"They slander what they do not understand, and when they act by their animal appetites are destroyed. What sorrow awaits them. They follow the way of Cain, chase after wealth into Balaam’s error, and perish in the rebellion of Korah."
Jude 10-11
"Never in the history of the world have so many people been so rich; never in the history of the world have so many of those same people felt themselves so poor. The state of perpetual emptiness is, of course, very good for business."
Lewis H. Lapham, The Agony of Mammon, 1999
"The inability to identify with others was unquestionably the most important psychological condition for the fact that something like Auschwitz could have occurred in the midst of more or less civilized and innocent people."
Theodor Adorno, Education After Auschwitz, 18 April 1966
“A thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in abundance."
John 10:10
"Lordliness is not synonymous with aristocracy, nor does it signify any class difference or difference in wealth. But neither is it merely a moral trait. It is a synthesis of pride, decency, self-confidence, and magnanimity. You find Archons (Lords) scattered among all types of people. The Archon never becomes a part of a mass of people, no matter what class he belongs to; he always remains a person.
I cannot, perhaps it is my failing, define lordliness in a single phrase. But when I meet someone who possesses that complex set of virtues that compose it, then I recognize it. I say to myself: This is an Archon. He belongs to that select category of people.
All of us together, with God's help should fulfill our duty, as human beings and Greeks, and leave as our bequest to our children and grandchildren our glorious inheritance.
We have Archons in the legal sense who lack lordliness. But we also have manual laborers who possess lordliness in abundance."
Konstantinos Tsatsos, Words for the Fathers, 1975
Even animals know when they have been harmed, and will react to prevent that harm to themselves and theirs from happening ever again.
But only a human, fully developed and aware in the spirit of life, will take this experience and form it into a principle of moral justice to be applied in other situations, and to actions that are even their own.
The glory of God is the human, fully alive; and the humanity of a person is found in reflecting the glory of God." Irenaeus AD 180
Stocks have continued to maintain their lofty valuations and severe underestimation of risk.
I have stopped thinking of this as a mania, and rather as a conscious effort to accelerate the transfer of wealth to the power elite by pumping up certain financial assets, resulting in the general diminishment of all the rest of the assets under the Dollar through a stealthy, pernicious inflation.
It is a hidden tax on the working public. The AI Bubble. It is not the result of a well-intentioned policy error, or animal spirits, but a lack of character for the sake of personal gain.
Gold and silver were hit particularly hard today in the aftermath of the Comex contract option expiration yesterday, as I suggested would happen. They don't even bother to hide their lawlessness anymore.
VIX is near six month lows.
The Dollar continues to chop around in a well-managed trading range. Which of the currencies in the DXY index basket can stand on their own?
I am expecting a severe resumption of hostilities in Europe and the Middle East as a result of the lack of moral and principled leadership amongst Western leaders. They are corrupted by money and fear. And they will sit down to a banquet of consequences.
What is our reaction to be in the face of this increase in lawlessness?
To adhere to the Way is not easy, especially with all the ugly selfishness that is so evident these days. It is never really between them and you, but between you and yourself, between you and your God. It is how you rise above, and become human. It is fine and necessary to look after your wealth in order to fill the needs of your family. But random acts of kindness will make a difference in your life and in theirs.
No act of kindness is wasted. You store them in your heart, and these are the only things that you will take with you when the day is done. You will remember them, and you will be remembered for them, if not in this life, then in the next.
This is our decision, our choice. Essere umano. To be human. Even when the world thinks it is foolish.
This is the rule of our warfare. We are called to remain standing, grounded in humility and love. And the dawn will be ours.
In the end, the only real tragedy is not to have been a saint.
Have a pleasant evening.
