"Through his first year in Germany [1933], Dodd had been struck again and again by the strange indifference to atrocity that had settled over the nation, the willingness of the populace and the moderate elements in the government to accept each new oppressive decree, each new act of violence, without protest. Dodd continued to hope that the murders would so outrage the German public that the regime would fall, but as the days passed he saw no evidence of any such outpouring of anger. The controlled press, not surprisingly, praised Hitler for his decisive behaviour."
Erik Larson, In The Garden of Beasts, 2011
"It can only be hoped that American democracy will thoroughly realize, before it is too late, that fascism is not confined to any one nation or any one party; and it is to be hoped that it will succeed in overcoming the tendency toward dictatorial forms in the people themselves. Only time will tell whether the Americans will be able to resist the compulsion of irrationality, or whether they will succumb to it.”
Wilhelm Reich, The Mass Psychology of Fascism, 1933
"It’s rather difficult in these noisy, confusing, nerve-racking days to achieve the peace of mind in which to pause for a moment to reflect on what you believe in. There’s so little time and opportunity to give it much thought—though it is the thing we live by; and without it, without beliefs, human existence today would hardly be bearable. There are many days in this age of anxiety when a human being feels awfully low and discouraged. I myself find consolation at such moments by two means: trying to develop a sense of history, and renewing the quest for inner life.
One must be honest with oneself, and that’s not easy. You have to have patience and understanding. And, when you can, seek God. But the reward of having an inner life, which no outside storm or evil turn of fortune can touch, is, it seems to me, a very great one."
William L. Shirer, This I Believe, November 26, 1951
"The demon's target is not the possessed; it is us the observers—everyone in this house. The point is to make us despair, to reject our humanity, to see ourselves as bestial, vile and putrescent, without dignity, ugly, unworthy."
William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist, May 1971
Stocks slumped. The rational mind recoils at the governance of our financial markets.
Gold and silver were hit by selling again. I have seen this more times than I can count in the past 30 years.
China will be celebrating the Lunar New Year on February 15th.
VIX rose.
Bitcoin has fallen out of its intermediate trading range and is suffering from cascading sales as certain entities are engaged in de-leveraging.
Trump is a destroyer. And only an ardent minority will continue to support him as his failures begin to bite more deeply into the day to day lives of the public.
History suggests that violence and aggression will increase until it meets determined opposition.
Who and how many will have to die to make this happen?
You will know the servants of the Beast by their strange indifference to atrocity.
Hard times without a doubt. America has been here many times before. My own parents faced the privations of the Great Depression, and then served in the long years of a World War against fascism.
We will endure. What is important is to remain standing in the faith, with the love of God.
That is what this is all about.
Have a pleasant evening.
