"The same pride which makes a man treat those of less powerful standing arrogantly, makes him cringe servilely to those above him. It is the very nature of this vice, which is neither based on personal merit nor on virtue, but on riches, posts, influence, and useless knowledge, to render a man a snob to those who are below him as to faown upon those who are above."
Jean de La Bruyère, Les Caractères, 1688
“We run heedlessly into the abyss, after putting something in front of us to stop us from seeing it.”
Blaise Pascal, Pensées
"And I'll leave you with one set of numbers that I found today, which is just an absolute for this whole thing. In 2015, Wall Street Bonuses, not regular compensation, bonuses, seven years after they were bailed out with the public purse, totaled $29.4 billion dollars. Total compensation paid to every single person in this country who makes minimum wage totaled $14 billion.
The era of neo-liberalism is over. The era of neo-nationalism has just begun."
Mark Blyth, Foreign Affairs, November 15, 2016
"There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hidden, that shall not be made known. Whatever has been said in the darkness shall be heard in the light: and what has been whispered behind closed doors shall be shouted from the roof tops."
Luke 12:1-3
“There may be thunder in Europe, but it is in America the lightning will fall.”
Ambrose Bierce, The Fall of the Republic
"What theology, history and common sense have also taught me is that the civilizations which allow the gap to widen between the ideal to which they claim and the realizations which they propose of it, these civilizations are dying of their hypocrisy.“
Henri-Irénée Marrou, France ma patrie, Le Monde, 5 Avril 1956
There was a general sell off today in the markets, led lower by the risk assets in the stock market bubble.
The GDP price index came in higher than expected.
The Dollar rose on expectations of interest rates maintaining a higher level for a longer time and a flight to safety.
Bitcoin continued to decline, but is holding support in the low 80,000.
Gold and silver were smacked lower.
VIX rose sharply.
There will be some additional inflation information out tomorrow morning.
Let's see how that goes.
Most of the news these days is interwoven with lies. This is expected in times of madness.
What I find more concerning is the cavalier attitude that the ruling elite is taking towards personal freedoms and liberties.
Even in the height of the civil rights movement and anti-war protests the better, 'sophisticated' universities were not so draconian and biased in their suppression of even peaceful dissent.
And to think that much of this pressure now is coming from the 'thought leaders' who are generally the transmitters of culture and civilized behavior is particularly discouraging.
Especially when they betray their official duties and oaths for position, worldly admiration, and money.
The madness twists even the best of intentions in its lust for power and control, and turns on those who embrace it, and in the end serves none but itself.
People forfeit their souls for vain idolatries, and help to raise the abomination of desolation, which in turn destroys all that they have been given.
It is an old story.
Have a pleasant evening.
