"Now Is the Time of Monsters"

"Now Is the Time of Monsters"

by Jeff Thomas

"In ancient Rome, interregnum was the term given to the period between stable governments when anything untoward might occur, and sometimes did – civil unrest, warfare between warlords, power vacuums and, finally, succession wars. But eventually the dust would settle and the victors, whoever they might be, would at some point restabilise the empire, often with a new map, showing the latest lines of geographic possession.

In 1929, the Italian Antonio Gramsci was in a fascist prison, writing about what he considered to be a new interregnum – a Europe that was tearing itself apart. He anticipated civil unrest, war between nations and repeated changes in the lines of geographic possession. At that time, he was attributed as saying, "The old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters."

And, of course, looking back from our vantage point in the twenty-first century, we have no difficulty in confirming that he was correct in his prognosis. The world war that followed brought forward the worst traits in mankind. The sociopaths of the world came centre-stage. By the time the dust had settled, tens of millions were dead.

What we do have difficulty with is recognizing that the same pattern is again with us. National leaders and their advisors are spoiling for war, building up weaponry, creating senseless proxy wars in other nations’ backyards and playing a dangerous game of "chicken" with other major powers.

This will not end well. It never does. Once the shoving-match has begun, it only escalates. At some point, whether it’s the false-flag assassination of an Archduke, as in World War I, or the false flag attack on Germany by Poland, as in World War II, we can always count on some excuse being created to justify diving headlong into war.

It’s also true that, when empires get into economic trouble that’s too far gone for any viable solution, a trick that’s always employed by political leaders to keep the citizens from removing them from their seats of power, is to start a war. A people will, if they believe their homeland is in peril, accept the "temporary" removal of their freedoms. Even in the United States, the famed "Land of the Free," political leaders have routinely imprisoned dissidents in times of warfare. People tend to get behind their leaders in wartime, no matter how undeserved that loyalty might be.

And so, now is the time of monsters, as Mr. Gramsci rightly stated. A time of uncertainty, when countries are in turmoil and would-be leaders are jostling for power with existing leaders. An interregnum.

Troubled times tend to bring out all the crazies – all the sociopathic-types that would find it hard to succeed in stable, prosperous times. In such times, the average person becomes worried that things are not going to turn out well. That’s perfectly understandable. Unfortunately, most people lack both the imagination and the courage to cope with how the times are impacting their lives. They instead rely on others to provide a torch that might help them escape from the darkness.

Not surprising then, that every snake-oil salesman in town sees an opportunity to offer big promises – promises that he has neither the ability nor the inclination to fulfill. At such times, the people of a country tend to become polarized, placing their faith in one political party or another, hoping that their party will "make the bad stuff go away."

In the US we see, on the liberal side, promises for "free health care for all," a guaranteed basic income, housing for those who cannot afford it, and an endless stream of promises that, if the government were to implement them all, they will not be able to pay for them, even with 100% taxation from those who presently pay tax.

On the conservative side, we see promises such as "Make America Great Again," with tax rebates that do not rejuvenate the economy, breaks for firms that have expatriated, but do not fool them into returning, claims to cut budgets, only to increase them, and promises to eliminate debt, only to expand it.

To be sure, the problem begins at the top. But it doesn’t end there. It sifts down to the proletariat, who, unable to come up with constructive solutions, create their own monsters, trashing the shops and burning the cars of people who had no hand in creating the problem.

But surely this is just a one-off phase, in which the best and brightest are temporarily pushed offstage, but will soon return, yes? Well, unfortunately, no. Historically, a period such as this one is followed by one of increased madness. Historically, the next step is societal breakdown. Riots, secessions and revolutions become commonplace, accompanied by economic collapse.

Out of these events come the worst monsters of all. It’s in the wake of such developments that the people of any country then turn away from those that made the empty promises and toward those who promise revenge against an ill-defined group who are characterized as having caused the problems. That’s when the Robespierres, the Lenins, the Hitlers – the greatest monsters – are swept into power. They invariably deliver the same message – that they’ll seek out the aristocracy, the gentry, the patricians, and strip them of their positions and possessions.

Invariably the way that this shakes out is not that the average man rises up, taking his "fair share" of the spoils. Instead, the leaders take the spoils and the proletariat are reduced to an equality of poverty. Our friend Mr. Gramsci found himself imprisoned by Benito Mussolini and died from illnesses incurred in prison. Unfortunately, his approach was to complain, but remain, as his country deteriorated around him. This proved, for him, to be the worst of choices. And, so it is today."

- https://internationalman.com/

“The Meaning Of Good And Evil In Perilous Times”

“The Meaning Of Good And Evil In Perilous Times”

by Brandon Smith

"Perhaps the most destructive idea ever planted in the minds of the general public is the notion that nothing in this world is permanent – that all things can and must be constantly changed to suit our whims. The concept of impermanence fuels what I call “blank slate propaganda.” The usefulness of the blank slate as a weapon for social control should be explained before we examine the nature of good and evil, because these days it infects everything.

The push for never ending social “evolution” has been called many things over the decades. In the early 1900s in Europe it was called “futurism;” an art and philosophical movement that helped spawn the rise of communism and fascism in politics.The argument that all old ideas and longstanding traditions should be abandoned to make way for new ideas, new technologies, news systems etc., assumes that the supposedly new ways of doing things are superior to the old ways of doing things. Things are rarely this simple, and in most cases the new methods so proudly championed by movements for social change are usually recycled and repackaged old ideas that are notorious for failure.

The blank slate theory is designed to confuse people with self-doubt and to misrepresent the constructs of nature as constructs of society. It most effectively disrupts people’s relationship to their own moral compass by suggesting that moral compass should be completely ignored as artificial. The argument by blank slate proponents is that all boundaries are created by society instead of by inborn conscience, and that these boundaries often hold us back from achieving our goals, bettering ourselves as a species and generally getting what we want out of life.

But the things we want are not always the things we need, and this is something that movement’s for social change often refuse to grasp. If we are all blank slates and if morality and the human soul are myths, why not do whatever the hell we want, whenever we want and live life as if it is one big Roman orgy of feasting, self-medicating and overall addiction to sensation?

The problem with the blank slate concept is that while it purports that all restrictions in the human psyche are taught to us rather than being inborn and that they can be abandoned any time we want, we still can’t seem to avoid the consequences of breaking those restrictions. People lose their sanity, societies crumble and nations fall to ruin over time the more we cast aside our principles in the name of social evolution or short term gain. It is unavoidable.

The only people who seem to benefit from the spread of the blank slate are the people already in political and economic power. For if they can convince the masses to ignore their conscience, they can then convince us to accept almost any other conditions.

To act in a manner consistent with inherent conscience, or to ignore conscience and act destructively, is a choice. It is the core pillar of free will. The choice to act destructively does not erase the reality of inherent conscience; in fact, people often have to be fooled into believing that a destructive and immoral action is a “good thing” before they are convinced to carry it out. Inherent conscience must be bypassed through trickery.

The problem with choosing to stick by one’s principles is that it is easy during times of relative stability, but increasingly difficult during times of struggle. In perilous days, the temptation to use destructive tactics to maintain an expectation of comfort or to merely survive can be high. It is no coincidence that power elites, the same people that tend to promote blank slate propaganda, also tend to deliberately engineer social crisis and chaos. But perhaps this needs a deeper explanation. We must define something most of us already understand intuitively. We must define “evil.”

Like inherent conscience and moral boundaries, blank slate theorists and social change advocates attempt to muddy the waters of what constitutes evil. Some will say there is no such thing - that evil is whatever we deem it to be in any given era depending on our biases. Others will claim that tradition, permanence and anything in society that remains static is evil. The only “good” for them is constant change.

But evil is not as illusory and changing as these people suggest. In fact, most men and women recoil automatically from certain specific behaviors regardless of how they were raised, what environment they come from, what culture they were born into or what era they lived. The people who don’t recoil at these behaviors are the people we have to watch out for because they are missing something integral to the heart and mind that makes the rest of us human.

In psychological terms, the characteristics of high level narcissists and sociopaths match most closely with our historic concept of evil. And, in my view, most great evils done in history are in fact done by people with multiple narcissistic traits. As far as global elitists are concerned, they represent a rather insidious threat, because they are narcissistic sociopaths that have organized into a predatory gang, so all the traits consistent with the behavior of your average serial killer are now magnified a thousandfold by their access to unlimited resources.

How do we identify these people? Well, this is a difficult prospect at times because narcissistic sociopaths commonly hide in plain sight. Some people live with them for years before realizing exactly what they are. They also like to insert themselves into nonprofit organizations that claim to do good for the community as a cover for their more insidious motives.

Some traits and behaviors that are common are a lack of normal emotional response to traumatic events or joyous events, or they will mimic the responses of others to blend in but they come off as “forced” or “fake.” They have no concept of empathy; it does not exist for them.

They seek out centers of power and are drawn to positions of authority. They always seem to be demanding the efforts of others while rarely offering their own help. They make terrible leaders, always attempting to lead from a place of safety while letting their conscripts take the risks. Leading by example is a foreign concept to them.

They will lie repetitively about their accomplishments and their accolades. They will misrepresent their professional achievements in order to gain people’s trust. Ask them to prove through actions that they can do all the things they claim they can do, and they will try to avoid the test or respond indignantly and angrily.

They will gaslight their ideological enemies or people they are trying to control. They will accuse others of being “narcissists” or “sociopaths” or fascists or any moniker that will push the buttons of their target. Whatever evils they are guilty of, they will try to flip and lay at the feet of their enemies.

They always seem to have “minions” to do their dirty work for them and attack those that oppose them. People that have dealt with narcissistic sociopaths in their personal lives sometimes refer to these minions as “flying monkeys,” referencing the flying monkeys enslaved by the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. Flying monkeys are essentially useful idiots that the narcissist employs through fraud and sometimes through pay. Whenever the narcissist is under threat of being exposed, they unleash their flying monkeys onto the streets or onto the internet to undermine truth tellers.

They do not believe in moral or personal boundaries which is why they are always trying convince people that such boundaries are a myth. They will cross moral lines, always testing the fences for weaknesses; trying to wear others down until they give up and stop fighting back.

They desperately want to come out of the shadows and into the light of day. They want to be adored as the monsters they are, rather than the fake philanthropists they portray themselves as. In order to do this, every narcissistic sociopath makes it their duty to erase the idea of conscience, whether they are part of the globalist cabal or just another ghoul down the street. Their natural inclination is to corrupt whatever they touch, and if they cannot corrupt a thing, they will attempt to destroy that thing.

Most of all, narcissistic sociopaths want everyone around them to believe that we are just like them. That “deep down” all of us are unprincipled and morally bankrupt and all it takes is a crisis or calamity, just a little chaos to bring out the devil in everyone. But if this were really the case, then humanity would have died out long ago through endless self-destruction; something keeps bringing us back from the brink in our personal lives and in society as a whole. Conscience keeps defeating evil by refusing to grant evil people the utopia of blank slate chaos they want so badly. And this is what give me confidence that no matter how terrible our days might become there is something on our side that goes beyond the physical world.

Every crisis is a test, a test of each person and a test of our culture. Can we act with reason and courage and principle even in the worst of times, or will we be lured to make our struggle easier through malicious means? Will we do right by those around us, or will we happily trample over them in the name of “survival?” In the end, the worst men bring the best men to the surface. This is the only “good” they will ever do.”

- https://www.zerohedge.com/news/

"The Sociopath Next Door"

"The Sociopath Next Door"

by Martha Stout

"Imagine - if you can - not having a conscience, none at all, no feelings of guilt or remorse no matter what you do, no limiting sense of concern for the well-being of strangers, friends, or even family members. Imagine no struggles with shame, not a single one in your whole life, no matter what kind of selfish, lazy, harmful, or immoral action you had taken. And pretend that the concept of responsibility is unknown to you, except as a burden others seem to accept without question, like gullible fools.

Now add to this strange fantasy the ability to conceal from other people that your psychological makeup is radically different from theirs. Since everyone simply assumes that conscience is universal among human beings, hiding the fact that you are conscience-free is nearly effortless. You are not held back from any of your desires by guilt or shame, and you are never confronted by others for your cold-bloodedness. The ice water in your veins is so bizarre, so completely outside of their personal experience, that they seldom even guess at your condition. In other words, you are completely free of internal restraints, and your unhampered liberty to do just as you please, with no pangs of conscience, is conveniently invisible to the world.

You can do anything at all, and still your strange advantage over the majority of people, who are kept in line by their consciences will most likely remain undiscovered. How will you live your life? What will you do with your huge and secret advantage, and with the corresponding handicap of other people (conscience)? The answer will depend largely on just what your desires happen to be, because people are not all the same. Even the profoundly unscrupulous are not all the same. Some people - whether they have a conscience or not - favor the ease of inertia, while others are filled with dreams and wild ambitions. Some human beings are brilliant and talented, some are dull-witted, and most, conscience or not, are somewhere in between. There are violent people and nonviolent ones, individuals who are motivated by blood lust and those who have no such appetites. Provided you are not forcibly stopped, you can do anything at all.

Maybe you are someone who craves money and power, and though you have no vestige of conscience, you do have a magnificent IQ. You have the driving nature and the intellectual capacity to pursue tremendous wealth and influence, and you are in no way moved by the nagging voice of conscience that prevents other people from doing everything and anything they have to do to succeed. You choose business, politics, the law, banking or international development, or any of a broad array of other power professions, and you pursue your career with a cold passion that tolerates none of the usual moral or legal encumbrances. When it is expedient, you doctor the accounting and shred the evidence, you stab your employees and your clients (or your constituency) in the back, marry for money, tell lethal premeditated lies to people who trust you, attempt to ruin colleagues who are powerful or eloquent, and simply steamroll over groups who are dependent and voiceless. And all of this you do with the exquisite freedom that results from having no conscience whatsoever.

You become unimaginably, unassailably, and maybe even globally successful. Why not? With your big brain, and no conscience to rein in your schemes, you can do anything at all. If you are born at the right time, with some access to family fortune, and you have a special talent for whipping up other people's hatred and sense of deprivation, you can arrange to kill large numbers of unsuspecting people. With enough money, you can accomplish this from far away, and you can sit back safely and watch in satisfaction. Crazy and frightening - and real, in about 6 percent of the population.

The high incidence of sociopathy in human society has a profound effect on the rest of us who must live on this planet, too, even those of us who have not been clinically traumatized. The individuals who constitute this 6 percent drain our relationships, our bank accounts, our accomplishments, our self-esteem, our very peace on earth.

Yet surprisingly, many people know nothing about this disorder, or if they do, they think only in terms of violent psychopathy - murderers, serial killers, mass murderers - people who have conspicuously broken the law many times over, and who, if caught, will be imprisoned, maybe even put to death by our legal system. We are not commonly aware of, nor do we usually identify, the larger number of nonviolent sociopaths among us, people who often are not blatant lawbreakers, and against whom our formal legal system provides little defense.

Most of us would not imagine any correspondence between conceiving an ethnic genocide and, say, guiltlessly lying to one's boss about a coworker. But the psychological correspondence is not only there; it is chilling. Simple and profound, the link is the absence of the inner mechanism that beats up on us, emotionally speaking, when we make a choice we view as immoral, unethical, neglectful, or selfish. Most of us feel mildly guilty if we eat the last piece of cake in the kitchen, let alone what we would feel if we intentionally and methodically set about to hurt another person. Those who have no conscience at all are a group unto themselves, whether they be homicidal tyrants or merely ruthless social snipers.

The presence or absence of conscience is a deep human division, arguably more significant than intelligence, race, or even gender. What differentiates a sociopath who lives off the labors of others from one who occasionally robs convenience stores, or from one who is a contemporary robber baron - or what makes the difference between an ordinary bully and a sociopathic murderer - is nothing more than social status, drive, intellect, blood lust, or simple opportunity. What distinguishes all of these people from the rest of us is an utterly empty hole in the psyche, where there should be the most evolved of all humanizing functions."

- http://www.cix.co.uk/~klockstone/spath.htm

"Beware When You Hear These 7 Phrases: They Are Used by Emotional Abusers to Have You Under Their Control"

"Beware When You Hear These 7 Phrases: 

They Are Used by Emotional Abusers to Have You Under Their Control"

By Sherrie Hurd

"Emotional abusers are tricky, and they use certain phrases to manipulate you. Many of these statements may seem ordinary at first, so beware. Emotional abusers are everywhere. They may be a member of your family, one of your friends, or even your partner. But the problem is they’re good at hiding what they are, so it’s not always easy weeding them out. People with narcissistic tendencies and other toxic individuals do, however, display telltale characteristics.

Phrases emotional abusers say: Here’s the thing: pay close attention to what people say to you. If it feels off, there’s a good reason for this intuition. You could be, in fact, dealing with someone who has emotionally abusive tendencies. Here are a few common phrases emotional abusers use.

1. “You’re never satisfied”: What this really means is: “You’re not accepting my bare minimum effort in our relationship, and this makes me uncomfortable knowing that I should try harder.” Does that sound familiar to you? If it does, then you could be dealing with emotional abusers. And it’s not that you’re not satisfied at all. You just deserve quality treatment and you’re not getting that.

2. “Everyone thinks you’re crazy”: What this really means is: “You’re getting too close to revealing my true nature, so I must make you look crazy to divert everyone’s attention.” I bet you’ve been called crazy before when all you’re doing is trying to reveal the truth. You see, emotional abusers lose ground when cracks start to appear in the façade they’ve created. They must maintain control over you, and so they choose to use gaslighting to do so.

3. “You’re much too sensitive”: What this really means is: “You’re causing me problems with your emotional needs.” If something upsets you, then you have every right to express your emotions and seek support from loved ones. Never let anyone tell you that you’re too sensitive about any given subject of concern. You should never have a limit on grieving or frustration, either. This statement is so toxic and you will know that you’re dealing with an emotional abuser if they say this.

4. “No one knows you as I do”: What this really means is: “I am working really hard to isolate you from everyone you know and love, so listen to me.” And I am not exaggerating when I say this either. An emotional abuser will pull out all the stops to isolate you. It’s the only way that they can prove they are the closest person to you–because they’ll make themselves the only person you associate with if they’re successful. This is terrifying, so recognize this statement for what it really means.

5. “You’re overreacting”: What this really means is: “I am uncomfortable with how upset you are with me. It disrupts my ability to convince you that I’m perfect and blameless” An emotional abuser will do something negative to you, and then when you get upset, they will downplay what they’ve done. But listen, you are valid in your anger and aggravation with them if they did something that hurt you. This is especially true if it was due to their negligence or lack of responsibilities. Pay close attention to this condescending statement.

6. “I was just joking”: What this really means is: “Darn, what I said really made you mad, and I cannot think of another way to flip it around. So, I will just act like it was a joke and make you feel bad for not getting my joke. Jokes on you! ha.”

I’ve had this done to me so many times. When someone did this to me the first time, I felt bad for not recognizing the joke. But then I paid attention to how many times they used this statement. I realized that they’d bit off more than they could chew when insulting me, and this made them backtrack. The quickest way they knew how to recant the statement was to say it was a joke. Cunning and calculating, isn’t it?

7. “Look what you made me do”: What this really means is: “I screwed up, but not to worry, I will blame you.” No matter what the emotional abuser does to you, they will try to convince you that it’s your fault. If they cheat on you, it’s because you didn’t pay enough attention to them. If they lie to you, it’s because you have anger issues and they are afraid to tell you the truth.There’s always going to be some reason why the abuser’s negative actions are the fault of someone else. This toxic individual has few responsibilities for their heinous ways.

An emotional abuser’s deadliest weapon is their words: Abuse in all forms is scarring and can lead to emotional damage that takes years to heal. And sometimes you don’t even know when it’s happening until you’ve been in this type of situation for a very long time. Emotional abuse not only hurts you, but it also convinces you that you’re not worthy. And this is the biggest lie of all. And if you don’t remember anything else about this article, I want you to know that you are more than worthy, beautiful, and amazing.

If you’re living with an emotional abuser, do not hesitate to seek professional help if needed. While there are many things you can do on your own to combat this type of abuse, it can still sneak inside and infect you with its toxic imprint. You must be a very strong person to withstand some of the tactics used by the emotional abuser. So remember, find that support system and keep talking about these things until we’ve made a huge difference in our lives and the lives of many other victims of this abuse. Hope you have a wonderful day."

- https://www.learning-mind.com/

"This Mass Acceptance of Tyrannical Evil Is Directly Related to the Intentional Dumbing Down of Americans"

"This Mass Acceptance of Tyrannical Evil Is Directly 

Related to the Intentional Dumbing Down of Americans"

by Gary D. Barnett

“Is there any point in public debate in a society where hardly anyone has 

been taught how to think, while millions have been taught what to think?”

-  Peter Hitchens

"One wonders how we got to where we are today; a society of non-critical thinkers, non-thinkers period, relying on the State as if a parent or god, fully dependent on this failed system of corruption, indoctrination, and control over every aspect of life. This begins with turning over children as young as toddlers to the State and its atrocious brainwashing schooling monstrosity falsely called the ‘public education’ system, where every child is treated the same, taught not to think but to obey, and not to question but only accept. This is the beginning of what becomes a lifetime of mediocrity, that leads to a caged-mind existence of coerced or even voluntary slavery.

In a society based upon this model, division among the serfs is mandatory, and easily accomplished once one is subject to the brainwashing that begins almost from birth. Division in family, division among race, division among classes, conformity of the collective herd at every level; all this leading to a disconnected system based on violence and fear. History and tradition are marginalized, rewritten, hidden, or erased, so that the entirety of society thinks life is, and always has been, what it is in the present.

Once this level of ignorance and indifference is reached, due in part to horrible processed foods, poisons, toxic spraying, and deadly injections, ill health is the result, which then leads to a life dependent on a heinous medical system doling out lethal prescription drugs; drugs that maim and kill mind and body, leaving but a molded, non-questioning, burned out, and intellectually empty shell of a man. Autonomous man has disappeared in favor of a collective creature, void of morality, self-responsibility, empathy, and humanitarian behavior; leaving a dominated machine-like drone cognizant only of an accepted, all-powerful ‘authority.’

Look around and most of what you will see is extreme division, blanket hate, fear-based existence, immoral lifestyles, mass confusion, blank stares, and psychological chaos. This is the America of today. It was no accident, and was a plotted outcome for well over the past century. After dumbing down one generation after another, basically generational brainwashing, the task of controlling an entire population became a much easier undertaking, as the elimination of the individual brought about a nationwide herd mentality based on compliance and obedience to false ‘authority.’ Independence has been replaced by mob-think, and when people gather as one, intellectual curiosity and intelligent thought disappear. This is the scourge of collectivist ‘thinking,’ which rules out intellectual honesty.

Populations at large, and not just the younger generations, have given themselves completely over to technology. In essence, they are owned, monitored, recorded, surveilled, and consumed by AI, the internet of things, cell phones, gaming, and social media. The tech and AI masters it seems, have captured most of society in the clutches of a neo-feudal algorithmic ghetto. When this happens, normal communications, personal interaction, organic relationships, and family are sacrificed for a virtual reality existence, where artificial lifestyles replace meaningful association. What is most troubling is that this form of existence is now considered the norm, and not understood by most to be the destruction of the human mind, body, and soul.

In real terms, this is the theft of humanity as it has existed over thousands of years; all being replaced by cold, machine-like drones conditioned to “own nothing and be happy.” None of this is new, and has been incrementally advanced for decades, but the current acceleration of this process is astounding to say the least, and must be stopped if any sanity is to return to ‘modern’ man.

Since 2024, Flock cameras have expanded from a few hundred to well over 120,000 in 49 states, this according to Flock’s own claims. This is just one type of mass surveillance, but there are many more. The digitization of society and all its functions are a direct threat to every single person in this country. By last count, there are now 4,000 to 5,400 data centers in the U.S. alone, and that number is still growing, so obviously, data on every single man, woman, and child is being captured, analyzed, and stored. Every communication device is constantly monitored, and with full and monetary digitization completion, everyone’s activities, financial transactions, movement, and behavior will be captured, and all of us and our activities will become programmable. If (when) this happens, this will truly be a slave society, fully controlled 24 hours a day. This is what tyrannical evil looks like, and it is now already at your doorstep, but I have not even scratched the surface of the totalitarian madness that is now happening.

None of this could have happened unless this population at large had been dumbed down, brainwashed, and indoctrinated for generations, causing dominance by the ruling element and government to expand to such an extent as to allow the few to take control of the hundreds of millions without so much as a whimper. In fact, much of the ‘voting’ population continues to laud and support this system that is continually building digital prisons to control all; in other words, the people of this country are voluntarily building their own cages.

As John Taylor Gatto stated: “Regimentation, methodization, systematization, standardization, organization, coordination, disciplined arrangements, conformity - these things are at the very heart of our national state policies, and are the poison that has killed our families and left individual survivors in a numbed, angry, nearly hysterical condition.”

I have barely mentioned all that is coming; this given the gross weather manipulation, the spraying of toxic poisons, deadly injections, the total surveillance state, programmable digital currency, plotted and staged wars, depopulation efforts, democide, genocide, famine, intentional water and energy ‘shortages,’ and the ever-increasing hyper-inflationary environment.

Much, if not most, of the fault lies with the people, and only the people can change this course we now face. After decades of watching the complete deterioration of this country, my optimism going forward is almost non-existent, and that is why I continue to write and warn about the looming catastrophic collapse and reset that is bound to happen unless large numbers of Americans decide en masse to “not take it anymore!” Either disobey, dissent, do not comply with this tyranny, and learn to live as an individual, or be relegated to being a slave in the technocratic prison state being built around you.

“Schooling that children are forced to endure - in which the subject matter is imposed by others and the “learning” is motivated by extrinsic rewards and punishments rather than by the children’s true interests - turns learning from a joyful activity into a chore, to be avoided whenever possible. Coercive schooling, which tragically is the norm in our society, suppresses curiosity and overrides children’s natural ways of learning. It also promotes anxiety, depression and feelings of helplessness that all too often reach pathological levels.”

- Peter O. Gray

- https://www.lewrockwell.com/

"The Monstrous Thing..."

"The monstrous thing is not that men have created roses out of this dung heap, but that, for some reason or other, they should want roses. For some reason or other man looks for the miracle, and to accomplish it he will wade through blood. He will debauch himself with ideas, he will reduce himself to a shadow if for only one second of his life he can close his eyes to the hideousness of reality. Everything is endured - disgrace, humiliation, poverty, war, crime, ennui - in the belief that overnight something will occur, a miracle, which will render life tolerable. And all the while a meter is running inside and there is no hand that can reach in there and shut it off."

- Henry Miller, “Tropic of Cancer”

Freely download “Tropic of Cancer”, by Henry Miller, here:

- https://gertrudesteinsite.files.wordpress.com/

"Alert! Trump Says "War or Bonds"! Iran Leaving Nuclear Treaty! El Nino Insanity"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 8/21/26

"Alert! Trump Says "War or Bonds"! 

Iran Leaving Nuclear Treaty! El Nino Insanity"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Future Uncertain, Part III"

"Future Uncertain, Part III"

by Joel Bowman

“The future belongs to the curious.”

~ Oscar Wilde, "The Critic as Artist" (1890)

Buenos Aires, Argentina - "Where were we? Ah yes, running out of time! For those following along, we’ve been musing of late on the idea that technology is speeding up... but that, contrary to popular thinking, this actually renders our future more uncertain, not less. (See Parts I and II for the story so far...)

“But how could this be?” the cheerful newsfeeder puzzles aloud. “What about all our Big Tech Brainiacs and their gee-whizz do-dads? Surely we’re closer to ‘peeking around the corner’ than ever before, no?” Look around you, dear reader. For all our high frequency traders and Wall Street wizards... our overpaid quants and ten-sigma sages... our academic eggheads and gum-flapping politicos...how many of them foresaw the Global Financial Crisis of 2008? Or the Global Pandemic Panic of 2020? Or the rise of the AI juggernaut in 2022-...?

Certainly not the dauntless captains high on the bridge... the Bernankes and Yellens, Trumps and Bidens, Faucis and Collins, et al. ... most of whom ought to be given a long walk off a short plank. More on the necessary, inevitable failure of our political class in a moment. But first, let’s pick up the thread...

Whispers in the Wind: We’ve already seen how the rate of technological advancement is speeding up, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as “adoption curve compression.” From the wheel (which took millennia to span the known world)... to gunpowder (centuries)... to the automobile (decades)... to the smart phone (years)... to AI (months)... it’s no exaggeration to say that innovation now occurs in real time.

Partly, that’s a result of technology “standing on the shoulders of giants.” Recall that it was the futurist, Ray Kurzweil, who gave us the Law of Accelerating Change, whereby technological advancement is thought to speed up because each new breakthrough builds on the infrastructure already laid for it by the previous generation. Eventually, one supposes, you end up with a train that lays its own track... or a 3D-printer that prints its own replacement (Theseus’s printer?)... or an algorithm that knows precisely how racist you are even before you notice the color of your thumbs-up emoji. The mind boggles.

This rapid acceletarion is also due to the evolving nature of the information ecosystem itself. In the Pre-Gutenberg Press era, when books were status ornaments of the landed gentry, copied out by candle-burning clergymen (themselves often illiterate), information moved at the pace, and with the fidelity, of a whisper in the wind.

Today, information travels beyond the speed of light, a proposition that was once deemed mathematically impossible... until simultaneity broke the velocity equation. That is to say, information dissemination was once bound by the time it took a carrier – an unlucky pigeon... a chugging locomotive... Newman in a USPS truck – to travel from Point A to Point B. Now, a message can be delivered from Point A... to potentially infinite destinations... concurrently. Time as a denominating factor is thus crushed to dust.

And yet, awash in this thundering Iguazu of information, man discovers that wisdom remains terminally bound by the speed of stupid. More troubling still, the abundance of information has delivered the illusion of intelligence, the most artificial kind of all. Call it “information inflation,” where each newly issued unit is worth less than the last.

Commented one dear reader, FullGrabBag, in response to our last Note..."I’m glad I’m older, 69. I feel for my kids and grandkids because they are clueless. Sadly they have no idea what’s going on in the world. Or the past. I try to inform them, but they know everything because they carry a computer in their pockets. What’s a parent to do?"

Instantaneous Idiocy: Mrs. Goose tells us that it is better to remain silent and let others think one a fool, than it is to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt. But now, with answers flowing from his palms like so many multiplying loaves and fishes, man aspires to conceits of truly miraculous proportions. As to the velocity of his vanity? Let us consider the speed at which AI itself is taking off.

A long, long time ago, waaay back in the year of Our Overlords, 2022, private investment in generative AI stood at roughly $4B, at the low end of the range for a single mid-cap company (typically $2-10B). Within a year, as ChatGPT rocketed past its first 100M users, that investment pool had grown seven-fold, to just over $28B. By 2025, AI infrastructure spending alone was calculated to be in the vicinity of $320B. This year, according to research from Goldman Sachs, total global investment in AI will hit $1T... or 250x growth in roughly four years. And by 2030, so the tomorrow-tellers forecast, some $5T could be invested in the data centers and infrastructure needed to power the “AI super economy.”

In other words, in the time it takes the duty-bound voter to elect two presidents the other half of the country loathes, an AI-shaped investment ecosystem the size of Germany’s entire economy, the third-largest in the world, just “popped” into existence. And next to nobody saw it coming. To be sure, this is not an AI story per se… rather, it is the latest chapter in a much longer arc…

Next week, we’ll look at how our vestigial political institutions, stuffed to the gills with the same midwit mahatmas and Washington wonks aforementioned, are almost uniquely unfit to deal with this increasing rate of change... and why the post-political era may soon be upon us. Stay tuned for more Notes From the End of the World..."

- https://joelbowman.substack.com/

"One More Sunrise, One More Road"

Full screen recommended.

Golden Quiet Things,

"One More Sunrise, One More Road"

"Sometimes the best journeys don't begin with a destination - they begin with a feeling. "There's More To See" is a warm cinematic folk-pop ballad about slowing down, embracing the beauty of everyday moments, and discovering that every road still has something new to offer. With heartfelt baritone vocals, gentle acoustic guitar, cinematic strings, and a peaceful atmosphere, this song is perfect for road trips, motorcycle rides, relaxing mornings, scenic drives, or simply taking a deep breath after a long day. If you enjoy relaxing folk music, cinematic storytelling songs, Americana, country-inspired ballads, and music that celebrates life's quiet beauty, we hope this song becomes part of your journey."

"Ain't No Store Sells Wisdom"

Full screen recommended.

Grandpa Got The Blues,

"Ain't No Store Sells Wisdom"

"We don’t have to stay young… just stay together. “Ain’t No Store Sells Wisdom” is a witty, old-school Delta blues song about common sense, hard-earned lessons, and the kind of wisdom money can’t buy. Told through the eyes of a weathered seventy-year-old bluesman, it laughs at human foolishness while reminding us that real judgment comes from mistakes, scars, patience, and paying attention. A gentle acoustic guitar carries the melody like an old man’s slow walk at sunset. The harmonica sighs soft and low, like memories drifting through warm southern air. The rhythm moves slow and steady - the kind of blues made for porch swings, fading sunlight, and hands that still find each other after all these years. Because sometimes the real blues isn’t about heartbreak…it’s about a love that stayed. Grandpa’s been around long enough to know: the best love story isn’t the loudest one - it’s the one that keeps going. Growing old ain’t so bad… if you ain’t doing it alone."

Native Elder, "5 Signs You Were Protected When You Didn't Even Know It"

Full screen recommended.

Native Elder,

"5 Signs You Were Protected 

When You Didn't Even Know It"

Musical Interlude: Deuter, "Along the High Ridges"

Full screen recommended.

Deuter, "Along the High Ridges"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"A now famous picture from the Hubble Space Telescope featured Pillars of Creation, star forming columns of cold gas and dust light-years long inside M16, the Eagle Nebula. This false-color composite image views the nearby stellar nursery using data from the Herschel Space Observatory's panoramic exploration of interstellar clouds along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Herschel's far infrared detectors record the emission from the region's cold dust directly. 

The famous pillars are included near the center of the scene. While the central group of hot young stars is not apparent at these infrared wavelengths, the stars' radiation and winds carve the shapes within the interstellar clouds. Scattered white spots are denser knots of gas and dust, clumps of material collapsing to form new stars. The Eagle Nebula is some 6,500 light-years distant, an easy target for binoculars or small telescopes in a nebula rich part of the sky toward the split constellation Serpens Cauda (the tail of the snake).”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160728.html

The Poet: William Stafford, ”Today”

”Today”

“The ordinary miracles begin. Somewhere

a signal arrives: “Now,” and the rays

come down. A tomorrow has come. Open

your hands, lift them: morning rings

all the doorbells; porches are cells for prayer.

Religion has touched your throat. Not the same now,

you could close your eyes and go on full of light.

And it is already begun, the chord

that will shiver glass, the song full of time

bending above us. Outside, a sign:

a bird intervenes; the wings tell the air,

“Be warm.” No one is out there, but a giant

has passed through town, widening streets, touching

the ground, shouldering away the stars.”

- William Stafford

"Only One Question..."

"There's only one question that matters, and it's the one you never get around to asking. People are capable of varying degrees of truth. The majority spend their entire lives fabricating an elaborate skein of lies, immersing themselves in the faith of bad faith, doing whatever it takes to feel safe. The person who truly lives has precious few moments of safety, learns to thrive in any kind of storm. It's the truth you can stare down stone-cold that makes you what you are. Weak or strong. Live or die. Prove yourself. How much truth can you take?"

- Karen Marie Moning

Judge Napolitano, "INTEL Roundtable w/Larry Johnson & Scott Ritter: Weekly Wrap - 21 August"

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 8/21/26

"INTEL Roundtable w/Larry Johnson & Scott Ritter:

Weekly Wrap - 21 August"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gerald Celente, "Dragflation, Market Chaos and War... What's Next?"

Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, 8/21/26

"Dragflation, Market Chaos and War... What's Next?"

"In this episode of Trends in the News, Gerald Celente breaks down the forces driving global markets toward turmoil. From soaring debt and dragflation crushing economic growth to escalating geopolitical tensions and war, the warning signs are flashing. Celente examines the accelerating decline of the U.S. dollar's dominance and explains why today's financial system may be headed for even greater instability. He also takes a hard look at sanctions on Iran, arguing that economic warfare is fueling global conflict and increasing the risk of wider economic and geopolitical fallout. As mainstream media focuses on the headlines, Gerald Celente connects the dots and identifies the current events forming future trends. 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/subscribe

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Americans Can't Afford To Eat Anymore - Here's Why Grocery Prices Keep Climbing"

Full screen recommended.

Snyder Reports, 8/21/26

"Americans Can't Afford To Eat Anymore - 

Here's Why Grocery Prices Keep Climbing"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Epic Economist, 8/21/26

"Food Stamps Are Gone And Families Are Going Hungry"

"Eleven Americans filmed the moment their food assistance disappeared.A man's dying mother is told to pay back years of food aid - with interest - or lose her disability income. A woman files her renewal on time and gets cut off anyway. A family of eight loses everything on the fifth of the month. A man who works a full-time job and drives DoorDash on top of it gets $16 for the entire month. Then there is the theft, which almost nobody talks about. Someone drains her card at three in the morning. Another wakes up to $900 skimmed overnight, gone, with no way to get it back. A single mother of five reaches the register with sixty cents left, her benefits stolen that same morning, a winter storm on the way. And the ordinary humiliations in between: the card declined at the register on a Sunday with a full cart. Sixty-hour weeks and still qualifying. Working full time and then getting the shutdown email anyway. $550 a month, gone, with no notice and no one to call. Nobody in this video is debating policy. Nobody is explaining a program to you. These are people filming themselves in a parking lot or a car or a checkout line, in the first few minutes after finding out that the money for food is not there. If you have ever been on SNAP, or you are on it now, you already know how fast the ground moves. If you have not, this is what it looks like from inside."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Fast Food Got Too Greedy… Now America Is Boycotting"

Full screen recommended.

Epic Economist, 8/21/26

"Fast Food Got Too Greedy… 

Now America Is Boycotting"

"Twenty Americans held up their fast food receipts on camera and did the math out loud. A Chick-fil-A combo that cost $6.66 ten years ago rings up at $17. Two burgers, two fries and two shakes at Five Guys: $70, and "never again." One plain waffle at Waffle House: $5.20. Nineteen dollars for six tacos. Seven dollars for a quesadilla at Taco Bell - the place that used to be the cheap hack. Thirty pieces of Popeyes for a watch party: almost $200, and that was with the app deals. Then the smaller cuts that add up. Being charged extra for a single sauce. The kiosk quietly pricing a dollar higher than the counter. The same burrito sold in three sizes, so the one you used to order becomes the small. An order that costs $23 today and cost $13 in 2014. Eight pieces and rice for $15. A man who has eaten at Five Guys exactly twice in his life because of what it costs. And then the part the earnings calls are actually about: people quitting. Deleting DoorDash and counting the weeks. Four months clean. Three weeks clean. Cooking at home and saying so on camera. McDonald's wondering out loud why sales are down while the receipts in this video answer the question. Nobody is narrating inflation statistics at you here. These are people reading their own receipts, in their own cars, in their own kitchens, doing the arithmetic that turns a habit into a boycott."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"The Daily "Near You?"

Tours, Centre, France. Thanks for stopping by!

"What If..."

"What if when you die they ask, "How was Heaven?"

~ Author Unknown

A truly terrifying thought...

"US Power Grid at Risk of 18-Month Blackout - What to Do Now"

Full screen recommended.

Snyder Reports, 8/21/26

"US Power Grid at Risk of 18-Month Blackout - 

What to Do Now"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"The Great Thing About The Internet..."

 "The great thing about the internet is that you get to meet people you

 would otherwise only meet if you were committed to the same asylum."
- Robert Brault

Dan, I Allegedly, "3 Serious Economic Warnings You Can't Ignore"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, 8/21/26

"3 Serious Economic Warnings You Can't Ignore"

"The economy is flashing serious warning signs, from rising bankruptcies and recession concerns to growing pressure on the global food supply. Ukraine’s grain exports have been disrupted, raising concerns about higher food prices and potential supply problems heading into 2027. At the same time, consumers are facing higher costs, tighter credit and growing financial uncertainty. Then there is the $40 trillion national debt and the growing debate over how Americans can protect their financial security. In this video, Dan breaks down three major economic warnings: the recession threat, the food supply warning and the financial security warning - and explains why preparing for what could come next matters. We also hear from Jack Hanney, CEO of Patriot Gold Group, about gold, silver and protecting wealth during economic uncertainty."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"How It Really Is"

 

"Reflections on Turning 70 in America 2.0"

"Reflections on Turning 70 in America 2.0"

by Donald Jefferies

"I don’t really feel any different. But, boy that number is frightening. It’s a scary milestone. 70. The big seven-o. It sounds so old. When I was a kid, when I was a young adult, when I was middle age, anyone 70 years old seemed decrepit. Elderly. On their last legs. On the brink of “pushing up daisies,” as my dear mother used to put it.

I’m trying to tell myself that you’re only as old as you feel. That it’s just a number, as so many younger people have told me. If I go by how I feel, then I’m about 14. Wondering when I will mature, and finally adopt the persona of a grown adult. If I went to my local senior center, I would probably see some people there who are younger than me. I’m not interested in hanging out with them. Playing checkers, or whatever it is that oldsters play now. Watching reruns of Matlock. I visited my brother’s senior center, and ate their food. They make it purposely bland, without spices, or even salt and pepper. Without flavor. Like hospital food. That’s good enough for the senior set. They don’t need or deserve anything better. They had plenty of time in the past to eat tastier foods. It’s time to quiet down. Don’t get too excited - it’s not good for your blood pressure. They’ve begrudgingly admitted that salt has no impact on blood pressure, but the oldsters still go without it. Lies and propaganda die hard.

Probably because I was born so late in life, with my parents being in their 50s during my childhood, I’ve always felt a strong bond with old people. I loved to hear them talk about their lives. The distant past, which seemed so exotic to me. I knew plenty of elderly people who were born in the 1890s. The nineteenth century. The last Civil War veteran died a few weeks before I was born. The last Civil War widow died in 2003. Those old timers had some very young brides back then. When I first entered the workforce in the mid-1970s, the WWII generation was still large and in charge. Retired veterans everywhere, running everything. I’m older than all of them were then, and they seemed really old to this long haired, card-carrying member of the ACLU. I think back on those times, and it just doesn’t seem possible that I’m living in the same world. The internet was supposedly in its infancy in the Pentagon, of all places. I can’t imagine my life without the internet now. I doubt I’d be writing without the internet.

Fear of aging is fear of death. I have fear of aging, because I have a great fear of death. I remember watching Gunsmoke with my father as a very young child, and learning that everyone eventually dies. Not just the bad guys gunned down in the streets of TV westerns. I was crushed. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. When you have old parents, with perpetual ailments, death is always in the air. I used to walk by their bedroom when they were asleep, checking to hear the sounds of their breathing. I feared them dying, and expected them to die, for so long that their deaths were anticlimactic. Now I’m older than my father ever was, and getting close to my mother’s age when she died. Still I hate doctors enough to refuse to go to them. I don’t really worry about myself in quite the same way, but I am terrified at the prospect of dying. I have faith. I don’t believe this can possibly be all there is to existence. But the finality, at least in terms of this world, hits like a sledgehammer. The inevitability. Which I can’t accept.

When I reached 60, I started thinking that I really can’t shoot baskets any more. What if I dropped dead like Pete Maravich and so many other anonymous souls? I’ve kind of stopped doing my Zumba workout, and switched to tai chi. Which is pretty satisfying, but am I giving in to Old Man Syndrome? If I feel up to it, why shouldn’t I just do something? I’ve slowed down, mostly because I’m aware of that number hanging over my head. But not much. I workout every other day. I used to average over 20,000 steps a day, now I get 20,000 every other day. Then take it a bit easier on the “off” days, with 10-12,000 steps. I still race up stairs. Some of the time. Not all of the time, like I used to. We have a lot of stairs, and I’m starting to think too much about falling. So many old people break something when they fall. My uncle was 94, on no prescription meds at all, but he fell and that was it. Denied him a chance at 100. We don’t have great longevity, but my father had first cousins on both sides who made it to 101 and 104.

With the nervous apprehension of hitting 70, and the perhaps psychosomatic awareness of more frequent aches and pains, I decided to do something to make myself feel better. About me, as the insane Tik Tok therapists might say. So I started counting my calories. I’ve lost 15 pounds in just a few weeks. And it does make me feel better, because I look better. Just like my uncle, I don’t take any prescriptions. But I do ingest a huge number of vitamins and supplements. I think and I hope they help. But I don’t sleep much. Then again, I never really have slept normally. I can’t picture them using me for a sleep study. I can count on one hand the times I’ve slept through the night in my entire life. 70 years of life. I’ve always awakened every hour or two, three at the most. I don’t know why. I’m sure I have decades of REM deprivation. It’s natural to be an insomniac when you have the things running through your mind that I do. Paranoia. Various phobias. Stressing over the safety and welfare of those I love.

This year has been one of great personal loss. My dear sister Janet, and her incomparable daughter Denise, four days apart from each other. John Barbour, the most rewarding friendship I ever had. My next door neighbor and friend, gone from cancer, who was four years younger than me. One of the Lake Braddock monthly lunch bunch, whom I met through my good friend Vince Agnelli. Died suddenly at only 65. Combined with the loss of my brother four years ago, my 70th birthday party is not going to be quite the big celebration I once envisioned it as. I counted eight people who have died from my 60th birthday party. Time flies, and we can’t slow it down. We don’t even understand it. I’ve often wondered if time is a construct, like the idolators claim race is. If there were no clocks, no calendars to keep track of it, how would we know what time it was? What day it was? Under such circumstances, would we still age? Do we age because “time” tells us we are aging? I can’t help but wonder.

Like one of my favorite poets, Edna St. Vincent Millay, “I know. But I am not resigned.” I’ve even speculated that there is a “death gene” in us all. Do we die because we think we must? Why do some people age so much more gracefully than others? Just looking at some of those I graduated with from Oakton High School in 1974, there is massive disparity in the way they look. Some look great. Vibrant. Still alluring. Others look like generic grandparents. Fragile. Harmless. Couldn’t some of that at least be mental? I used to be told how much younger I looked. Now most people don’t say anything about it. I take this to mean that they aren’t surprised at my age, when they used to always be surprised. I look in the mirror and still pretty much like what I see, especially with the recent weight loss. Maybe it’s just my ego at work. Like my lone remaining sibling, my oldest sister, I place great stock in at least trying to look good. Standing up straight. I blanche when I see all the hunched over oldsters.

The past is prologue. But each of our genealogical pasts represents our personal prologues. I’ve traced my ancestry as best I could. I found a genuine Revolutionary War hero in my family tree. On my mother’s side, John Follin was captured by the British and escaped from his prisoner of war status by walking on foot from Pennsylvania back to Virginia. He had an incredible thirty children by two different wives. My ancestors were fruitful and multiplied. On my father’s side, I verified the legend that his second cousin married Rutherford B. Hayes III. Naturally, we never met this side of the family, being common riff-raff and all. I found a picture of that cousin’s mother, who came from real poverty, and wasn’t surprised to see that she was a hot late nineteenth century babe, which put her into a position to marry a wealthy lawyer that ran in the same circles as the Hayes family did. So that’s my connection to the rich and powerful. I’ve had no favors bestowed upon me by Rutherford B’s heirs.

When you reach my age, you’re going to spend a lot of time looking back. Wondering how life would have worked out, if I’d done things differently. If I’d asked Twyla Turner to the prom. If I’d concentrated less on the JFK assassination and UFOs, and focused on getting a college degree. If I’d stopped being a radical for even a moment. Compromised just a little bit. Conformed in some way. But I was always fighting the system. In school. At work. Socially. And eventually the world at large. Which would eventually result in ten books, and lots of internet columns like this. I don’t think it’s in me to compromise my beliefs and values. But then again, there was never a super model with a gigantic trust fund dangling before me in temptation. I don’t think I would have ever sold out, but no one tried to force me to, either. I kind of relished being a relative failure. An outsider ranting at the Man. Maybe that was foolish.

Money never meant anything to me. As my wise Chinese friend, the legendary Danny Liu told me back in the 1980s after he read my palm, “I’m sorry, man, but you can never have much money.” He was eerily prophetic, although I’ve never really been in dire financial straits. I struggled financially sometimes, like 80 percent of us do. When I wrote "Survival of the Richest", it was heartfelt because I’d lived paycheck to paycheck my entire life, and rarely had much savings in the bank. But I never missed a meal. I’ve had most of the shiny toys of the modern era. And I was blessed with a patient and understanding wife, and two wonderful children. In 1998, despite not really being in a position to afford it, we somehow bought our dream home. My real estate license came in handy, and we got a real bargain. I’ve lived in a peaceful, idyllic neighborhood ever since. There was no question in my mind that I had the lowest income in my subdivision. A small fish in a nice big neighborhood. That’s an ideal situation.

It took me many years, and lots of historical research, to realize just how lucky I’d been to be born a Boomer. The much maligned Boomers. We had idyllic childhoods, primarily because our parents enjoyed the greatest economy this country, or the world, has ever seen. Every job paid a living wage. A television was in every home. Kids could be entertained by the best of Hollywood, much of it produced during their parents’ childhoods. The Three Stooges. The Little Rascals. Popeye. The classic Warner Brothers cartoons. Recent, thrilling shows like The Adventures of Superman. George “Superman” Reeves was already dead, unquestionably murdered but labeled suicide. That didn’t stop us from enjoying the reruns. Both comic books and baseball cards were sacred to little boys like me. Fortunately, I was already developing the habit of not throwing anything away. If you saw my house, you’d understand. But some of those cards and comics are worth real money now. I took good care of them.

I guess all people think the times they grew up in were the best. As Carly Simon told us, “These are the good old days.” I can’t imagine Gen Z will one day look back fondly on their youth, with a horrific economy producing few real job opportunities, a severe affordability problem with housing, food, gas, and everything else, no memorable music or films, and a cultural climate filled with male incels, increasing obesity, and a mad transgender movement. But maybe they will. Especially if things get worse, which looks probable. But I can still listen to the best music ever produced. At least in the opinion of virtually all Boomers. It still sounds great, decades later. Preserved for eternity, along with all those classic television shows and movies. Preserved far better than any of us. But we have our memories. As the old song went, “They can’t take that away from me.” Memories of lovely young girls. Who are now either dead already or resemble your grandmother. Of strapping boys who now wield a cane or walker.

I love talking about the past. It’s no accident that I concentrate much of my writing on history. But I would really enjoy looking forward, to the kind of future all those 1950s documentaries predicted. Moving sidewalks. Flying cars, like The Jetsons. Medical miracles, resulting in the eradication of pain and disease, with dramatically increased lifespans. Instead, we have the same old gas guzzlers. Or for many young people, expensive Ubers, since they can’t afford their own car. We have the worst medical system ever seen, with skyrocketing childhood cancer rates and chronic diseases. And a plummeting life expectancy. Not what Walt Disney envisioned with his Tomorrowland. The elderly hippies aren’t as interesting to talk to as the elderly WWII era people. They are mostly preoccupied with getting marijuana gummies and their Viagra. Senior citizens who smoked pot and had sex in closets as youths, still trying to be intimate. Not a pretty sight. And spare me the gray pony tails and man buns.

I’ve been very blessed. Way more than I remotely deserved. I never really worked hard, or had much ambition, outside of wanting to be some kind of writer. So many people I know- good people- never had kids, never got married. They’re old now too, if they’re still alive. But they’re alone. Old age is hell, as my dear mother used to say, but old age alone must be a special kind of hell. I think of those who already, by my age, are in some kind of retirement community, at best. At worst, they are being mistreated in nursing homes, and rarely visited by loved ones, if they have any. So call me lucky. I’m doing exactly what I want to do every day. How many people can say that? I may pick up the guitar again, if I can figure out how to tune it. Or take up banjo. Maybe tap dancing. But mostly keep writing. And podcasting. 70. It’s an imposing number. But I think of all I know who never lived to see it. A 70 year old today is not the same as when I was a child. It’s the new 50. Just a number. Which I’m reluctantly embracing."

- https://donaldjeffries.substack.com/

So very familiar, Donald, thank you! 

Considering on September 14 I'll be 75...

- CP