Empire after it started debasing its currency. What do you think, Doug?

Doug Casey: All the world’s governments and central banks share a common philosophy, which drives these policies. They believe that you create economic activity by stimulating demand, and you stimulate demand by printing money. And, of course, it’s true, in a way. Roughly the same way a counterfeiter can stimulate a local economy.

Unfortunately, they ignore that, and completely ignore that the way a person or a society becomes wealthy is by producing more than they consume and saving the difference. That difference, savings, is how you create capital. Without capital you’re reduced to subsistence, scratching at the earth with a stick. These people think that by inflating - which is to say destroying - the currency, they can create prosperity. But what they’re really doing, is destroying capital: When you destroy the value of the currency, that discourages people from saving it. And when people don’t save, they can’t build capital, and the vicious cycle goes on.

This is destructive for civilization itself, in both the long term and the short term. The more paper money, the more credit, they create, the more society focuses on finance, as opposed to production. It’s why there are many times more people studying finance than science. The focus is increasingly on speculation, not production. Financial engineering, not mechanical, electrical, or chemical engineering. And lots of laws and regulations to keep the unstable structure from collapsing.

What keeps a truly civil society together isn’t laws, regulations, and police. It’s peer pressure, social opprobrium, moral approbation, and your reputation. These are the four elements that keep things together. Western Civilization is built on voluntarism. But, as the State grows, that’s being replaced by coercion in every aspect of society. There are regulations on the most obscure areas of life. As Harvey Silverglate pointed out in his book, the average American commits three felonies a day. Whether he’s caught and prosecuted is a subject of luck and the arbitrary will of some functionary. That’s antithetical to the core values of Western Civilization.

International Man: Speaking of ancient civilizations like Rome, interest rates are just coming off the the lowest levels they’ve been in 5,000 years of recorded history. Trillions of dollars’ worth of government bonds trade at negative yields. Of course, this couldn’t happen in a free market. It’s only possible because of central bank manipulation. How will artificially low interest rates affect the collapse of Western Civilization?

Doug Casey: It’s really, really serious. I previously thought it was metaphysically impossible to have negative interest rates but, in the Bizarro World central banks have created, it’s happened.

Negative interest rates discourage saving. Once again, saving is what builds capital. Without capital you wind up as an empty shell - Rome in 450 A.D., or Detroit today - lots of wonderful but empty buildings and no economic activity. Worse, it forces people to desperately put their money in all manner of idiotic speculations in an effort to stay ahead of inflation. They wind up chasing the bubbles the funny money creates.

Let me re-emphasize something: in order for science and technology to advance you need capital. Where does capital come from? It comes from people producing more than they consume and saving the difference. Debt, on the other hand, means you’re living above your means. You’re either consuming the capital others have saved, or you’re mortgaging your future.

Zero and negative interest rate policies, and the creation of money out of nowhere, are actually destructive of civilization itself. It makes the average guy feel that he’s not in control of his own destiny. He starts believing that the State, or luck, or Allah will provide for him. That attitude is typical of people from backward parts of the world - not Western Civilization.

International Man: What does it say about the economy and society that people work so hard to interpret what officials from the Federal Reserve and other central banks say?

Doug Casey: It’s a shameful waste of time. They remind me of primitives seeking the counsel of witch doctors. One hundred years ago, the richest people in the country - the Rockefellers, the Carnegies, and such - made their money creating industries that actually made stuff. Now, the richest people in the country just shuffle money around. They get rich because they’re close to the government and the hydrant of currency materialized by the Federal Reserve. I’d say it’s a sign that society in the US has become quite degraded.

The world revolves much less around actual production, but around guessing the direction of financial markets. Negative interest rates are creating bubbles, and will eventually result in an economic collapse.

International Man: Negative interest rates are essentially a tax on savings. A lot of people would rather pull their money out of the bank and stuff it under a mattress than suffer that sting. The economic central planners know this. It’s why they’re using negative interest rates to ramp up the War on Cash - the push to eliminate paper currency and create a cashless society.

The banking system is very fragile. Banks don’t hold much paper cash. It’s mostly digital bytes on a computer. If people start withdrawing paper money en masse, it won’t take much to bring the whole system down. Their solution is to make accessing cash harder, and in some cases, illegal. That’s why the economic witch doctors at Harvard are pounding the table to get rid of the $100 bill. Take France, for example. It’s now illegal to make cash transactions over €1,000 without documenting them properly.

Negative interest rates have turbocharged the War on Cash. If the central planners win this war, it would be the final deathblow to financial privacy. How does this all relate to the collapse of Western Civilization?

Doug Casey: I believe the next step in their idiotic plan is to abolish cash. Decades ago they got rid of gold coinage, which used to circulate day to day in people’s pockets. Then they got rid of silver coinage. Now, they’re planning to get rid of cash altogether. So you won’t even have euros or dollars or pounds in your wallet anymore, or if you do, it will only be very small denominations. Everything else is going to have to be done through electronic payment processing.

This is a huge disaster for the average person: absolutely everything that you buy or sell, other than perhaps a candy bar or a hamburger, is going to have to go through the banking system. Thus, the government will be able to monitor every transaction and payment. Financial privacy, even what’s left of it today, will literally cease to exist.

Privacy is one of the big differences between a civilized society and a primitive society. In a primitive society, in your little dirt hut village, anybody can look through your window or pull back the flap on your tent. You have no privacy. Everybody can hear everything; see anything. This was one of the marvelous things about Western Civilization - privacy was valued, and respected. But that concept, like so many others, is on its way out…

International Man: You’ve mentioned before that language and words provide important clues to the collapse of Western Civilization. How so?

Doug Casey: Many of the words you hear, especially on television and other media, are confused, conflated, or completely misused. Many recent changes in the way words are used are corrupting the language. As George Orwell liked to point out, to control language is to control thought. The corruption of language is adding to the corruption of civilization itself. This is not a trivial factor in the degradation of Western Civilization.

Words - their exact meanings, and how they’re used are critically important. If you don’t mean what you say and say what you mean, then it’s impossible to communicate accurately. Forget about transmitting philosophical concepts.

Take for example shareholders and stakeholders. We all know that a shareholder actually owns a share in a company, but have you noticed that over the last generation shareholders have become less important than stakeholders? Even though stakeholders are just hangers-on, employees, or people who are looking to get in on a shakedown. But everybody slavishly acknowledges, "Yes, we’ve got to look out for the stakeholders." Where did that concept come from? It’s a recent creation, but Boobus americanus seems to think it was carved in stone at the country’s founding.

We’re told to protect them, as if they were a valuable and endangered species. I say, "A pox upon stakeholders." If they want a vote in what a company does, then they ought to become shareholders. Stakeholders are a class of being created out of nothing by Cultural Marxists for the purpose of shaking down shareholders."

Editor’s Note: This is going to be the most turbulent decade in US history…The 2020s ​will be more ​dangerous than the 1930s, the 1940s, and even the 1860s. That's because severe crises are brewing on multiple fronts and converging. The whole system will have a complete reset, and soon. It could be the BIGGEST thing since the founding of the USA."

- internationalman.com